Month: January 2018

Thank you, Snow Days

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I would like to personally thank our three Georgia Snow Days for:

  1. allowing a few more non-busy mommy-Addie days.
  2. the opportunity to play in the snow.
  3. a chance to see what it feels like to actually live in a location with four distinct season…even for just a few days.
  4. a chance to stay inside, light a fire, and cuddle.
  5. time to finally declutter, organize, and thoroughly clean after the holidays.
  6. naps in the middle of the day.
  7. a forced break form busy-ness outside of the home.

This is certainly the year for inclement weather days! While I am thankful for the extra few days, I am also grateful to be going to a workplace that I love and a work family that make coming to work feel like home. I can’t wait to see everyone tomorrow!

2017 Word of The Year: EMBRACE

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embrace

Last year I chose a word to be the semantic focal point of my year. I tossed around several ideas in my head, such as strive and intentional but they all seemed a bit too me, if that makes sense. You see, those words already play into my list-making, type-A, high-strung, restless, obsessive, over-achieving nature. I needed a word that would remind me to slow down, enjoy the mundane, and find joy in the everyday that is life between bucket list tasks and adventures. For me, packing as much as humanly possible into a long weekend or crossing off to-do list tasks comes naturally, but being empathetic, and remembering to slow down is all but foreign to me.

With the word EMBRACE I had a constant reminder about the commitment that I wanted to make in choosing to enjoy each moment for the gift that it was, whether that may be blessing my home and family through spring cleaning, or having a lazy weekend with Addie and Waring on the couch. I wanted to embrace life in all of its various forms and remember to slow down just a little bit. There will always be another list to make and items to cross off, by these moments with my family are fleeting.

The word EMBRACE was a wonderful gift. I will carry it around with me always. It may seem silly to some, but whenever I hear this word it feels personal to me…like a secret gift given to me by God…or an inside secret that only we know about. I love this idea of a word of the year. I think it will be a new tradition….oh and I do love traditions!

PS: Thanks for Christine for the wonderful word art!

Bucket List: 2018 Edition

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More than any other action item on the bucket list this year I am praying that God’s provision and guidance lead our family this year. I am praying for wisdom and increased faithfulness on my part so that I (and our family) may abide and in His plan and not our (my) own. This year I am seeking to be more intentional with my prayer life. Let me know how I can earnestly pray for you this year.

Here’s The List:

  1. Try Float Therapy at Remedy Float in Savannah. This ancient technique has been around for a while, but it involves resting in a water chamber that is filled with one thousands pounds of salt so that it is IMPOSSIBLE to sink. You float in darkness and with complete sensory deprivation. It is supposed to be incredibly relaxing and safe for pregnant women!
  2. Learn about and try soaping. I have always been interesting in making my own soap and bath products. This year I am going to take a class in Jacksonville from the Studios at Florida School of Holistic Health. 
  3. Light a Sky Lantern. I have these….but have never lit them!
  4. Visit 2 New States. I visit Michigan and Colorado last year….so onward to state 39 and 40 this year at least!
  5. Create a back porch haven. We recently had a concrete slab poured for our back patio. I can’t wait until the covering is built over the next few weeks and we get to start creating a backyard sanctuary complete with our new grill that Waring’s parent’s bought us for Christmas!
  6. Have a healthy labor and baby. Our last labor experience was a bit of a surprise followed by the scariest days of my and Waring’s lives. We are praying for a bit smoother delivery and a healthy baby and mama!
  7. Go to Harry Potter World. This has been on the list for a while….at some point it may happen. 
  8. Prepare the house and the nursery for Baby Harvey #2. The future nursery of Harvey Baby #2 is currently our Christmas gift wrapping center/guest room. Now I just need to find out the gender, clean out the room, and search Pinterest for hours. 
  9. Spring clean before baby. Christmas break normally starts part 1 of my two part spring cleaning, but it has only been completed half-heartedly this year in light of all the busyness we have had. We have on more snow day today, so I am going to try to knock out a little bit more. 
  10. Start (and keep) Journaling during Quiet Time. I am notoriously inconsistent with journaling of any kind…but I do find it beneficial. 
  11. Take a Blue Ridge escape. Pick a weekend and go!
  12. Buy a fancy purse. I have been eyeing several lately but I just can’t pull the trigger…..
  13. Find and STICK to a skin care routine. I started researching this last year, but fell a bit short in the execution. 
  14. Use Fly-Lady Routines and complete a 30 day Declutter Challenge. I have done each of these before, however I am in desperate need of a review. 
  15. Start an herb garden. Don’t hate me…but I am not a huge fan of basil. I am kind of obsessed with cilantro, tarragon, and dill though. I love the idea of growing herbs because they don’t take up much space. 
  16. Cook at least one new recipe each month and post pictures of the progress. I don’t know about you, but it seems like we cook the same meals over and over for dinner and it just gets BORING! This year we have deer meat, tons of locally caught shrimp, and frozen fresh picked tomatoes to experiment with for dinner!

In addition to this annual bucket list, I also like to compete a season bucket list full of fun traditional things that we like to do with each changing season. These lists generally revolve around the holidays celebrated during each season and are pretty similar from year to year. I love the idea of being intentional during each season and creating lasting traditions and memories with the family.

And…if I didn’t already have enough lists, I like to also create a monthly goal checklist that breaks down some of these larger bucket list goals into manageable bites throughout the year and focuses on growth in several areas of life (physically, spiritually, financially, relationally, etc…) to help me track my progress and growth each month.

 

What’s your plan for this year?

goal

Bucket List Year-End Review

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I still can’t believe that 2017 has already exited the scene to make way for 2018. This past year was full of the usual adventures and a few new ones too. We celebrated birthdays, enjoyed two full years of living in our new home, explored NYC with the girls,  took a family cruise to Mexico, enrolled Addie in Pre-K 3 and dance, visited Disney again, and again, and again, and took a weekend escape to check Niagara Falls and Cedar Point off of the bucket list. Oh yeah…and we decided to invite a new member into our family….Baby Harvey #2 is coming in June 2018.

Here is the progress made from this year: (not too shabby if I must say!)

  1. Write my own manifesto (from Gretchen Rubin’s Happiness Project)—-CHECK! Maybe I will share this with you guys one day… I love Gretchen Rubin and recommend any of her books if you are looking to be more intentional in your life.
  2. Write a letter to my future self—-CHECK! April @ age 30.
  3. Celebrate my last day of my 20’s—-CHECK!
  4. Plan (and have) a spa day—Hubby helped with this task! The facial and massage from Milan Esthetics was wonderful!
  5. Do Adult Disney—CHECK! We got to see visit the Inaugural International Festival of the Arts at EPCOT!
  6. See the Rocky Mountains— CHECK! Rocky Mountain National Park was just as amazing as I thought it would be. Colorado is a MUST SEE state in my book!
  7. Fly fish— YES! We look lessons in Estes, Park Colorado. See photo evidence below!
  8. Sand surf–-YES! We made life-long memories here in Great Sand Dunes National Park, Colorado. BTW…the sand gets up to 150 degrees so make sure you wear SHOES!!! (Thanks for NOTHING Trip Advisor, hahah!).
  9. Stay in a Deluxe Disney Resort– NOPE I can’t part with the cash to pay for the price tag of this particular adventure.
  10. Hang Glide— NOT YET
  11. Sleep in a tree house—NOT YET
  12. Learn about floral arts— DOES PINTEREST COUNT?
  13. Take a cooking class-–YES, thanks Justin and Meredith!
  14. Master the art of the sugar cookie—-HM…maybe next year!
  15. Plant bougainvillea–-YES, thanks Hubby for the birthday gift. I hope the cold hasn’t killed them this week. 😦
  16. Reach goal weight (finally)—Well, I am currently expanding due to this new baby.
  17. Pay off student loans— YES! CHECK!
  18. Develop a “big girl” skin care routine—Well, sort-of…but I could use more work on this one so I am going to keep it for next year too.
  19. Visit a new state-— CHECK and CHECK!!! Michigan and Colorado. Currently on 38
  20. Visit a new country—Nope, although we did go back to Canada and Mexico this year.
  21. Explore Universal’s Harry Potter World—NOPE!
  22. Complete a Reading Challenge—-HAHAHAH. Do Addie’s  books count?
  23. Learn Spanish (again…)—-NOPE
  24. Prepare for an emergency (so we won’t get totally caught off guard by something like Hurricane Matthew again.)—-This is about half way complete, but we could still use some more work.
  25. Attend Dragon Con-–CHECK!!!
  26. Plan and implement seasonal bucket lists/monthly challenges-–CHECK! I got a little slack after morning sickness set in, but other than that we were pretty consistent.

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