2019 Goals Update

I made a list of goals at the beginning of 2019. I shared it on my blog, on Instagram, and made my list my background on my phone. I am really inspired to meet my goals this year, so I thought updates every few months would be a fun way to measure progress, but also see where I am lacking! Here is my 3 month update! (See below for the background I have on my phone. I like to see my goals everyday).

1. Blog consistently: This has been ok so far. I tried setting up a more formal schedule. This works and doesn’t work for me. Some weeks I am not as inspired to write. Others I have something I could post everyday. I may try a bit more planning and even scheduling more posts out since that is something I don’t do often.

2. Visit New York City: I have a flight booked and I am so excited! I will be sure to do a recap of this trip after it happens. You will have to stay tuned for that! Also, leave any recommendations in the comments.

3. Start a podcast: I would say I am only a little further into this goal than I was when I made it. I have been trying to gauge what I want to talk about and what I want the overall theme of the podcast to be. I am thinking I want to have a bunch of guests or I want it to be more travel oriented. We will see! If you have any topic suggestions, let me know.

4. Travel to 3 new places. So far I have only been to one new place this year: Arizona. I cannot wait to go back sometime. Connor and I have a trip coming up that will be another new place for me! As well as the trip to New York City. I am definitely setting myself up to exceed this goal.

5. Learn to cook: I have mentioned this is a couple of posts. I had a week where I was cooking something new everyday. I made fancy ramen, experimented with different types of pasta dishes, and made vegan tacos. Lately, I feel like Connor and I have been so busy with work or we are out of town, so it hasn’t been my priority. I think we are going to try to cook something new this week though! It really is fun to try cooking new things. I always feel so proud of myself after since I have never been a super great cook.

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Answering My Questions

I am following up my last post where I asked you questions with my own answers to my questions.

1. What are some of your hobbies?

Blogging and traveling. I feel like my hobbies are always changing, but these are two that I will hopefully always continue to do!

2. How long have you been blogging or reading blogs?

I have been blogging for almost 4 years. I have been reading them for about 5! I don’t even know how I got into blogging. I think I randomly decided to start one, but I’m so happy I did!

3. If you could only eat one thing everyday, what would it be?

I would say blueberries or rice with cottage cheese if I am eating at home, or ramen if I have to eat at a restaurant.

4. Favorite vacation spot?

I would say I like Miami the best for vacation. The weather is great, the drinks/food are delicious, and there are fun places to adventure to. I also feel like beaches are the ultimate vacation spot because I always associate beach vacations with relaxation.

5. Dream vacation spot?

Australia or Argentina. I feel like Australia is somewhere I would want to live. I watch so many people on YouTube who live in Australia and it looks awesome. Argentina has been at the top of my list since high school. We talked about it in Spanish class a lot, and that sparked my interest. Hopefully I will get to visit these places someday soon!

6. What is one thing that always makes you happy?

Podcasts– you are probably tired of hearing me go on about podcasts, but they have had such a positive impact on my life.

7. What is your go-to coffee/tea order?

I have a few different ones depending on where I go, but a matcha latte is my usual order! If I’m craving a coffee, I love to get a caramel latte with almond milk.

8. What is your biggest goal right now?

Starting a podcast is my biggest goal right now. I have a mic and ideas, I just need to get all the technical aspects figured out.

9. What motivates you the most?

Being happy and feeling proud of myself.

10. What is your favorite way to relax?

A yummy meal with Connor, my favorite face mask, and a TV show!

11. If you could move anywhere, where would you move?

I would move to Arizona or Utah. I would love to move out West to explore that part of the country more. I feel like nature is something I miss a lot because I live in a big city, so being out West would bring me closer to so many cool places!

12. What is the best advice you have ever been given?

This isn’t necessarily advice, but it’s something my science teacher told me in 7th grade. She told me the world was my oyster. I like to remember that I can do anything I set my mind to. Nothing is impossible and set backs should never keep me from chasing my dreams or reaching my goals. I feel like there are so many other pieces of advice and encouragement that I have received over the years. Maybe I will do a post on that some time!

Questions For You!!

I was thinking about this post while I was making a bagel for Connor today. I thought about how I always talk about my thoughts, my weekend, etc. in my blog posts. I would love to learn more about all of you, so I thought it would be fun to put some questions together for you to answer in the comments, or even in your own post!

1. What are some of your hobbies?

2. How long have you been blogging or reading blogs?

3. If you could only eat one thing everyday, what would it be?

4. Favorite vacation spot?

5. Dream vacation spot?

6. What is one thing that always makes you happy?

7. What is your go-to coffee/tea order?

8. What is your biggest goal right now?

9. What motivates you the most?

10. What is your favorite way to relax?

11. If you could move anywhere, where would you move?

12. What is the best advice you have ever been given?

Feel free to answer all of the questions or some of the questions! I will share my answers in my next post.

Thanks for following along with all of my random posts– blogging is one of my favorite things that I do each week. I look forward to posting and reading all of your posts. I hope you all have the best day!

No Room for Negativity

My levels of positivity have been all over the place the past few years. There was a period of my life where I don’t think I experienced an emotion other than pure happiness. There have also been times in my life where I wasn’t so positive. Overall, at this moment in my life, I would say I am positive person. I like to see the bright side. I like to see people smile and succeed. I like to make the best of any situation. I try not to stress about little things that won’t really matter the next year, the next day, or even the next hour.

I have been a “real adult” for over 6 months now. Things happen. Life happens. But what I am 100% sure of is there is no room for negativity. There is always something to be happy about or grateful for.

A few weeks ago I went to the doctor because I hadn’t been feeling well. I now have $400 to pay for my appointments. Yeah, it’s not my favorite thing in the world. I would much rather save that money or go on a trip, but I am happy that I went to the doctor. I am thankful that nothing was wrong and that I am healthy. There is always a positive spin on things.

If I am feeling grumpy about waking up early to go to work, or something along those lines, I try to think of it differently. I have a job. So many people don’t have jobs and would love to wake up and head into work. I am so grateful that I have the chance to improve myself professionally each day. So yeah, every work day isn’t going to be perfect. I’m not going to jump out of bed every morning, but what I can do is try my best and smile my way through life.

Being grateful and seeing the good is so important. It has made me an even happier person. I truly believe that smiling and being a positive person spreads so easily to others. For me, at this time in my life, there is no room for negativity. I always want to have a reason to be happy.

Tips to Create Positivity in Any Situation

1. Step away from a negative situation: take a walk, workout, get a coffee, put your headphones in to enjoy a podcast or music, etc.

2. Slow down: rushing around and feeling like you are in a big hurry can make you stressed. I know if I am in a rush to get to work and something gets in my way, I can get annoyed or frustrated. When I feel this way, I slow down and take a longer route to work.

3. Smile: having a smile on your face puts a smile on someone else’s face. Spread the happiness!

4. Create a list of goals or a to-do list: even after a “bad day,” seeing the progress you made toward your goals, or crossing things off your list will give you a boost of happiness and accomplishment.

I Have Been Waking Up Earlier and Staying Up Later

Per usual, I’m a bit off schedule on my blog, but we all know I’ll make it up for the missed posts at some point. I feel best about my posts when I feel inspired to write them! I like a schedule, but I also like writing my thoughts as they come to me.

I am sitting on the couch watching Game of Thrones with Connor right now. He told me I had to watch it with him, and I actually really like it! Connor is almost always right about tv shows. Plus, I feel like everyone loves this show, so I should have known it would be good! Anyway, I am sitting here thinking about my life, especially my sleep recently.

Lately, I have been staying up later– 10pm or 11pm. This is late for me as I like to get to bed around 9pm. There were even some nights where I would be dozing off by 8 or 8:30pm. Along with staying up later and not being as tired, I have been waking up earlier, naturally. I usually try to get up by 6:30am. The past couple weeks I have been waking up at 6am, or even earlier.

I have to say, I kind of love it. Aside from the fact I am sometimes not tired when I force myself to go to bed, I feel more energized throughout the day. I am starting to think I have been getting too much sleep!

I feel like I am back to my sophomore year routine where I stayed up so late (much later than I do now) and woke up so early (had to get a long run in before my 8am class). Of course the college schedule was a bit more extreme, but I also didn’t have a full-time job. Anyway, I am feeling more energized lately, so I am going to see how this new routine works out for me! Also, I am craving coffee more than matcha lately, so that could be part of the reason I’m super energized.

Are you an early bird or a night owl? Have you found your perfect amount of sleep? Do you prefer to start your morning with coffee, tea, or something else?

Happy

Happy Thursday! I started writing this on Tuesday night, but I fell asleep haha! Anyway, I feel like I have been very happy lately and I’m so thankful I can say that. Life is never perfect, but feeling content with my life and the things I am doing is a really good feeling.

I was skeptical about moving to Chicago at first. I knew I loved the city. I had a great summer here the year before I moved here officially. I had a lot of friends coming back to work at the company I am at now, so that was comforting. But I really didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life.

I wasn’t sure if the job I took would be the right job for me. I wasn’t sure if Chicago was the city for me. There was just a lot of uncertainty. I wanted to make sure that I was happy.

I am so thankful that I moved here. Chicago is such a fun place to live. I have a nice time at work each day. I think the most important thing about my job to me is my coworkers and the friendships I have built with them. Going to work is so much more fun when you know you’ll get to see your friends.

I guess what I’m saying is you should always do things that are outside of your comfort zone or that you might not be 100% certain about. I am so happy I gave Chicago a chance, took a job here, moved in with Connor, and lots more.

I am excited to see what I’m up to in a year. As long as I’m happy and healthy, I know I will be content with where I am. Of course I want to be successful at work and in my hobbies. I want to travel a lot. I want to do so many things. But most of all, I always want to be happy!

Thanks for reading this random post. I am happy to have all of you sticking around to read about my thoughts, adventures, etc. If there are any posts you want to see, let me know!

Things I Want To Invest More In

Hello everyone! I am back with a new post. I feel like I am really starting to get the hang of my new schedule. It is so nice knowing exactly when I am going to post. I feel super happy when I keep on schedule, but love that I am also writing things I feel like writing, and not just posting to post (hopefully that made sense).

Anyway, I was thinking about the things I invest my time, money, energy, etc. in after listening to a podcast. Shout out to my constant favorite podcast, “What We Said.” The podcast definitely inspired me to consider investments I am making.

Here are 3 things I want to invest more in:

Hair Care/Products: The girls on “What We Said” interviewed a hair stylist who is super successful and great at her job. One thing they discussed at the end was hair products and what the best ones are for your hair. The overall podcast was great and inspiring, but this particular topic got me thinking about the products I use and how much I invest in my hair. I would say I invest very little in this area. I have brown hair and I like the color, so I don’t need to color it or do anything like that. I don’t really style my hair too different each day either. I usually have it in a ponytail, straight, or in a braid. I don’t like to use a lot of heat on my hair, which is good I would say. However, I should invest a bit more time into making my hair look more put together. I should also relearn how to French braid because those always look cute. Additionally, I don’t invest in the products I use. In the podcast they mentioned how most shampoos are mostly made of wax and other ingredients that weigh your hair down. I want to look into a more high end, healthy, or more natural shampoo and conditioner to take better care of my hair, and maybe give it a bit more volume. I could definitely use the volume haha.

Cooking: One of my resolutions for this year was to learn to cook. I can’t say I have made huge strides toward this goal yet, but it is something I am working on little by little. Connor and I have a few cook books, I have so many Pinterest recipes saved, and my mom compiled all of my favorite recipes for me in a little booklet. So basically, I am set when it comes to the actual instructions and meal ideas. For me, the hardest part is investing my time in cooking. I am good about getting my oatmeal ready in the morning, but that isn’t actual cooking. What I find is that I am tired or lazy after work and don’t want to take 30-40 minutes to prepare a meal. I definitely need to invest a bit more time into cooking dinner. One thing that has helped me so far is planning ahead on meals I want to make, and getting the ingredients all at once. I usually run into the issue of not having an ingredient and deciding not to make the meal. Having the ingredients on hand, or even making a substitution for the ingredient are helpful for me. So far, I have invested more time into the dinners I have cooked this week (veggie burrito bowls, ramen, etc.) and I am much more satisfied with the final product.

Fitness: I have always been pretty good about exercising and going to the gym/running. I am not always super motivated to do it, but as long as I make time, it is something I truly enjoy. I have so many exercise and health related goals, and I don’t prioritize them as much as I should. With work, keeping my apartment in order, going on adventures, my hobbies, etc., I can sort of push fitness to the back burner. One thing I have been thinking about and that I want to invest more time and money into is fitness. I have never been a big workout class person, but there are a bunch of classes that I want to try out. I think spending a little bit on classes would be a fun way to mix things up, but also give a little more motivation. I also want to join a gym closer to my apartment. It doesn’t need to be a super fancy gym, but I think having an option closer to home would be great because I don’t always want to work out at the gym in my office building. Plus, I don’t think winter is ever going to end here and I can’t say I love running on the icy sidewalks.

In order to make sure I am investing the time and resources necessary into these areas of my life, I will have small goals to work up to. Research and planning are the two first steps for all of them. Researching good shampoos/hair products for my hair, planning meals for the week & getting the ingredients, and looking into different gyms and classes are all great first steps. Investing in these areas of my life will take a little bit of time, but I know I will be happier and healthier for it.

What is something you want to invest more time, money, or energy into? Do you have any recommendations for hair products, yummy recipes (vegetarian please haha), or fun workout classes (or inexpensive gyms)?