January Health Goals

This year I really want to focus on my health.  Last year was probably the worst year I've had health/fitness wise in a long time.  I've gained weight, I feel sluggish, and I've lost a good bit of muscle mass - in short, I feel like crap.  So, this year I want to make monthly goals to get myself back on track.  This blog will be my accountability partner through the year. 

January is about easing myself back into things.   I start back at the gym tomorrow and have my routine all written out.  I've started adding more healthy things to my plate each meal.  For example, instead of buying kettle cooked chips to eat with lunch, I bought strawberries and clementines. 

What I really want to focus on this month, though, is drinking enough water.  Anyone who knows me in real life knows that water is pretty much all I drink.  However, I feel like I don't drink enough, so I really want to focus on making sure I'm getting at least 65oz (about 2 liters) of water per day.   I have broken this goal up into a few "subgoals" to make this easier and to make it easier to track.

1. Drink one 8oz glass of water before each meal

Water always makes me feel full, therefore my portions are smaller if I drink a glass of water before each meal.  It is recommended to drink a full glass approximately 20 minutes before each meal.  This will help with both keeping hydrated and keeping my portion sizes under control.

2. Drink two 8oz glasses of water right after waking up

Doing this has many benefits but the main thing I'm concerned with is that it kick starts your metabolism.  Some other benefits are that it eliminates toxins, re-hydrates your brain, and stimulates your digestive system.

3. Use my Fitbit to track my water intake 

I used to always wear my Fitbit and now I hardly ever do.  Back in 2016 when I was wearing it regularly, I was keeping track of both my food intake and my water intake.  It's a habit I want to get back in to, and I'll start with my water intake.

Next month I hope to have a few more goals to help me get a good gym schedule going, but for now this is a pretty good start. 

Meet Belle

I am a terrible doggy Mom!  We've had this pretty lady since November 29th and I have yet to introduce her.  Everyone, meet Belle!

Our first pup, Bolt is very active and very social.  We (I) started noticing that he seemed a bit down over the summer - except when we would go to the dog park and play with other dogs.  I told Josh about this and we decided that we'd get another dog, but not until he got back from deployment.  I thought it would be a better idea to wait until after Christmas because we'd be going home for Christmas and I didn't think we'd be able to find a place to board a dog on such short notice ... but my husband does what he wants.

Josh told me one random day that he was going to go down to the SPCA and "just look".  I had been closely following the dogs on their FB site and didn't think any were a good fit for Bolt, so I wasn't worried and just humored him.   I then get a text message while I'm at work and this is what I see ...

... all I said was "shit".  I knew we were getting this dog.  She was a stray and they had just gotten her in - she didn't even have a name, we named her.  She was in isolation after getting her shots and flea stuff which is why I didn't see her on the site.  We were the first ones to know about her and the first to put in an application.   All we had to do was get Bolt over there to meet her and make sure they got along.  When I first saw her I was a bit worried, she was way smaller than she looked in pictures and Bolt can be a bit rough.  She was only 9 months so she still has some growing left to do and I quickly realized that girlfriend can hold her own.   Luckily they got along really great, and our application was accepted.  They said we could pick her up that Wednesday because she was scheduled to get spayed on Tuesday.

The first few days royally sucked because she was crated for most of the day.  Since she had just gotten spayed she couldn't play with Bolt for at least a week, so we had to get creative with letting them get to know each other.  It actually worked really well.  We also let her roam around the spare bedroom since there was nothing high that she could jump on and nothing for her to get in to. 

Once she was healed and could play with Bolt, it was nonstop fun for them!  She absolutely adores him, and has no trouble keeping up with him.   It's been fun watching them become fast friends!  We definitely love our little princess!

50 States Books

Last week I wrote about my reading goals for the year, including finishing the 50 States Challenge.  I figured I'd share the books I've chosen for this challenge just in case anyone else was thinking about tackling this. 

Alabama: The Splendor Falls by Rosemary Clement-Moore

Alaska: Upstream by Melissa Lion

Arizona: Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli

Arkansas: Where Things Come Back by John Corey Whaley

California: Emmy and Oliver by Robin Benway

One of Us Is Lying by Karen McManus

Colorado: The Shining by Stephen King

Connecticut: All Is Not Forgotten by Wendy Walker

One for the Murphys by Lynda Mullaly Hunt

Delaware: Are You Scared Yet by Hunter Morgan

Florida: Abandon by Meg Cabot

Georgia: The Good Daughter by Karin Slaughter

Pretty Girls by Karin Slaughter

Hawaii: Moloka’i by Alan Brennert

Idaho: Idaho by Emily Ruskovich

Illinois: An Abundance of Katherines by John Green

Time Between Us by Tamara Ireland Stone

Indiana: The Wishing Season by Denise Hunter

Iowa:  Readers of the Broken Wheel Recommend by Katarina Bivald

Ashfall by Mike Mullin

Kansas: The Scent of Rain and Lightning by Nancy Pickard

Kentucky: Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry

Louisiana: Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris

Never Never by Colleen Hoover

Maine: Picture This by Jacqueline Sheehan

Maryland: Divine Fall by Kathryn Knight

Avalon High by Meg Cabot

Massachusetts: Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

Michigan: Marlena by Julie Buntin

Shut Out by Kody Keplinger

The Goddess Test by Aimee Carter

Minnesota: Those Who Save Us by Jenna Blum

Mississippi: The Chamber by John Grisham

Missouri: Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

Montana: After the Rain by Renee Carlino

My One and Only by Kristan Higgins

Nebraska: Tease by Amanda Maciel

Nevada: Void Moon by Michael Connelly

New Hampshire: Love and Leftovers by Sarah Tregay

New Jersey: Close Enough to Touch by Colleen Oakley

New Mexico: First Grave on the Right by Darynda Jones

New York: Faithful by Alice Hoffman

The Night Garden by Lisa Van Allen

North Carolina: The Peach Keeper by Sarah Addison Allen

North Dakota: A Country Christmas by Debbie Macomber

Ohio: Calling Me Home by Julie Kibler

Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng

Bet Me by Jennifer Cruise

Oklahoma: Hereafter by Tara Hudson

The Art of Crash Landing by Melissa DeCarlo

Oregon: The Shack by Wm. Paul Young

Pennsylvania: Only Ever You by Rebecca Drake

Rhode Island: Sing You Home by Jodi Picoult

South Carolina: Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia

South Dakota: Blood Ties by Lori G. Armstrong

Tennessee: Breathe, Annie, Breathe by Miranda Kenneally

Texas: The Truth About Alice by Jennifer Mathieu

Utah: Everneath by Brodi Ashton

Vermont: All the Best People by Sonja Yoerg

Virginia: P.S. I Still Love You by Jenny Han

The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom

Washington: I was Here by Gayle Forman

West Virginia: The Truth According to Us by Annie Barrows

Wisconsin: Dairy Queen by Catherin Gilbert Murdock

Better off Friends by Elizabeth Eulberg

Wyoming: Like Mandarin by Kirsten Hubbard

Book Reviews: December

Happy to say I ended 2017 on a good note as far as reading goes.  I enjoyed all of the books I read in December and I really hope this continues into January :)
Linking Up Here

This book was not what I expected at all!  I LOVED it!  To be honest, this book didn't seem like something I'd like, but it seemed like everyone loved it so I decided to check it out.  TJR does such a good job of bringing Evelyn Hugo to life - she is such a well developed character!  Her life story is so heartbreaking and totally not what I was expecting at all.   Definitely read this book  ... 4/5

This was probably my least favorite of the series so far, but the ending was good enough that I will probably read the next book.  I don't know what it was about this one but it just didn't grab me like the first two did.  I'd still recommend the series to anyone who likes this kind of thing ... 3/5

I have mixed feelings about this book.  I did enjoy it and it was definitely a quick read.  I did find myself having trouble putting this book down.  However, the ending was so rushed that it kind of spoiled the book a bit for me.   I loved Ava and Leah's parts of the story and I do think they tied those stories together really well at the end.  While Marglyn and Darcy's stories were important, I just wasn't as in to them.  I do think this book is worth reading and I did enjoy it - I just wish it was a bit longer ... 3/5

I was really looking forwards to this book because one of the main characters was obviously on the Autism spectrum.  He had a lot of the same characteristics as my brother - sensitive to clothing, sensitive to sound (he also wears noise canceling headphones), intensely focused on things he's interested in.  I think she did a great job with David's character and I really enjoyed reading the chapters from his perspective.  I liked Kit, too but David is what really made this book great for me.  I did have a "oh no, please don't" moment when I thought this was going to be a "she's all that" kind of book where the nerd becomes cool, but it wasn't - thank goodness!  I really enjoyed this book and will be checking out more by this author ... 4/5.

This was a cute Pride and Prejudice "retelling", I enjoyed the story and I liked the characters for the most part.  What knocked this down in stars for me was the horrible editing.  I found tons of missing punctuation marks and 3 incomplete sentences that made no sense.  She needs a new editor ... 3/5

2018 Reading Goals

I don't have many goals for this year, but since 2017 was such a horrible reading year for me I wanted to set some book/reading related goals.   My Goodreads goal is to read 60 books this year, which is almost double what I read last year.   These challenges should help me reach that goal!

1. Finish Erin's Book Challenge 

I wrote about this here and shared which books I chose for each category.   I have only participated in this challenge once and majorly failed.  I am determined to finish it this time.  I made it easier on myself by working hard to find books that I really wanted to read.

2. Complete a 50 States Challenge
This goal has been haunting me for years!  I started a 50 states challenge in 2015 and said both 2016 and 2017 were going to be the years I finished ... they were not.  So I am starting over.  This year I am going to do the whole challenge in one year if it kills me!  I have a list of books (some states have a few options) ready to go and the ones that are available through the MWR library are bookmarked!  This is happening!

3. Begin the Around the World in 80 Books Challenge
This is another goal that I had been half-assing over the last few years.  I wont actually be starting this goal until I do my new 101 in 1001 list (starting in spring) but I do intend to start this and make a dent in it by the end of the year by reading 10 books.   I have a pretty good list of books started and will post the (hopefully) finished list of books I want to read after I post my new 101 in 1001 list.  Any suggestions for books taking place in a foreign country are more than welcome!

4. Read Books I Own
I have a bunch of books sitting on my shelf that I haven't read yet.  Some have been sitting there for years!  I'd like to read at least half of these by the end of the year, but I'm really aiming to read all of them.

2018 Debt Free Goals

Happy New Year, Everyone!!!  For me, this year is all about paying off debts!  Last year was a great start for us as far as getting out of debt.  We really began in May and paid off a total of $6425 (extra).  I know this year can be better, first because we have the whole year, and second because I have two steady jobs - one of which will pick up big time over the summer.  Also, Josh should be home for a good portion of the year so we can really work together on our budget and our other financial goals.

1. Pay off our Personal Loan and Josh's Car
These are the two debts I know for sure that we can pay off this year (and also the last of the student loan we're paying on currently).  It'll take hard work and being hermits, but that's OK.  I know for sure that we can have the personal loan paid off by summer.  If Josh gets "per diem" pay from his deployment, it could be paid off by March or April. 

2. Use the envelope system and pay for things in cash
This was pretty much impossible to do while Josh was on deployment because there were so many variables in our budget.   I really want to get into the groove of using cash and knowing exactly how much money we have.  I have been using envelopes for different things we've had to save for, such as the repairs on my car, Josh's laptop, Christmas, and doggy camp (boarding) and it's worked really well.

3. Have Bi-weekly budget meetings
This was also impossible to do while Josh was on deployment.  I never knew when I'd get to talk to him and sometimes could go days or weeks with nothing.  This year, I want to make it a habit for us to talk about our finances.  Josh gets paid bi-weekly and since we mostly live off his paycheck, I figured we'd have the meetings once his paycheck is pending in our account.

4. Sell all the things! 
I keep forgetting to go to the thrift store and pick up my checks and drop things off!  I have a box of things that still need to be taken to the thrift shop and I'm pretty sure I have a least 1 check there that I haven't picked up!   Some of the things I need to sell are seasonal for spring and summer, but most of it isn't and I'm just being lazy.  So my goal is to make it to the thrift shop at least 1 time per month.

5. MEAL PLAN!
I am putting this in capital letters because we suck at this and we need to stop sucking at this!   When I look at where most of our money is wasted, it's food!  So this year we really need to suck it up and do weekly meal plans before I go to the grocery store.  I really think this will help cut food costs and help us reach our goals faster!  It's just tedious and neither of us wants to do it, haha!

Have a great first day of 2018!!