Body, Mind, & Soul

Oh my goodness, it has been a while! I realized that I have gone off the charts, MIA if you will, when it comes to blogging… I could give you a thousand excuses (“I’ve been busy”, “but I have a new job”, “I’m lazy”), but when it comes down to it, I frankly forgot I had a blog and didn’t make it a priority. You’ll see in my New Year’s Resolutions that the priority has shifted!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Lots has been happening in the last few months (really, it has). Nathaniel and I ran three 5K’s in Nov-Dec, which were all a lot of fun. We ran the St. Paul Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving, the Ugly Sweater Run (sponsored by Sam Adams, yum!), and the Reindeer Run. The Reindeer Run was by far the coldest, it was -11 degrees and Nathaniel’s facial hair froze! Regardless of the temperature, or discomfort of wearing four layers of clothing, we had a lot of fun and definitely felt accomplished at the end. These races all led me to my first New Year’s Resolution – Run one race each month (Resolution #1). I ran the Polar Dash 5K on January 1 and will be running the Valentine’s Day 5K with Nathaniel on February 15. I have the rest mapped out for the year, just a matter of registering (currently registered for 6/12). Making plans to run races is great, but I don’t want to stay at a stagnant 5K, which led me to my next New Year’s Resolution – Increase my distance (Resolution #2)! I’m going to aim big with one extra mile each month, knowing I have a 7K in March, a 10K in May, and another 10K in November. Worse case scenario, I only get up to 10K, but that would still be doubling what I can do now!

All this running can get difficult if you aren't eating healthy - do I smell Resolution #3? Now, don't get me wrong, I don't think I eat poorly (I avoid fast food, avoid frozen meals, etc), but I could certainly incorporate two healthy meals a week (as in, from cooking magazines, health websites, etc). But, you may ask, what good is being healthy and running a lot if you can't afford to register for those expensive races? Well, I'm glad you asked... Bring on Resolution #4 - Be more strict with my budget. I started using YNAB (You Need A Budget) a few months ago and it changed my life... No, seriously, it changed my life. I no longer live paycheck to paycheck, I can anticipate where my money will be going, and best of all - it helps with savings goals (like saving to purchase race registrations). It's lovely, really - you should try it. 

Ugly Sweater 5K

There's a lot more to a healthy lifestyle than just working out, eating healthy, and saving money. You need to be mentally and emotionally healthy as well, at least I know I do. Which brings me to Resolutions #5 and #6 - Hone in on my craftiness and De-clutter my mind. These may sound like silly resolutions to you, but let me explain... I love to craft, like really love it. My problem? I "Pin" way too many crafts, buy too many materials, and have a very long "projects" list, that I get overwhelmed and never get down to it. So this year, I will be setting aside time for each. One month I will focus on sewing and break in my new sewing machine (thanks, Mom!), one month it will be card making, one month scrapbooking, one month Silhouette Cameo crafts (thanks, fam & Nathaniel!), and so on... I still need to make a list (there I go again with the lists) of each "topic" and assign a month, but that's the goal. Finally, de-cluttering my mind... Having an amazing support system of family, boyfriend, friends, has made me realize that no one should live rent free in my mind. That means, I need to de-clutter of grudges, gripes, and gossip. That means soul searching, self help books, meditation... whatever it takes to be at peace with past circumstances and always looking for the bright side of situations and days. 

To recap, my six New Year's Resolutions of 2014 are... 

Run one race each month! 

Increase my distance!

Healthy eating!

Strict on budgeting!

Hone in on craftiness

De-clutter my mind

Blog world... Hold me to, 'em. I'm counting on you!

Oh and New Year's Resolution #7... Blog more ;) Oops! Coming up next, an update on my newest adventures as a nanny. Until then... XO

Bella, meet Ginger!

This post was written back in August, oops... I promise to write soon with my new adventures. In fact, maybe "blog more often" should become a New Years Resolution!

Wowza, what a whirlwind of weeks!

Last week, Nathaniel, Bella, and I made the very long drive home to Massachusetts. It took us two days, roughly 15 hours a day on the road (including stops and traffic), to get home but it was so worth it! Bella loves being in the car so luckily we didn’t have any issues with her. We had an exciting few days at home where Bella was able to meet some of her family and everyone loved her. We spent the weekend at my parents’ house and my sisters (along with Brandon and George) came by a few times.

When we arrived home on Thursday, we attempted to properly introduce Bella and Ginger. This proved more difficult than we imagined since both dogs were extremely excited. After Bella got her puppyness and excitement out of the way, she spent most of the night following Ginger around the house. Soon after, they were finally friends, lying on the couch together. On Friday, Nathaniel and I went to visit Matt. I haven’t seen him in about three years so it was great to visit. That night, Jenna, Andrew, and George came over for dinner. We had similar excitement with George and Bella, but a much more vocal excitement! They played and rough housed a bit in the backyard before we went inside to eat. All in all, it was a successful meeting between all dogs!

Saturday was Katie and Iolando’s wedding, the reason we came home. To say this was the most beautiful wedding I have ever attended would be an understatement. It is beautiful to witness two people who are so in love become husband and wife. The ceremony was perfect for them – they wrote their own vows, one friend performed a song, another read a poem. It was an intimate day of love and friendship. The reception was so much fun, we danced all night with our friends. Among seeing two amazing souls get married, it was a blast to see my mentor and so many of our friends in one place… friends we don’t get to see often. I don’t think the day could have been any better!

Sunday the whole family came over to have a mini birthday dinner for Brandon since we can’t come home for his party in August. Brandon loved Bella and she loved him! She kept going over and licking his feet, then would walk around so everyone could play with her… returning to Brandon to lick his feet! We also learned that Brandon isn’t the only one that loves when Grandpa blows bubbles ;) Bella really is an amazing dog and she especially loves kids, so it worked out perfectly. Unfortunately we had to leave on Monday and spent the next two days driving back to Minnesota. It is nice to be back to our normal routines but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t already miss Massachusetts. I would love to be back home for good with my family. But for now, I’ve got a job to do here and a city to explore.

Until next time…