Sleeping on the couch for the past week (post surgery) has thrown my already off schedule into almost complete disarray. Add in the frequent naps (again, part of the healing process) and I seem to lack any desire to go to bed at a reasonable hour.
I'm aware this will need to change (and quickly), but for now, I'm channeling my unconventional sleeping patterns into productive tasks.
For example, tonight I:
1) Wrote a new grant proposal for donor's choose. You can donate {here}. I'm asking for bean bag chairs and other flexible seating options for my classroom.
2) Continued to clean out and organize the pantry. I also cleaned out the fridge. However, I'm only able to lift things under ten pounds, so it was not a long cleaning session.
3) Stumbled upon this gem:
4) Finished all the mandatory training videos! (insert the praise hands emoji here!)
5) Made a new sale on {TpT}. This past month has been really expensive, so if people could download items from my store...that'd be great.
6) Made a to do list for tomorrow. I've got a planning session (we're going to try to hammer out the first six weeks) and going to the grocery store when he gets home from work. I'm also planning on a nap because I'm thinking all the planning will wear out my brain.
Me: 1, Insomnia: 0
I just got done with a really inspiring conference call with some of the women in my {Younique} tribe. We talked about goal setting and adding joy back into our make up posts, which perfectly corresponds with my {Joyous June} posts.
So, because I'm all fired up (and well rested), I thought I'd carve out some time to do summer goal setting.
1) Craft for others. I made a sign for my friend for her future job:
And another is in the works!
2) Help others. One friend wants me to help her decorate her mantle while another wants help redecorating her little boy's room. My future MIL wants help redecorating their house. I will happily lend my shopping services to others!
3) Read.
I'm working on The Hidden Oracle and loving it. I've got Al Capone does my Homework and Wonder on my night stand. I also have Love and Logic to help me shift some practices in my classroom instruction.
4) Get ahead for next year.
I accepted the position as a 4/5 literacy representative for my school. This doesn't mean I'm out of the classroom. What it means is all my preps have been bought out for what I assume are meetings, trainings, and observations. I will have to make sure I get to work extra early to be fully ready for my day.
5) Develop more products for TpT.
Right now I'm sitting at 177. My end of summer goal is to be at 200. I have a few that need to be cleaned up (now that I've field tested them with the fifth graders), a few in the works, and a few that are just floating around in my head.
6) Organize the garage.
Since a bulk of my teaching things had to come home for the summer because my classroom was being painted and used for summer school, the garage became the dumping ground. I'd like to finish sorting through teaching materials and organize all our stuff into boxes.
7) Organize the house.
The pantry has fallen into disarray. I need to get read of clothes that no longer fit or shoes I haven't worn in years. It's time to declutter and simplify. I might as well deep clean while I'm at it.
8) Try new things. Even if they're scary.
Tomorrow's is a whole series of selfies about a new lip stain. Next week I'll try self tanner. The week after that? New cocktail recipes.
9) Write more. I have a few new journals. I enjoy blogging here. I need to get out of my head and onto paper (or screen) more often.
10) Exercise more. Today was a good start!
What are your goals?
Welcome, 2016.
I have some big goals for you. Twelve in fact, so let's get started on this new year.
1) Make healthier life choices.
I'm competing in my school's "biggest loser" competition, so I'm enjoying my last weekend of glorious, fattening foods. Starting Monday, healthier habits will ensue. I'll be giving up soda. We'll be cooking more at home and eating dinner before six pm. There will be less chips and more veggies and fruits. I'll hit my 10,000 steps a day and Waffles will get more walks. When we're watching television, we'll do stretches and lift on commercials. Smaller, healthier changes are in store for both of us. Both financial gain (biggest loser) and appearance (hello wedding dress in November) are huge motivators.
2) Be more adventurous...in the kitchen.
Anyone who knows me knows I hate cooking. I hate it. I always come up with a variety of excuses (it's hard to cook for one, I hate left overs, it's time consuming, etc). So, we're taking baby steps to counter act this. B and I will be trying one new recipe each week. We're starting with some crock pot meals and branching out from there. We're planning ahead and making grocery lists, together.
3) Be more organized.
I wrote about my first steps towards organization {earlier} and am looking forward to making small, purposeful changes.
4) Work smarter
Just small tweaks at work will make a huge difference. First, I'm going to print out rosters for each subject. Second, I'm stapling answer keys to the back of the rosters. Third, I'm setting a timer. I work best in the morning, so that's when I'll complete my tasks. Instead of grading at night, I'll grade in the morning. I wake up early enough to be able to set aside an hour before work each day (if needed) and still have time to get ready. I need to shut my door and be more focused when I'm at work. I'll never get everything done...and that's okay.
5) Stop Comparing Myself to Others
This one is self explanatory, but crucial. I'm not like my coworkers and I'm only in competition with myself.
6) Read more
I've got five more books for Battle of the Books by April, but I also want to make sure I'm taking time for myself to read each day. I've got a stack of books that I'm dying to dive into!
7) Take more "me" and "we" time...without feeling guilty
There's a running club at school I'd like to visit after school on Wednesdays. Some of my students are in it, so I think it'd be a nice way to build up a relationship with them. I also want to limit technology time and do more fun stuff as a couple, not just simultaneously work on things in the same room and call it together time. I'm also giving myself permission to leave work on time and do fun things on the weekend. For me, this means craft time, nap time, and reading. For B, his "me" time is soft ball (which I'll try to go to more games) and video games. We also want to go hiking and do more couple activities with friends.
8) Focus on the right people
I set ridiculously high expectations for myself. I often invest too much energy and emotion into friendships, which when not reciprocated, leaves me devastated. So this year, to the best of my ability, I will not focus on those that don't want to be my friend and instead cultivate the relationships that matter.
9) Work Less, Live More
As a teacher, I far exceed forty hours a week. With three side businesses ({Teacherspayteachers}, {Jamberry}, and {Younique}), I often feel pulled in several directions at once. I'm going to set small, purposeful goals and then spend the rest of my time doing things I want to do. Sure, I'd like to hit promotions within my small businesses, but I'm also not willing to be that annoying, crazy sales lady. I hope my friends know that I'm all about girl time, mimosas, and bonding. Essentially, my business motto is this: If you want pretty nail wraps or make up, let me know! If you're just here for the brownies, that's cool too.
10) Fiscal Responsibility
News flash: weddings are expensive. I'm blessed to have help from my mom, B's family, and loved ones. While we're both seizing opportunities for overtime, I think we need to curtail our spending. Part of this will come from planning ahead for meals, so we aren't tempted to pick up take out on the way home. Part of this means focusing on big expenses (security door, new couch, new bedroom set, new flooring, vacations, and so forth) rather than short term items. We're couponing (thank you Cartwheel app!) and B's been doing a better job of comparing the prices of items, rather than just grabbing something off the shelf. In 2015, we paid off our new dishwasher, our security door, a new water heater, his wedding band, and his truck. We'll have our credit cards paid off in February and my car will be paid off before the wedding. I'm already funding my 403b at work on a monthly basis, but I'd like to be more serious about funding my Roth IRA and saving for the future. Luckily, most of our friends are feeling a bit poor after the holidays (you know, like the rest of the country) so we're all in this fiscal responsibility thing together!
11) Find more joy
Teaching, at times, is the most disappointing of careers. There's a lot of politics involved and I'm not paid enough, plain and simple. But instead, I'm going to focus on cultivating joy and authentic learning experiences in the classroom.
This extends outside of work. I'm excited about my wedding. But there's lots between now and November to be thrilled about as well. Waffles will turn one in March and have a Barkday celebration. The cats will turn five in April (how did that happen?), B and my bestie both turn 30 (uh oh!). I've got two other weddings (that I know of...), engagement shower(s)?, and engagement pictures. We bought our close friends an escape room ticket, so a group of 8 of us will be doing that soon.
I want to make my weekends mean something, and that means adding more joy (and less work) into my life.
12) Use the internet with intention
We've all been there. I sit down to check facebook real quick, but then I'm reading things I don't need to. I'm checking up on what other people are doing instead of living my own life. Then pinterest calls, and soon enough, an hour has gone by with nothing to show. The internet is crucial, but I want to set time limits and use it with intention. A large part of this means to stop multi-tasking. Yes, it seems counter productive, but I need to focus. If I'm working on a region ppt, I should have open ppt and only internet tabs related to what I'm working on. It seems simple enough and ties right in with working smarter.
What are your goals for this new year?
It's a new year and for most of us, that means new resolutions and a fresh start.
I'm not quite ready to sift through my thoughts in terms of resolutions, but I will share one:
Be more organized.
I struggle, at times, to stay organized. I have the best intentions, but follow through can be tricky. I'm working on it!
But, I've already made a few significant gains in this area!
First, I bought a {new calendar} and put all the crucial dates on it (math trainings, days off, our wedding, and so forth).
More importantly, I showed B where it is (same place as last year) and asked him to write his extra commitments on it instead of just telling me. I also made sure pens are nearby, so there's no excuse!
There were lots of cute options, but I went with the cheapest and smallest...still fun! I'm trying to be considerate of his feelings and not have polka dots on everything we own...
I think part of my struggle with calendars and planners is which option to go with. It seems silly, but it's a debate in my mind each year if I want to organize my life from January to December or August to July. I think I've finally settled on January through December for the house, and August to July for my school calendar. I always tend to fall in love with new planners in January, but I'm not going to get a new one for half of a school year.
Teacher problems, people!
Also, I realized my gift wrapping containers were getting a little full, which brings me to my second area of organization: the guest bedroom.
See, I save gift bags and reuse them. I stock up on gift bags and wrapping paper after the holidays when it's on sale. I'm also not ashamed to snag cute bags when they're on sale, because I hate spending full price on wrapping supplies.
So, yesterday I bought this gem at Target (save $5 when you spend $25!)
...and used it to organize my gift wrapping supplies this morning. The top drawer has gift labels (which I love finding cute options in the Dollar Spot), the middle is assorted tissue paper, and the bottom is for bags and gift boxes.
The whole project took about ten minutes, but I feel so much better now!
Task three: the fridge
After returning from vacation, we threw away left overs and half-used jars (mostly sauces). I looked up new crockpot recipes on pinterest, made a grocery list, and we went shopping. We're trying to eat healthier and try new foods (more on those resolutions later), so this was the first step.
Our fridge is not packed full of food. There is what we plan to eat for the next few days and lots of fresh fruits (bananas, pineapple) and veggies. We stocked our freezer and pantry, but the fridge will be about half full. We want to do a better job at making sure we eat what we buy.
I'll spend the next few days slowly putting Christmas and winter decorations away. I'll tidy up the house as I go. My desk at work is a little scary when I think about it, but that's a Monday morning problem!
I'm excited to start the year organized!
What are some of your new years resolutions?
