Things Making Me Happy Right Now

I'm going to have to fill the void with a weird post about the things that are making me happy right now because I'm anxiously waiting out some bigger news. I know, it's not fair to tease like that, but hang around because I promise it'll be good. 

:: Adulting so hard. I'm getting closer to telling you all - y'all? - some big news about how life in Memphis is about to change in a big way. For now, the big accomplishment has been sticking to a budget and using gift cards wherever possible for food and entertainment. And maybe coming to terms that his 33rd birthday and our first Valentine's day wouldn't be over the top like we wanted for each other, but still personal and romantic in an extremely us way. (read: ice cream and sneaky sentimentality)

:: The Amazon Echo we got for Christmas from my parents can stream my favorite Portland radio station and take me back to some of my favorite memories from my hometown upbringing. This includes perfectly mood-induced plays of RHCP's Under the Bridge and dramatic Foo Fighters smash-sessions. I incorporate my old friends into my morning get-ready routine.

:: 5% body weight lost since early December and it's staying off consistently through even the sneakiest holidays. Yes, Valentine's is a perfect time for a cheat-day. Yes, your boyfriend's birthday is a perfect time for a cheat-day. Yes, ah Friday. You're a great excuse too. I think my success is still credited to the If It Fits Your Macros way of life through its flexible dieting guidelines. There's still more that I need to master before sharing what this means exactly, but just take my word that protein is your friend and eating more isn't something to be scared of.

:: Daylight Saving Time begins March 13th! I'm a light in the evening type of girl and will welcome the loss of the hour with all my energy. More time to be outside, more time to enjoy the world and more daylight for my favorite new photography backdrops. It's just around the corner.

:: The return of the right-hand ring on Valentine's day. The promise ring you saw me flashing back in 2014 didn't touch my hand in 2015. The question on my guy's mind was, "Does a promise ring lose its value if the promise I made was broken?". Unfortunately, the answer was 'yes' and the reason it was taken off in the first place. So does fourteen months of preserving the ring in the original box next to the ring I gave him revive that value? As long as we live in the now. Not the past and not the future. now.

My Single Girl Behaviors

I've always loved the idea of this post.

I wavered on whether I'd give it a better title like, "This is Why I'm Single" or "Forever Alone", but at the end of the day I thought I could confess some of my single girl behaviors with my main squeeze Melissa.

Do you guys want to play along with confessions? Link up every Wednesday and don't be shy!

What are Single Girl Behaviors?

Well, you don't exactly have to be single to have them. These are the things we do as women when we're alone that we don't really want anyone else to know about. They're things that we wouldn't dare do in the first few months of dating a dude and definitely not parts of us we'd "show off" until the second year of marriage...ha!

Maybe our families know about these weird quirks of ours but somehow they only come up in conversation when we're getting together with family members we only see once every two years. Then we fear that that's the only thing Aunt Mildred took away from seeing us is that ONE TIME we forgot to close the blinds before doing naked yoga in the living room and the terrifying image that she and those poor neighbors were left with.

Okay, so I don't have an Aunt Mildred and I much prefer naked twister, but that's neither here nor there. These are a few of my Single Girl Behaviors.

:: When I walk into the house after work, shoes off + pants off = love.
:: I enjoy using tiny utensils for everyday eats.
:: I drink straight out of the vanilla almond milk carton.
:: The dishwasher is only relevant when I've run out of skillets or tiny utensils.
:: Hallway twerk parties happen daily. You know the hallway, it's where I take all the selfies.

:: The only photos of me are selfies because I have no friends.
:: I play Clash of Clans. I think I've even tweeted about it. Read line above.
:: Laundry, unless my favorite workout clothes, can be "in the laundry" for weeks.

And now for some numbers because I'm a data nerd if you forgot. 

:: 92% - time spent in my bedroom while at home.
:: Average pairs of shoes scattered around the house: 5
:: Grocery store trips per week: 3 - 5
:: Times Mailbox is checked per week: 1 - 3
:: Peanut Butter Jar opened per week: 4 - 6
:: Alarms set per day: 8
:: Alarms snoozed per day: 8
:: Self-manicures per year: 5 (but Amanda gave this tutorial so expect more!)

What about you, do you have Single Girl Behaviors?

You don't have to be "single" to share, but you would be missing out if you're not confessing with Melissa - it's for your health, darling!

Believe in Your Goals

I feel so inspired after reading everyone's March goals yesterday. 

I saw some incredible things floating around blog-world that were more than the usual Monday weekend recap and round-up. 

I saw ladies focused on fitness. I saw ladies focused on reading. I saw ladies focused on organizing their homes, offices and lives. I read about women who wanted to save, to be more present, to live more, to drink more water, to drink ALL of the water until there's none left.  Most importantly these beautiful, honest and vulnerable words were centered around you ladies loving yourselves more. 

And what I loved most from what I read? These ladies believed it. 

You reading, you believed it too. 

You wrote it and you read it and you said "yes!" the same way I did. 

You shared in comments how you felt the same way as the blogger you were visiting and how you wanted to do these same goals, be partners in crime, encourage each other to reach, leap and bound beyond your wildest dreams. 

That's pretty dang cool. 

The amount of support we get from our internet world should be the same support we expect in our real life world. It's the same support we should ask for of our friends and families. It's the support and love we should give to others. It's the same kind of confidence, support, cheerleading and motivation we should be giving ourselves. 

Giving ourselves this love every day, not just the first Monday of March. 

Every day. Not just January 1st and not just when we feel like "spring cleaning". 

We have the opportunity every single day to make these goals and to check in with ourselves. To check in with each other. To love and share and constructively craft the lives and the habits that we crave. To be the people we've always wanted to be but have found ways to put up barriers that ultimately separate us from our current state and our craziest dreams. 

If this post felt like a brain dump, it was. It was a fly-by no-edit rough draft of honest feels about the wonderful I witnessed yesterday and the kind of wonderful that fills my heart. The kind of good I seek daily and the kind of good I expect of myself. 

Thanks for reading. Thanks for writing. Thanks for sharing. 

Adult Habits I Need in My Life

There's something so whimsical about Wednesday confessions that make me feel like Thursday should be a little more serious. If days were friends, Wednesday would be my good time party friend that's always down to drink one more margarita. Thursday is then my friend who I'd meet for coffee to talk politics and women's rights on a weekend morning. Okay so I don't exactly have a friend like Thursday but I think you know what I mean. She's a little more serious, that Thursday lady.

For those of you who were here last week, I'm proud to say that I'm now 27 days sober (you'll want to click that link if you think I meant sober from alcohol). Days keep going by and life keeps getting better. Had you asked me in February what I thought March 27th would look like it'd be nothing like this. The future is brighter than ever and I'm approaching a month of freedom with zero intent to break this golden streak.

While we're on the topic of going 27 days without something, let's chat about habits - since talking to that boy was a pretty big one I had to break.

We all form our own habits for better or for worse. They shape who we are and they can say a lot about us. This week of clean eating has made me realize that I've adopted some poor habits when it comes to workday snacking and it's also made me think about the habits I wish I had in my life. The habits that would make me feel like I had my life together and that I was actually 26 years old like my driver's license suggests I am. Want to play along?

+ Make my bed every morning
+ A better skin-care routine (thoughts on this?)
+ Eat dinner at the table, not in my bed hovered over my laptop
+ Something called a bedtime, do you know what this is?
+ Add sweeping, dusting and vacuuming into my cleaning routine
+ Fold the pile of clean laundry that's on my bed right now rather than sleep with it
+ Regular car washes and oil checks
+ A résumé that's ready to go at any given moment
+ To enjoy sitting down with a book to get lost in for hours 

+ Keep up on current events and be able to have intelligent conversations about them
+ Say no and say it often
+ Say yes and say it often
+ Spend money on experiences and not objects
+ Make more phone calls

Those are all baby changes to make, which one should I get after first?

What are some things that you need in your life that would make you feel a little more put together?