October Goals

 I have had the sudden realization that my birthday is in about six weeks.
I'll be turning thirty-six.  I kind of cannot believe that I will be thirty-six.

So far this year (since January) I have gotten on Prozac (an anti-depressant used to combat anxiety), started seeing a counselor (to learn strategies for living with stress & keeping my health worries at bay), began walking everyday (for both my mental and physical health) and tried meditating, as well as lost 33 pounds from eating healthier (real food, less processed junk & less sugar). 

This month I am wanting to give a little extra punch to my normal routine of counseling, walking & eating right, so I'm adding on a few goals.  To get myself ready for the big THREE-SIX.

1) No Social Media
You know when you hear something over and over (and over) again and you think, "Okay God. I hear you!"!?!
Well that was me about social media the last two weeks.  I found myself continuously thinking about how much time I was wasting on my phone, how distracted I was as a mother & wife, and how I wasn't getting done the things I wanted to be spending my time on. (ie home projects, blogging and reading books)
Then I listened to this podcast with Jen Hatmaker and Glennon Doyle, and that was a final straw.  I was done.  I deleted Facebook and Instagram off my phone, and the weirdest thing happened, you guys.
I felt FREE. Just, free.  Like, untethered.  Set loose.  It's been the most bizarre feeling.  I thought I would miss it, or ache for it, or pine for it. But I don't.  I just feel like I'm suddenly allowed to live. Really live.
The goal is to continue with none for the rest of October and then reassess at the end of the month and go from there.

2) Push Up Challenge
While I am super happy with how strong my body is now, and how I have shrunk since January, I would like to tighten my arms up, so I am going to do a daily push up challenge.
I started today with 10 push ups and I will do 1 additional push up each day through the end of the month. I sure hope I can do that many by the end of the month. Hah!!!

3) Blogtober
One time, when we lived in Alaska, I participated in a monthlong blog challenge called "Blogtober", where we blogged everyday in the month of October.  I remember really enjoying it, and getting caught up on all the drafts in my dashboard, so I am going to do the same thing this month.  It'll be the perfect opportunity to catch up on all the fun events I missed blogging over summer, and I think it'll be a really fun creative outlet since I've stepped away from Instagram and Facebook where I usually post daily thoughts & pictures.

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A fresh month just feels like a great time to make a list of goals and try to make them come true.  Also, October is notoriously hard for me because October is when I miscarried for the first time back in 2014, and it's like my body knows, so I get kind of down.  I have found having goals and shaking things up a bit tends to help me.

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And in case my list of goals, idyllic picture with my daughter or the fact that I am going off social media is making you feel bad about yourself, here's an outtake from our photo shoot.

That is my actual face (please double click on it. I'll wait...) while screaming "Jack Sawyer" because he was throwing his little brother down in the wet grass in his fancy "picture" clothes while I was doing pictures with his sister further up the path.

Oh parenting. You just never get dull. ;)