Dear February

 Hey February,

You brought lots of good things this month!

-    lots of catching up- with friends, blogging, work, doctors appointments

-    Valentines Day

-    Outside Time

-    Lots of pizza and movies

-    3 books completed and 2 still in progress

One of my favorite good things was being outside FOUR times this month. It felt so good to be outside in the sunshine and feel the warmth especially in the middle of February. I was able to go on a nice long hike/walk at Tatem Park and Deep Cut Gardens in Middletown. The weather was absolutely gorgeous and  I was out in a tank top, in February. I was in heaven.  I have noticed being outside has done so much good for me well being in the last two years. It has be definitely a game changer. 

A really kinda surreal moment was going out to dinner and then to a paint and sip in Asbury on a Saturday night. It felt like it was pre-pandemic and like everything was normal again. I had this silly smile on my face because of it all night. The paint and sip was so much fun (perhaps it was the wine talking) but it was overbooked and we happened to be seated at a private table by the door. We couldn't have been more excited about it. There was a group of mom's next to us at their own private table and I am pretty sure, we were the only ones have the very best time. 

I did a lot of catch up this month, with friends, doctors appointments, financial advisor appointments and blogging. At times, it was a lot (the appointments mostly) and seeing friends was awesome.I have been trying to be more intentional with reaching out to friends. I know life gets away from everyone and its always nice to catch up, even for a few moments.

I didn't climb as much I have in previous months but I still made some good progress.  I continually feel strong and surprise myself with what I can accomplish each time I go. YAY for small victories. 

Here are my climbing stats for the month:

I climbed 4 times at two different gyms, averaging 9 routes of session.

At Middletown Gravity Vault:

I tried 13 different bouldering routes (VB-V2)
0 different top rope routes including a auto belay 
Most rewarding: V0 Blue- it was on a overhang and it took me twice to complete it. On my very first try, my foot slipped on the last hold. It felt really good to finally get it. 
Most Challenging: V1 Purple- last month I got this but This month it alluded me; I enjoyed this challenge and the start was very weird. The hold was inside another hold.
Favorite Route: V0 Blue and V2 Pink.

At Brick Gravity Vault:

I tried 9 different bouldering routes (VB-V1)
0 different top rope routes including a auto belay 
Most rewarding: V0 Grey- this was an new one and I was able to flash it. (complete it on the first try.)
Most Challenging: V1 Yellow- The start was under a tall overhang and I felt like I was too short to be able to reach. I kept watching others how they got it and I noticed that taller people had a much easier time getting this than I did. 
Favorite Route: V0 Grey and V0 Blue. The blue one I always got stuck coming down but  always felt that so accomplished once I was able to get it. 

My gym stats for the month were:

I went to the gym 4  times this month, averaging 12 exercises per workout and about 2 hours each workout.

24 different exercises completed
Most completed exercises: Curtsy lunges, side bends, front raise, bicep curl into shoulder press, overhead tricep extension, dips, small bar, press down, crunches, sit kick.  
Least completed exercises:  Squats, pull to machine, cable pull down, lateral raise, bent over fly.
New exercises tried: None. I kept with tried and true favorites. 

My 2022 Goal update:

I moved 16 out of 28 days this month (Move at least 3 times a week) 
I spent 5 hours outside (Spend 1000 hours outside; only 989.75 hours to go)
I tried to show kindness all month (being the best version of myself) and it really boosted my mood those days when I was kind.

My other goal are more abstract: be more creative. I had small glimpses of being creative again; I had great ideas of being creative but I was never able to actually do it. I am hoping next month I will be able to be more creative. I don't feel like I have enough time to be creative- like I need to set specific time to be creative. I feel like I need to just go with it when it comes- maybe I need to re-read Big Magic again. 

One last update, last month I started playing the license plate and I was so excited this month I was able to see 7 different state license plates. It is starting to get a little harder since I found the easier ones. I was most excited to see this month was MONTANA! It was total luck that I found it. Right place Right time. My total license plate count is 30! Twenty more to go! 

Another interesting month in the books. 

In March, I am looking forward to more time outside- I am hoping its going to start to warm up soon!

[[What ever makes you feel the sun shine from the inside out- chase that!- Gemma Troy]]

Diary #26

 Another month full of fun things I saw....

New Month, New Chalk Bag

Wawa pick up was my favorite thing I found this month

Those are dusty butt prints on my chair.....

So ominous

I found Inspector Gadget IRL

Clown Car Topper

Valentine's Day Balloons at Dollar Tree

Pretty sunset

Free Little Library

Valentine's Roses

Asbury Ale House

Sip and Paint 

Tatum Park

Deep Cut Gardens

Unexpected sunset from the gym

Gosh, I love going through the photos I took over the past month, so many fun and exciting memories. 

Check back on Monday for my recap of February, it was a doozy! 

[[great things are done by a series of small things brought together. -Vincent Van Gogh]]

Ukraine

Source

The state of the world right now saddens me. 

What is happening in the Ukraine is unfathomable. 

I cannot imagine what the Ukrainian people are feeling right now- scared, angry, sad, confused, and worried among others.

They are making tough choices to leave their home and try to find safety- wherever that might be. 

The images, videos and stories that have come out of the Ukraine in the past 24 hours have made me think and talk about how this is happening. The tearful goodbyes caught on camera, the stories of people not backing down to the other side and the strength of the country itself. 

I am praying big prayers for Ukraine tonight. You are not alone and we are supporting you. 

[[ми з тобою і любимо тебе]]

 

WGJ vol. 26

Hello again! This was another great month for music. Old favorites and new artists are all mixed into this playlist. I truly loved each song I found this month and they all have been on repeat. Hope you enjoy!

WGJ vol. 26

Life With You- Walker Hayes

Wherever You Are- Noah Schnacky

Easy- Nick Carter, Jimmie Allen

Cold Beer Truth- Chris Janson

Us Someday- Thomas Rhett

County Line- Chase Matthew

Need To Not- Jordan Davis

Summer Job Money- Chris Lane

She Don't Know- Jade Eagleson

Last Name- BEXAR

God Took His Time On You- Casey Barnes

Giving You Up- Kamern Marlowe

U Girl- Walker Hayes

Stay- The Kid LAROI, Justin Bieber

Ghost- Justin Bieber

Good Things Fall Apart- ILLENIUM, Jon Bellion

Better Days- Dermot Kennedy, EARTHGANG

Can't Have Mine (Find You A GIrl)- Dylan Scott

Good To You- Coffey Anderson

Can't Be Me- Sean Stemaly

Good Good Life- Brandon Lay

Stars Like Confetti- Dustin Lynch

Last Name- Noah Schnacky

Last Night Lonely- Jon Pardi

Love Me Like I Am- for KING & COUNTRY

Listen Here.

[[Being yourself will attract the right people for you- j.b.]]

 

TWOSday

This silly day brought so much joy to everyone.

Who knew the number 2 could bring the world so much joy?

I hope you enjoyed your Twosday!

[[Hooray! Its Today!]]

Questions for Humans: The Series

 Its back!
Another round of Questions for Humans- Did you like last month's question? 
If you missed it, it can be found here

Okay... on to this month's question:

This is easy for me... a FLAMINGO! (hurries up and checks google to see if its an exotic animal...)

Phew, Google told me that flamingos are non-native exotic animals. On to my reasoning why....

So flamingos are not only so pretty but they have such fun personalities... perhaps it might be because I have given them said fun personalities. BUT nonetheless, Flamingos are just so pretty to look at.

Have you seen the photos on social media from that specific Aruba beach where you can get up close and personal with the flamingos? How fun and exciting (and perhaps slightly scary) is that? 

I think they would make great companions and they are quite the conversation starter... "So, how long have you had your flamingo for? How old is it? Does it like going for walks?"

I guess until they are legal to own as pets, I will settle for Penelope the flamingo...

What kind of exotic animal would you like to have a pet? Let me know in the comments below!

[[Be a flamingo in a flock of pigeons!]]

Mid-week thoughts

I know I say this every month, but how are we already half way through February?! This month so far has been pretty fun. Here are some random things/thoughts I had so far this month:

Superbowl 

Okay, I am not an avid football game watcher but I am always down to watch the Superbowl. This year- The Rams and The Bengals played. I didn't really have any scientific approach to guess who was going to win this year; I looked at the important factors of: Hot Head Coach, Cute Quarterback, better team colors, better mascot and how everyone else was feeling. I picked the Rams (completely based on Sean McVey's good looks) and I was so excited to see they won!

The halftime show was something else this year. I love when they performers are from the area where the Superbowl is being held and there were so many funny memes coming out ahead of the Superbowl that I was curious to see what was going to happen. Overall it was a good show, I think it was targeted to a very specific age group (ie. the younger kids and the older generation maybe didn't love it as much) 

Congrats to the LA Rams for winning!

Wordle

Last month in my midweek thoughts I wrote about Wordle and how fun it has been to play. Well between now and then the New York Times has bought it and taken it over. 😕 I knew this was coming and I was really happy for the creator of Wordle to be getting paid for this creation but I had BIG worries that 1. NYT would make it impossibly hard and 2. you would have to pay for it.  Well since the take over, one day, users could have gotten one of two answers depending on what platform you played on (NYT.com or the original Wordle website), so much confusion from that. Then the next day, the solution from the NYT's Wordle was the original Wordle's solution. 

AND! in playing Wordle for over a month, I lost my streak for the very first time. I was so upset that day. Stupid ELDER. I think I actually cried. 😠😭

I am curious to see where NYT's takes this and what will happen to it and if it pops behind the NYT's paywall. 

Focus

I hate to admit it but staying focused has been really hard for me. Perhaps its the state of the world right now and how things are so messy, or that we are quickly approaching year three of the pandemic or just normal stress and anxiety, but focusing is really hard. 

I consistently give myself pep talks to try to motivate myself to get stuff done.  I recently heard of the Pomodoro method and I am interested in seeing if that helps. Setting the Focus setting on my phone has kinda helped too. 

Do you have any tips on how to stay focused? Or should I just wait until the world is back to normal?

Valentine's Candy

Now I remember a time when Valentine's candy would come out like Mid January and they stay around until after Valentine's Day AKA 1/2 price expensive chocolate day. THIS YEAR, I feel like Valentine's candy was out at the end of December and it was already gone by the end of January which meant there was no 1/2 price candy the day after Valentines day. I am pretty sure I saw bunnies out right before Valentine's Day; what is happening in the world?! 

WHEW! I think that is just about enough of my rambling thoughts for this week.

[[The Human body is 90% water. We're basically cucumbers with anxiety.]]

Happy Valentine's Day

 

Happy Valentine's Day!

I hope you are spending the day with your loved ones- whether that is your partner, your family, your friends or your fur babies. Wishing you all the love and hugs for another wonderful day.

To supplement this post, check out my Valentine's post from last year here.

For some Valentine's giggles, click here

[[LOVE is all around us.]]

Happy Galentine's Day

 

[[We have to remember what is important in life: friends, waffles, and work. Or waffles, friends, work. But work has to come third. -Leslie Knope.]]

My Single Season: Lessons Learned

500th post!!!!

This first section was written on February 8, 2021. I was deep into my single season and was very content with being single. A few months after I wrote this first part, I jumped back into the dating world again. I think what I wrote below is a true and honest representation of what I was feeling when I was single. 

I have thought about this post for a while and I think this is important to talk about- being content in your single season. I think this is the first time in a verrry long time that I have been just content where my life is going. I am not looking (too much) into the future but I am also not looking backwards. I am happy where I am and what I am doing. 

I think I have to thank in part for this season of contentedness is COVID. Weird, I know but this mess has made me 100% rethink everything I have normally done. Some things I miss like going out to dinner and people watching for hours but somethings have been a blessing in disguise like I've stopped going to Target/ TJ Maxx/Home Goods and spending money on crap that I don't need and basically waste money. My savings account is very happy about that fact. 

Back to being single, this is the longest I have not been in a relationship, dating or even looking in a very long time. Its embarrassing to think about the last time I was single this long.  I was always the girl with a date or a boyfriend or in a relationship and you know what,  I can think back, I wasn't always happy. I would say I was happy and act happy but I thought that was what was expected; you date, you get engaged and married and live happily ever after at 24. Welp! I was wrong about that. 

After a relationship after relationship and one engagement ended, for a long time I thought something was wrong with me. Why did these relationships end? Where did it go wrong that my engagement was ended? I had all these questions and more circle around my mind for months/years. After a while they would fade away and I would forget about them. 

I don't remember specifically when I stopped blaming myself for these things that happened but I started to look at them as a blessing in disguise. They ended because something was telling me that they were not right. I might have ignored those signs for longer than I should but I think everything that has happened, has lead me to this point of contentment and realization. 

As we approach Valentine's Day, I am consistently reminded that I do not have a significant other and I am 100% okay with that. It has taken me a long time to be comfortable saying that and to get to a point where I don't even want to entertain the idea of a relationship. 

Its funny, when I was younger, I felt like being in a relationship was EVERYTHING and reading my old Xanga entries from 2004, that is everything that I complained about- not being in a relationship. As I have gotten older, relationships has become more of a thing that was expected. 

With the pandemic happening, in the beginning, I thought to myself that I would have a great opportunity to be single for a little bit and just breathe. Then around June I got the itch to try online dating (for the 900th time) and after one not so great date, I said I'M DONE! 

Inspired by Brighton Butler from Brighton the Day and Ali Rice from Simply Small Town, they both wrote about their single seasons; I want to share about my single season

Here on February 7, 2022, just about a year later after the above was written, I have been thinking about the lessons learned/things I realized when I was single and how I have brought those lessons/realizations in to my life in 2022. 

Having the year and half off from dating really put things into perspective and I feel that I learned a lot about myself and about what I want/deserve in relationships. What I wrote a year ago, still rings true and it makes my heart sing that I still agree with what I wrote. While being in that season of life was difficult, I realized it is so healthy to spend time alone and this year and a half I spent single, has helped me realign my focus for what I am truly looking for in relationships. This list is not complete, I feel like it will continually evolve over the years. In no particular order, these are the lessons I have learned:

• Be patient with your life and in your current season of life
• Your life might not look exactly like you imagined it but this part of your life is important in shaping your future.

• Don't settle
• You know exactly what you want, go out there and seek what you want

• Understand not everyone likes the type of you
• You are not meant for everyone and that's okay. 

• Speak up ( even if you voice trembles)
• if something is bothering you, say it. No one will know what is bothering you if you don't say it. 
• Communication is KEY
• Use words, emojis, memes, gifs, smoke signals, text messages anything to get your point across. 

I have thought long and hard about this post and looking back on my single season, I am happy to have gone through it and learned so much from it. I loved how this post encompassed a year of my life and the perspectives were almost the same through the year. I am proud of my single season and what I have learned. I definitely would not be the woman I am today without it. 

[[Give a love a rest, between my ex, and my next, I think it's time to take a heart break, out late- Heart Break by Lady A.]]

Random Things

Happy Saturday! Today I am sharing some screenshots in my camera roll. These things I found made me smile, giggle or add it to the never ending wish list. 

I feel like I make this face daily... sometimes hourly.

Love this casual look

Lots of color 

<3

I can always count on Onefinea for color

#truth

These colors speak to me 

How fun would it be to go here?

beautiful girl, you were made to do hard things
 so believe in yourself

Swooning over these boots

character > time

Who doesn't love a hot pink bathing suit?

This sparks Valentine's Day Joy

#hearteyes

Obsessed with this color palette

hahaha...

deep discussions about crocodiles and alligators

Who wouldn't want to climb into someone's life?

I've never seen a bag I wanted more

My feelings too

handsoffmydinosaur is by far one of my favorite Instagrams

The look so attentive and thinking "okay mom!"

Its surprising how accurate this is. I feel bad for younger
generations trying to learn about these past few years

This is the type of mail I would love to recieve

So simple but so so pretty!

haircut inspo

trying to think of a place I could wear this outfit

Kyle said this in so many words to me the other week

"otter half"

I find something I like and NYT will go and 
mess it up. Leave it simple pleaseeee

Carolyn Joe Art is probably some of my favorites

gosh, this looks too pretty to work out in

swooning over this color!!!

This made me laugh so hard... applies to people in their 30s too!

my 2019 self had no idea what was to come

What a great accent piece

In love with these roses. So creative

This made me laugh so hard this week

Do you do this- take screenshots of things you want to remember/like/make you smile?

[[The world is as magical as you make it]]