Wow, what. a. year. 2018 had some great memories, meaningful moments, the loss of loved ones, and life changing experiences. I've learned a lot about myself this year. Here's a quick recap of some of the things I did in 2018:
1. Took a cabinet painting class to learn the proper way to paint kitchen cabinets - one of my projects for 2019
2. Celebrated Riley's 1st Birthday and Gotcha Day
3. Home Renovations included added shutters to our home, redid our entry posts (which we will have to completely redo in the Spring thanks to the person her backed into ours and knocked it out), built a fire pit in our back yard, replanted my herb garden, repainted the front door, and we built our fence in the back yard
4. Traveled to Lake Erie to celebrate my birthday with my family
5. Seth and I celebrated 2 years of marriage in July and 8 years together in December
6. Took a vacation to the UP
7. Went to a wedding to celebrate the marriage of Seth's cousin in Cincinnati, OH
8. Traveled to New York to visit my grandparents and went apple picking in the fall
9. Ran my first 5K
10. Seth and I got our first real Christmas Tree
I started the year with 5 BIG goals that I wanted to accomplish. Some I did, others I abandoned but I wanted to share my goals and my results from 2018 to reflect upon:
1. Run a 5K
I accomplished this goal on Thanksgiving morning thanks to my best friend, Makenna. She always pushes me to be better and do the things I say I want to do. My goal was to run a 5K and Kenna made sure I ran a 5K. She ran with me at the gym, suffered through shin splints with me, and encouraged me to finish strong when my headphones died after mile 1. My goal was to run my first 5K in 40 minutes, I exceeded my goal and ran it in 34 minutes and 25 seconds. I started running last year while completing a Tone It Up challenge. They encourage you to participate in "Sunday Runday" and aim for a 5K. So that's where I started. This year I didn't really start to focus on running until the summer time and I focused very hard on it the month before my 5k. I can't wait to continue to run in 2019 and improve my 5K time.
2. Read 1 book per month
Yeah... this goal did not happen. To be honest, I'm didn't even finish 5 books this year. I used to find reading very relaxing but this year I went to the gym to relax and found it hard to squeeze reading time into my schedule. The few books I read were good ones though. Here's what I did read:
1. You Are A Badass - Jen Sincero
2. Better Than Before - Gretchen Rybin
3. The Five Love Languages - Gary Chapman
4. 10% Happier - Dan Harris
3. Go Vegan
This goal happened for a few weeks before I caved in and gave up. It was good while I did it because my body has issues with lactose but a few life events made this goal hard to keep up with. (Excuses, I know) But, ultimately, I decided not to be a vegetarian anymore either. Since getting into weight lifting and working out on a regular basis, I've learned so much about my body. I've learned that your body DOES need carbs in order to function, carbs are like gasoline for your body, you need them to keep going. I also learned how important protein is for your body. While being a vegetarian, I found that I wasn't getting enough protein in my body and I made the choice to go back to eating meat to give my body the protein that it needs. This was entirely my choice and I made the choice for my body. I'm trying to do what's best for me and my health.
4. Go out on a date with Seth every month
This goals was fairly easy. The dates weren't planned, some nights it would was just more convenient for us to go out for dinner so Seth and I did have date night at least once a month! Here are some of my favorite date night ideas:
- Pizza and a Movie at home - Our most popular date night. Our love for pizza is unreal...
- Half off Sushi Night - also includes half off of the yummy ginger salads at Japanese Steakhouses
- Go to the Movies
- Snack Night (make appetizers and snack on them while watching a movie or catching up on your favorite show)
- Game Night - Our favorite game is Phase 10
- Ice Cream and a Drive (one of our favorite things to do when we were dating was to go for a drive just to talk)
- Go out for Brunch
5. Exercise 4x per week
I'm proud to say I stuck with this goal pretty well - I didn't make it to the gym every week but the weeks I did, I was there 3-4x. Through my gym experiences, I've become more confident in the gym and I've found inspirations on Instagram that challenged me and motivated me. I tried new workouts and I tried new exercises. Some things scared me but I tried my best to follow along and focus on myself while I was there. The gym has become a big stress reliever for me and through weights and cardio, I can see parts of my body transforming into the body I want it to become. I'm no where close to being where I want to be but I'm putting in the effort and I hope to see lots of change and growth in 2019.
If you don't like going to the gym because you're afraid of how to use machines or you don't know what workouts to complete, here are my biggest inspirations on Instagram. They have amazing workouts, good tips, and these people keep me motivated to keep going:
1. Ashlen Sandefur
2. Brooklyn Hillenbrand
3. Aubrie Bromlow
4. Laura Novotny
5. Tone It Up - Great for beginners or even active women who want more of a challenge or variety in their workout
So now that 2019 is just a day away, I've made my list of goals for 2019. Here they are:
1. Run 2 5K's in under 35 minutes
2. Learn how to do a hand stand
3. Pay Off Debt - Start by following Dave Ramsey’s 7 Baby Steps
4. Dive into my faith
Happy New Year!
I hope you all have a safe but fun New Year!