Random thoughts Archives - Page 5 of 5

It’s goal time!

May 5, 2014 by Jana 11 Comments

Last month, I decided I would publicly announce some of my monthly goals as a way to hold myself accountable and increase my productivity (as long as it doesn’t interfere with my obsessive RubbiKub playing, of course). It worked too, because I actually finished 4 of the 5 goals I set. We’ll discuss the shame of the 5th as well.

As stating my goals wound up being a good thing for me, I’m trying it again for May. You’ll be able to find those underneath the April recap.

Let’s get to it:

April goal #1: Wallet Watch challenge with Life According to Steph and Luck Fupus. Done! I did well with that, and I’ll share all the hairy details tomorrow in its own post. Let’s just say for now that it felt good to be mindful of my money again and it’s something I really, really needed.

April goal #2: Crochet a potholder. I can’t even begin to describe the nightmare that crocheting is becoming. I have spent hours–literally–watching YouTube videos and practicing rows and stitches and each time, it just gets worse. I thought it was because I had the wrong size crochet hook so I went and bought the size recommended for when you’re beginning and it didn’t help. At all. Because apparently there comes a point when you have to turn the project and I don’t understand that concept. So I get lost after that. I’m beginning to think this is a hopeless endeavor. But I’m not quitting just yet. I’m seeing my mom this weekend and I’m forcing her to help me. If that in person tutorial doesn’t work, we might have to call it on me learning to crochet. For those who are curious, this is what I was able to do:

April goal #3: Make homemade butter. Done! I even wrote a post about it which you should check out in case you missed it. We’ve been using that butter and my daughter even said that she likes it better than the store bought stuff. Have I mentioned how much I love her?

April goal #4: Work on my business. I’m getting there. I spoke extensively with my mastermind group about some strategies for reorganizing some of the aspects of it, including offering more free stuff. I’ve been hard at work putting that together and can’t wait to make the announcement about it. I also realized at what point I’m okay with walking away from the business. That was a huge revelation and I feel much better.

April goal #5: Garden. Also done! I wrote about this one, too, and I’ve even taken a more active role in tending to it. And when I say active, I really mean “pointing out to my husband and daughter what needs to be done and also thankfully there’s been a lot of rain so I didn’t have to water any plants when my husband was away last week and also laughing when the cat thinks the garden is a litter box”.

I’m pleased with how I did on my goals in April. In fact, I felt like this on the last day of the month:

I’m pretty sure I can keep that momentum going for my May goals:

Mentoring stuff. Continue to work on my business, including launching the free content and tweaking the site.
Actually crochet a damn potholder. I don’t care if it’s for an EZ Bake Oven, I’m finishing one. Yarn will not defeat me.
Start brewing beer. In my pioneer project bible, The Modern-Day Pioneer, the author gives a recipe for making your own beer. If the pioneers can do it, I can at least attempt. Hopefully the beer will taste good and not like crap. If not, I’ll just drink my new love, Tweasonale, instead.
Finish a writing project. I have something planned for Townhouse Pioneer readers and it’s been sitting in draft form for about a month. I want to get it written and available for you to read, too. It’ll change your life. Or at least give you something good to read in the bathroom.
Sew a pillowcase. I came across a tutorial for sewing pillowcases and I can totally do this. I also found the 1 Million Pillowcase Challenge and want to participate (inspired in part by Kerry’s Be The Change Challenge) and want to donate a few towards this so I definitely need to get practicing.

Bonus goal: Keep working on my 5K training. I loathe running. I really do. But I loathe wasting time and money even more, which is why I put my gym membership on hold for a few months (my gym is 30 minutes from my house without traffic. It’s exhausting). I decided that running is free (mostly) and I would give it a try because exercising keeps my issues at bay. My husband and I want to run the Run or Dye 5K in July at the Dover Speedway so my fat ass needs to be in some sort of training for that. I downloaded an app to help so I don’t even need to figure out how to train.

Do you set monthly goals? What are some of yours?

Friday Five of my favorite things

April 25, 2014 by Jana 14 Comments

I’m taking another Friday off from being all pioneer like to bring you some of my favorite things about modern life. Next week, all the pioneer goodness will return, including a how-to on making your own mending box and our first book club discussion (on Wednesday, complete with linkup and Facebook discussion so be sure to like The Townhouse Pioneer on FB to take part in that):

Favorite thing #1: Trying to pick my favorite song is near impossible but right now, I’d have to say it’s “Lola Montez” by Volbeat. I genuinely cannot get enough of this song and I might listen to it more than a normal person should listen to a song on any given day. I could not find a good video to share with you so I had to use this one. It’s from a festival performance, the lead singer is horribly sweaty, and there are obligatory crowd shots. If you have to, just let the video run and listen to the song while you read the rest of the post:

Favorite thing #2: Essie Mojito Madness. I normally shy away from green nail polish because it reminds me of fungus and really, who wants to look at their fingers or toes and think of fungus? Not this gal. But on a whim, I bought this color and I. Love. It. My nails look like complete crap right now but when they grow (and stop splitting like they don’t know what else to do), it’s the color I’m putting on.

Favorite thing #3: Taylor Kinney. Sure, the fact that he’s dating Lady Gaga makes me question his judgement (nothing to do with her looks. But she paid someone to puke on her. What the fuck?) but when you look like this, it’s easy to forgive. Plus, Chicago Fire is totally my guilty pleasure show.

Favorite thing #4: Fitness Blender. For reasons that we can talk about another day, I am putting my gym membership on hold. As a result, I need to find all kinds of new things to do. Like use the treadmill in my basement. But I need to do some strength training and free weights on my own don’t cut it. I spent some time on YouTube looking for good at home workouts and found this husband and wife team and their little business. The videos are completely free (both on YouTube and their website), there are dozens of them, they range in length from quick to really, really long, and there’s a variety of types of workouts and intensity. Can’t beat that.

Favorite thing #5: Yesterday was my 10 year wedding anniversary. Apparently it’s traditionally the tin/aluminum anniversary and my husband decided to stick with it. So he got me this vintage tin Muppets lunch box. As a Muppets fanatic since I can remember, this was the most perfect gift I could have gotten.

What are some of your favorite things?

Linking up today with the Northeast Bloggers and Amanda from Meet at the Barre

Back In My Day: Relationships edition

April 22, 2014 by Jana 18 Comments

Today I’m linking up with Life According to Steph and some of her friends for a discussion of what things were like back in my day. Since I always do some sort of anniversary themed post this time of year, I figured I’d talk about how different things were when my husband and I first starting dating.

In two days, my husband and I will celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary. While that’s an accomplishment in and of itself, what’s even more amazing is the fact that we have been together for 17 1/2 years. That’s a long fucking time, especially when you consider the fact that we’ll both be 37 this year (for those doing the math, we started dating when we were both 19 and sophomores in college. The year? 1996.)

It amazes me just how much has changed over the last 17-18 years, particularly for dating and relationships. Because back in my day:

Meeting someone on the brand new internet was not commonplace. It was creepy and weird, and definitely not something you talked about. Instead you met them through friends or at a party or in detention or carrying a watermelon.
When you wanted to stalk your crush, you had to do it like a normal person–learning his school schedule, attending his sporting event as a “spectator”, calling his house and hanging up, trying to befriend his friends. You didn’t troll his Twitter or Instagram feed.
Speaking of pictures, if you did something stupid, you didn’t have to worry about pictures of that shit winding up everywhere (contrary to what 80s and 90s teen movies have you believe) and your significant other/crush seeing it. You kept it on lockdown, sharing it when appropriate and maybe not even then.
Also with pictures, wasn’t one of the best parts of the beginning of a relationship seeing that person’s photo albums? There was just something a lot more intimate about sifting through an oversized and overstuffed photo album rather than a phone.

someecards.com - I'm happy we're at a point in our relationship where you have told me about all the things I had already read about you on the internet.

You actually had to get to know a person through questions and conversations and first dates were awkward. Really, painfully awkward. Unless you did some really great pre-first date recon (or were friends first), you didn’t know shit about the other person. Facebook has completely ruined that experience.
When you decided where your relationship was going, you did so through a conversation, not a Facebook status change or profile picture update.
Long distance relationships were exhausting. Letters and scheduled and timed phone calls (you know, because long distance rates were a bitch), maybe seeing each other once or twice every few months or so. You kids with your Skype and email and gchat don’t know how easy you have it.
Wedding proposals were not slick, professional produced videos designed to go viral. They were sweet and nice and to the point. And private.
And lastly, any of these would have done as my boyfriend (for what it’s worth, I would still not turn down Matt Damon):

What did I miss? How were relationships back in your day?

Friday Five: Blogs I Heart, volume 1

April 18, 2014 by Jana 6 Comments

My brain is exhausted this week. Between the seriously fucked up weather, still not having a debit card to replace the one with the stolen numbers, and revamping my blogger mentoring program’s site for what feels like the 98th consecutive week, not to mention sleeping like shit, I’ve got nothing left. Like seriously, nothing. I’m surprised I’m even forming coherent sentences at this point.

Fortunately, there are dozens and dozens of bloggers around who have working brains and write really good blogs to prove it. So rather than spewing drivel, I’m giving you 5 ladies whose blogs you should read instead:

Life According to Steph—I met Steph freshman year of college and many, many years later she’s still one of the smartest, funniest, most opinionated people I know. Her blog is a wonderful array of general thoughts, organizational tips, recipes, pictures of pugs, and overall awesomeness. I promise, you will laugh out loud, and sometimes learn something really helpful, when you read her posts. So you should do that. Now. I’ll be here when you get back.

Beauty School Dropout–I’m a new reader to Sarah’s blog but it’s one that I visit regularly. She talks about topics that I totally relate to, like being a parent, her monthly goals and her progress (she gives herself a grade each month rather than a pass/fail system, which is I think is a fantastic ideas), shares lots of pictures, and overall just seems like someone I’d be friends with in real life (honestly, I feel that way about all the ladies on this list). Make sure you add her blog to your to-read list.

This is obviously NOT Sarah. But it's how her blog got its name so totally relevant. — This is obviously NOT Sarah. But it’s how her blog got its name so totally relevant.

Till Then, Smile Often—Kerry’s blog, like Steph’s, is a great mix of topics. One of my favorites ones, aside from the ones about her dog Seamus and her book reviews, is her Be The Change movement where she gives ideas for random acts of kindness. My favorites so far are to leave a box of tennis balls at a dog park and to leave a stack of quarters at a laundromat. How easy and inexpensive are those to do? And think of the difference they’ll make for someone! For more ideas, make sure to check her out!

She Crab Soup—The best part about Kelli’s blog? You mean, besides the great writing, awesome picture practice project (which I’m really trying to do), the fact that she’s completely relatable, and she’s also a (former) criminal justice person? She lives at the beach and shares lots of pictures! And the pictures are amazing. Go look at her site right now and you’ll see what I mean.

According to Athena—Athena is someone I’ve known for a couple of years now (we met through blogging) and she’s also my personal goals accountability partner and FinCon roommate. Like me, she love books and music and wine. It’s no wonder we get along so well! Her blog leans towards the personal finance side but she incorporates travel, daily life, and random thoughts. Her blog is worth the visit, especially for the music. So go read her blog and get your groove on at the same time.

someecards.com - I'm sorry, I can't hear you over the sound of the wine I'm guzzling in order to tolerate you.

P.S. This is not how I feel about Athena but rather something I’m fairly certain she’d say. It’s why I love her.

P.P.S. I know this post isn’t at all pioneer related but I’m pretty sure even they took a day off now and then.

I think I’m going to make this a monthly feature. Because it was SO hard to choose and I want to give all the blogs I read their due accolades.

What are some of your favorite blogs?

Linking up with the Northeast Bloggers Network:

Pity party, table for 1

April 9, 2014 by Jana 11 Comments

So it’s only Wednesday and this week pretty much sucks. In addition to some personal stuff, I’m battling the onset of a depressive episode, I’ve had my debit card number stolen, and yesterday, I found out that I need reading glasses. That last one not particularly hard because as if I wasn’t already feeling old, that sealed the fact that I am, in fact, closer to 40 than 30. Even if I feel maybe 17 on a good day.

But we’ll talk about my birthday and feelings on getting older in June. When I was born.

All of this has me feeling really bad for myself. In a “woe is me, my life sucks, and this is the worst week EVER” type self-pity. And as much as I want to crawl into bed with a book and sleep until the week is over, I need to get over this shit. I mean, when Pa Ingalls lost his entire wheat crop to grasshoppers, he didn’t cry or act out; he cleaned up and moved on. When Mary went blind, she didn’t stop sewing or learning; she just went about them differently.

And quite frankly, losing your entire source of income or your site is way worse than what I’m dealing with.

I’m not religious but I have several close friends who are, and I’ve heard them talking about finding what they’re thankful for in the midst of bad situations. I feel like this is something that the pioneers would do–being grateful in a shitty situation. Given my week, I think I’m going to give it a shot.

Here goes.

Instead of being pissed off that my debit card number was stolen, I’m grateful that my bank is so vigilant about that stuff and I received an email notifying me of the suspicious purchase within 30 minutes of it happening. I’m grateful they have a 24 hour customer service line and they were able to freeze my card immediately. I am also grateful that all of the bills I paid using the card went through and none of my accounts are delinquent as a result. And I’m grateful that my husband has a different card number so we still have access to our money.
Instead of being upset that I need reading glasses, I’m grateful for our health insurance that affords me the ability to have a yearly eye exam so my deteriorating eyes could get help before it became a major problem. I’m grateful that we have an FSA that had enough money in it so we could pay for the glasses because this was not at all a planned expense (so no accrued debt for the glasses). And I’m grateful other than needing glasses, I have no other issues with my eyes.
The depression thing is a little harder. I’m not particularly thrilled about it, but I’m grateful that I know what the symptoms are so I can ward them off as best I can. I’m grateful that I have friends I can talk to who understand what this feels like, I’m grateful I have a blog where I can vent about it, and I’m grateful that I have the kind of schedule that allows for the type of self-care I need.

Gratitude is hard, yo.

But.

Having written all that out, I can’t say that I feel 100% better but it definitely did help to see how much worse it could be. I have a lot more to be happy about than I do to be upset. And wallowing in self-pity, while it feels good, isn’t going to improve anything. I own big girl panties for a reason. I think with them, and my new, healthy does of gratitude, I can make it through the rest of the week.

And, if none of that works, I can always look at this picture of Hank, the baseball dog. Because he is my favorite thing of the year so far.

It’s goal time!

Friday Five of my favorite things

Back In My Day: Relationships edition

Friday Five: Blogs I Heart, volume 1

Pity party, table for 1

Connect with Me

Subscribe to Jana Says