Stress and Spending Money

I recently reviewed my 'spending tracking worksheet' and noticed that my spending has been out of control this month. My spending always seems to spike when I am under a lot of stress at work and when my schedule is crazy busy. I often fall into bad habits of eating out, buying Starbucks 4-5 days a week, and scheduling appointments like pedicures and massages. This month has been a pricey one and unfortunately has limited the amount of money I can put in savings at the end of the month. I really enjoy tracking my spending and keeping receipts to show myself where the money is going. Today is a wake up call for the budget and the month of July needs to be a bit more thrifty. I am setting a goal for myself to put $250 in our Baby Savings Fund next month... which means the spending needs to lighten up! :)

New Book...

After my post last week about feeling stressed and overwhelmed and the journey to having a baby, I decided to order the popular book 'Taking Charge of Your Fertility' and plan to start reading the book this weekend. I read the reviews online and found a lot of women that enjoyed reading the book and felt like it was a good guide to understanding your body and your fertility. My husband and I are looking forward to reading this book together and trying to practice patience as we continue on this journey together. I hope this book is an enjoyable read as well as educational... stay tuned, I plan to blog about my reading soon!

Deep Breath

Sometimes life is crazy, overwhelming, and stressful and just taking a deep breath can really help... I have been under an insane amount of stress at work lately and we have also been trying to start a family (which so far has been unsuccessful and very emotional). There are days when it feels like too much to handle... and then I remember something my mom has said for years, "God will not give you anything more than you can handle". I have been reminding myself of that quote for the past few weeks when life just feels heavy. I am also learning a new level of patience with the 'trying to conceive' process... God will give us a family when it is the right time, which is so much easier to say than to actually feel. I am practicing what I preach today and taking a few deep breaths and saying a few prayers...

New Book Club Selection

As always, book club was great last night... we enjoyed the time to chat and catch up and only spent about 10 minutes talking about the last book club selection. We spent the majority of our time just chatting and discussing plans for the summer. One of the best parts of book club night is choosing the next book and we chose 'The Four Ms. Bradwells' by Meg Waite Clayton. I am excited to start a new book and I can guarentee that I will enjoy this one more than last month's selection!

Book Update

Okay... this month's book club selection is not a subject I would choose to read again. The book 'Our Man in Tehran' is over 400 pages and honestly feels like reading a textbook. There are so many names and places to keep track of that it is actually somewhat exhausting to read. I must admit that I have learned a lot about Iran and have a whole new appreciation for foreign policy, but this would not be a book I would read again. I am only about 70% done with the book and with our book club meeting tomorrow night, I don't think I will be finishing this book. I have a feeling that the most exciting part of book club tomorrow will be choosing a new book!

Great Blog!

Since I read the book, 'The Happiness Project' earlier this year, I have been closely following the author's blog. The Happiness Project Blog is full of daily inspirations and fun articles and ideas to help each of us stay on track for our own personal happiness project. I love checking out this blog and finding new ideas of how to focus on happiness and more importantly how to improve the level of happiness in our lives. The author Gretchen has a witty and fun way of writing and I encourage you to check her blog out. I have made it a favorite of mine and hope you will too!

Book Club Updates

I just finished my current book club read ("Chasing Harry Winston") yesterday and it actually turned out to be a great read. Even though the book had a slow start, the storyline really developed and I fell in love with the three women in the book. Sometimes the best kinds of books are ones where you see some part of yourself in the main character. I enjoyed listening to the journey these three women took over about a year and how finding their true path to happiness is what really matters! I missed book club last night due to being very sick and the girls made an interesting choice for the next book. They chose 'Our Man in Tehran' by Robert Wright, which is the story of the Iranian hostage crisis in 1979 and the story of 6 Americans and their amazing escape. This selection is a first for our book club, the first time we have chosen a book that is historical and represents a dark time in history. I just ordered the book today and I am interested to see if this book will capture my attention...

Slow Start

I can always tell if a book is going to be a slow read if it takes me almost two weeks to make it thru about 50 pages. Our current book club read is 'Chasing Harry Winston' and unfortunately it has been a slow start. I finally made it to about page 100 and it is starting to get good. I am the kind of reader that can't stand not finishing a book, so I am glad that I am sticking with it. So far the book has set up the story of three friends and their lives and their journey to change. I read a few more pages last night and I am finally getting into the story line. I plan on reading more this weekend and hopefully finishing in time for book club next Thursday. I hope the book only gets better.... time will tell!

Standing in my Truth

This post is incredibly hard to write, but I believe that standing in my truth in where I need to start. Today is May 1st, which is the day I have been planning on starting a new diet and exercise plan. Well, this morning was also weigh-in day and the scale showed an awful number... 178.5 pounds. I want to be able to say I was surprised, but honestly, I gained over 10 pounds in the last 10 weeks because I have been lazy, using food as comfort, and not holding myself accountable. There will always be an excuse for gaining weight and I am done with excuses. I am standing in my truth today and admitting that I alone allowed myself to gain back the weight and the only thing I can do is move forward from today. I am starting fresh today and putting myself first... I am the priority and need to follow thru for myself! My new workout and diet plan is mainly a focus on making my health and wellness a priority and scheduling my workouts like any other appointment. I have put together a workout calendar that I will follow just like my work schedule... it has to be something that I will not cancel. I have also cut out alcohol completely and focusing on a more whole foods diet... less processed food and more fruits and vegetables. I have often weighed myself too much during a diet, and instead I have decided to weigh in today and then not touch the scale again until June 1st. This blog is a great way for me to stay accountable, so I plan on posting often about my weight loss journey. I have to remind myself that even though weighing in today felt defeating, I am standing in my truth and moving forward.

New Year's Resolutions: Updates!

I can hardly believe that almost one third of the year is over. With May 1st just around the corner, I think it is perfect timing to revist my 'new year's resolutions' and see what I need to continue to focus on. I posted in January about the four areas of my life that I would like to work on this year and they included stay healthy, save money, live simply, and have fun. Here are some updates on each area:

• Stay Healthy- I still need to work on exercising more consistently, watching my diet, and limiting the amount of eating out. Stay tuned for May 1st when I post my new workout/diet plan!
• Save Money- My husband and I are currently trying to set aside $2500 in a Baby Savings Fund to use for medical expenses and baby supplies for when we have a baby. We currently have $1000 saved and plan on contributing $200 each month to this fund.
• Live Simply- This area is often the hardest when trying to balance work versus life and lately it has been crazy for me. This time of year is very busy for me at work, so it takes an extra effort to balance my work time and time to be at home and enjoy friends and family. I also have been focusing on doing 'more with less' when it comes to life (which I will post about soon). Living simply can be done, but it sure takes a lot of effort!
• Have Fun- This year has already been full of fun travel plans which included a girl's trip to Vegas, a four day road trip to Nebraska, and two trips planned in May to see Rockies games. I hope to be able to continue our love of travel and also enjoy the fun available in our own backyard of Colorado.

Resolutions are often hard to stick to, which is why I find when I blog about it... it keeps me on track. Just by typing this post, I have a renewed committement to the goals I set on January 1st!