Tag Archives: goals

Weekly Wishes – Monday Monday

Posted on January 20 by Jillian416 • 2 Comments

Oh yes, it is Monday and that means, Weekly Wishes!

Weekly Wishes is a link-up started by Melyssa from The Nectar Collective. It is a place where you can post and share you wishes and goals for the week ahead on your blog, Facebook page, Twitter account, etc and then link it up on Melyssa’s blog. I LOVE doing this because it holds me accountable for the week ahead. I’ve shared my goals with the world (through my blog) and I know people will read and wonder whether I stuck to my goals. It definitely keeps me honest!

I’m super excited to write this post this week, it’s actually Sunday night, I’m writing it early, that’s how excited I am. Why you might ask? Well I have lots of success to share, but we’ll get to those in a minute. First, I figured I’d tell you about my weekend.

Saturday I had to work for a good chunk of the day, but it was quiet and I got a lot done, which made the time fly by. When I got home, Emmett was still sleeping from his nap so Seamus and I watched some TV and relaxed. It was lovely! Eventually Emmett woke up and we headed out for our weekly dinner out, that turned out to be a HUGE disappointment.

We get stuck in a rut, so instead we tried something new, Campobello’s. I really wanted to like it, but neither of us found it very desirable, even Emmett didn’t eat his ravioli and he ALWAYS eats ravioli. I had eggplant parm, the eggplant was very bitter and the sauce was too chunky for me. Seamus had steak and seafood. He said his steak was decent and his seafood pasta was okay, but not something he was super impressed with. The waitress brought us boxes to take the leftovers home in, we filled the boxes and then left them on the table, hoping no one would run them out to us (no one did).

Sunday, was a day full of relaxing, and it was just lovely. Emmett was up early but we got some cuddle time in before we got up and made pancakes, eggs, and bacon, together. After that, I did some laundry, cleaned the bathroom and spent a good long time on the couch until we all went to the gym. Emmett and I went to swimming, and Seamus went for a run. Afterwards, we made a quick stop at Wegmans for some stuff for lunch and dinner, and then back home for naps and relaxation. I spent a good chunk of my evening dozing on and off on the couch, it was heaven!

Emmett had his first lunchable today! They’re so bad for you, but once in awhile as a treat won’t hurt. He really enjoyed it!

Last Week’s Wishes

My first wish from last week was to work on getting my chores done throughout the week, so that I wasn’t overburdened on Sunday. Success! I did some laundry on a couple of days, and any time Emmett would take a new toy out, we’d put the other one away. It led to only needing to do a few things on Sunday.

Next up was to start reading my new book. Yet again, another success! I began reading A Story Unfinished – 99 Days with Eliot, (that’s an affiliate link) and am just about halfway through. More to come on this book in the future!

And finally, I wanted to get my FitBit fixed. It’s not fixed yet, but I did send all of my info to the FitBit people and they’re reviewing my case to see if they’ll send me a full replacement or just replace the back that is cracked. We’ll see!

This Week’s Wishes

Do some batch blogging. I was reading Chasing Happy the other day, and came across her post about increasing blogging productivity, and this batch blogging really resonated with me. So, I want to take a couple hours at some point this week and just sit down and write. Once I have posts completed, I can add pictures after the fact. I’d love to get ahead!
Add some additional posts to my editorial calendar. I got a good start in early January, but I’m starting to run short on ideas. I need to sit down come up with some more post titles and then add them to the calendar.
Finish up the book I’m reading, A Story Unfinished.
Complete chores ahead of time, leaving Sunday as mostly a rest day. This worked so well last week, I want to stick with it again.

Alright, I think that about does it for this week. I’m really excited about getting started on my goals this week!

Please join me in linking up at The Nectar Collective.

Your turn!

What fun things did you accomplish in the past week? Please feel free to share in the comments below!

Filed Under: All About Me

Weekly Wishes – Getting it Together

Posted on January 13 by Jillian416 • 4 Comments

Happy Monday, it’s Weekly Wishes time again!

Weekly Wishes is a link-up started by Melyssa from The Nectar Collective. It is a place where you can post and share you wishes and goals for the week ahead on your blog, Facebook page, Twitter account, etc and then link it up on Melyssa’s blog. I LOVE doing this because it holds me accountable for the week ahead. I’ve shared my goals with the world (through my blog) and I know people will read and wonder whether I stuck to my goals. It definitely keeps me honest!

I set a lot of goals, I enjoy it. I find that making lists of goals is like making a huge to-do list. They help motivate me to be a better person, especially when I truly focus in on what I want. That’s why I check-in every week and why I participate with Melyssa’s Weekly Wishes link-up. Goals help me zone in on what I really want and help me gain razor focus to accomplish so much. I hope that you enjoy reading my goals, and checking in with me weekly. 🙂

Last Week’s Wishes

Last week I focused on the things I would like to accomplish by the end of January, and I am well on my way!

I finished the book Hyperbole and a Half, and began my new book (will be sharing info soon). I love that I’m finding time to fit in pleasure reading, it feels great.
I also found the perfect notebook! I bought myself a classic Moleskin notebook, it is large enough to take notes in, but small enough to fit inside my purse. My purpose is to use this to write blog ideas in, because I get them at the most random of times.

There are few other goals that I want to get through in January, you can read about them here.

Now, This Week’s Weekly Wishes

Get all of my chores done throughout the week and on Saturday, so that I can fully relax on Sunday. I so often put all this pressure on myself to get everything done on Sunday afternoon and evening, and then by the time 9 o’clock roles around I’m panicking because I only got half of everything done. I need to stop that, and spread the chore love across the week.
Start reading my new Book (title to come soon).
Get my FitBit fixed. The back of the device is so messed up that I can no longer open it and my current battery died today. I need to find out whether I need to order a whole new FitBit, or if you can just find the back piece somewhere.

Alright, those are my goals for this week, they’re all totally achievable.

Thanks to Melyssa for hosting! Stop on over to The Nectar Collective and link-up.

Your turn!

I’d love to hear all about your goals and wishes for the week ahead! Share in the comments below.

Filed Under: All About Me

Weekly Wishes – 2014

Posted on January 6 by Jillian416 • 2 Comments

We’re talking January 2014 goals, today.

Weekly Wishes is a link-up started by Melyssa from The Nectar Collective. It is a place where you can post and share you wishes and goals for the week ahead on your blog, Facebook page, Twitter account, etc and then link it up on Melyssa’s blog. I LOVE doing this because it holds me accountable for the week ahead. I’ve shared my goals with the world (through my blog) and I know people will read and wonder whether I stuck to my goals. It definitely keeps me honest!

Happy Snowy Monday!

I’m kind of excited, Melyssa has changed the format for her Weekly Wishes posts, and I think I’m going to join in. I believe it will really help to get me focused. On the first Monday of every month, Weekly Wishes will be dedicated to sharing what you’d like to accomplish within that month. I love goals, and I love setting them, so this will be a lot of fun!

This week’s Weekly Wishes theme is 2014. I chose the picture above, because the most important thing in the new year will be spending time with Emmett and Seamus.

January 2014 – Goals

Plan out posts for at least 3 of the 12 months of this year on my editorial calendar. I began planning this past weekend, but I have a ways to go and January is such a good time for that.
Finish the two books that I am in currently reading, and then begin my next one. I’m currently reading, Hyberbole and a Half and also The Paleo Manifesto, I do have a third one lined up, but I can’t remember the name of it off the top of my head.
I am a pen and paper type of chick, so as much as I love my phone, whenever I get an idea for a new blog post I forget it because I never put it into my app. I want to find THE perfect notebook, one small enough to fit in my purse but large enough to write decent notes in.
I mentioned in my 2014 Intentions post that I have a few new blog series ideas, I’d like to get the layout of one of those set and possible ready to roll out by the end of the month.
Get into a workout routine once and for all!

Those are my goals for this month, I truly believe that I can accomplish all of these, or at the very least get them going.

Your turn!

What are your goals for January?

Filed Under: All About Me

Weekly Wishes – Nature

Posted on December 23 by Jillian416 • 4 Comments

It’s Weekly Wishes – Nature time!

Weekly Wishes is a link-up started by Melyssa from The Nectar Collective. It is a place where you can post and share you wishes and goals for the week ahead on your blog, Facebook page, Twitter account, etc and then link it up on Melyssa’s blog. I LOVE doing this because it holds me accountable for the week ahead. I’ve shared my goals with the world (through my blog) and I know people will read and wonder whether I stuck to my goals. It definitely keeps me honest!

Is it seriously Monday already? I swear that I had just been joyous that Friday had ended and was on my way home from work. Guess the busy days cause that to happen, huh?

Either way, we had the best weekend! Saturday was full of us bumming around, to almost every store you can think of, getting all of our last minute shopping out of the way, and then grabbing (a not so healthy) lunch at Tully’s. If you’ve never been, you should go, their chicken fingers are AH-mazing. Anyhow, back to our weekend, Emmett was so good while we went in and out of one store after another. I really anticipated him melting down because he had to get in and out of his car seat and didn’t get the chance to get down and run around, but nope, he was so good! Love that lil bugger!

Sunday was almost as equally busy. Seamus had to run an errand in the morning, so Emmett and I spent time playing and being complete goofballs together. When Seamus got home, I showered and we all went out for lunch, then grocery shopping and ran a few other errands. I am seriously enjoying this Christmas season, but I will admit that I am looking forward to a weekend of not running around or possibly not even leaving the house. That sounds lovely! 😉

This week’s theme for Weekly Wishes is Nature. My picture doesn’t directly reflect nature, but it was taken while Emmett and I were out playing in the snow (that has now melted away 🙁 ) last weekend. Emmett wasn’t thrilled with being in the snow, he actually got quite upset (you can see pictures here), but I’ll keep trying. I am snow lover (except to drive in it, then I’m a nervous wreck) and I really would love to share that opinion with my favorite boy.

Now, down to business! Last week’s wishes…

My first wish from last week was to fill in my editorial calendar. Ugh! I hate reporting failures, but I just could not find the time to do this. The only day I had time was Thursday, and I really wanted to take that day away from the blog, I always seem more refreshed and motivated when I take a day away. It is what it is, life is busy right now, I’m not going to get down on myself about it.

Next was to ensure that I really spent time absorbing the Christmas season with Emmett. I did this as much as possible! Work is busy, and I’m really stressed out about it, so trying to pull myself back to family time, once I’m home, is tough. But I did force myself to do so, and felt great about it!

My final wish was to finish Christmas shopping and begin wrapping. COMPLETE! We finished shopping this weekend, and while I may get a few more odds and ends for the heck of it, we are done. Seamus has off today, so he’ll begin wrapping this afternoon. I couldn’t be happier!

This week’s wishes…

Spend time being with my family, this Christmas week. Next time I am here, Christmas will be over and I really want to report that we had a full and loving holiday.

That’s it, that is my ONLY wish. I’m taking it easy on myself this week, so that I can not stress about anything at home and just be happy and in love.

Alright that’s it, my loves! Be sure to stop on over to The Nectar Collective and link-up with Melyssa’s Weekly Wishes.

Your turn!

What are you exciting plans for this holiday week?

Filed Under: All About Me

Weekly Wishes – Animals

Posted on December 2 by Jillian416 • 2 Comments

This week’s Weekly Wishes theme is animals.

Weekly Wishes is a link-up started by Melyssa from The Nectar Collective. It is a place where you can post and share you wishes and goals for the week ahead on your blog, Facebook page, Twitter account, etc and then link it up on Melyssa’s blog. I LOVE doing this because it holds me accountable for the week ahead. I’ve shared my goals with the world (through my blog) and I know people will read and wonder whether I stuck to my goals. It definitely keeps me honest!

Is it really the start of a brand new week, again? I swear we were just here yesterday. Ah well, the days are just flying by, which reminds me to make sure I try and slow down some, and take in as much as I can about this time of year. It just zooms by and I really want to enjoy every moment with Seamus and Emmett.

Despite the last few days flying by, it has been an amazing weekend full of so much love, fun and a lot of great food. We had an amazing time with our in-laws on Thanksgiving and the day after, and then a lot of fun with my family on Saturday and Sunday morning. I’ll be sharing more about it, and all of the details in a future post, but it is no surprise that time flew by so quickly.

As I mentioned above, this week’s theme is animals. We currently do not have any animals in our house, so instead I used a picture of my animal from this weekend. Emmett was so hyper and all over the place at both my in-laws and mom’s house and this was just one of the many pictures we got of him being a cute little crazy person. Goodness I love him!

So how did I do with last week’s wishes?

My first goal was to get an oil change. Bam! I did it! Wednesday on lunch, I ran to Valvoline and got a quick oil change, I was in and out. I’m sure my car was happy.

Then, I made a goal to not eat like a glutton on Thanksgiving. Once again, a total win! I had one serving at both of my Thanksgiving celebrations and I am super proud. I only ate what I liked and took just enough until I was full, it felt good to not be disgustingly stuffed.

And now for this week’s, Weekly Wishes…

Do a couple loads of laundry throughout the week. Since we’re back into the swing of a normal week, I want to get back into the routine of doing a couple loads of laundry here and there, rather than all at once on Sunday.
Move 3 times. It’s no secret that I have gotten so terribly out of shape, I want to change that. Right now my back is in really bad shape, every time I stand up, it feels like someone is stabbing me on the right hip/pelvis area and I can feel it pressing on my sciatic nerve. This likely means I have a disc that is starting to bulge, because this is what I went through 3 or 4 years ago. I need to be very careful with my back, until I can strengthen it, because of that I would like to perform yoga 3 times throughout this week.
Check at least 2 more people off of my Christmas list. I’m done shopping for about a handful of people, but still have a bunch to go. I really don’t want to wait until the last minute to find gifts for people, so I’d like to check off at least 2 more this week.

And that’s it, those are my wishes for the week ahead.

Be sure to stop on over and visit Melyssa, from The Nectar Collective and link-up.

Your turn!

What are some of your big goals for the week ahead?

Filed Under: All About Me

Weekly Wishes – Memories

Posted on November 18 by Jillian416 • 8 Comments

Happy Monday and Weekly Wishes – Memories

Weekly Wishes is a link-up started by Melyssa from The Nectar Collective. It is a place where you can post and share you wishes and goals for the week ahead on your blog, Facebook page, Twitter account, etc and then link it up on Melyssa’s blog. I LOVE doing this because it holds me accountable for the week ahead. I’ve shared my goals with the world (through my blog) and I know people will read and wonder whether I stuck to my goals. It definitely keeps me honest!

We had such a great weekend! I had decided at the end of last week that I wanted to go shopping to look for Christmas decorations for the house, but convincing Seamus that we needed to go to Christmas Tree Shops on a Saturday is quite the feat. Somehow I managed it, and thanks to Emmett’s early wake up call, we headed out early Saturday morning. Even as early as we got there, the place was packed and it was hard to maneuver through the holiday decoration displays with a cart and a toddler who wants to grab everything. Thankfully, all of the people held Emmett’s attention and we were able to avoid him pulling delicate ornaments off the shelves.

I ended up with a ton of loot and can’t wait to decorate! I’ll probably wait another week or two, I just wanted to make sure we got out to buy stuff before it was all picked over and there wasn’t anything nice left. I’ll share pictures of how everything looks, once I’ve decorated.

Sunday, Emmett was once again up early (5:30 to be exact), but because of that I was able to get a ton of stuff done and still have plenty of time for play with Emmett. We went grocery shopping early, I did a ton of laundry and then did some food prep for the week. We also read the same 3 books about a hundred times, repetition is where it’s at, right? It was a really amazing day and weekend, now I just need to get through the week so I can get to my next one.

This week’s Weekly Wishes theme is memories. I chose the above picture because this was the very first moment I got to hold my son, one of the best memories of my entire life. I had a c-section so I wasn’t able to hold him until after I had been sewn shut. They did bring him over to me while I was still on the table and I was able to whisper sweet things in his ear, but I wasn’t able to hold him until about 45 minutes later. It was the sweetest moment, just feeling his oh so soft skin against mine, absolute perfection.

This week was a big fail, and I even contemplated skipping this post, but if I ever want to get better at reaching my goals I can’t allow myself to skip. So without further ado…

My Weekly Wishes

My first goal last week was to do a load of laundry a night. I didn’t do a single load, until Sunday, I was super lazy and have no good excuse.

Next up was finishing my Everyday Happy class. I also didn’t work on this, but I did work on a lot of blog posts so I wasn’t just avoiding doing any extra work. There’s a slight positive here, I suppose.

Finally, I said I’d move my body and again I failed. I didn’t do a single thing other than a lone walk on Friday afternoon that was super short. Ugh! I’m so frustrated with myself.

This Week’s Goals:

Cut out all gluten from my breakfast. More to come on this in a future post, but I’d like to stick with good healthy proteins and fats.
Do one load of laundry a night. Yep, this is on the goal list again, when I stick to it, Sundays are easier.
Go on two walks. That’s it, two walks and I’ll be happy. I’m thinking of creating a list of rewards for every milestone I hit. I’ve done these before but never stick to them, I’ll either buy the reward before I’ve earned it or I’ll reach the milestone and never buy the reward. I’m going to give this some thought over the next week.

Alright those are my wishes for the week!

Be sure to stop on over and visit Melyssa and The Nectar Collective, and link-up!

Your turn!

What are your goals for the week?

What are your thoughts on rewards for every milestone? Have you ever done it and has it worked for you?

Filed Under: Weekly Wishes

Weekly Wishes – Hobbies

Posted on November 11 by Jillian416 • 4 Comments

Happy Weekly Wishes – Hobbies!

Weekly Wishes is a link-up started by Melyssa from The Nectar Collective. It is a place where you can post and share you wishes and goals for the week ahead on your blog, Facebook page, Twitter account, etc and then link it up on Melyssa’s blog. I LOVE doing this because it holds me accountable for the week ahead. I’ve shared my goals with the world (through my blog) and I know people will read and wonder whether I stuck to my goals. It definitely keeps me honest!

Happy Monday, all! We had a pretty good weekend in the Doodah household, you can read all about it here. I’m feeling really good this Monday morning, not dreading anything that this week might bring. I’m feeling positive and ready to take on the week’s ups and (of course) downs. Truly, I just hope there are more ups! 😉

This week’s Weekly Wishes theme is “hobbies.” Many of you may not know this, but I have an Etsy jewelry shop. Sadly I’ve had my shop closed since I went into the hospital to have Emmett, I just didn’t have the time to make anything new or to keep up with any orders that might have come in. And then around August, when I found that I had a little more time to work on items for my shop, I decided that I wanted to re-brand myself, which is where I am right now. I’m having a new Etsy banner designed for my shop and will then reopen! I’m super excited! Anyhoo – since this week’s theme is hobbies, I thought I’d share a picture of one of my favorite pairs of earrings that I created. I look forward to sharing the reopening of my store, once it happens.

And now, Weekly Wishes!

Last week I decided that I would keep it simple and only give myself two wishes. I think I was feeling overwhelmed with everything and giving myself so many goals to worry about completing was getting to me. In the end, giving myself two goals had a much better success rate!

My first goal from last week was to move my body. Admittedly, I did not do any super sweat sessions, but after reading Erika’s post last week talking about how it’s not so much how you move your body, but that you do it, I realized that even light walks with Emmett are good things. I realize with walks I likely won’t lose any weight but at least I’m doing something and not just being stagnant.

My second goal was to continue to do one load of laundry a night. Another success! Even with Emmett being sick I made sure to take a load of laundry down almost every night. This, once again, left me with only a few loads to do on Sunday, which leaves me more time with my two favorite guys!

This Week’s Goals:

Do one load of laundry a night. I’m sticking with it! It makes my life SO much better and I don’t want that to change.
Finish up Everyday Happy. Everyday Happy has ended but I’m still a bit behind, I want to finish off with a BANG!
Move my body! Another repeat from last week (and the week before and the week before), it’s a good one and a good one for me.

There you have it, my wishes for the week ahead.

Be sure to stop on over to The Nectar Collective and link-up!

Your turn!

What have you accomplished over the last week?

Do you have any new goals for the week ahead?

Filed Under: Weekly Wishes