Since I've graduated college and have finished the requirement to read books that I don't particularly enjoy, I've started to actually take a liking to reading. Especially now with my hour-long commute to and from work, I have no choice. Mr. K and I bought a Kindle Fire a number of years ago, since it's a convenient thing to bring around and search the internet with. I'll admit, it's an old version now, doesn't have a camera and only works on wifi. But honestly, I'm really the only one that uses it now, and primarily for reading anyways. I did just see an article recently about how to really utilize your Kindle Fire to the max. I know I'm missing so many of its capabilities, and since I have it on me 24/7 now, I should really go back and read that article thoroughly.
Anyways, I just finished a really good book called My Sister's Grave over the weekend. I highly recommend it. One thing I love about Goodreads - besides seeing what everyone else is reading and getting great ideas for future reads - is that I can track when I started the book and when I finished it (if I'm diligent in adding the book the day I start, and consequentially updating my status to "finished" the day I actually finish it. For someone who hasn't always been a huge reader, I'm actually very punctual about adding my books, because it's exciting to me to track my progress. I have a goal to read 10 books in 2015, and I think I'll be increasing that goal pretty soon. So to you new-ish readers, welcome! We'll have fun here. Check out my Goodreads to see what I hope to read.
I go between Amazon Prime books and my county's library Overdrive database. They recently (aka in the last couple years) started offering ebooks online in their database, downloads straight to the device. It's great and convenient, except when you're on a waiting list of 270 people, for 73 copies of Little Big Lies. Oh well, I'll get it sometime.
So this is the boring stuff, I know. Check back soon for updates on the house. They're pretty exciting!!
Tuesday, February 3, 2015
Thursday, January 29, 2015
Because I had to share!
The cutest post I think I've ever read off of Buzzfeed. If you need a reason to smile today, or just lighten up your afternoon a little bit, this is how you do it. Enjoy!
Friday, January 16, 2015
From Vogue: Do you need this?
As we go into the weekend, I think it's important to set a goal (or goals) for yourself to accomplish over the next three days. I found this great article posted on a blog I follow daily, Cottage and Vine, and it really got me thinking... I could really do some damage in my closet this weekend - going through summer and winter clothes to decide what I need and what I don't need. I already have boxes and bags ready to go to consignment and Goodwill, but they're sitting in our basement...not moving. I think this weekend would be the perfect time to purge! Let's see if we can fill up a trash bag, or medium-sized cardboard box to donate or sell. Use this flow chart from Vogue to help you find your way through that closet and purge!! Good luck!
Thursday, January 15, 2015
So I ran a mile today...
That's right. A whole mile. To some that's just 1/4 of their warm up. For me, it's a good start (er, re-start). If you've looked in my bio, you've seen that I've done a triathlon (more to come on that at some point. It was a highlight of my life) and I like to run and workout on a normal basis. Well, that 'normal basis' stopped about 7 months ago for reasons I won't go into. I haven't had the motivation, the inspiration to run and workout as much as I used to. When we first moved into the new neighborhood, I was eager to explore the hilly streets, which I did pretty often for awhile. And then it (ok, I) stopped. All I had at the house were some 10lb weights, and after a few months of not doing anything, I realized that I couldn't do as much with the 10lb-ers as I used to. I got discouraged. I stopped. Besides, there was so much other stuff I could get done in the house, around the house and everywhere else except anything that had to with weights or working out. Right?
In comes our new office fitness center that's a total beaut. They had the opening party yesterday and it was officially open to gym-goers today. I prepared my gym bag last night, full of all the necessary items, including my new Stella and Dot travel hanging bag. I got a head start on the morning, took the metro in with Mr. K bright and early, and was only 1 of 3/4 people at the gym. I can't wait to start this new wave of working out, hoping it will motivate me and inspire me, keep me grounded in other aspects of life.
I followed the workout up with two of my egg muffins that I made on Tuesday night. Recipe to come tomorrow! But I'll tell you this much, it's fueled me already this morning, and I know it will take me to lunch (in addition to my coffee, of course). But it felt so good this morning to just open the fridge, grab a sandwich bag of two egg muffins and be on my merry way. It's the life of being prepared, and I wish I had discovered this way sooner in life. But better late than never they say, and I completely agree with this one.
Yesterday, while Mr. K and I were both working from home, we decided to defrost the whole family pack of chicken breasts and throw them in the crock pot. The shredded chicken was the foundation for our enchiladas last night, with homemade salsa of course; will be added to our salads for lunch today, dinner and meals tomorrow. Thus, being prepared again is getting to be pretty darn sweet. No need to over think things. The crock pot is your friend, so use it! The recipes for these meals also coming soon. Happy Thursday!
In comes our new office fitness center that's a total beaut. They had the opening party yesterday and it was officially open to gym-goers today. I prepared my gym bag last night, full of all the necessary items, including my new Stella and Dot travel hanging bag. I got a head start on the morning, took the metro in with Mr. K bright and early, and was only 1 of 3/4 people at the gym. I can't wait to start this new wave of working out, hoping it will motivate me and inspire me, keep me grounded in other aspects of life.
I followed the workout up with two of my egg muffins that I made on Tuesday night. Recipe to come tomorrow! But I'll tell you this much, it's fueled me already this morning, and I know it will take me to lunch (in addition to my coffee, of course). But it felt so good this morning to just open the fridge, grab a sandwich bag of two egg muffins and be on my merry way. It's the life of being prepared, and I wish I had discovered this way sooner in life. But better late than never they say, and I completely agree with this one.
Yesterday, while Mr. K and I were both working from home, we decided to defrost the whole family pack of chicken breasts and throw them in the crock pot. The shredded chicken was the foundation for our enchiladas last night, with homemade salsa of course; will be added to our salads for lunch today, dinner and meals tomorrow. Thus, being prepared again is getting to be pretty darn sweet. No need to over think things. The crock pot is your friend, so use it! The recipes for these meals also coming soon. Happy Thursday!
Wednesday, January 14, 2015
Powder Room Update
In an effort to make our house feel more homey, we're working on it room by room. Our powder room seemed like an easy fix, so during our almost bi-weekly trip to Home Depot, we sought out shelves that we wanted to try out. We had one vision in mind and then saw this great shelf we loved, and ran with it. It ended up matching perfectly with the waste basket and toilet paper holder that was already in there! When we went to Michaels for one of their big Christmas sales, we fell in love with this frame and thought it was the perfect feel for the bathroom. I'm actually surprised we didn't get a few more of them because we both loved it!
The last photo I actually took on Friday night, a couple weeks after we actually finished it, but I realized I didn't have an updated version with the new photo and candles that we put in there. The photo in the frame is one of our one from when we took a walk around the Capitol when we lived at Navy Yard last November (2013). I love how it turned out and it's feeling more homey now. On to the rest of the house!
Before: (See how plain it is?! I can't believe we actually let it go that way for so long)
Now all we need is some color on the walls. And you're probably saying the same thing. However, we promised ourselves we would wait until the one-year mark because that's when our warranty is up. In other words, as part of this new home build process, the builder comes back at 11 months after move-in and checks the house for certain things, and fixes it. Examples include cracks in the walls as the foundation settles (we've already seen some, and come February we'll be taking to the walls with that gorgeous blue painters tape to everything that we see in preparation of our 11 months. To say that we've been in here for that long is beyond me, but that's for another day). Other things they'll check (and hopefully fix): nail pops, bowing of the hardwood floors, etc.
So until then, we'll love these blank walls... aka canvases!!
The last photo I actually took on Friday night, a couple weeks after we actually finished it, but I realized I didn't have an updated version with the new photo and candles that we put in there. The photo in the frame is one of our one from when we took a walk around the Capitol when we lived at Navy Yard last November (2013). I love how it turned out and it's feeling more homey now. On to the rest of the house!
Before: (See how plain it is?! I can't believe we actually let it go that way for so long)
After:
Now all we need is some color on the walls. And you're probably saying the same thing. However, we promised ourselves we would wait until the one-year mark because that's when our warranty is up. In other words, as part of this new home build process, the builder comes back at 11 months after move-in and checks the house for certain things, and fixes it. Examples include cracks in the walls as the foundation settles (we've already seen some, and come February we'll be taking to the walls with that gorgeous blue painters tape to everything that we see in preparation of our 11 months. To say that we've been in here for that long is beyond me, but that's for another day). Other things they'll check (and hopefully fix): nail pops, bowing of the hardwood floors, etc.
So until then, we'll love these blank walls... aka canvases!!
Tuesday, January 13, 2015
I'm still not writing about 2015 Resolutions
In the last post about my expansion on Entrepreneur's article on the 8 daily habits that will make an explosion, I talked about the first four habits: getting up early, exercise, reading and practicing gratitude.
I really like those four habits because it's something that I've already had in my mind to change, and am on my way. Actually today I went to the first yoga class that I've been to in awhile and it felt (great). I think I'm motivated for awhile! At least for my next 4 "free" classes (thanks to Groupon). And actually, our new tenant-only fitness center at my office is opening on Wednesday, so I'm already planning out my workout regimen. The last time I had a gym this convenient is when we lived in the city after getting married and had a gym in the basement of our building. Ah, the days. We often talk about how much we loved living in Navy Yard, but that's for another day.
I also started reading this wonderful daily devotional, Jesus Calling by Sarah Young, in addition to being about 60% through The Ladies Room by Carolyn Brown, which I really recommend! It's a fun read, and I love it as my commuting book. I'm already on the prowl for my new one (hoping I can an email from my local library that the many ebooks I have on hold might be mine in the near future).
Waking up early is still working, except for yesterday when I drive Mr. K to the metro at 5am (my car is sounding a bit wonky, so we need his), and then proceeded to sleep for awhile longer. Whoops.
As far as practicing gratitude, I shared just about all my thoughts with you in that post. Not much has changed.
So, let's get onto the next four habits:
5. Schedule your day before it starts
Try a daily to-do list each night, and then what I find helpful is scheduling out the week on Sunday. We have a chalkboard in the mudroom, which we see every time we come in from the garage. You can see it here, and we've started to outline the week starting on Monday. I'll include the scheduled evening activities that we have, something we need to get done that night, and if we're really organized, dinner ideas for each night (we're working on that this year).
This also applies to your workplace - before you leave for the day, prepare your tasks for tomorrow, outline what's important, and when you need to get things done. Which brings us to the next one...
6. Focus on high-priority tasks first
I feel like this is most applicable for the workplace, so make sure when you create that to-do list for the following day, put your most important tasks in the beginning. We're all probably guilt of saving those for the end because it's easier to get the lesser important, smaller tasks out of the way. But why not get the big one out of the way and then cruise the rest of the day!? Try that for a few weeks and see how it might lessen your stress and anxiety about your work days.
7. Always go the extra mile
This is an important one, and probably one that's often easy to fight each and every day. Consider doing one extra task every day that may put you ahead of the game, either personally or professionally, or both. This will likely improve your motivation and satisfaction. Who doesn't love ending the day on a high note and thus enjoying the evening even more.
8. Improve in one area each day
This can apply to both professional life and personal. Whether professionally, you read one good article about your industry every day and apply it; or personally, you improve the number of push ups you do, decrease pace of your mile run by a few seconds, read one more chapter of a book to reach a yearly goal, etc. (check out Goodreads if you want to set a goal for number of books to read in 2015).
Don't forget to write these things down at the end of the day, especially how you improved each day. This will keep you going, and at the end of the week you can look back on that log and be motivated for the next week! I love this habit, I think it's one every person can get on board with. It's definitely hard to stick to, but keep it in your back pocket, even if you improve in three things over the course of the next couple weeks, that's a great start.
I really like those four habits because it's something that I've already had in my mind to change, and am on my way. Actually today I went to the first yoga class that I've been to in awhile and it felt (great). I think I'm motivated for awhile! At least for my next 4 "free" classes (thanks to Groupon). And actually, our new tenant-only fitness center at my office is opening on Wednesday, so I'm already planning out my workout regimen. The last time I had a gym this convenient is when we lived in the city after getting married and had a gym in the basement of our building. Ah, the days. We often talk about how much we loved living in Navy Yard, but that's for another day.
I also started reading this wonderful daily devotional, Jesus Calling by Sarah Young, in addition to being about 60% through The Ladies Room by Carolyn Brown, which I really recommend! It's a fun read, and I love it as my commuting book. I'm already on the prowl for my new one (hoping I can an email from my local library that the many ebooks I have on hold might be mine in the near future).
Waking up early is still working, except for yesterday when I drive Mr. K to the metro at 5am (my car is sounding a bit wonky, so we need his), and then proceeded to sleep for awhile longer. Whoops.
As far as practicing gratitude, I shared just about all my thoughts with you in that post. Not much has changed.
So, let's get onto the next four habits:
5. Schedule your day before it starts
Try a daily to-do list each night, and then what I find helpful is scheduling out the week on Sunday. We have a chalkboard in the mudroom, which we see every time we come in from the garage. You can see it here, and we've started to outline the week starting on Monday. I'll include the scheduled evening activities that we have, something we need to get done that night, and if we're really organized, dinner ideas for each night (we're working on that this year).
This also applies to your workplace - before you leave for the day, prepare your tasks for tomorrow, outline what's important, and when you need to get things done. Which brings us to the next one...
6. Focus on high-priority tasks first
I feel like this is most applicable for the workplace, so make sure when you create that to-do list for the following day, put your most important tasks in the beginning. We're all probably guilt of saving those for the end because it's easier to get the lesser important, smaller tasks out of the way. But why not get the big one out of the way and then cruise the rest of the day!? Try that for a few weeks and see how it might lessen your stress and anxiety about your work days.
7. Always go the extra mile
This is an important one, and probably one that's often easy to fight each and every day. Consider doing one extra task every day that may put you ahead of the game, either personally or professionally, or both. This will likely improve your motivation and satisfaction. Who doesn't love ending the day on a high note and thus enjoying the evening even more.
8. Improve in one area each day
This can apply to both professional life and personal. Whether professionally, you read one good article about your industry every day and apply it; or personally, you improve the number of push ups you do, decrease pace of your mile run by a few seconds, read one more chapter of a book to reach a yearly goal, etc. (check out Goodreads if you want to set a goal for number of books to read in 2015).
Don't forget to write these things down at the end of the day, especially how you improved each day. This will keep you going, and at the end of the week you can look back on that log and be motivated for the next week! I love this habit, I think it's one every person can get on board with. It's definitely hard to stick to, but keep it in your back pocket, even if you improve in three things over the course of the next couple weeks, that's a great start.
Sunday, January 11, 2015
Our First Snow!
I love the snow, especially when I get to spend a snowy day inside my home, with the fire on, surrounded by our two cats and of course Mr. K working from home too. Honestly, it's snowed a little bit around here a couple of times, however this was our first true snow. Prediction of 1-2 inches but we got more like 3-4. It was so pretty, except when we went to drive the next morning and the dilemma of living in a new neighborhood kicked in, and all of phase 2 wasn't plowed or treated. Talk about driving on a sheet of ice! But let's not get hung up on that ;)
I went outside to shovel the walkway and sidewalk (Mr. K will kill me for saying that publicly, but honestly he's been so busy at work, and it needed to get done, so I snuck a few minutes outside. Plus, I love being outside when it's snowing, so I didn't mind the arm exercise!
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