Walking for a Cause

I am so excited that the weather has warmed up enough for me to take lots of long walks. I find them refreshing. During my walks, I listen to podcasts, take pictures of sights that appeal to me (I love the trees when they are covered with flowers - see below), and spend time thinking. 

 

One of the benefits of my walk is done through an app I use called Charity Miles. This is a free app for users. When you walk, run, or ride your bike, you let it run in the background. It tracks your mileage and the sponsor of your walk (usually a big name like Johnson and Johnson) donates to the charity of your choice. They have a bunch to choose from. My current favorite in Pencils of Promise. I feel even better when I walk because even though it is a small way, I am helping others. 

I used to spend a lot of time and effort with various charities until life happened. Now I don't get to volunteer like I would like, but this feels like I am still making a difference.

What are some small ways you can help your favorite cause?

Motivate Yourself

Motivation - This simple word can cause such frustration and drama. Can someone truly motivate them-self? How come what motivates you doesn't work for me? These questions are definitely complex ones, but I think they can be answered.

I think that anyone can be motivated. The problem is that most people do not have the proper motivation that will work for them. You may be motivated by a tangible item like a new outfit or an ice cream treat while another person may be motivated by money or just recognition. If you are working for the wrong motivation incentive, you may give up part way through a task. 

How can you find out what motivates you? Look back at your successes and failures. Do you notice a pattern or theme in them? This is the key to figuring your motivation. For example, sometimes I just need to see a record of my successes in order to continue to be motivated. This is demonstrated in the use of my Fitbit. I made a goal for myself to walk at least 10,000 everyday for a year. Seeing the progress tracked for me helped motivate me to meet that goal. Three years later, I still am motivated to meet this goal (only now it's 13,000 steps). This also worked for my dad. He was very lethargic for years. Then I gave him a Fitbit too. He sets weekly step goals that for surpass mine. All he needed was a little motivation. This, however, has not worked for my mom. The only time she was motivated to meet her step goal was during Lent (spiritual motivation) when she made the commitment. The moment Lent ended, she lost her motivation.

The things that drives each person differs so greatly. This is why our motivation also differs. The important thing is to try new forms of motivation to find what works for you. Somethings that you can try include checklists, accountability partners, mini rewards, etc. When you have the proper motivation, you can achieve anything!

What motivates you?

Book Picks - The Royal Treatment

The royal wedding of Prince Harry and Megan Markle is fast approaching. I am a little excited about it. Although I must subconsciously be super excited because I found myself buying  a bunch of Kindle books with a royal theme. My absolute favorite of all of them is The Royal Treatment by Melanie Summers.

Disclaimer: I have links to Amazon in here that will cost nothing for you to click on but will earn me a few cents.

The book focuses on Tessa Sharpe. She starts a blog that's anti-monarchy. Prince Arthur needs some positive publicity. He gives Tessa the keys to the palace. While living in the palace, her views on the monarchy begin to change. It doesn't help that the prince is incredible!

I love books that are considered romantic comedies. This one definitely had me laughing out loud numerous times. I appreciate authors that can mix the two genres together so seamlessly. A nice bonus for me was how each chapter was told in the point of view of either Tessa or Prince Arthur. It's nice to get into the heads of multiple characters.

This book reminds me of the Shop-a-holic series. The protagonist in both is a down on her luck girl with a string of bad luck. Everything always turns out well in the end, and you get your happy ever after. Now if only real life went the same way...

Like this book or hate it. What's your verdict?

What books would you recommend?

Managing Finances - Buying a Car

This past week has been a bit stressful for me. My car started making a strange sound. Even before I had it looked at, I finally started coming to terms with needing a new vehicle. This was hard for me to accept, because I wanted to focus on buying a house and my car is my baby. It is the only one I have ever bought and it's my dream car - a Saturn. This may seem silly, but Saturn was the only brand of car I ever actually wanted. Since they no longer exist I can't ever get a new one. I thought that I could begin looking for a new car and purchase in June.

Once I had my car looked at, however, I found out there was a broken spring on the driver's side. I had this fixed on the passenger side last year and know it's a $400 repair. Since my car is worth less than this, I figure I should get a new car now.

I began my search last night. After spending 2 hours in test drives, meeting with a salesman and finance person, here is my new car.






No picture? Oh wait! That's because I didn't get one. I got so mad at the finance guy during this ordeal. He was condescending and made a rude comment about me being just a girl. I should just automatically have valued his opinion since he has 20 years of experience according to him. No thank you. I may be a girl but I am also a stubborn mule!

Now I have a decision to make...Do I still buy a car from them and get a pretty good deal (it keeps getting better and better)? Do I walk away and look at other cars? This is the decision I need to make. I will let you know once I do. Until then,

What would you do...Buy the Car or Walk Away?

Time Management - Sunday Planning

I have a lot of different time consuming areas in my life. I teach, am on various committees at school, blog, write lessons that I sell, and actually try to have a personal life. For awhile I was feeling overwhelmed with everything. I was exhausted and my to do list seemed never ending. I was honestly having trouble getting it all done.  Then I started planning out my weeks on Sundays. 

Why This Helps:

I heard the statistic that 15 minutes of planning can save hours of work. I thought this was ridiculous. How could this be possible? I already had everything mentally thought about while this just involved writing everything down. 

One Sunday I began thinking about all the things I needed to get done in the week. I placed these items in the different days along with places I needed to be that day (usually no more than 5 activities in a day, all depending on the time needed for each one). These became my must complete activities for the day, anything I else I get down is now a bonus. 

A while earlier, I had established a Morning Routine and now had a set time I could check off some daily to do list items. Checking off the items on my to do list in my calendar has become a ritual that makes me so happy. I am able to get so much more done because I now plan time to complete longer items when I actually have more time to do them. I don't have to cram everything in on the weekend anymore!

Here's How to Create Your Own:

1. I recommend finding a planner that works for you. This was my most difficult job and I ended up going through 5 different calendars before finding my favorite one. (The one listed below is an Amazon Affiliate link. The cover on my calendar is pink but I couldn't find that one. The inside looks exactly the same.)

This one was my favorite one because I was able to leave it open to the page I needed. It was also roomy enough to write all my to do list items. 

2. Set aside time once a month to fill out all the important events for the month and write them in your calendar. This is a lot easier to do this once a month rather than try to remember them all on Sundays.

3. Pick a time on Sundays, and start filling in your planner strategically. This means think about the time each item will take you. For example, I had a huge event on Wednesday this week. Therefore, I only had one to do list item that I was able to get done in the morning. Being realistic about things will definitely make sure you are able to stick to this routine.

4. Make adjustments as needed. I keep this calendar for my personal to do list. I have a separate calendar/to do list for work which I leave at work. This keeps my to do list from feeling overwhelming.

That's it. It seems like a lot of steps for something that is simple to maintain. The important thing is to reference this calendar each day so you know what you need to get done.

How do you manage your time?

Adulting Wins

Last week I wrote about some recent Adulting Fails. Not everything can be a win. This week, however, I decided I needed to balance my fails from last week with some wins.

Elliptical

I work out  30 minutes everyday on my elliptical. This is one of my favorite pieces of exercise equipment. I was lucky enough to get mine free from a family member that was downsizing. When I first got it, I was huffing and puffing after a couple of minutes. I eventually made myself a goal of exercising 5 minutes. Then I increased the amount of time I spent on it by 1 minute each week until I got to 30 minutes. 

I know it's crazy that I do this everyday! I know myself though. If I give myself permission to miss a day here or there, then I would add to that and start missing weeks and months until the elliptical just collected dust. I feel better after I get this done each day. I am now going on 1 and 1/2 years of doing the elliptical everyday!

Fitbit

I LOVE my Fitbit. In 2016, I set a goal for myself to do 10,000 steps everyday for the entire year. I did achieve this goal, but it was TOUGH! In 2017, I increased this to 11,000 then 11,500 steps a day in July of that year. This was actually pretty easy. Once I got 10,000 steps, adding a little each day really made no difference in effort for me. 

Now, in 2018, I am at 13,000 steps a day. I feel more energetic and healthy. I actually like to walk around. I can't wait for the weather to get better (on a regular basis) so I can walk outside each day. I was able to go for a couple of walks this week and I loved it. On days that I can't walk outside, at least I have a treadmill to make up any steps I didn't get running around during the day. Side note: I love my treadmill, because my dad custom built a desk to use with it. Now I can multitask with walking and working on my computer. (I hated all the treadmill desks I found since those treadmills were really junky. I was able to invest in a better quality treadmill with a desk that's removable as needed. Sometimes an adult still needs their dad! 😀)

Jump Rope

As a child, I used to jump rope all the time and was really good at it. Now, I rarely ever jump rope. This past week, at recess, my students were really into jumping rope. They wanted me to try it too. Even after not doing this in a LONG time, I was able to jump rope like I never gave it up. I shocked myself at how I wasn't even winded after trying it. I guess all of exercise between the elliptical and walking steps have really paid off!

Unintentionally, all of my Wins are centered around exercising. At least, I have that going for me!

What were your WINS this week?

Adulting Fails

Sometimes in life, I fail. We all do. It's important to learn from mistakes and move on with life. With this in mind, I have some fails that I have to admit...

These fails all have to do with gadgets. (There are tons more fails I could include but that blog post could go on forever. 😀) In the past year, I have either bought or have been given some bigger ticket items. All of these are either in the box or out of the box but never used. (Please note: that all the pictures are affiliate links to Amazon.)

Instant Pot

This was a Christmas gift. I finally opened the box this week and took it out. That's a start, right? I can't get over how heavy this sucker is. I have also been pinning a lot of recipes on Pinterest. That's practically the same thing as making it. Now that's it's just sitting on the kitchen counter, there is a good possibility that it may be used soon.

Camera

I have been wanting a nice digital camera with all the accessories, so when I saw a great deal in January, I bought it. The problem with this is that I know NOTHING about digital cameras or the accessories. I opened this box and was overwhelmed with all the extras. I pulled out the camera and lens. I tried putting them together but had to put them back in the box when I was too incompetent to put them together. Now this large box of items sits on my treadmill. I have to move it every time I actually want to use the treadmill. Side note: I actually use the treadmill a lot (at least I have a win) so it's a huge pain!

Cricut

This is my biggest fail, because I have had it the longest and never used it. I got this last summer. Since I never do a partial job with anything, I had to buy the whole kit with lots of supplies. The only positive thing I can say is that I took it out of the box, found a place to set it up on my desk, and displayed all the extras nicely in a basket. It looks nice. I'm sure it would work great...if I ever tried it.

If there is any consolation, I have been working on trying to use any/all of these (at least mentally). I am hoping that I soon I can share some Adulting Wins with you! 

What are your Adulting Fails?