Thursday, March 23, 2017

2017 Goals

Just about everyone makes New Year's goals in January, including me! This year was a little different for me since I was pregnant until 6 weeks ago and I couldn't work on a couple of them right away. To keep myself accountable, I wanted to share them with you!

1. Read 80 books

Last year, my goal was to read 100 books and I surpassed that by reading 111! I was super proud of myself for that. The past few years, I've always increased my book goal, but because I was pregnant and knew I'd be a momma soon, I couldn't increase it. In fact, I decreased my goal, which made me a little sad. But I know my focus is going to be more on my son than reading, and I'd rather finish my goal than fall short, so I chose something a little more realistic. I was doing great earlier this year with reading a ton, mostly on the bus to and from work. But since having M, I've been very slow to finish a book. Nevertheless, I still hope to hit 80! I'm almost a quarter of the way there and I know once I go back to work, I'll have time on the bus again, which should help. 

2. Finish my husband's Star Wars blanket

I really love to crochet and in August 2015, I started crocheting a Stormtrooper blanket for my husband since he loves Star Wars. He wanted the blanket to be big since he's 6', but it's turning out to be a little bigger than I anticipated. I'm a little over halfway done with it, but I tend to take breaks and not work on it for a few months at a time. I told him I'd have it finished by the end of the year...so hopefully I can! To be honest, I really want it done by then because it's just hanging over my head at this point and makes me feel guilty. Thankfully he's patient and doesn't mind waiting for me to find the time, especially now that we have a little one at home. 

3. Get back to pre-pre baby weight

Like most people, weight loss is one of my goals this year. But unlike most people, I needed to wait until after M was born before working on this one since I couldn't lose weight while pregnant; quite the opposite actually - I needed to gain weight! But now that M is here, I'm back at the gym and eating a much healthier diet. Let's be honest, when I was pregnant, I didn't eat the healthiest (but thankfully only gained 33 pounds, which is within the recommended 25-35, so I was happy! However, you'll notice my goal is "pre-pre baby weight." Well... I wasn't super happy with my weight and fitness level right before I got pregnant because we kind of fell off the gym bandwagon, so not only do I want to get back to my weight before baby, I want to get back an even healthier weight. 

Not only do I want to get to a better weight, I just want to lead an overall healthier lifestyle. We have M around now, and while my husband and I have always been pretty healthy and active, we want to set a good example for him. 

4. Run a 5k

I've ran 5ks before and I really like having something to work towards. Again, I wasn't able to work on this goal until after M was born, but now that he's here, I've just started running again! I'll post more on my journey with running later. My thought is that I'll complete this by September, but I'm really hoping I can do it before then. It's a slow process for me though. I know some people can jump right back into running, but I certainly can't. I need to work back up to longer distances! My dad also runs 5ks once or twice a year, so we're hoping to do it together. 

I know I'm a little late to be talking about this year's goals, but what are some of your goals this year -bookish or otherwise? 

Monday, March 20, 2017

I'm Coming Back!

I'm finally coming back to blogging! I last posted in summer of 2016 and then took a long break. I didn't intend to take such a long time away, but my husband and I got pregnant with our first child (yay!) and my focus shifted to everything baby 👶! Then I switched jobs, my brother got married, and I completely got lost in this thing we call life. We had our little boy in February this year and I really didn't know if I would ever get back into blogging because of the time and attention he needs. But then I started reading blogs about healthier lifestyles so that I can get back into shape after baby M. Once I started reading these blogs, I just remembered how much I loved writing my thoughts down, so I knew I needed to come back. I might not be able to post as much as I used to, but I couldn't give it up forever. 

That being said, I'm switching my focus a little. I still want to blog about books and everything bookish, but I also want to write about other things going on in my life. It will certainly include posts about babies - or at least things going on with M - but I also want to show some DIY projects I've done, the fitness and food journey I'm on... and other random things about my life. I hope my readers don't mind! But as my life changes, I feel like my blog should change along with me. I certainly don't have as much time to read anymore, but I'm also trying to focus on my health a little more now, especially since I have a little one to look after and teach healthy habits! The change to my blog will be very slow. I haven't quite decided if I'm keeping the name, but like I said, it's going to take my a while to do any design and content changes. 

I'd really love your input as I go about these changes!