How Is Your Life Different From Last Week?

How is your life different from one week ago?  I’ve had this thought running through my head for the past few weeks.  I get paid on Tuesdays and I was thinking about how much I saved from one week to the next.  Or how much I SPENT from last week to the next.  Or how much I have paid towards my student loans from last week to the next. Etc. etc. etc.

THEN I got to thinking, how has my LIFE changed from one week to the next. Did you make a step forward or backward in your career?  Did you make a step forward or backward in your relationship?  Did you make a step forward or backward in your walk with God?  Did you make a step forward or backward in your fitness?

To have a good YEAR you need good MONTHS.  For good MONTHS you need to have good WEEKS.  To have good WEEKS you need to have good DAYS.  To have good DAYS you need to have good HOURS.  To have good HOURS you need good Minutes. 

Let’s take the fitness example.  My goal is to lose 30 lbs this year.  Broken down by months that is 2.5 lbs per MONTH (OK, side note…as I am breaking it down by pound/month I am thinking I’m going to UP my goal, but for this post, I will keep it since I already did the math).  Or .625  lbs per week or .089 lbs per day.  Totally Do-able.

YOU CAN START A DIET IN THE MIDDLE OF A BAG OF POTATO CHIPS.

 

He looks so sad, doesn't he?  Lay's ARE really good though

So why don’t we?  We (or at least I do) WHINE and COMPLAIN that we are overweight or that we aren’t where we want to be in life.  We scroll through Facebook or Instagram and see other’s “achieving” the goals we set out for ourselves and then feel deflated because we don’t have those things. 

Two things:  

1.  FB is someone’s highlight reel and our reality is our entire movie.  We can’t judge our circumstances by their highlight reel. 

2.  We are quick to be envious of that person but we aren’t looking at the WORK it took to get there.  Granted, some people seem like they are given things (sometimes that’s true) but for the vast majority of people, they WORKED for it.  You only see the beautiful ballerina that is so graceful, while you trip going UP the stairs (that happened to me last week-yes, going UP).  You don’t see her aching, calloused feet beneath her satin slippers.  You don’t see that sales person bust their ass to earn that trip of a lifetime, you only get to see the pictures of them taking selfies from the Eiffel Tower on said trip.

 

Sorry (not sorry) for the graphic ballerina picture.

So, what can YOU (me included) do to make your life your dream life TODAY?  How do you eat an elephant?  One bite at a time. 

Maybe you sell something that you bought that you don’t need anymore (did you ever need that??) and set that money aside for a debt payment.  Or you make that profile on match.com to see if you can find that one fish in the sea.  Or maybe you cannot eat that rice krispie treat that you REALLY WANTED at Newk’s today at lunch and eat fruit instead.   Or go walk a mile because you don’t can’t seem to do three miles right now.  Baby steps.

 

I love this movie BTW!!

So, anyone with me to make a change TODAY and then the next day and then the next day for your business, personal life, spiritual life, financial life, etc. better for tomorrow and then a month from now, and then a year from now?  The baby steps you take will create a snowball effect on your life to make you that much closer to your dream life and your dream circumstances.

Game Plan:

1.  Make a list of what you want your life to look like within 5 years.  Salary, relationships, financial fitness, physical fitness, etc. 

2.  Break that down by year. Then by months, days, hours, minutes, etc.  Keep in mind that you can't break it down exactly evenly.  Your snowball will take effect at some point and you will begin to see the "light at the end of the tunnel" and start to move faster towards you goal.   

3.  Start with one change at a time, otherwise you might become overwhelmed.  Example:  Don't plan on getting up at 5 am EVERY DAY, NO MATTER WHAT to workout and have a quiet time. Maybe get up 30 minutes earlier for a few weeks to do one or the other.  Then in a few weeks time, get up another 30 minutes earlier to do the other one.  Then a few weeks later add something else.  If you make it your goal to go to the gym for 3 hours a day, but you are tired (burned out) or have errands to run, you will beat yourself up for not doing the "NO MATTER WHAT" scenario in your head, which will leave you deflated and make you want to give up.  Baby Steps.

4.  Give your self a break.  

Remember, ALL OF THE WISHES AND PLAN MAKING WON'T WORK UNTIL YOU TAKE ACTION ON YOUR DREAMS.  You can WISH all you want but you have to go to WORK.

 I'm working on all of these things by the way.  Writing it all out helps me pinpoint my feelings.  I'm not preaching...unless you take it and run with it-then it's all me. LOL. :)

Black Flamingo

Did you know that there are black flamingos in the world?  They are extremely rare.  I found this picture a while ago but I just added the text.  I wasn't sure how to caption it, but I found this quote today.

I saw it on Instagram and it applied perfectly to a situation I am currently going through.  Just because someone is mean to you, you don't have to be like them and be mean back. I found it at the perfect time so I could just breathe it out and not get upset.  I won't be like them, I will be nice and unique...like a black flamingo. :)

 

Foot detoxing

A few weeks ago I went to get a foot massage.  Now, some of those places are not real foot massage places but the one I went to is.  Tip:  If they have a security camera, dark windows and the door is locked then it is NOT a real massage place.  They massage something entirely different. LOL.

I love getting foot massages.  They sit you in a really comfy chair and put your feet in water.  They massage your neck, head and shoulders plus your feet.  It’s awesome and usually a lot cheaper than regular massage parlors.

After my foot massage I was about to pay and I saw a sign about foot detoxing.  I had always wanted to try it so I asked how much it was (about $30) and then decided to do it.  They put your feet in this bath thing and plug in a machine.  I’ve read online that the machine turns a different color because of the salt water and the electric currant but it is the color of the flakes in the water that matter.

Mine turned out SUPER GROSS!  It was all yucky brown and stuff. Nasty.

They have a chart that tells you what the flakes mean.  Brown is detoxing from the liver, tobacco (I don’t smoke) and cellular debris. Plus a little orange from joints. 

Anyway, I don’t know if it is “real” or not, but it was fun and kinda gross. LOL.

Have you ever tried it?

So this happened

A few weeks ago I had my car broken into while eating at Max’s Wine Dive in the Montrose area.  I had parked on the street behind the building because I am too cheap to pay for valet. Haha. :)  Big mistake though because they smashed my back window in because they are assholes.

I walked to my car to find stuff in the driver’s seat and thought it was weird.  It took me a minute to realize that I didn’t leave anything in my seat (never do) so why would it be there?  Then I looked all around my car but didn’t see the smashed window until I walked to the other side (it was dark and my windows are tinted).  My entire window was on the ground.  It had been smashed but the tinting made it stay in one piece when they pulled it out.  They unlocked the front passenger door and rummaged inside.  Everything was out of console and glove box was strewn about the car, making my car look even messier.

My car is usually a mess inside because honestly 1.  I am just a messy person (stuff not trash) and 2.  I travel a lot.  I live on the East side of Houston, I work on the West side of Houston and I am in both the South side and North side of Houston frequently (North side more though).  I am always traveling to babysit for my niece or going out with friends so I leave a lot of stuff in my car because I need it and it isn’t always easy to go home to pick something up.

I know I need to put everything in the trunk but that’s messy too. LOL.  My trunk has my emergency car kit, my 72 hour bag, and a lawn chair.  I really just need to organize it and I am working on it this weekend. 

What did they take?  My (new) gym bag with my $200 running shoes, my favorite sports bra, workout clothes, and some of my favorite jewelry:  TWO pairs of Kendra Scott earrings plus this awesome beaded disco type necklace that I got so many compliments on (see this link for picture).  Sad day. :/

They also took a beautiful purple snake skin type leather bag that I got at a silent auction (I bid on it JUST for the bag) that had some papers and a Beth Moore bible study.  There were some Mary Kay cd’s in there too.  Just to make light of the situation (because you have to in dark days) I said “Well, they are either going to learn about Mary Kay from the cd’s or Jesus from the Bible, either way they are getting something great out of it”.  LOL.  God knows who will pick up that Bible study, either they will or someone else will when they discard of it.  

Luckily my friend who had gone out to eat with me had not driven too far when I got to my car had stayed with me while I called the cops.  The cops never came and couldn’t give an ETA as to when they would be coming so we just cancelled the call after about an hour of waiting.   They didn’t take anything of too much value so I didn’t file a police report.  I didn’t have electronics or anything in there, just some of my favorite things.  While we were waiting for the police we saw another car drive off with its window smashed too.  I guess the losers got multiple cars that night.

The next day I went to get my window fixed.  It cost about $90 plus about $25 for the window tinting.  I got it fixed at Uni Glass which was wonderful to work with!  I highly recommend them.

So moral of the story:  1. Thieves are assholes who need to get real jobs and contribute something to society.  2. I learned to not keep anything in my car.  3.  Don’t go back to Max’s Wine Dive even though it was a good place to eat.  I don’t want to take another chance of something happening because the area isn’t very safe.

Winner, Winner Chicken Dinner

Last week my friend from work, Delia, asked me if I wanted to go with her to Newk’s Eatery since it was now open for business.  I had tried Newk’s in Nacodoches and loved it (they were also a sponsor of the 2014 Driving Jacks Color Run 5K) so I already knew it would be good.

We got there and it was actually their “soft opening” where they were giving out free food to everyone to train their staff.  Score!  Delia and I both got the same thing and both agreed it was wonderful: Half Italian sandwich and half Crab and Lobster Bisque.  As we were leaving they told us that the first 50 people on Monday to show up will get free Newk’s for a Year!!!  Delia and I immediately went back to work and made a calendar appointment to take an early lunch on Monday. :)

When Monday rolled around Delia was sick and went home early. I could either not go or go by myself, iI chose to go by myself  because I had a work errand I needed to make anyway. I was planning on doing a drive by to see if there was a line, but there wasn’t so I got out of my car.  I got there about 10:03 am and was #50!!!  It was cold outside (Cold by Houston’s standards) so you could put your name down and then go back to sit in the car, so that is why there wasn’t a line.  Isn’t that AMAZING???!!!  God knew exactly what time I needed to leave the office to make it there on time.  God is good.

I got my food (pizza this time) and sat down.  Another winner had started talking to me so I moved to his table and talked to him.  His name was Steve and he said that he had heard about it through the paper and lived close enough that he would try and make it.  He got there at 8:15 am and he was 20 something in line.  I can’t believe that people got there that early!  Here I was just planning on being there around 10 am but everyone else had gotten there a lot earlier than me. It was a total God thing, I believe.

In the little black box you got a pair of sunglasses, a koozie, and a pen plus 52 vouchers for $10 in an entrée credit.  So fun!! I do not need to hoard them all!  You are allowed to share since they don’t have your name on them or anything. I gave one to Delia since she was sick and one to two of my co-workers so we can have a team lunch. 

So, THANK YOU NEWK’S EATERY for having this amazing opportunity for your fans!!!  I loved it before and loved it even more now because of my free food! Ha!

ChallengeBox Subscription Box

I have heard of subscription boxes for a while but never really looked into it.  Apparently there is an entire industry of subscription box companies just waiting to take your money monthly.   Interested in golf?  No problem.  Clothes?  Gotcha covered.  Kids crafts? Easy.

I decided I wanted a fitness related box so I searched various ones.  I found one called ChallengeBox that goes along with your FitBit (but it doesn’t have to if you don’t have one).  I signed up and my first box arrived this week!!

They give you a challenge each month and if you hit it that month you will then get an extra item in your box.

I LOVED that they included a hand written note inside my box.  It gave it a personalized touch!

Here is what was inside for February 2016.  

They list things out for you to know what it is. I  think there is a typo on the #1 it is resistance bands instead of resistance balls but I figured it out. ;)

My workout t-shirt was 3 sizes too big.  Usually women’s workout shirts run small so I put down a size that was waaaaaay to big apparently.  That’s OK. I will know for next time and can just donate this shirt.

Saffron Road Lentil Chips, cucumber dill flavor.  I am excited to try these! I haven’t opened them yet but I will soon. 

Stress Relief ball with spikes.  I love rolling these things on my foot after I have worked out.  You can roll them all over your body but I would recommend having a layer of clothes in between because the spikes are hard!

RX Bar Protein Bar, Chocolate Sea Salt flavor.  I really am not a protein bar person so I will just send these in the car package for the troops that I am sending out this week.

Nuun, Grapefruit flavor-I love Nuun but hate grapefruit flavored ANYTHING.  I won’t be using this either.  To the troops it goes!

Oatmega Protein Bar-see above for my dislike of protein bars.  But I will send it on.

Resistance bands in light, medium and heavy resistance levels. These are pretty cool.  I have one resistance band at home but I never use it and I didn’t know they came in different resistance levels.

All in all the box was just OK.  It had some great stuff in it but the stuff just wasn’t for me. I am giving four out of 7 things away (one being my fault because of sizing) so I am not sure $25 is worth some chips, resistance bands and a stress ball.  I might give it one more try next month.

I also didn't like how they do not have a referral program (as far as I could find on the website) that gives you either free stuff or discounts on your next box. 

What about you?  Do you have any subscription box suggestions for me?

What I've Been Up to Lately Vol. 10

I'm not really sure what # this is, but we'll just pretend it's #10.  I have written several blog posts so you will see them over the next few days! :)

Here we go:

Turned in some Buddy Bucks at HEB

Because we are in the Terrible 2's and throw tantrums when we can't get Buddy Bucks when we see the machine.  

Had my Wonton Soup stolen

Thieves are still thieves even when they are super cute.  

Went to a Rocket’s Game 

They won!

Found out it was time.  I didn't find out who they were talking about though. :)

Had a Mary Kay party with a really cute helper

Received my 2016 Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo badge

Special Children's Committee!

Hung out with Cinderella

Blew up a Volcano

With this mad scientist

I love the goggles on him!  His hair was super wild when he took them off.  He had put them on his head (like a mad scientist) while his hair was wet.  

Fell in love with this little camper!  

I haven't seen a camper you can pull with your car!  #roadtrip