2014 in Review.. What a year! ((Part 1))

 

2014 was the year our biggest prayer was answered.. actually, it was answered twice. Our struggle with infertility was something I opened up about a year ago, sharing this very personal journey with hundreds of friends, family members, and even strangers. Now, looking down at my 23 week pregnant belly and constantly feeling the kicks and movements of my two precious girls...
I can honestly say I have everything I've ever wanted in life.

 

I have an amazing husband who is perfect for me, a huge family and group of friends that support me during the highs and lows, and my two growing blessings in my belly.

I have a beautiful home with space to grow into as our family expands by four feet this May.
I have a crazy Weim, Smokey, who completes our family and loves us unconditionally.
I have my health.
I have my parents.
I am blessed.

I'm blessed beyond words can describe and can't believe this is how I'm beginning my 29th year. With such a great start to 2015, let's look back on my 2014 Goals.
 
Career Goals:
 1. Master my new position as a Health Fitness Specialist in Coverage with NIFS.
In August, I accepted a promotion with NIFS to become a Manager of my own corporate fitness center; NextGear Capital. I've loved the transition to corporate fitness from commercial fitness! Starting a fitness center from the ground up and getting it running has been great experience and I love coming to work everyday!

2. Build my Advocare business to the Gold level by February 2014. 
This is a definite failure. Our Advocare business has slowly decreased over 2014 with our focus being on starting our family. We continue to love the products and take them daily, but aren't actively recruiting new distributors. Advocare has been an amazing blessing of a Plan B income that we continue to generate today. Right now, we are enjoying our 40% discount and will see where it goes once the twins are a little older :)

Wifey Goals:

1. Prep all 10 of our lunches for the week every Sunday and plan out our week.

This goal has been a huge success over the year.  Some weeks are better than others...but for the most part, meal prepping is just apart of our Sunday routine.

2. Have a house cleaning schedule and perform 20-25 min of daily cleaning

FAIL! I need to recreate my cleaning schedule from our old house to adapt this to our new house. I do have a new routine that does work well (when I do it!) I will update on this soon.
 

3. Reduce our spending (ex. coupons, sales, etc)

Our focus has been on reducing spending a lot lately. With the thought of adding in two new family members this May and a hit in my salary for at least 3 months, we continue to look at new ways to cut costs in our budget. Our most recent success was switching from AT&T to Sprint, which will save us $30/month!

-$360 a year-
If we invested this little $30 difference over 10 years this will generate $5,697.15!

Next move...cutting cable?! Stay tuned

 

Fitness Goals: Maintain 125-128 lbs and 18% body fat

Looks like I'm going to have the same goal as last year! I'm currently tipping the scales at my heaviest weight with these girls growing by the day. I'm trying to keep my weight gain slow and steady by eating healthy (most of the time) and staying active at work. It's a huge mindset change to be happy about the scale increasing and isn't always easy to watch your body change, but I remind myself daily how blessed I am to be in this situation!

Before babies

 

 

22 weeks pregnant with twins

       

 

Part two of my 2014 Goals: Part II will be posted soon- Check back for that and more pregnancy updates.
-xoxo-
Sarah

 

 

 

 

" A goal without a plan is a wish" - February Goals: (Part II)

I can't believe February has come and gone! Yippee!! I think it's even going to hit over 50 degrees today and I'm sure everyone in Indiana is as excited as I am about that! Part Two of my goals may not have gone quite as well as Part One (Fail!) It would be much easier to not blog about this and move on to the next, but I'm not going to achieve every goal perfectly every month. Life happens. I'm glad I'm reviewing these monthly because I now know what I can do better in March and the rest of 2014 :)

In Part 1, I discussed my progress in my career, wifey, and fitness goals. Part 2 is going to focus on my spiritual, personal growth, and budget goals. Let's dive right in!

Spiritual Goals



1. Attend church weekly

I only attended church one time in February. Although one is better than none it's not good enough. I have been having a mental struggle with myself every weekend when it comes to going to church. (I'm about to be super honest here so if I offend you, I apologize, I'm just being honest about my feelings.) The thought of attending mass feels like a chore. It's like something on my list I have to do and cross off before moving to the next item. I don't like that. I want my experience to be something that moves me.. makes me think about my life and how I can improve it, etc. Barry and I have been discussing this topic and know we need to make an honest commitment to our faith. I hope to make some great progress in the coming months.

2. Nightly devotional with hubby: (5 nights a week)


This has yet to begin. Whoops! We do have a daily devotional book but I'm going to the library this weekend to find The Love Dare, a couple's devotional book that we can do together. I think this is a great way to reconnect as a couple after a long day and to continue to work on our marriage. My goal (that Barry doesn't yet know about lol) is to put the phones down in the evening and reconnect daily. I think it's so easy to just "go through the motions" day in and day out and before you know it a month, a year, or several years has just passed by in the blink of an eye. I don't want an average life or an average marriage. I want to push daily to get better in every aspect of my life and my marriage is more important than nearly anything else in my life. I can't wait to dig into this devotional with my hubby :)



Personal Growth


1. Read 2 new Leadership books a month (24 in 2014)

This month started off great in the reading department! I finished my first book in the first couple days of February called "Inside my Heart" by Robin McGraw, Dr. Phil's wife. I was ready for a change of pace from all the financial books I was reading and this was perfect. It was an easy read and was a wonderful book about her passion in life: raising her two boys.

                                                                 

I was working through a couple of other books that I just couldn't get into before I had to take them back to the library. My goal in March is to read three new books: one leadership, one on finance, and one for fun!

2. Volunteer once a month



My volunteer efforts also didn't happen in February. I had a goal to volunteer at Gleaner's at least one time every month, but the time I was set up this month, of course it snowed and they were closed. Not a great excuse, as I should have rescheduled, but I didn't. I have been in the works of volunteering at St. Christopher's in their nursery to help with the babies during the 10:30am service. I thought with all the stuff going on with our trying to have a baby, this might be helpful. Well, anyone who has struggled to conceive knows, you have good days and bad. I haven't yet been able to sign up but I am still keeping this in the back of my mind.

I would love more suggestions for volunteer ideas, especially as the weather is getting warmer! Some ideas I had were: Mini Marathon volunteering and/or dog walker at the Humane Society. Next month I'm so excited to volunteer at the Dave Ramsey event on April 24th! I will be able to watch the entire event for free just by volunteering to help set up and clean up after the event. Dave Ramsey has changed how we look at our money, debt, and what type of legacy we want to leave. This event will be amazing!





3. Make someones day, everyday.


I've learned that this goal is by far, one of the hardest and easiest. I love to go out of my way to make someone's' day better. This is as easy as giving someone a genuine smile and a "Hi, how's your day?" or giving someone a compliment. Just the other day at work I saw an older woman walking down the halls at Marquette, where I sometimes work. She had on a bright pair of snow boots that were very cute and stylist. I complimented her and she said, "Thank you! That made my day!" :)


I think my moment of the month was after finishing up a balance class at Marquette just last week. A gentlemen that I haven't seen before took my class, and sat right in the front row. . At the beginning of class he asked my name and said, "Can my balance get better if I come to class regularly?" I answered, "OF COURSE!" He was content with my answer and we started class. At the end of class, after focusing very intently on every move we did, he came up to me and said, "Do you know that you are the first person in a long time that told me I can actually get better at something." I was just silent. He continued and said," My hearing is getting bad, my eyes are getting worse, and everyday tasks seem to get more and more challenging. I have hope again that if I work hard, I will get better at my balance." That made MY day.. maybe my week :) Just another reminder that I love what I do and that I'm able to impact others lives in such a positive way.

 Budget Goals:

1. Hit our budget/debt payment goal every month.

At the end of February we hit a pivotal moment in our Debt Snowball plan. I received two emails from Sallie Mae stating a couple of my student loans had been paid in full! Now that is motivating! Sticking to a budget is very challenging, but we are working very hard to do so every month without giving up our social life or all our hobbies. February threw us a curve ball with our taxes so we did not put the full amount on our debt that we typically do. Our debt snowball is actually on hold right now as we save towards redoing our kitchen and driveway. We purchased nearly all the materials for our kitchen remodel last year, but didn't get to the project. This should be complete in a couple weeks! (I will post before and after pictures!) Our driveway has been something we have talked about replacing for over a year and this winter really did it in. It's cracked all up and down the sidewalk, porch, and actual driveway. This is money we both hate to spend, but know it needs to be done. I guess that's the fun part of being an adult ;)

I would love to hear from you all! What are you 2014 goals? Do you follow a written budget? What are you reading? What are you looking forward to this spring?

-xoxo-
Sarah

January Goals in Review. (Part 2)

If you read Part 1, first thank you. I am blogging mostly to keep myself accountable to my goals for the year, but if I inspire one person during this process, that's a double win in my book! Thanks for reading! I have lots of fun topics I'm excited to blog about in February- switching over to the health and fitness side- and less ME ME ME :)

In Part 1, I discussed my progress in my career, wifey, and fitness goals. Part 2 is going to focus on my spiritual, personal growth, and budget goals. Let's dive right in!

Spiritual Goals

1. Attend church weekly

We hit 50% of our goal this month, which is MUCH better than we have done in months past. We had been in a very bad habit of skipping church... and we had every excuse in the book. The weekend would start with "Let's go to 5:30pm mass on Saturday." Yet, Saturday would come and something "more important" would be going on and we would skip it. We would then say, "Let's go to noon mass tomorrow." Sure enough, we would both just be "busy" and would say "Well, we will go next week." RIGHT..

Finally, we said enough is enough. My goal in February is to be their every Saturday evening or Sunday morning.. No more excuses!  :) 

2. Nightly devotional with hubby: (5 nights a week)

We did this one night this month. Whoops!  The book has since sat right next to my side of the bed, left unopened. This literally takes 2 minutes to read and then we can discuss the topic for another couple minutes. This just takes commitment and discipline..(and putting down those iPhones!) I love the idea of doing a nightly devotional just to keep us talking; talking about new ideas, information, etc. We WILL do better in February.



Personal Growth
1. Read 2 new Leadership books a month (24 in 2014)

I read two amazing books this month... (OK, I read one and listened to the other on CD while driving to and from work.) Rich Dad, Poor Dad was a great break from all the Dave Ramsey I have been listening to/reading. It brought up a couple of great ideas, such as creating our own LLC and reiterated why we are working so hard this year (and years to come) to create a legacy for our family. More Than Enough was a very easy read. Each chapter built on the previous one and laid down layers of conviction to why we are doing exactly what we are doing in 2014. My favorite part of each chapter was when Dave Ramsey's wife, Sharon, would put in her two cents about the topic being discussed. This helped me to relate, being a wife and woman, to a successful and driven husband. Out of each of these books, I would recommend Rich Dad, Poor Dad. The topics he discusses are very different and creates a great discussion between friends, spouses, or parents.


                                 

2. Volunteer once a month

I have to admit that volunteering wasn't my idea. One of Dave Ramsey's main phrases is "Live like no one else, so that you can live and GIVE like no one else." This constant phrase has been in my mind these past three months and I couldn't ignore the fact that we haven't been giving. We are now giving back to our church and I started volunteering at Gleaners Food Bank. While we are working our way out of debt, I want to give as much of my time as possible to help those less fortunate, until we can give more financially.

My first experience at Gleaners was very humbling. I spent a very cold, Thursday afternoon in the food pantry. I had no idea what to expect.  I was asked to be in charge of the front door. I had to let in people when there was room in the pantry and I opened the door for them as they left. Anyone in the Midwest knows how cold and snowy our January has been, and this day was one of our worst. The pantry opened at 2pm, with a line of at least 50 people standing in the freezing cold, waiting to get in to receive their groceries for the week. It broke my heart to see people of all different ages, races, babies, grandparents, teenagers, single Moms and Dads, etc all just trying to put food on the table for their families. It was exactly the reminder I needed. My "problems" are not problems, but simply inconveniences. We never have had to worry about having food on the table, a roof over our head, or a warm bed to sleep in. It's easy to forget about the rest of the world when we live in such a self-involved world. I'm 100% guilty of this, but I'm working to focus my efforts on helping others and providing my time or talents to better someones life.

3. Make someones day, everyday.

This goal is tough. Think about it. If you woke up everyday and said to yourself "How can I make someones day?" I will tell you this... It's one of the most rewarding things we can do. Some of the great memories from this past month were watching my niece, Lauren, play basketball on a Sunday afternoon, taking my niece,Vaida,out to ice cream and shopping for her 7th birthday, and helping a couple on our Advocare team win a $500 Rookie Bonus. Some days it is more simple like smiling at someone who is having a bad day,  giving someone a genuine compliment, or going above and beyond for a co-worker, friend, spouse, or elderly neighbor.

Lauren and I after her basketball game! She scored 2 points! :)

 Budget Goals:

1. Hit our budget/debt payment goal every month.

We read the Total Money Makeover back in November 2013, but this month was our first month we stepped into "gazelle intensity" as Dave Ramsey refers to it. We start out each month with our written budget. Every dollar is given a name. (Mortgage, groceries, debt, etc) This has helped our marriage, bank accounts, and sanity. Money and budgeting are now exciting topics in our house. I look forward to our chats every Sunday. There is no better feeling than seeing my student loan debt decreasing month after month. Even with a couple unforeseen expenses, (what do you mean I can't use unlimited data on my phone? oops!) we hit our debt payment goal! When you have a plan and know what you are working towards and why, the drive comes from deep within. We know exactly when we will be out of debt, therefore every month is one month closer to being able to scream, "WE'RE DEBT FREEEE!!!" (Anyone else obsessed with watching these videos from the Podcast?)
 Month 3 is a definite win in my book!

2. Use envelope system to stay on track for all purchases (expect gas and Costco.)

Every month of using the envelope system gets better. The first we weren't use to using cash and would frequently forget to bring them with us to the store or out to dinner. The second month we over-budgeted, and the third month seemed just right. We have an envelope for groceries, eating out, house items, miscellaneous, and a swear one more that I can't think of at the moment! We use our debit card for gas and Costco, but have an allotment for each of these categories. It's exciting to me to see how far I can stretch each envelope and come up with creative recipes, date ideas, etc! :) 

I would love to hear from you all! What are you 2014 goals? Do you follow a written budget? What are you reading? How do you give back to your community? :) Have a great weekend! Bring on February!