May 2014: Goal Recap

January is always a time of reflection and resolutions. Just like many people, in January 2014 I wrote down several goals I wanted to improve upon this year. Writing down goals is one thing, while sticking to them is another. (This is why I blog!)

Here's a look back at how I've done so far this year..

 If you haven't read my original blog on 2014 goals

 click here ---> 2014 Goals<----

January Part 1 & Part 2

February Recap:Part 1 & Part 2

March Recap/Goals

April Recap/Goals

May 2014 

Career Goals

I have now been in my position at NIFS for 6 months. I feel confident in this position and truly enjoy being on the corporate side of fitness vs strictly commercial fitness. I am now ready for a more permanent position at one site now that I have had a taste of all 20 sites in the Indianapolis area. I'm keeping my eye out for any openings at the sites I would like to work at daily, but loving the change of scenery everyday.

 I also have some NEW career goals that are in the works.

 More details will be coming VERY soon :)

Wifey Goals

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

This goal has become harder to achieve as the weather has been warmer and days longer! It's easy to want to stay inside in the winter and prep meals for the week, but now I just want to be outside, enjoying the warm, summer weather. OK, now that my excuses are out there, we have been about 50/50 this month in meal prepping. Barry typically grills about 10 chicken breasts and 6-8 turkey sausages on Sunday and we use those during the week for lunches/dinner. I have apples, carrots/hummus, protein drinks, and protein bars ready to pack for lunch and frozen veggies, sweet potatoes, and salads ready for dinners. Our meals are less formal in the summer and more easy to eat and get back outside :)

Perform 20-25 min of daily cleaning

Who wants to be inside cleaning all summer long?! Not me. I do look at my cute cleaning chart everyday, but once I skip Monday, there's a slim to none chance I'm going to stay on track. What has worked for me is setting my oven timer for 10 minutes and picking up the entire house. This forces me to be intentional and stay on track. My goal is to set my timer for 20 and get everything done on the schedule everyday... I will report back on how that goes!

Reduce our spending

This has been the focus of 2014- reduce spending and get out of debt. Every month we do a budget before the month begins and "spend" our money on paper. We have read countless books on this topic  and continue to educate ourselves daily on better ways to reduce spending/living simply.

Here's a couple ways we have reduced our spending:

Grocery shop at Costco/Aldi with cash

Cut Barry's hair (Saving us over $2,500 over 10 years)

Keep the blinds closed during the day to keep cool air in & AC used less

Find inexpensive entertainment  (ride bikes, take dog for a walk, etc)

Rent library books instead of buying new books

Future ways to cut spending:

Cutting cable ($92/month)

Creating an at-home gym ($165/month)

These two small expenses in our budget will allow us to save over $45,000 over the next 10 years if we invest this money vs giving it away. We have debated giving up cable for months, but there's no way ESPN is worth $45k in my book. 

Look for future blogs on how we created an at-home Crossfit garage gym and Part 2 of May 2014 Goals :)

"Every accomplishment starts with the decision to try"- March 2014 Recap and Goals

The beginning of 2014 began with three long, freezing cold and snowy months. After the grueling winter we had, it felt like Spring would never arrive! I'm so excited to see the flowers starting to come up through the ground, the grass starting to turn green, and some 50-60 degree days!  

Here's a rundown of March 2014 for the Gardner's 

March started off with my 90 day review at NIFS. My manager had nothing but great things to say about my performance my first three months with this company! I was very excited to hear this. I LOVE my position as a Health Fitness Specialist as I'm gaining new experience in the field of Health and Fitness!



The second week of March was our first appointment at Midwest Fertility. To say I was nervous was an understatement. Luckily, we now have an amazing Doctor that Barry and I both really like and are working on a plan to hopefully conceive in the coming months!
 
The weekend of March 15th-16th was extremely busy! We headed out to Brownsburg High School around 9am on Saturday morning to help set up for the Riley Dance Marathon. We then traveled to cheer on the Brownsburg Bulldog basketball team at Regionals. After a disappointing loss, we headed back out to Brownsburg for a fun afternoon/evening at the Riley Dance Marathon. We ended the night by celebrating my Mom's birthday over at my parent's house :)
               

I Faced My Fear on March 19th and found out a possible cause for our infertility. Barry was off work for two weeks starting on Friday, March 21st-April 4th. We allowed ourselves some extra room in the budget (since we didn't go to Fort Myers with our friends) and had some fun shopping, going out to dinners, and staying the night at the Embassy Suites in downtown Indy.


Now a recap of the 2014 goals I set back in January. If you haven't read that yet, click here ---> 2014 Goals<----

1. Debt: We started our debt talk back in November 2013 when I ordered the free copy of Advocare's Debt Buster System. We never really worried about debt since we could pay our monthly payments and even had extra money over for vacations, trips, etc. What we didn't realize was how much money we were wasting each month on useless purchases that were keeping us from truly getting ahead in life and building wealth. 



After reading Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover, our entire thought process shifted. We now do a written budget each money where we spend every dollar before the month begins. (We aren't perfect, but getting better each month!) This helps us to stay on track and hit our debt payment goal each month.

 

Our debt snowball has been put on hold during February and March in order to save for our kitchen remodel project and a new driveway/front porch! After seeing so much progress on my student loans the first couple months and cutting my student loans in half, it has been hard to not see the amount decrease these past couple months. We were hoping to delay the driveway project, but Old Man Winter had different plans! I know that paying cash for both these projects will feel amazing, but I can't wait to get back on our Debt Snowball this month!  



2. Advocare: Building an Advocare business is simple, but not easy! We have an amazing team of over 90 champions and are currently earning a residual $1,000 a month! This has been a huge blessing! We are throwing every penny we bring in through Advocare at our debt. We love the products and take them daily. I love helping others reach their health, fitness, and/or financial goals with this company and look forward to many more amazing experiences in the coming months and years! 


3. Dogs: My baby/puppy fever may be at an all-time high. I had a dream the other night that Smokey gave birth to 10 puppies (LOL) First, Smokey is a male. Two, he is fixed. Three, I may be starting to lose it. Even though probably four times a week I ask Barry, "Can we get a puppy?" I know it's not the best time. As soon as we got another Weim, I would probably get pregnant and we would then have a new puppy and a newborn...
uh, no thanks! 
So for now, we are spoiling Smokey and enjoying our peaceful house. 

                      

4. Baby Making Plans: Last month we met with Dr. Will at Midwest Fertility in Carmel. Barry and I both really liked him and had a great conversation about all we have been through the past year and a half. He had some routine tests ordered and we found out that my thyroid levels were slightly elevated (2.89). He said he would like them between 1-2 to conceive and maintain a healthy pregnancy. I started a thyroid medication the next day and will have that rechecked this month. We should have a game plan for May after a couple more tests this month :) 



Are you still working towards the goals you set for 2014? What process have you made? What set backs have you encountered?
- 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

Motivational Monday!

Here we are SIX months into the new year! If you are anything like me, you sat down at the end of 2013 and set some great goals for 2014. 
Are you still running towards those goals- knocking down anything that is standing in your way or have you given up and gone right back into your old ways?

Change is hard. The definition of change is to "to cause to be different; to transform." That is not an easy task. Usually by the time you are ready for change, you are already in the contemplation/preparation phase of change. (shown below is the 5 stages of change) Usually where we get stuck is the action part - which is 80% of the way toward your goal! Putting action behind your goal is one of the hardest steps, but essential for your success. No matter your goal or resolution, take some time to review them and see where you might be in the stages of change and continue to fight for your dreams! :)

If your New Year's resolution was to get healthy/lose weight/fit into those skinny jeans...check out my Motivational Monday workout! All you need is your body and 20 minutes! No excuses :) When you finish the workout, comment below how it went :)

Share this blog post with your friends to help get them moving and motivated as well!

Motivational Monday Workout

M is for Muscles

Start with 25 squats to get the heart rate increased and legs warmed up!

O is for Obliques

Hold a side plank for as long as you can (Repeat on other side)

Goal: 1 minute at Level 3

N is for kNeeling push ups

10-15 push ups (regular if you can)

D is for Dips

Dips help target the triceps- the muscle on the back of your arm.

You can use a table, chair, or just the floor.

Do as many reps are possible!

                                

A is for Abs

Hold a plank as long as you can!

 Goal: 1 minute in level 3 position 

Y is for Yep, we are going to do this again! 

Repeat this circuit 2x's if you are a beginner, 3-4x's if you are intermediate, or 5-6x's if you are advanced!

Good Luck!

Look back for more weekly workouts!

XOXO

Sarah

ACSM Certified Health Fitness Specialist