20 for 2020 Check-In

Well. 20 for 2020 is not going well. 😂😂

Let's catch up.

1. Get a King-Sized Bed
This is still on the table. Probably for the Fall.

2. Update the Office
We have started this. We bought new carpet and then the pandemic locked us down. The carpet has been installed, but we didn't get to shop for furniture, so in the next few weeks, we are going to order a desk and a sofa bed.

3. Update the Bedroom
This is also still on the table. Probably for the Fall.

4. Remodel the Kitchen or Replace the HVAC
We are putting money back for one of these projects.

5. Work Toward Goal Weight
This is going surprisingly well considering I have been eating a bunch more sugar than I used to.

6. $0 Credit Card Debt and 6 Month Emergency Fund
We are enticingly close to paying off the last of our credit card debt. We also have about 3 months of expenses in an emergency fund, so this is going pretty well! With the pandemic, we decided to keep money in savings instead of paying off the card just in case my husband gets furloughed.

7. Read 67 Books
I should be further along in his goal. If I read 8 books by the end of June, I will be on track. I am currently at 26 1/2.

8. More Romance
Thank you Pandemic ;)

9. 1 Second a Day App
I am doing very well with this!

10. Take Trips (Mom-Tiff-Erin-Chris)
Cancelled due to the pandemic.

11. Memory Keeping Project
This was a stunner. I finished it in like March or the very beginning of April. I will say this was my pie in the sky, never going to happen goal. Weird, right?

12. Get a Facial
Probably cancelled due to the pandemic.

13. Go to Disney on Ice
Cancelled due to the pandemic.

14. Go to a TPAC show
Cancelled due to the pandemic.

15. See the Nutcracker Ballet
Cancelled due to the pandemic.

16. Train Ellie
We have made some amazing progress! Its so crazy to see how much has changed in the 8 trillion days of this lockdown.

17. $100,000 Travel Agency Sales
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 Cancelled due to the pandemic.

18. Post to YouTube 2x/week
Postponed due to the pandemic.

19. Blog 3x/week
Adjusted to 2x/week and doing my best!!!

20. Disney Blog 1x/week
Doing my best!

How are your 2020 goals going? Did you cancel any due to the pandemic?

May Goals

May is going to be a weird month. I'm just going to leave it there.

I tried to go light on myself, and hopefully this is pretty light, but who knows.

Chris is working from home until at least June 7, so we have another month of this, which is fine. Its growing on me. But lunches are hard.

My May Monthly Goals are pretty easy I think. I'm knocking 4 of them out this week, so hopefully the others are just as easy.

I literally just needed to slow this down a bit. The weekly tasks have been a bit oppressive in the past couple of months.

The only one sweet per day during self-isolation is going to be the hardest goal of all.

What do you anticipate your hardest goal being this month?

First Week of May

Well. We made it. Its May. States are starting to open, but I personally will be staying home as much as possible. However, as I write this, I have strangers in my house installing carpet because we bought it about 9 weeks ago and can't put off the installation any longer.

And just as we were settling into May...

I have no idea who created that meme, so apologies, but seriously. Giant Murder Hornets. I thought this was a joke when I first saw it and then I listened to the news...and Giant Murder Hornets.

Ok, back to my little corner of the world.

Weekly Goals

* Plan Chris's Birthday

* Order Chris's Gift

* Schedule Fingerprinting

* Send a Note to a Friend

* Have Game Night

* Clean my ceiling fans

* Vacuum Couches

* Clean the Air Purifier

* Clean the Fridge

* Update Command Center

* Have Subfloor installed

* Have Carpet Installed

Planner Spread

I used some American Girl stickers I found in a drawer!!!!! I paired it with some Planner Kate stickers and a few Disney touches from XO Mama Plans and I love it. Its just so fun. American Girl books were a huge part of my childhood and I love that these are in my planner this week.

Quote to Live By

What I'm Reading This Week

Unleashed by Sonja Corbitt

Finding Dorothy by Elizabeth Letts

Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson

What are you reading this week?

Productivity as a Coping Mechanism

I've come to realize that I am using productivity as a coping mechanism. If I have a list of 87 things to accomplish, I can't wallow or worry...I have to get them done. At the same time, I'm tired today. I have a lot to do today and probably put more on the list than the list can handle, but it keeps me going.

Weekly Spread

 Ellie had to be included this week.

Tending List

I've made some good progress on my monthly goals! I do need to a puzzle and work on weekly game nights. Why am I struggling with the fun stuff???

How are you doing?

Five on Friday: My favorite Covid19 Self-Isolating Pasttimes

For those of us not homeschooling, working 40+ hours from home, working 40+ hours in public, etc., this has been a very wild time of trying to fill hours that used to be filled with volunteering, lunches, church activities, etc. 

So, here are my five favorite self-isolating pasttimes...

1. Walking

I am really enjoying my morning walk with Ellie. We usually just do about 25 minutes.

2. Coloring

I have always liked coloring, I just never do it.

3. Baking

I have found my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe and banana bread recipe. And I finally figured out how to do the make my grandma's cookies!

4. Cleaning

I have finished my spring cleaning and am working through some extra projects that I just never deal with...like cleaning out baskets and cleaning out cabinets.

5. Virtual Game Nights

We had been having regular game nights before all of this started and we have tried to continue as much as possible. 

What are your favorite things to do?

Its been 42 Days...

All I can say is WOW. This year has been the biggest dumpster fire. Its been 42 days since I last checked in. Nashville had just been hit by a devastating tornado and then the entire country went into a tailspin with the Coronavirus/Covid19 pandemic. Let me catch you up...

On March 7, I traveled to Northern Kentucky for a cousin's baby shower. On March 9, I returned home, bought carpet and went about my week. On March 13, we made the decision to begin self-isolating. I went to the grocery, a bird flew in my house, it was wild. Chris went in to his office for the last time on March 16 and we have officially been self-isolating since March 17. Today is Day 29.

I feel like I went through all the stages. Shock and panic. Inertia. Wild cleaning binges. Baking. Zoom calls. Lots more alcohol than usual. A bit of depression about the things we have to cancel. Resignation. And now, I am in a kind of zen state. I have finally found a rhythm, a sense of normalcy. Making grocery orders is less stressful.

There is one thing kind of lingering over our heads. Two weeks ago, my husband's company cut pay across the board 10%. We thought ok, this is to protect from lay-offs, furloughs, etc. Two days later, thousands of employees were furloughed. The following Monday, an email went out that said that the measures they took were not drastic enough and more furloughs were imminent. Talk about killing staff morale. We fully expect another round of furloughs to be announced Friday and are praying not to be on the list.

We have so much money wrapped up in our adoption plan and our safety net is not as plush as it once was, which is thoroughly frightening. We have already slashed our monthly budget to the bare bones and only have 3 streaming services left to slash...Netflix, Hulu and Disney+, which is only about what...$25 per month.

Anyway. I know people have it worse than we do, but the lingering threat of a furlough, the stress of waiting for adoption, the pandemic...its a lot to handle.

So, where am I now?

I have found a fun, daily rhythm.
6:00 - breakfast, get ready for the day
7:20 - Walk with Ellie
8:00 - Tidy the House and do my journaling/devotional
9:00 - Start the to do list
11:10 - Make Lunch
1:00 - Return to To Do List
3:00 - Watch the Covid 19 Conversations Instagram Live with Gretchen Rubin and Liz Craft
4:30 - Chris is usually done with work, so we go outside if the weather is favorable
6:30 - Dinner
8:00 - Shower, Dishes, Get Ready for Bed
10:00 - Bed

My goals for this week include things like Wash Windows, schedule Facebook posts for June, clean off the laundry room shelves and get our home study physical done.

Here are some things I am grateful for...

The ability to self-isolate
The ability to buy groceries online
The mostly favorable weather
Ellie and Chris
Keeping in contact with friends and family
All the essential workers
All this extra time with Chris even when I want some alone time
Entertainment companies unlocking their services to help keep us entertained
Stephen Colbert's Late Show from Home
Jimmy Fallon's Late Show from Home
Some Good News on YouTube
Here For You, a new daily podcast from the Forever35 podcast hosts
Audiobooks

Going forward, I want to blog more and I think I have hit a point in this situation where I can sit down and concentrate.


What are you grateful for? How are you doing?

March: In Like a Lion

A tornado hit Nashville last night and it was pretty devastating. It hit a lot of highly populated neighborhoods with a lot of Nashville landmarks.

On a personal note, we have a lot going on right now and we are both overwhelmed and edgy, so its been a bit rough. On one hand, February felt like it was a year long, but I also can't believe I already have to pay bills again. Isn't life weird?

Motivation for the Week

Weekly Spread

I love this book kit from Fabulously Planned. I supplemented it with some Planner Kate stickers and I used a Micron 03 and a Sharpie pen.

Goals for the Week

1. 1 hour of Digital Decluttering
2. 1 hour of Decluttering
3. 2 hours of Memory Keeping
4. 1 hour of cleaning the Laundry Room
5. Create a Budget
6. Work on scheduling Home Study Update Appointments
7. Create March Facebook Posts
8. Schedule Lunch with Chris
9. Start a Prayer Journal

Tending List for March

I didn't want to over commit to daily tasks this month because I have a lot of big tasks on my monthly list and on my weekly list.

Alright. Let's kick March's butt!

What do you have on your list for March?