What I focused on in February:
- So. Much. People. Time. My best friend had a baby and I spent a fair amount of time at her house, plus we had weeks of company. ❤
- Getting into the groove with “healthy” – eating well, exercising, sleeping enough
- Learning a rhythm and system for teaching Junior Church
Reading Update
Fiction: 2
Nonfiction: 1
Book Reviews: ?
Audio Books: 4
Traveling
Nights Gone: 4
New States or Countries: None
Goals
- Work for HIS 20 Hours (if certain things happened that made the work available – they didn’t, so this goal was void).
- Keep track of Coffee Shop Hours – YES
- Edit Ten Thousand Words – YES
- Help Sarah with the baby – YES
- Help Hosanna move – YES
- Teach Junior Church each Sunday – YES
- Vlog each week – YES
- Post by 9:30 15 times – NO {only 14 times}
- Walk 22 Miles – YES
- Eat Paleo 20 Days – YES
- Eat fresh veggies or fruit twice a day for 20 Days – YES
- Bed by 10:30 12 Times – YES
- Weekly Goals – YES
What I’ve Been Learning
Well, obviously my lesson from last month about reviewing the month before the next one is halfway over stuck – and here I am, writing a review right on time.
One of the biggest things I worked on learning this month had to do with exercising. Hosanna and I signed up together to do the Columbus half marathon (only 234 days away!), and we also started a coaching program to help us get ready. Walking is one thing that I can do endlessly without getting bored or too tired. But! Add in running and I about die. As it turns out strength exercises help a lot with this. When I started out about mid-way through the month I could plank for about five seconds. (It was baaaddddd folks.) By the end of the month, I could plank for 70 seconds at a time. That was rather encouraging. Following the system and learning about different things to do has been immensely helpful, and also led to gales of laughter as I lie on the floor realizing how truly weak I currently am.
As evident with my reading update, I didn’t read much at all during February (yay for #life). I did listen to several totally amazing audiobooks though, and I realized even more fully how much I can learn from listening to an audiobook. It helps me catch the details and learn more about writing. I also finished listening to the New Testament and started on the Old Testament – listening to the Bible is a great way to get new perspectives.
Goals. Folks. Having accountability helps me so, so, so much. I’ve mentioned previously that my cousin, Aubrey, is my goal accountability partner and that has made a huge difference. This month I’ve been on time with setting my weekly goals which would have not happened without her. For instance, mentioned to her that I was having a hard time writing my to-do list each night for the next day. We talked over ways to help me be more consistent with it, and we ended up deciding that I would text her each night after the list was written. Y’all – I probably would have only written the list half of the month if it hadn’t been for her giving me that push to stay faithful, but thankfully I’ve written it each night since then.
I started teaching Junior church (for kids ages 3-6) full time. (We have two services at church, so I attend the first and teach the kids for the second.) It’s been a good learning experience to figure out how to time things right, what to do with fussy kids, try and make the lesson stick, and show God’s love even when there’s a lot going on. It’s been really fun, but quite tiring. I look forward to getting into a better rhythm as time goes on.
Other
It’s funny because I don’t even know how so much fit into February. Life was full of going, going, going, and people from all over the place.
I got to hang out with:
*Marta, my wonderful friend from Peru who lived with us for a year a while back
*Hosanna and Melody – my “soul sisters” and absolutely amazing friends stayed here for over half the month (closer to three-fourths of it). That was glorious and memory-filled and somewhat chaotic as normal
*Kaitlyn, one of my blogging friends and favorite people, stopped by with some of her family on her way back from Europe. We hadn’t seen each other in person since last July so of course, we crammed pretty much as much visiting as possible into the 38-hour visit
*After work one day I drove up to my adopted parent’s and spent the evening and night with them which was great and relaxing
*My best friend had a baby so I ended up spending a good amount of time up at her house – visiting, holding children, and just helping out
*And of course there was still the normal ebb and flow of guests around the house and people to visit with elsewhere
In addition to people, training for the half marathon started during the second half of the month and has been quite fun and rewarding and painful. There have been some absolutely beautiful days which prompt me to 1) Begin to miss winter already and 2) Get outside and run.
This is the first February that I’ve been in Ohio for the entire month in who knows how many years? I used to not like February very much because the vacillating weather was a rollercoaster. This year though? Well, this year I’ve discovered that I really do like February after all. Especially the snow and ice (as long as it stays off the roads). The last two weeks have been full of lots of rain though, and not as much snow and ice.
Another addition to my life in February was learning about My Story on Instagram. I’ve had fun sharing some of the “behind the scenes” with y’all. You can check it out here.
February was wonderful and life-ish, and goodness, am I ever looking forward to March!
Noveltea 