Goals

End of Summer Goals: Saving Money and Sleeping Better

- Melody

goals
edgy plus size style

HAPPY HUMPDAY! It’s time for some goals, bbs! We’re almost there. So. Close. We can do this, guys! The closer we get to the end of the week means the closer we are to the end of July. And the closer we get to the end of July means the closer we get to August. And the closer we get to August means the closer we get to TEMPERATURES UNDER 100 DEGREES.

So because of all that and also because we’re literally almost halfway through July already (HOW?! AND YAY!) I decided to motivate myself a little bit and do a little goals post inspired by Valery Brennan and her small goals posts! Also, you should really check her out. If you’re into quirky feminist shirts she’s got a shop for that, too. The girl does it all!

I decided to share some small goals because 1. I love lists, and 2. I really love lists. I recently discovered I have pretty horrible A.D.D. and a suuuper low brain score (check yours HERE) (I know. This is such a wide range of topics, but WHATEVER. It’s my blog and I do what I want.) so lists help me stay “organized.” Which is my word for actually just makes me neurotic and stressed because I haven’t completed the whole list.

For the last eight months or so I’ve been waking up stressed. Like, can’t get it all done can’t have coffee because it makes me anxious daily overdraft notifications from my bank stressed. Last Friday morning I’d finally had enough. With my move and everything comfortable changing so quickly I decided I have to start taking care of myself. No more staying up super late and waking up when I should be leaving, flying by the seat of my pants with my money and eating whatever I want so none of my clothes fit. YOU’RE NOT FIFTEEN ANYMORE, MELODY.

So here they are. My small goals for the rest of July! (Vacation excluded.)

  1. Get to sleep by 10:30
  2. Get up by 7:00 (I know this may seem late for some, but it’s honestly a really big challenge for me!)
  3. No more having the TV on in the background when I fall asleep
  4. Drink at least 150 ounces of water daily
  5. Walk the dogs five days a week for thirty minutes
  6. Keep frivolous expenses to a minimum

 

I know these may not seem super hard to some, but they’re a daily, hourly, minute-ly (?) struggle for me. I’ve made these goals before and just given up the first day. But I feel like utter $hit daily and Paden is tired of me complaining so these are some very small things I can do to make my quality of life better.

A bonus goal I already completed is using the Clarity Money app to comb through my monthly subscriptions and cancelling what I didn’t need or use! I saved myself $30 a month and countless dollars in overdraft fees for subscriptions I forgot to budget for. (Not sponsored! Just a super cool app!) Yay for no more overdraft notifications when I wake up!

 

What do you hope to accomplish by the end of the summer?

 

 

 

xx

* 2 0 1 7 *

- Melody

goals

2017 goals

Is February to late to post a goals list? Asking for a friend. Trust me, if I don’t write it down it won’t happen. Even though I’ve made goals lists before and completely ignored them, but this time is different, I swear!

If you’re alive, you’ve probably seen goals posts out the wang this year. This list started out as a birthday goal list. The idea is to make a list of x number of items to complete before your next birthday. (x=your current age. #MATH) It gets tougher the older I get and I seem to put off big goals I have out of fear. For the last few years I’ve had the same few things on my list to complete, but after my 26th birthday I’m-seriously-getting-older-and-not-younger-what-am-I-going-to-do-with-my-life crisis I’m making strides to get these done. Like I talked about in one of my recent posts, I’m the most balanced I’ve ever been and arguably the most motivated. So lez do eet.

2017 Goals
  • Start retirement fund
  • Save an emergency fund
  • Save $700 cushion fund Well, I did this and then I used it for emergencies! Back to square one!
  • Get a credit card (See #27.)
  • Finish decorating my apartment and be done I did, and then I moved. So I’m starting over, lol
  • Buy a new computer Welcomed a new iMac to the fam.
  • Budget an entire year and stick to it This is literally impossible.
  • Start a band
  • Redesign blog
  • Travel to two new places
  • Develop a core group of friends (wanna be friends?) I already have a core group of friends. I just didn’t realize it.
  • Get first tattoo
  • Get a second tattoo
  • Meditate more
  • Find a part time work from home gig I LOVE working for Rover! I can literally set my own schedule and I love all of my clients.
  • Lose thirty pounds (I KNOW)
  • Don’t dip into the negative. Ever. (already screwed this one up!)
  • Love yourself more
  • Keep your house as minimal as possible Got rid of SO MUCH STUFF in the move!
  • Visit fifteen Dallas spots on your list
  • Mark off three bucket list items
  • Wear sunscreen every day for a week
  • Complete Whole 60!
  • Go camping
  • Take another friend vacation Heading to the beach in July!
  • Be bold
  • Pay off credit card every month

If I wanna be extra…

  • Buy a bike!
  • Learn to put on false eyelashes
  • Buy good tennis shoes and start running again
  • Paddle board or kayak on White Rock Lake
  • Run a 5k without walking

 

The good news is I’ve already crossed off a decent amount! The bad news is some of these are abstract and can’t necessarily be measured in a year and some may seem like easy challenges. Like going camping? Easy. Getting a second tattoo? Done. Others are tough, like completing a Whole 60 instead of a Whole30 this go round is going to be difficult, but I can do it! Starting a band? Woof. I look forward to having a benchmark for myself to look back and see how I’ve improved. Crossing something off is the most satisfying thing to me!

 

Here’s to the next 182 days!

 

xx

My Summer 2016 Bucket List

- Melody 1 Comment

with c1 preset

A couple weeks ago my sister mentioned she was working on her summer bucket list. And by that I mean she was literally knitting, you guys. KNITTING. But it made my ears perk up because 1., I love lists, and 2., I specifically love bucket lists. Not in the before-I-die kinda way, but in the I-want-to-actually-do-stuff way. And since the summer is nigh and I am tired of starting things and not finishing them, I made a summer bucket list! Behold.

  1. Finish my apartment and have a photo shoot. My friend Cait has been roped in to do this and I can’t wait!
  2. Host my first apartment party! (In the works!)
  3. Cross FIVE things off of my Dallas Bucket List. (One!)
  4. Buy a bike and ride it! (If $$$.) The sentiment of never forgetting how to ride a bike is true…right? ##12yearssinceirodeoneithink
  5. Visit my sister, Shelby, in Waco and go to Cable Park! (It’s one of the places on my Go To There list!)
  6. Learn to put on false eyelashes. Surprisingly I do not know how to do this. The glue? The eyes? I…I don’t know.
  7. Buy good tennis shoes and start running again! I had to stop a couple months ago because the shoes I have are over six years old and were murdering my knees. I did enjoy it, though!
  8. Spend as much time by a pool as you can! So far, so good! I’ll probably just end up as one big freckle. And I am okay with that. They are adorable.
  9. Paddle board or kayak on White Rock Lake! I think this is a crossover from my Dallas Bucket List. And if it is, that doubles my motivation to do it! Hopefully I’ll gain some killer balance by then..?

 

What do you think? Have you done/been to any of this things? How was Cable Park? I can’t wait to start doing this stuff!

Summer 2016 is going to rule.

 

xx

Fall Goals

- Melody 1 Comment

I know the first week of October is over but I was inspired by one of my very favorite bloggers, Kaylah of Dainty Squid, and decided to make up a goal list for this fall! The transition between September and October always comes rather abruptly for me. My birthday is September 30 and October hits me before I’m through celebrating! Guess that means I’ll just claim both months as my birthday month 🙂

I love love love the fall! The crisp air, the apples, the colors, the trees… ahh! I hope it never ends! Of course, here in Texas, it’s almost like we have two fall seasons. Winter is just a little colder. 😉 So these are some of my goals! It’s going to be a little tricky since it’s in the middle of me getting ready for my senior recital! A whole half hour of me singing. Yikes!

So! If you can’t read them above or below, here are some of my goals!

-take lots of pictures of the leaves
-decorate with pumpkins indoors! (I’ve ALWAYS wanted to do this!)
-bake a pumpkin pie
-carve a jack-o-lantern (with Jason 🙂
-dress in purples and mustards
-practice more photography
-have fam bam over for dinner!
-roast a chicken (Jenna from Eat, Live, Run says it makes the house smell delicious!)
-successfully pull off my senior recital

I’ll surely be adding more! What are some of your goals?

Summer Intentions

- Melody

Hello, June. 🙂

In honor of this new month I’m going to challenge myself to do one thing a day, little or big, to keep my brain going and my body moving. I don’t want this summer to be me on the couch watching The Office. I’m already bored of that. I want this summer to be something. Something active and fun and useful.  I’m starting out with this list but will probably add more later.

-Read and journal
-Play piano
-Make a maxi skirt
-Paint frames and fill them
-Experiment more with meals
-Make clay jewelry
-Organize desk
-Paint antlers
-Wake up early and drink coffee
-Go on dates 🙂

So far this summer I’ve slept entirely too much. You know when you sleep too much you feel sick? Yeah. I hate that. Jason has a little solution for me though. He needs a lot of help this summer installing computers if we’re going to go on vacation when we want to. So tomorrow we’re getting up and working together. 🙂 I think it’ll be fun! We’ll get out of the house and be together. That’s the great thing about summer. It’s like during school I have a husband but I don’t have a husband. School is my husband. But being together so much these last few days has allowed us to just be. And that’s really the best thing ever. 🙂

Any projects on your summer list? Pile me up!