I've got my spine, I've got my orange Crush ~ REM

I have no idea what this song is about, but I started singing it because my friend Lauren brought a spine skeleton to Life Teen tonight (it was a prop for a talk on Anointing of the sick..haha). Anyway, the song made me realize two things: I need to grow a spine (aka self-improvement) & enjoy an Orange Crush (rekindle my hobbies). So here goes:

I've got my spine:

Work goes in waves; it can all-but-consume-me or it can be so boring that I get tired of Facebooking. A lot of this is due to my piss poor planning, and procrastination. As with a few other areas of my life, I need to be a better pre-planner instead of someone who cleans up on the spot.

I have come to the conclusion that not just my work that I am a poor planner. My weight has slowly crept back on (after losing 30 lbs in college) due to my lack of meal planning. The last three or four years have been "grab a bite on the way" because I didn't plan enough in advance for a healthy meal. It takes time, and it's time I need to make! My health is too precious!

My third main area of improvement is financial. I would make budget after budget, but would get careless or fail to plan ahead and I got myself in a deep hole. Back in February Eric and I started listening to the Dave Ramsey "Finance Peace University" CDs and my whole financial life has changed. This isn't really a new area of improvement, but I guess rather proof that I can make changes in my life, and having a plan and accountability is the only way to do it.

Okay, and now for my Orange Crush.

As I've been slowly getting back into blogging, I've realized how many of my hobbies I've missed lately.

I miss photography. I miss tweaking my blog(s). I miss baking. I miss reading. I missing working out regularly. I miss traveling.

I think if operation "grow a spine" goes well, I will find it easier to make time for my hobbies. It's all about planning. As Deacon Leo says, "you don't just find yourself in a Confessional, you have to plan to go and make it happen". As Dave Ramsey says, "you have to tell your money where it's going to go & follow through". Same applies to my free time. If I want to start having some, I need to plan to get my work done more efficiently so I can enjoy my free time guilt-free and productively.

GOALS for this week:

• Set "office hours" for myself and stick to them!
• Follow through on week 3 of meal planning (thank you Eric for helping with this!)
• Make a list of a few non-work related things I want to accomplish (ex: thank you notes, tidy apt, move clothes from parents, upload honeymoon pictures)