{"id":9785,"date":"2015-03-05T19:35:15","date_gmt":"2015-03-06T00:35:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.relishments.com\/blog\/?p=9785"},"modified":"2015-03-05T19:35:15","modified_gmt":"2015-03-06T00:35:15","slug":"strengthen-2015-january-and-february","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.relishments.com\/blog\/strengthen-2015-january-and-february\/","title":{"rendered":"Strengthen 2015: January and February"},"content":{"rendered":"

As you may recall, at the beginning of the year, I committed myself to getting stronger in 2015<\/a>.  I finished 2014 feeling a little beat up and I was ready to stop trying to do all the things.  Here\u2019s how it\u2019s going so far:<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Mind<\/h2>\n

I have a semester and a half left of grad school, folks.  I will be done by September.  I can\u2019t even tell you how excited I am about this fact.  I\u2019ve been working hard the past couple months to complete all my work, hence the lack of posts sometimes, and I\u2019m really excited about my research topic.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, I\u2019m working on some of my other skills goals as well.  Last weekend I took a photography class through IS183<\/a>, which was something I\u2019d been planning to do for literally years.  I haven\u2019t had much time to practice, but I feel like I have a clue about shooting in a manual mode and I\u2019m looking forward to sharing pictures that reflect that.  I also developed my interior painting skills<\/a> this month\u2026and I\u2019m still looking forward to doing some more.<\/p>\n

\"After_years_of_procrastination__I_finally_bought_myself_a_mat__yoga__strengthen2015\"<\/a><\/h2>\n

Body<\/h2>\n

Oh, body.  I wrote in January that my goal was to do yoga 6 days a week, but that only lasted like 2 weeks before I started missing days.  I keep promising myself that I\u2019ll jump back on the bandwagon, but it\u2019s been a struggle (though I\u2019m up to 2 days in a row!) Scheduling is part of the issue; ideally, I\u2019d spend some time on the mat first thing in the morning, but I\u2019m just slow in the morning and I\u2019m trying to get in the habit of making myself a real breakfast as well.  It just doesn\u2019t seem possible to do everything I want to in the morning.  I\u2019ve no issue with working out in the afternoon, but my schedule has been so erratic that it makes routine difficult.  Hopefully the next two months work great!<\/p>\n

\"_SheReadsTruth__SRTLent_Day_4\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Spirit<\/h2>\n

My spirit is so much better than it was last fall.  A lot of that has to do with circumstances, but I\u2019ve also done a few other things.  The current She Reads Truth<\/a> study is a 47 day study on Lent that\u2019s been excellent.  Speaking of Lent, Brian and I both chose to stop working on Sundays.  This may sound like an easy and wonderful thing to give up (like, giving up washing dishes or something), but I realized that part of my stress and my inability to relax was the fact that I was working all the time.  If I wasn\u2019t doing work for school, I was reading for grad classes or writing blog posts or completing tasks for my part time job.  I love to work and I love getting things done, so stopping has been a sacrifice and a struggle (as Lent should be), but the rewards have been great: I manage my time better and I actually relax at least once a week.<\/p>\n

Relationships<\/h2>\n

Relationships are difficult to strengthen; everyone is so darn busy! I did get the chance to visit with some friends in the past couple months, but the relationship I have seen the most improved is the one I have with Brian.  For one, the no-work Sundays have provided us with the opportunity to spend time together.  We\u2019ve made the afternoon a \u201cDate Day\u201d \u2013 last weekend we went out to lunch and to The Clark Art Museum \u2013 and it was awesome.  In addition, we started using You Need a Budget<\/a> at the end of January and it\u2019s been awesome.  We never fought about money, but we definitely viewed it differently sometimes.  YNAB is not only helping us achieve our financial goals, but it has provided an impetus for many productive conversations that have put us even more on the same page.<\/p>\n

Looking forward to the next couple months!<\/p>\n

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