Image Credit: Michael and Tara

Wow, welcome to February 2017!

Here are my goals for February:

1. Begin my journal adventure.
2. Finish my 2012 NaNoWriMo endeavor.
3. Donate blood.
4. Celebrate our 6,000th donated pint at our blood drive on February 4th.
5. Finally see Hidden Figures!
6. Buy a desk.
7. Buy a shelving system for my dolls!
8. Move my huge bookcase, books, and dolls from Mom and Dad’s to our house.
9. Make at least three new recipes!
10. Successfully co-host the PEO meeting on February 13th.

Here’s the breakdown:

Begin my journaling adventure.

• I’m determined to do this!
• I’m not setting a goal of an entry every night, but I want to get pretty close to that.

Finish my 2012 NaNoWriMo endeavor.

• I’m doing it. I want to set aside at least 15 minutes for three nights a week. If I feel motivated to do more than that, I will!
• My plan is to work toward the 50,000 word count. I have a ways to go, but I want to finish it, once and for all. This one has dominated my thoughts since Christmas.
• I’m excited to share my progress!

Donate blood.

• Our next blood drive is on Saturday. I hope to have a high enough iron level!

Celebrate our 6,000th donated pint at our blood drive on February 4th.

• We are just 46 pints away from number 6,000!
• This is so exciting. We have a big celebration planned!
• Doing the math – That will be 750 gallons donated!

Finally see Hidden Figures!

• I’m so excited to finally see this movie, this weekend!
• The author of the book is from Hampton, and the movie is set at NASA Langley, also in Hampton. I see the sign for the base every day on my commute!

Buy a desk.

• I’m ready to pick out a desk for the Lady Lounge!

Buy a shelving system for my dolls!

• We received a generous Target gift card from family friends for Christmas, so I’ll be buying a shelving system for my American Girl dolls.
• I’ve been looking around for the perfect size – At least 24 inches between shelves, and around that depth. I’m excited to finally display them properly!

Move my huge bookcase, books, and dolls from Mom and Dad’s to our house.

• This is the last of my things from Mom and Dad’s. I’m excited to start to bring the Lady Lounge to completion!

Make at least three new recipes!

• Recently, I’ve found a ton of mouth-watering recipes! I made Cajun Chicken Alfredo this past weekend – Yummy!
• I’m excited to make something new – A delicious dessert – for the Super Bowl party this weekend
• I also want to find at least one other recipe in Megan’s cookbook!

Successfully co-host the PEO meeting on February 13th.

• As co-hostess, I’m in charge of refreshments for the hostess, in Virginia Beach.
• Since the meeting is the day before Valentine’s Day, I plan to have several heart-shaped or heart-themed goodies!

Do you have any goals for February?

Until the next headline, Laura Beth 🙂

Image Credit: quotesgram.com

Here’s the link to my January Goals post:

• Getting Personal #52: January Goals

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Ready?

Here we go!

1. Kick off the 52 Weeks of Gratitude Challenge. – Accomplished!
2. Catalog all receipts and log them in our budget spreadsheet before February 1st. – Semi-achieved. 
3. Celebrate Al’s birthday! – Accomplished!
4. Begin my journal adventure. – Did not accomplish.
5. Start editing my 2012 NaNoWriMo endeavor. – Did not accomplish.
6. Update my TBR list. – Accomplished!

Here’s the breakdown:

Kick off the 52 Weeks of Gratitude Challenge. – Accomplished!

• I’m loving this challenge, so far. It’s a new post to look forward to each and every Wednesday!
• In case you missed them, I have the links posted below.
  • Writing Prompt #39: “52 Weeks of Gratitude Challenge” (Week 1)
  • Writing Prompt #40: “52 Weeks of Gratitude Challenge” (Week 2)
  • Writing Prompt #41: “52 Weeks of Gratitude Challenge” (Week 3)
  • Writing Prompt #42: “52 Weeks of Gratitude Challenge” (Week 4)

Catalog all receipts and log them in our budget spreadsheet before February 1st. – Semi-achieved.

• I didn’t do the best job of cataloging everything this month – All the receipts went in one big pile. Not helpful when it’s time to record them!
• However, I did log all of them in our budget spreadsheet, so I call that part a WIN!

Celebrate Al’s birthday! – Accomplished!

• The food we had last week was amazing – Smoky Applewood steak, shrimp, Red Lobster Cheddar Bay Biscuits, cookie cake, and ice cream! Yummy!
• I loved Al’s reaction to his birthday card and gifts – I went on an Amazon shopping spree and gave him three different Batman DVDs, Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, and this Marvel deck-building card game. It felt awesome.

Begin my journal adventure. – Did not accomplish.

• I had my journal and pen ready, but it didn’t happen this month. Not one single entry.
• Tonight, I’m carrying both upstairs when I get ready for bed. My thought is, if I try to read every night before going to sleep – I can certainly carve out a few minutes to write in my journal!

Start editing my 2012 NaNoWriMo endeavor. – Did not accomplish.

• Argh. This was frustrating. I felt motivated to start this project at the beginning of the month, but working full-time, behind a computer, is exhausting. Most nights, after work, I didn’t want to look at another screen.
• However, I felt inspired this past weekend, talking to fellow authors and aspiring ones at an event. All of them said the same thing – JUST DO IT!

Update my TBR list. – Accomplished!

• Here’s the link to my post: Getting Personal #53: First TBR Recap
• Look for the next update in April!

Final Thoughts

• I was able to put Accomplished next to 3 out of 6 goals. Hooray!!
• The one goal that was Semi-Achieved: I know what I need to do from here on out to accomplish that goal!
• The two goals that I didn’t accomplish: Honestly, I completely dropped the ball on these. I felt motivated to do both during the month, but I just didn’t make time for them. Here’s to February!

Did you have any goals for January?

Come back tomorrow to see my goals for February!

Until the next headline, Laura Beth 🙂

Image Credit: emilysquotes.com

Happy New Year! Cheers to 2017!

Here are my goals for January:

1. Kick off the 52 Weeks of Gratitude Challenge.
2. Catalog all receipts and log them in our budget spreadsheet before February 1st.
3. Celebrate Al’s birthday!
4. Begin my journal adventure.
5. Start editing my 2012 NaNoWriMo endeavor.
6. Update my TBR list.

Here’s the breakdown:

Kick off the 52 Weeks of Gratitude Challenge.

• Thanks to Kristian at Life Lessons Around The Dinner Table, I’m so excited to start a a full YEAR challenge!
• My plan is to publish these posts on Wednesdays, so look for a new post every single week in 2017!

Catalog all receipts and log them in our budget spreadsheet before February 1st.

• All I could think about for the last few days was the best ways to keep our mountain of receipts organized and cataloging them in a timely manner. I want to have a good picture of our budget for 2017 early!

Celebrate Al’s birthday!

• Al’s birthday is later this month!
• It falls on a Wednesday this year, so we’ll be working that day, but I’ll make sure it’s a special day.
• Surf and turf, and cookie cake! Yum!!

Begin my journal adventure.

• Remember my post titled Writing Prompt #37: Considering A “Five-Year Journal”? Well, I’m excited to kick this adventure off today. More to come!

Start editing my 2012 NaNoWriMo endeavor.

• I started a series called Writing Wednesdays in 2015, where I bravely shared my 2012, 2013, and 2014 National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) attempts / endeavors.
• Here’s the first post: New Series: Writing Wednesdays
• I’m excited to finally be at the point where I feel comfortable enough to start editing my first endeavor. The ultimate goal will be to get this piece to at least 50,000 words.

Update my To Be Read (TBR) list.

• This was my original post: Getting Personal #42: My First-Ever To Be Read List (TBR)
• As promised in that post, since it’s January now, I have an update to my list in the works!
• Look for quarterly updates in January, April, July, and October 🙂

Happy 2017, everyone! I’m so excited for the New Year. It symbolizes a fresh start.

Do you have any goals for January?

Until the next headline, Laura Beth 🙂

Image Credit: pinterest.com

December was a complete blur. Happy New Year’s Eve, everyone!

Here’s the link to my December Goals post:

• Getting Personal #49: December Goals

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Ready?

Here we go!

1. Decorate for Christmas. – Accomplished!
2. Fully clean up / clean out the attached garage. – Semi-achieved.
3. Enjoy several holiday parties! – Accomplished!
4. Donate blood. – Accomplished!
5. Create our budget for 2017. – Semi-achieved.
6. Help either a child or a family have a good Christmas. – Accomplished!
7. See Rogue One: A Star Wars Story! – Accomplished!
8. Make peppermint bark. – Accomplished!

Here’s the breakdown:

Decorate for Christmas – Accomplished!

• We bought our first Christmas tree! We enjoyed decorating it together. It’s been such a pretty addition to our living room.

Photo Credit: Al Vardaro

Fully clean up / clean out the attached garage. – Semi-achieved.

• This is something that’s still a work in progress. We were able to clean out several boxes and find places for some more kitchen items, DVDs, etc. However, we still have a ways to go before it’s completely clean.

Enjoy several holiday parties! – Accomplished!

• We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves at Amanda and Dan’s party on Saturday, December 3rd. I got so wrapped up in playing Exploding Kittens and Cards Against Humanity, that we didn’t leave until 11:45 p.m.!
• Al’s company holiday party was Friday, December 9th. It was a good time, with a Hollywood theme. Al even won a brand-new FitBit Alta!
• Later tonight, we’ll gather to celebrate New Year’s and Al’s co-worker Kathryn’s birthday! We’ve really enjoyed getting together with her, her husband Tim, and other friends to ring in the New Year! I don’t know about you, but I’m beyond ready for 2017 to begin!

The selfie we took toward the end of the night at Bauer’s Christmas Party.

Donate blood. – Accomplished!

• I crushed the hemoglobin test with a reading of 13.1 – Women need at least 12.5 to qualify to give. I was so excited! Plus, my favorite phlebotomist, Spencer, was there. He always makes my giving experience pleasant!

Create our budget for 2017. – Semi-achieved.

• We started the spreadsheet. I’ve been playing catch-up with our 2016 sheet, cataloging receipts for days.
• Note to self for 2017: Get envelopes and file receipts immediately, and then catalog at month’s end!

Help either a child or a family have a good Christmas. – Accomplished!

• Just days after making my December Goals post, a friend from college put out a call to for help. She wanted to help a former student of hers and her family have a good Christmas.
• I went shopping for the two girls, ages 12 and 15. I thoroughly enjoyed buying some horses with hair they could style and brush, along with a pair of jeans and two sweaters apiece.
• I wrapped everything up and met Amy for lunch in Hampton on Monday, December 19th. She was so appreciative! My heart was full.
• On Monday, December 26th, Amy sent a Facebook message that had a photo of the girls and their mom, all smiles. It was a fantastic Christmas for them, and they were overflowing with gratitude and appreciation. It felt awesome to contribute.

See Rogue One: A Star Wars Story! – Accomplished!

• Al and I first saw it in XD at our local Cinemark theater on Thursday, December 15th. It was very good. The theater was buzzing with excitement and the atmosphere was awesome.
• Then, our friend Drew came down to stay with us that Friday. We saw it at Paragon Theaters in Newport News on Saturday, December 17th. It was good to see it again – There were things that I had definitely missed the first time around.
• I will admit, although it was very good, The Force Awakens still has my heart.
• Cannot wait for Episode VIII!

Make peppermint bark – Accomplished!

• Here’s the recipe I used: Almost-Famous Peppermint Bark
• The hardest part was standing up for nearly an hour to melt both kinds of chocolate. However, judging by the look and smell from last night, it’s gonna be delicious.

Final Thoughts

• I was able to put Accomplished next to 6 out of 8 goals. Hooray!!
• The two goals that were Semi-Achieved: The weekends this month were exceptionally busy this month, and I wasn’t as diligent on weeknights as I would have liked to be.

Did you have any goals for December?

Come back tomorrow to see my goals for January!

Until the next headline, Laura Beth 🙂

Image Credit: quotesgram.com

Here are my goals for the month of December!

1. Decorate for Christmas.
2. Fully clean up / clean out the attached garage.
3. Enjoy several holiday parties!
4. Donate blood.
5. Create our budget for 2017.
6. Help either a child or a family have a good Christmas.
7. See Rogue One: A Star Wars Story!
8. Make peppermint bark.

Here’s the breakdown:

Decorate for Christmas.

• We just bought our first Christmas tree! We’re excited to set it up in our living room and decorate it!
• Red and green are so festive!

Fully clean up / clean out the attached garage.

• We cleared out two of the end tables last weekend, so one whole wall is clean now!
• We plan to go through boxes and containers a little bit every weekend!

Enjoy several holiday parties!

• Amanda and Dan’s annual gathering is this weekend.
• Al’s company holiday party is next weekend!
• At the end of the month, we celebrate New Year’s and Kathryn’s birthday!

Donate blood.

• I’m trying again this weekend!

Create our budget for 2017.

• We started a spreadsheet in July, and we need to fill it out for the rest of 2016, and then create a new worksheet for next year.

Help either a child or a family have a good Christmas.

• Having been raised in a church that has participated with Angel Tree, Salvation Army stockings, and Operation Christmas Child, I always try to do something extra in the month of December.
• I’ve already volunteered to be a Christmas elf to help a college friend help a family she knows, but I want to do a little bit more than that.

See Rogue One: A Star Wars Story!

• This has been the most anticipated movie for us this year!
• This is one that we are going to see multiple times!

Make peppermint bark.

• I discovered this a few years ago, and it’s super easy to make!
• I love peppermint during the holidays. Plus, it has white chocolate! Yum!

That’s all I have for December! I can’t believe it’s the last month of 2016!!

Do you have any goals for December?

Until the next headline, Laura Beth 🙂