Short Month, Make the Most of it...

February is the shortest month of the year, but there is no reason not to make the most of everyday by challenging yourself to try new things. Here are five fabulous ideas to help make the most out of your February!

1. Find a new colorful lip shade to try
February is the most romantic month of the year, why not spice it up with a fun new lip color? I just got Yves Saint Laurent ROUGE VOLUPTÉ and I am having so much fun with it!

2. Try a new workout
Statistics say that most people who make January resolutions already failed, why not start fresh with a new workout? I am obsessed with Tone It UP which has free weekly workouts and YouTube videos that make it easy for people like me who don't know what or how to do certain workouts.

3. Experiment with a new recipe
Why pay exorbitant prices to eat out on valentines day? Instead, why not try a romantic dinner at home with a new recipe.

4. Buy yourself flowers
Whether you have a valentine or not this year, fresh flowers help perk up any room and can change a mood every time you walk by them. Why not freshen up your space with a nice vase this month?

5. Treat yourself to a pedicure
Spring is right around the corner which means almost sandal weather! Why not treat yourself to a pedicure this month with a fresh fun color?

Happy February!

Friday's Letters

Dear Me:
You are not perfect, you fall short every day from being the person you desire to be. You make mistakes. However; every day is another opportunity for a fresh start. The fresh start you need might not be to fix those things above, but to allow yourself the grace to not be perfect.

"Love isn't finding a perfect person, it is seeing an imperfect person perfectly."  Today, allow yourself the grace to not be perfect and to love yourself despite of it. Never stop trying to improve yourself, but don't be so hard on yourself when change doesn't happen over night. 

Grace is a hard thing to allow oneself. It seems much easier to forgive other's shortcoming than your own; why is this? Stop. Just stop. Every hour, every day, and every week is another opportunity for another fresh start. Take it.

 

New Year, New Start

 

So many people have opinions it seems about making New Years resolutions. For me, I don't see why anyone wouldn't. Life is a journey, and we should take every moment and opportunity as a chance to grow and better ourselves. I love being able to reflect on 2012; all the past mistakes, opportunities lost, experiences that changed me and made me different today. 2013 is a chance to hit reset and change things for this year. I hope that when I am 70 I am still trying to better myself. So here it is, my goals for 2013.

My Husband
Honestly, I love this man more every day. He is my rock and without him my life would be so grey. My goal this year is to be more intentional with my relationship to him. I love being a wife, and I am blessed with a job that lets me be able to focus on taking care of my household as well. I feel there is a big difference in managing a house, and being intentional with every action. Serving my husband a plate of dinner after work is different than intentionally making a meal he enjoys, plating it well, serving a sit-down-not-in-front-of-the-tv dinner to him. Doing the laundry is different than intentionally cleaning folding, pressing, and putting his clothes away. Saying 'I love you" is different than intentionally saying the words and meaning it every time I say it. Going out to dinner for a date night is different than intentionally being present in that evening and putting all my stresses and anxieties away to spend quality silly time with the man I am so blessed to have in my life. I want to enjoy our lives together and flourish rather than just trying to just survive our days. I want to be silly with him. I want to make memories with him; not just on big days, but every day.

My Family
God has blessed me with amazing family and the opportunity to move closer to them. This year I want to work harder and building closer bounds and getting deep relationships with them. Its one thing to call someone a sister or a mother because they are blood; I want a long lasting relationship with my family that supersedes everything else. No more petty fighting and worthless energy spent over hurt feelings. At the end of the day, I want to focus on what is really important.

 

Friendships
2012 really opened my eyes to what friendship is, who my true friends are, and what a blessing a real friend is. No matter how many miles apart or time spent face to face, a real friend will stand by you through it all. I love all my friends and this year I want to make sure they all know it. Much like my husband, I want my actions with my friends to be intentional.

And Lastly...
Yes I want to work out more; I know it is cliche. But generally, I want to be healthier...both physically and mentally. I want to find workouts that I don't dread and that make me feel better. People say the best therapy can be found in the gym and I want to experience that feeling. I also want to become up close and personal about the demons I carry around me with..so to do that I think I might use this blog as a tool to express myself and try to overcome some of them.

So that is it. A long list of hopes and goals for the new year. I might fall a little, but I think the important thing is to say them out loud and allow myself some grace in finding out how to live life better every day.