July Goals

Hello, July! Here we are, halfway through 2018 already! Feels really strange when you put it like that. 2018 has been an interesting year so far, but I am hoping that the rest of the year won't be quite as hectic!

August Goals

How is it already August?! This summer has just flown by and has kept me very busy. Between working 50 hours per week, moving, and having jam packed weekends, it is no wonder I blinked and we are somehow already at the beginning of August.

August is a bittersweet month for me; there are exciting things to celebrate, but it also means the end of summer break and the beginning of a new school year. While I enjoy the newness of a fresh semester, I do not enjoy the responsibilities that come along with it as my classes progress!

Since it is my last few weeks of summer break before school starts up again, I definitely want to make the most of this month! Here are some goals I have...

+ Get unpacked and settled in at my new apartment
Yes, you read that right, my new APARTMENT! I will definitely share more about this very soon, but I just moved all of my stuff into my new apartment almost two weeks ago (that I am sharing with one of my oldest friends!), so I still have some settling in to do and would love to be all unpacked before school starts. I always love seeing and reading about people's homes, but have never felt like I had much to share, so I am definitely excited for all of the home related blog posts to come :)

+ Celebrate Dai's birthday and our 5 year anniversary
This is the fun part of August! Dai's birthday and our anniversary are just 3 days apart, so these special occasions are always the highlight of the month. I usually plan something for Dai's birthday, but this year I am also handling plans for the day of our anniversary and I am excited :) We are also using these occasions as an excuse to go away later in the month, so it is like we get to celebrate all throughout August, which I am definitely a fan of!

+ Start school
Well, this "goal" is a little inevitable, but I still have to get all of my supplies organized and mentally prepare to start my last year of school! This will be happening this month whether I like it or not ;)

+ Spend time with Dai
July was pretty crazy for both of us, so it didn't really feel like we got to spend much quality time together, even though we saw each other every day. This month I would like to make an intentional effort to spend nice time together, especially since I will be starting school soon and then will have homework and tests to worry about even in my down time.

+ Try out the gym at my new place
One of the great amenities of my apartment is a nice gym (along with a pool!), so I definitely want to take advantage of it and get my booty into a workout routine! Between the gym at home and a pilates class I am taking this semester, I am hoping to finally begin my fitness journey. Gyms are totally new to me and while the one at my apartment isn't huge, it is surely enough to get me going!

+ Have a get together/party with friends
Since I just moved and really love my new place, I would love to have some friends over for a get together or have a house warming party! Hoping we can do that sometime this month maybe, or at the very least get it on the calendar :)

+ Spend some time alone doing things I want to do
As you can see, going back to school is a theme here! I am thankful for my education, but it definitely puts a strain on my free time, so I would like to take advantage of the time I have left before school starts again to do things I have been wanting to do. I would love to do things like have a coffee date with myself, work on a scrapbook, blog, and play around with hand lettering, things I always feel like I have to put off because of school.

+ Give oil pulling a try
My friend and roommate, Laura, and I were talking about giving oil pulling a try and thought it would be nice to have each other as a buddy to do it with. There is a lot of information out there about oil pulling, so I would just Google it if you are curious, but it is essentially swishing around oil in your mouth for about 20 minutes. Sounds weird, I know, but it has tons of health benefits, such as teeth whitening, increasing oral health, aiding in weight loss, killing bad breath, the list literally goes on and on... So, I figured why not start this month?

So there you have it, my goals for this month! Even though it just began, I can already tell it is going to fly by! I think the most important thing for me is going to be being intentional about my time, especially when it comes to wanting to do some things by myself. I am really looking forward to seeing what this month brings!

What are your goals for August? Are you going back to school this month?

xoxo

Jess

March Goals!

I think March is going to be a good month! It will definitely be busy with school with projects, papers, and exams, but we will be approaching a little more than half way through mark in the semester, so that will be nice! Plus, there is spring break to look forward to at the end of the month, which will be a whole glorious week off of school and work that I will be spending in San Diego on a girls trip with my friend to see my family. Dai and I will also be going to a baby shower and a BBQ with family friends, and his parents will be visiting from Japan. I actually didn't really realize how busy this month will be until I typed all of this out!

It has been a while since I have posted any monthly goals and this month I was inspired to write some! So here they are..

+ Blog more
This is a pretty obvious goal, since you all know I haven't bee the best blogger for a while! It is hard to balance everything, but I find myself feeling better when I have this creative outlet for myself. So, I think I will just have to make scheduling in a bit of time for blogging every week so that I can keep up with it! Hang in there with me :)

+ Be better about leaving comments on blogs and connecting with others on social media
I can't tell you how many times I have read a blog post or saw an Instagram photo and thought "I should leave a comment... I'll just come back later and do it" and never did! It's bad... But I don't want to just be a "ghost" reader and I'd like to connect with fellow bloggers more!

+ Finish my second round of Whole30!
I am already on day 12 and am trucking along! It has been good and I am looking forward to accomplishing this goal. I also am starting to think about what I want my lifestyle to look like afterwards, which is a daunting task, but something to definitely keep in mind.

+ Shoot or book at least one photo session
I finally launched my site back in January, but since then I haven't actually done much with it. I would really like to get behind the camera this month and shoot a portrait session! If you live in the Bay Area (or even San Diego since I'll be there this month) and would like to meet for some photos, e-mail me! Plus, there may be a really good reader discount :)

+ Get Blog Buddies Network going again!
Morgan has signed on to be my fellow admin, which I am excited for! We haven't gotten it up and fully running again yet though, so we will

+ Read one book for fun
Just one! This isn't a very difficult goal, but reading is something I haven't been doing for a while, which makes me sad. I got several new books around the holidays, so I need to finally read them! I am thinking I will read Brooklyn first because I'd really like to see the movie!

+ Edit my resume and apply for a summer internship!
Resumes are one of the most annoying things to do, yet they are a necessary evil unfortunately. I would really like to do an internship this summer (after all, it is a possibility that by next summer I could be a college graduate! ahhh!) and have an opportunity to do one at a great company, but I still need to submit my resume! And it needs some work, so I have to get on that!

+ Start doing some sort of exercise
Whether that is doing yoga in my living room, running, going for power walks with Marly, or joining a gym near my house, I would like to make a conscious effort to do something for exercise at least 3 times per week, just like I am making the conscious effort to eat well.

Alright, well I think that is enough for this month! I am really looking forward to hopefully accomplishing all of these things and I am really excited about this month! It's gonna be a good one :)

What are your goals for this month? Do we have any similar ones?

New Month // August Goals

Hello! I'm here, I'm alive! I've been away from here for nearly two weeks now and while I wasn't necessarily planning a blogging vacation, I was okay with it. I'm feeling refreshed and ready to tackle the rest of this month! This is quite the big month for me. I've got moving to deal with, school starting back up, and adjusting to these new things on my plate.

I made some goals for July, but let's face it: they didn't really happen for me. Aside from getting a job, I was largely unsuccessful (just like I was in June, actually haha), but it is okay. I'm actually not all that torn up about it and know that I will just try to do better with what is left of this month. Onward and upward, am I right?!

No time like the 11th day of the month to make some goals. I haven't been so succussful with my goals the past couple months, so I'm going back to the basics for a fresh start. Simple and attainable!

+ Pack up & move.
This isn't necessarily a "goal" per say, but something that is going to happen whether I want it to or not. Nonetheless, I do need to pack up all my stuff in order to move it! This has been slow going for me, but something I need to get serious about. I did pack 3 boxes today, so that's a good start!

+ Start school off on the right foot.

Eek! School starts a week from today! How can that be?! I am definitely not ready for this, but I'm going to have to get used to it and start the semester off well. Hoping to make the most of this last week of freedom!

+ Wash car exterior.

Seems like a simple enough task, but I am quite the procrastinator. I've been using the excuse of CA's drought as to why it's okay that my car be so dirty (haha), but I finally need to just wash the darn thing. She is a pretty baby when she is clean anyway.

+ Get into the habit of flossing.

Don't think I really need to elaborate much on this one, but I did go to the dentist last week and was scolded for not adopting this practice into my routine, so I suppose now is the time!

+ Get back to blogging!

I haven't had the best blogging behavior lately since, you know, I haven't actually been blogging. BUT, I'd like to change that! And I think now is a good time to delve back into things full force because it's not like I'm busy or anything (sarcasm) and also I would actually like to document this time of many changes in my life. Plus, I have high hopes and big goals for this space, none of which will be realized if I'm not actually putting in the effort.

Well, I think that is enough for me to handle for August, especially since it is already 1/3 over. September though... I've already got a list started of goals for September. What can I say? Guess I'm just a planner ;)

Thank you all for your endless kindness and support during these past few difficult months! You are all so very appreciated in my books <3

A New Month // June Review + July Goals

July! It is July! To put it bluntly: I am not heartbroken to see June go. June was rough for me and it definitely put me in a rather unmotivated, lethargic state at times. Though June did not turn out how I had hoped in my personal life, it was a great month of blogging and I am proud of all I accomplished in this space! I'm hoping July will be a good fresh start to kick my booty into high gear and allow me to see some results in all areas of life!

- JUNE HIGHLIGHTS -

Now here is a look at my goals from June and what I'm hoping to achieve in July!

+ Start (and hopefully finish) Japan scrapbook.

+ Walk 300,000 steps using my Fitbit and actually remember to wear it every day.

+ Get back into the habit of using my Nutribullet.

+ Start using My Fitness Pal or join Weight Watchers online.

+ Think about others more and less about myself.

Ok, so here's the thing: I utterly failed at June. While I was able to spend time relaxing and doing other things, I was also really frustrated with my job situation (or lack there of). Therefore, I was not motivated to do anything else. I hate to let myself down like this, but I didn't work on any of these goals (except for maybe that last one) and I only have myself to blame. So, on that note, at least we are facing a new month and I can start from scratch!

+ Completely clean my car.If I showed you every to-do list I've made this past month, you would see this on every single one. My car is currently so gross and messy that it makes me cringe every time I open the door. Gotta tackle this one this week hopefully!

+ Make money.

Enough said. June just didn't cut it in this department.

+ Japan scrapbook.

I'm gonna go ahead and put this one back on the agenda for this month because if I don't get it done this summer it is likely to never happen. Gotta buckle down and get that creativity flowing!

+ Spend time journaling.

I suppose this blog is kind of like a journal of sorts, but it would be nice to get my deeper thoughts down on paper. I used to journal quite a bit as a kid (maybe that's why I enjoy blogging so much) and would love to get back into the habit of doing so.

+ Follow the beginner's month of Blogilates (maybe).

This is a big one for me, considering my health and fitness goals usually go unattended to. I'm hoping to force myself to try out the beginner's month of Blogilates. We shall see what happens, but I think this would be a good place to start.

Well, friends, this is where I'm at right now! I am ready for a fresh start with this new month and am excited to see where it takes me!

What are your goals this month? What about for this summer?

A New Month // Summer + June Goals

Hello all! A new month is here! May was a challenging, rewarding, and wonderful month. I started the month off in Japan, travelled home, returned to school and work, finished school, and began summer break! I feel like a lot happened! June has only just begun, but I think it is also going to be equally as good. I'll be finishing up my current job and starting a new one, prepping our house to be put up for sale, and (hopefully) enjoying summer break! It is definitely going to be a busy month I think.

Making monthly goals has been one of the best choices I've made and I love writing them into these posts. Sitting down to think about what I want to accomplish gives me direction, focus, and purpose for each month, plus it is nice to have you all to keep me accountable!

This month is slightly different than past months since I am adding a list of things I would like to accomplish this summer and am also adding links to my three favorite posts from last month just in case you missed them!

+ Have a bonfire with friends!

+ Go to Lake Tahoe

+ Switch sponsor ads over to Passionfruit (and maybe actually have sponsors!)

+ Find a new place to live

+ Make commenting on blog posts a regular habit

+ Go camping

+ Spend time drawing at least once per week

+ Go to the farmer's market at least twice a month

+ Experiment with homemade drinks (and post them on the blog if they are any good!)

+ Have a BBQ

+ Make a vlog (makeup? answering questions? random day in the life?)

+ Spend a day at the beach

+ Develop DIYs for the blog

+ Go hiking every weekend (maybe even try a new place every time!)

+ Do my best to save money

+ Go to a blogger meet-up or meet one of my blogging friends in person!

+ Unplug at least once per month (or hopefully more!)

+ Watch a sunrise

+ Work on my photography. Portraits, still life, food, everything!

+ Make sangria

+ Connect with new bloggers

+ Take a Skillshare class (I'm thinking calligraphy!)

+ Read 10 books

+ Have a taco night

+ Go to the Renegade Craft Fair when it comes to SF

+ Spend more time with Dai

+ Try to stick to my editorial schedule (you know, don't skip planned posting days!)

+ Go fruit picking

+ Pot some succulents to have around the house this summer

+ Have more "girl time" with my gal pals

+ Design & order blog business cards!

+ Really try to down size my belongings and get rid of things I know I no longer need.

+ Get into the habit of going for walks every day with Marly

I threw in some personal goals and some blog related goals (those are highlighted in bold). If I am able to accomplish half of what is on that list, I think it will be a great summer! 

Now, on to my monthly goals!

+ Do my best to finish the semester strong.

Done! The end of the semester was tough, but I worked really hard and finished well in all my classes. Glad that is over!

+ Organize/edit Japan photos.

Check! They aren't all edited yet, but they are mostly organized. Since I have been writing posts about our travels, that has really helped me to sort through photos and pick out the best ones. I'm gonna keep going with this, but I have definitely made a lot of progress and no longer feel overwhelmed by the amount of photos, so that's good.

+ Register for fall classes.

I met with a counselor, which was helpful and made things more confusing all at the same time! The good news is that I only have 4-5 classes left to take at community college, but the bad news is that I will be taking them at a couple different colleges to make everything fit into my schedule. At any rate, I have registered for a few classes, but still need to finalize things!

+ Start making plans to create a Japan scrapbook.

Well, I bought the supplies! That's pretty good progress, right?

+ Nail down a job for the summer.

I have found a job! I am really happy that this has worked out. I will be nannying with a different family and some weeks are full-time hours and other weeks are less. I think it is going to be good. I start next week!

+ Start (and hopefully finish) Japan scrapbook.

Like I said, I have the supplies (book & page sleeves), but need to actually set aside the time to design the pages and get the photos printed. I originally thought I would design the pages and have them printed on card stock, but now I am realizing that the photos would look so flat! It is probably going to be best to print photos in the sizes I want and adhere them to the card stock. I want the book to be mostly photos and hand written journal notes (similar to Elsie's book posted here on A Beautiful Mess).

+ Walk 300,000 steps using my Fitbit and actually remember to wear it every day.

Before Dai and I went to Japan, we each bought a Fitbit One. It was awesome to have in Japan to see how much we were walking every day and often times we would walk 20,000+ steps each day. Since we have been home, I have kept forgetting to wear it every day and on the days that I have remembered, I have seen how little I actually walk! So, I think it would be good to have the goal of walking at least 10,000 steps per day and forcing myself to remember to use the Fitbit!

+ Get back into the habit of using my Nutribullet.

I love my Nutribullet! But, unfortunately I just kind of stopped using it at one point. I miss it though and summer is the perfect time to start drinking and experimenting with new smoothies! Hoping to come up with a new recipe to share here too :)

+ Start using My Fitness Pal or join Weight Watchers online.

I used the Weight Watchers app on my phone for a period of time last year and did really well with it! Then I fell off the wagon. I hear My Fitness Pal is very similar (and free!), so I may force myself to get into that. I have also considered just trying to adopt a "clean eating" diet into my life, but I'm not sure what I want to do. I just know that I could be eating much, much better!

+ Think about others more and less about myself.

I feel like there's a little we all can do in this area, but it is something I want to be more aware of and thoughtful about. Like, promptly cleaning up things (regardless if they are mine or not), not being the one to dominate plans, and just trying to give others a helping hand.

+ Japan Adventures // Arashiyama Bamboo Forest

+ Outfit // Coral Kiss

+ Dream Me // Volume II

Whew, that was a lot of work! Thank you to those of you who actually read all that! It probably should have been two posts, but I thought why not clump all that stuff together and make way for other things here? (Plus its my blog and I'll do what I want hehe)

So with that, I ask, do you have any goals for the summer? For the month? What are you most looking forward to this summer?

A New Month // April Goals

Are you happy to see a new month here already? I sure am! March was a strange month with lots of feelings swimming around, so I am ready to focus on something new and leave last month in the past. April is going to be grand, I just know it! It will be a month of adventure and feeling alive. This month we have my spring break, very little work, and a HUGE galavanting experience: JAPAN!!

I have really enjoyed setting these monthly goals and sharing them with you all. It is nice to look back on the month to see all that I have accomplished! Here's what we have for April...

+ Go through my room and get rid of some items.
A success! As the end of the month quickly approached, I didn't actually think this was going to happen, but I really got in gear this past week. I got rid of a lot of random things in my bathroom cabinets and drawers, cleared off my desk, and tried to declutter all the little areas that I seem to just dump things in. There's definitely still more I can do, but I am happy with the progress I have made so far! It certainly helped that I had company coming that were going to be staying in my room ;)

+ Connect with other bloggers more regularly and make new blogging friends.
I would say that this was a success! I have met several new blogging friends this month and am quite happy with how things have been in Blogland lately. I definitely want to keep this up :)

+ Plan out the happenings on this blog while I am in Japan.
I am so happy with how successful this was! I reached out to many bloggers to put together an awesome lineup of posts to keep everyone engaged and entertained while I am away. This will be really exciting and I can't wait to start receiving the guest posts that are in the works so I can get everything scheduled and in order! If you are interested in guest posting while I am away, please do e-mail me at jesspanian@gmail.com! There's still time to contribute and I'd love to collaborate :)

+ Read at least 1 book.
This did not happen. I read part of a book? Does that count? I'm hoping that between two 13-hour flights and many hours on bullet trains, I will be able to read a book or two while I am in Japan! So, I will shelf this one and hope for the best for April.

+ Give school 100% of my effort.
I think I did a really great job at this, actually! I got A's on two exams and studied really hard for all my classes. One of those was actually a paper that I happen to write about blogging and bloggers in general for my communication class ;) I spent a lot of time deep into schoolwork this month, but it has been paying off. Luckily, I have figured things out with all of my teachers for while I am in Japan, so I will know what I need to keep up with while I am gone.

+ Get a haircut.

I know, this seems like such a silly, mundane thing, but seriously. I have put this small thing off for so long and now my hair is suffering. I am almost embarrassed to admit how long it has been since my last haircut (read: SEPTEMBER 2012). Also, I don't really know what to do with my hair anymore. There is no style to it anymore and it usually just ends up tucked behind my ear or swept to the side with a bow in it. So, I think it is definitely time to have a new polished hair-do for my big excursion.

+ Start packing for Japan early.

For a notorious over-packer like me, this is important. With having to pay to check our bags each way, I am going to have to be smart about how I will pack for this two week international adventure. I am thinking I will make some OCD checklists and plan outfits ahead of time (maybe even take photos of them on my phone to make things easy?). I am actually really excited to get started on this haha.

+ Have all blog related tasks prepped/completed before I leave.

Things are on track with this so far, but I just need to get everything scheduled and ready to go! Hoping this will be a fairly easy task, but it may be rather time consuming. Worth every minute of work though!

+ Do as much schoolwork as I can before I leave.

No one likes doing homework on vacation or coming home to a pile of it, so I am really going to try to use my weekends leading up to Japan to get ahead on my school related things so that I can be worry free on my trip!

+ Have the best time of my life!

I am thinking this will be easy. So ready for the biggest, most exciting trip of my life thus far!

I can't believe that April is here at last! I have been anticipating this month for quite some time and am over the moon that there are only 21 days left until Dai & I leave for Japan! Woohoo!

What are your goals for this month? Anything fun planned so far?

A New Month + New Goals

Hello all! Flip the page on your calendars, folks, because it is officially February (you know, like 4 days ago. So I'm behind on the times, but what's new?)! I have never really felt any attachment or superb feelings about this particular month, but the more I think about it, the more it feels right. First, we are out of that awkward stage of the holidays being over and not knowing how to get back to real life. Anyone else always find January kind of strange? After my birthday, all the festivities are over and it is kind of sad... Second, it brings us one step closer to SPRING! I have always lacked an appreciation for this season, but now I am welcoming it with open arms whenever it is ready.

Since it is a new month, lets make some goals.

+ Create & fiercely stick to a budget.
Yuck. Not one of my favorite words either, but I have some very expensive things coming up these next few months and I need to get a really strong grip to my finances. Sigh. To be an adult (except, at 20, I still don't consider myself an adult, FYI).

+ Keep playing with my newly purchased Nutribullet.
Guys, I love this thing. I bought it on a whim with birthday money from Target a few weeks ago since it was on sale and I haven't regretted it for one second. It has been so fun putting different drinks together and packing them with healthy things like greens and seeds. Hopefully this month I can keep making drinks every morning (& sometimes in lieu of dinner or lunch too!) and share my favorites here.

+ Renew my passport.
I have never used it, but it is expiring soon and I feel like I should have it just in case I feel like leaving the country at the drop of the hat. And for another reason I will be mentioning tomorrow ;)

+ Establish a workout routine.
Or just start working out or doing something active in general. This has always been one of my biggest struggles. I think things are a great idea until I get started and then a week into it (if I make it that far), I quit or make an excuse. Its exhausting and doesn't make me feel great in any shape or form. I am openly taking suggestions right now.

+ Keep up with school work & maybe even do my best to be ahead.
In past semesters this has not been my strong suit. It isn't even because I don't understand the work or am not at that academic level. It is for simply one reason: I'm a procrastinator. There. You know my secret. But, you see, in the past 3.5 weeks of this semester, things have been going really well and I have been on my best student behavior. I want to keep that up as the semester gets busier to make my life easier and less stressful than it has been in the past.

And now I'd like to introduce you to my lovely blogging friend, Jess! She is a recent college grad with a love for travel, food, and a great sense of humor. I always turn to her blog for a little uplift and inspiration!

+ Tell us a bit about your blog and why you decide to start blogging.

Stamp in My Passport is a travel and lifestyle blog for those of us without bottomless bank accounts. When I'm not talking about my recent travels and favorite destinations, you'll find a mix of recipes, interior design inspiration and information on modern calligraphy, which I'm currently in the process of learning! I'm a recent college grad (as of December) and see this transition time as something exciting and I can't wait to see what the future has in store for me and this little blog of mine.

+ Describe your blog in three words.

Wanderlust Meets Life

+ What piece of clothing describes you best and why?

That's a tough one! I would say that I'm your favorite LBD...classic, timeless, and always makes you feel better before going out at night.

+ If you could eliminate one thing from your daily schedule what would it be and why?

I would eliminate washing and styling my hair in a heartbeat! I wish I was one of those lucky few who can do the "no-poo" trend or go at least every other day without suds-ing up and flat-ironing their hair. But alas, I have to take an extra thirty minutes every morning.

+ If you could have an unlimited amount of one thing what would it be?

Right now I would say I want an unlimited amount of cookie butter, but that's just because I'm going through the cycle where I crave it all the time (which may or may not happen all the time.) 

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