Happiness Project- Neutral November

I'm starting my happiness project with what I like to call "neutral November". I'm so used to doing everything fast; eating, showering, cleaning, etc. I want to kind of slow down because I think it can cause me some anxiety sometimes. I don't want to be on this weird auto-pilot and not enjoy the things I'm doing everyday; so I'm taking some time to slow down the pace of my life a little and to make room for other things I've been wanting to try. Hence, the "neutral" pace..not too fast to where it's all a blur, but not so slow it's frustrating.

This is the actual checklist I'm using for this month. Believe it or not, writing it down makes me more conscious of it. Every day you're supposed to check off stuff and see the progress. As you can see, I still got a little bit to go but at least I'm trying? lol that's my optimism talking.

Most of these are pretty self-explanatory so I won't go into them. To clear up, the "one-minute rule" is something I got straight out of the book. Gretchen Rubin, author of The Happiness Project and Happier at Home, says she'd give herself one minute to do something to avoid clutter build up. So, if she felt lazy but knew she needed to put her shoes in her closet, she'd give herself a minute to get it done. I'm done it so that I can learn to not do things when I want. Sometimes, things just need to get done and I tend to wait until "I feel like it". I can't always do that so this is my attempt to change it.

I don't feel I engage my dogs enough so I want teach them more tricks. They know down, hand, stay, jump, roll over, touch, and turn around (for when it's time to go back home on walks). I still feel I need to bond more. I bought this book and hopefully it'll be an easy process.

The early bird thing is something I feel I need for the future. I have NEVER been an early bird, but waking up earlier will give me more time of my day and keep me thinner. That one will probably be my biggest struggle which is why I've put it in the first month, lol.


I've been doing pretty good about the nightly reading and writing and the nightly 15 minute clean up. Actually, back in September when I was coming up with the 12 traits I wanted to improve, I also wrote down a bunch of goals to rank them. Surprisingly, most of the goals I'd written in August/September were already part of my routine. I am very self-deprecating, so for those couple of minutes, I felt confident. It made me feel a little better about how much I've changed in a year without this checklist.

I'll check in with more progress later!

til next time, stay classy!♥
-M

Long time, no see!

I know I say this all the time, but blogging is always running through my mind!
This summer has been crazy busy! Between going to Oklahoma (which is where I last left off) and coming back (present), it's been non-stop hustling on my part. I was doing work and summer school full-time and I'm kind of in the middle of trying to start my own eBay store so that's been the thing that takes up my free-time. I have found ways to make it easier for me though (eBay shipping labels, USPS merchandise pick-ups at home) so it's gotten a little more manageable. I've made a bucket list of things I wanted done by the end of the summer:

• getting my dogs their year supply of heartworm pills
• getting restocked on flea preventatives
• renew my B&N subscription
• get Dusty neutered
• court payments
• give $150 to my ex-roommate to pay off debt on our lease (that was HER fault but messed up my credit in the process.)

So far, I've done the first three. I am looking into getting Dusty neutered in late July or early August. I checked online on my credit score website and I supposedly have no court payments pending but since I know I put off 3, I'm going to look more into that. The $150 dollar thing isn't even my fault and I know I should be more pro-active on that but frankly, I don't trust my ex-roommate. She blows all the money she has on booze (including money her mom gives her for other things) and I don't think she'll actually pay with the money I give her so I want to go with her when she does and I want to see the progress (she supposedly already set up payment plans). I also had several things I wanted to get my dogs in my planner and all of that has been done, too. I know I shouldn't focus so much on material things but most of them aren't even for me. It feels good to scratch things off, too. It gives me a sense of responsibility, progress, and growth I haven't experienced in a long time. I also took initiative and hustled my way into getting a free meningitis vaccine ($100+ value that Texas makes college kids get now). ALL this AND dating has been pretty tedious BUT I didn't do summer session 2 so for about a month, I have a relatively more relaxed schedule.
August is just around the corner and that means school..again, lol. MAKE IT STOP! I thought about blogging about all my business all summer and barely had time today to elaborate. I really thought of this thing when I saw two videos:


and this one:



The first one really struck home with me. Ignore the fact that it ends up talking about sex (lol) but it's true. We have replaced the more meaningful things in life with mere illusions of intimacy. It's pretty sad. That's why I'm off Facebook. I will confess I recently got into Instagram so I won't lie that I am completely disconnected but it's really helped me live in the moment. I might get on Facebook to push myself to do Tapout XT. Not only am I going to start documenting my results here but I want to put it on Facebook. I think it will be a motivation factor I haven't tried before. You can also mail in your before and after shot and get a "Earned Sweat" T-shirt that isn't sold anywhere. You have to earn it by completing the program and I think that's a really cool new way to get people pumped. My copy is due in a week and I'm looking at either August or September to start. I won't start right away because if I'm realistic with myself, I've let myself go. I really want to stick to this (food guide and all). I had p90x but was unmotivated due to the fact that my dad kept taking the videos away claiming they were his. I want my own set of workouts to give me that piece of mind. Also, I am starting my Happiness Project (finally!) in August. I may have been M.I.A. for summer but get ready for a lot of updates come this semester!

'til next time, stay classy!♥

ROMANCE UPDATE:
After a rocky start, we're 6 months strong, tight as ever, and laughing daily! <3

DOGGIE UPDATE:
Still cute, more spoiled AND Dusty's hair has grown back.
 (I have cuter, more recent pictures on my phone but this will due for now!)