july things.

another july goal? continue photographing these crepe myrtles.

Let's be honest with one another here: I have been watching Pretty Little Liars all day. After a Saturday night of practically no sleep, I guess I'm still recovering today. That's ok though, because tomorrow is a new day. And today, though this post is going up late, I am going to share some goals for the month of July. But before I do that, let's review the outcome of my goals from June.

JUNE RESOLUTIONS

1. Continue focusing on managing stress in healthy ways. I'm happy to say that this has gone really well. Multiple times, when I was feeling stressed or anxious, I was able to realize that my shoulders were tensed. I let go of the tension, & the stressed feeling was eased. I felt a lot better in the month of June, & I hope that I can continue maintaining my health, both mentally & physically.

2. Blog every single day. I did it! I am so proud of myself, & I'm happy with how the results inspired me.

3. Rise early - 6:15 to be exact - maybe not every single day, but most days. Now this, I did not do, unfortunately. It has been difficult getting onto a certain schedule, but as you will see in my July Resolutions, I plan to keep trying. Hopefully next month, I'll be able to give you some good news - that I'm consistently rising early.

4. Work out every single day. I didn't do this, either. And more & more, I am realizing that you don't have to work out every single day to be healthy. In fact, sometimes working out too much can cause stress & injury. 

5. Get back into my reading schedule, for both the Bible & library books. I am happy to report that I am caught back up with my Bible reading plan. Falling behind on that was really upsetting to me, & it was something important that I needed to fix. However, I still need to get back into a good reading rhythm with library/other books. I miss reading! And in fact, my hold notice recently came through for Winter's Tale. I watched this movie with Justin & his mom a couple of weeks ago, & it really touched me. I think I'll put my reading of Emma on hold for a little while & dive into this particular story.

JULY RESOLUTIONS

1. Wake up at 6:15 a.m. every day from July 8 - July 31. Since I'm penning this edition of my monthly goals on the seventh, & I haven't been waking up at 6:15 so far this month [in fact, today I rose at the early hour of... 11:30], I am going to have to make the goal for the rest of the month. In addition to rising early, I also plan to make a to-do list each day & accomplish each of the things on that list. I know - isn't that the goal every day, really? Well, I am really focusing on it this month, let's say.

2. Move to Greenville. This is happening toward the end of the month, & I am really excited! Well, I'm both really excited & really sad. Excited, because I love our new place & I'm excited to start school, & sad because of the closing of our Wilmington chapter. It's hard to appreciate a time in your life while it's going on. I wrote a little bit about this here. Maybe I'll write some more about it in the future.

3. Continue eating healthy foods, drinking water, & taking care of myself. As I've mentioned multiple times in this space, on June 1, I embarked on some healthy living changes. At the end of this month, I'll be sharing more about that here on my blog. For now I'll say that things are going well, & I couldn't be happier about taking better care of myself.

4. Read three books. As you saw in my fifth resolution from June, I've been working to get more on par with my reading schedule. Reading three books this month will more than make up for my reading laziness as of late. And I know I'll feel a lot better if I'm reading more.

5. Write Morning Pages - & even more than that - every day from July 8 - July 31. I'm excited to start building a new morning routine, & I think this will be a great component to work in. And when you haven't been ink-&-paper writing for a while [like I haven't], you start feeling like you're missing something. Or, at least I do. And I'm ready to have that part of my life back in order.

Here's to a brand new month, even though it's already the seventh. It's never too late to make goals for the month & strive to achieve them. I'm ready to make July the best month of 2014 yet. What are your goals for the rest of this month?

Want to see my other things? They're all here.

june things.

If you've been reading siddathornton for a few months or longer, you'll be familiar with my things posts, which is my way of sharing with y'all my resolutions for each month. I'm excited to continue these posts as I blog every day in June, & I have also run across a link-up - Weekly Wishes, via The Nectar Collective - to link my monthly resolutions up with, when the beginning of a new month falls at the beginning of the week, which is when the link-up is posted.

I will also be taking part in the link-up by sharing my goals for each week & the results of the prior week, on Mondays that I don't have another post on the docket. 

So, let's get on with it, then. In May, I resolved to do five things: drink between 60 & 80 ounces of water each day, keep up my workouts & eating healthy, keep reading, keep the house clean, & get back on track with blogging. Now, I will say that I did pretty ok with my water consumption. Though it was nowhere near happening daily, I was much more conscientious about choosing water & drinking it as often as possible. So I'd consider that a win.  I definitely kept up with my workouts - I've been walking five miles per day, for an average of four days per week. I definitely plan to keep that up in the month of June. Eating, however, did not go as well. If you read my post from yesterday, you'll know that I embarked on a healthy living journey on June 1. This obviously includes a major clean-up of my diet. As far as reading, May did not deliver. Nor did it deliver in the way of keeping house. Even though I didn't post very much during the month of May, I got my thoughts together & rallied mentally to blog every day in June [Tired of hearing about that yet? Haha, we're only two days in!], so I'll consider that one a success. Overall, not too bad of a month for my goals. 

JUNE RESOLUTIONS

1. Continue focusing on managing stress in healthy ways.

2. Blog every single day.

3. Rise early - 6:15 to be exact, maybe not every single day, but most days.

4. Work out every single day.

5. Get back into my reading schedule, for both the Bible & library books.

So, there you have it! Let's make June the best month yet. What are you planning on doing in June? I'd love to hear your resolutions!

Want to see my other things? They're all here.

link-up: Weekly Wishes on The Nectar Collective

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Want to join me in blogging every day in June? The more the merrier. I even made a button to celebrate the occasion. Feel free to use it in your blog sidebar or in the body of your posts. Let's encourage one another to get back to our blogging roots. Happy blogging!

may things.

WELL, I didn't set the bar very high for my April Things, as you may have noticed. In fact, there was only one item on that list of things that I resolved to do, and that was to RELAX. In March, I had some major anxiety flare-ups, and I really wanted to take the month of April to try to correct those tense feelings as much as I could. 

I drank way, way less coffee. I concentrated on exercising a lot, and drinking a lot of water. I also set my mind to eating more healthfully, incorporating as many whole foods into my diet as I could. 

And, you know, it did work. I felt so much better. I have felt a lot more relaxed, more present, and not so worrisome and distracted. I plan to continue down this healthy path, and I plan to get in with a doctor soon as well, just to check everything out and make sure everything is in balance. 

So, what do I plan to do in May? Well, I'll tell you...

MAY RESOLUTIONS

1. Drink between 60 & 80 ounces of water every single day.

2. Keep up the healthy lifestyle: rigorous workouts, eating healthfully.

3. Keep reading.

4. Clean the house & keep it in tip-top shape for the entire month.

5. Get back on track with blogging.

I think five is a good number of things to focus on for 31 days, don't you? I think it's probably best to keep monthly goal lists as short & concise as possible, you know, so that they are actually do-able, and you're not setting yourself up for failure and disappointment. Best to stay away from those things, I'd say.

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Want to see my other things? They're all here.

Photo / Pretties in the Dunkin Donuts Line / iPhone 5C 

april things.

... or should I say, April Thing. 

My one and only goal for this month is as follows: RELAX. 

And that's all I have to say about that.

Want to see my other things? They're all here.

[Photo: Vivid Blooms | iPhone 5C]

march things.

a little shot from our road trip from Denver to Breckenridge

I'm writing this as I sit on the bed of a hotel room in Denver. There is snow falling outside, and I'm starting to get hungry for dinner. As soon as I finish tapping out this post, I will be pressing "Publish." There will be no scheduling, as this post is supposed to go up today, and it's already 6:30 p.m. We fly out tomorrow to return to Wilmington, and while I greatly enjoyed our ski trip to Breckenridge, I'm feeling quite homesick and ready to get back. Back to our apartment, back to our daily routines, and back to reading and planning and working out. You know, the stuff of daily life.

When I reflect on my February Things, I realize that while I didn't stick to any of them completely, I did make some small lifestyle changes for the better. That's what resolutions are all about, right? I feel like the birthplace of my March Things is a good and promising sign - they were hastily written out into the Notes section of my phone while walking at my favorite park.

MARCH RESOLUTIONS

1. Get out of the house every day.

2. Soak up a little sun.

3. Choose healthy.

4. Yoga and/or Pilates daily.

5. Go easier on yourself and choose to be happy and upbeat.

What are your March Things?

february things.

I was struck by the infectiousness of the new year, this time around.

When we returned to Wilmington from Shreveport, I couldn't believe all the potential that seemed to lie before me in 2014 - this brand new year. I had already tapped out my resolutions, & I was ready to start "living right" - to bring all the planning that went into cultivating my goals & aspirations to fruition. I was ready to be the fantastic person I had built up in my head. And I was ready to take on that person's every different-from-me quality - all at once, of course. 

I'm sure it comes as no surprise that all of this pretty much culminated in a veritable sonic boom of frustration, about two weeks ago. 

Suddenly, it was the middle of January, & I didn't understand where the glittery New Year feeling had gone. Why was I practically stuck to the couch with super-human-strength adhesive? Why, instead of running every day, was I training for a marathon Oreo-eating contest instead? Why was my body actually sore & cramped as a symptom of my lethargy?

It's because I needed to push the "reset" button again.

Every year, we make all these grand plans for the coming 365 days. And every year, we all ask ourselves why, by February, we have fallen back off the wagon. And it's because we are forgetting that that excited, look-I'm-starting-a-brand-new-year feeling is one of the key ingredients in the recipe for success in resolutions.

So, why not press reset each month? Why not come up with sparkly, confetti-dusted February things? That's what I'm going to do. Because we have a new month lying before us, ready to be filled with productive, wonderful things. 

And it doesn't even have to stop there. Why not hit the reset button each week? Each day? Each hour? There is still so much to achieve. And there is still so much time to achieve it all in. I'm going to stop creating my own road blocks. I'm going to barrel ahead, making my way to the future.

FEBRUARY RESOLUTIONS

1. Move. Sweat. Every day. No excuses.

2. Open your eyes. Open your ears. Pay attention to right now.

3. Get lost in books.

4. Indulge in the Type A characteristics you do possess. Schedule the hell out of every day, even if you don't follow it. Clean your house like the Queen of England could pop in for a visit at any moment. Keep records like you're a librarian. Write it all down, just because. These comprise your very own, unique brand of healthy perfectionism. Own them.

5. Stop worrying. Just stop. And just relax. Otherwise, your forehead is quickly going to become a wrinkled mess.

What are your February things?