July was great!  I accomplished all my resolutions, which is saying something given it is more than halfway through the year and it is hard to keep motivated.  I haven't been this toned since college, which is saying a lot since I took a weight training class and rode my bike everywhere in college.  So...what does August bring you ask?  It is a good question.  Here is what I have decided.  Lindsay 2012 is getting better and better!

- Make one Christmas present a week.  I know, it is only August, but I start early and that affords me a lot of options.
- Drink one smoothie a week that has kale in it.  This sounds easy...unless you have eaten kale.  It takes me about an hour to drink one with kale in it, so this is a big deal.
- Continue my weight routine.  The only exception will be when I am in Germany, as I do not know the access I will have to weights.
- Take one night a week to spend with Josh.  We do so many different things at night, but we need more time together.  Making it a resolution will help me focus on him more?
I hope you are all doing well and keep the suggestions coming!

July is here and June is over.  It's hot here, which makes me cranky.  It also makes me not want to do anything, which is reflected in the clear LACK of running I did.  Try as I might, I just couldn't force myself to run in the triple-digit heat so that resolution tanked.  That being said, all the others were a success and I did start a new weight-lifting program and have completed two solid weeks of it so at least there was physical exertion going on...even if it wasn't running. 

In contemplation, I really am glad I am doing monthly resolutions.  So far I have tackled mental, physical, and spiritual aspects that I never would have accomplished with an annual resolution.  Also, I'm just not wired for long-term sustainability on things I'm not already doing.  I often find the status-quo quite satisfying so the monthly resolutions give me a good opportunity to try new things (without the burden of having to continue them longer than necessary if they are horrible). 

That being said, let's talk about July!  First of all, this week we'll celebrate the birth of America so that will be a nice respite from the work week.  It also happens to fall on my day off of my weight lifting so that is an added bonus.  Ok, I know you logged in to see what I'm going to do this month (or what I won't be doing, or what I'll be doing TO myself, etc.) so without further ado, here are my resolutions:

- Continue my weight program through the full month.  Though this seems like a cop-out because I'm already doing it, the real challenge here is getting myself to the gym during lunch four days a week.  I only go at lunch, so it can be very difficult to accommodate that in my schedule.  Something about my clients wanting to talk to me at all times of the day...

- Week two of July = no meat.  For those of you who know me well, this is maybe the most challenging thing I'll have ever done, and it's only one week.  I think the cow is the best invention of all time (you can eat it, drink it, wear it, and even ride it if you need to) and I try to eat a lot of it.  We're going to see if I can go total vegetarian for a week...or at least pescatarian.

- Week three of July = no dairy.  Similar to the meat, I drink a lot of milk, I eat a lot of cheese, and I have yogurt or cottage cheese every day.  This is no small feat.

- Read the news every weekday.  I've done this one before, but I think it's a good one to re-surface given the hype we're soon to have on the elections.

What I'm hoping will NOT happen is that I feel better when not eating meat and dairy for a two-week period of time.  If I do see some sort of change, then we might have to do further research...

In addition to my resolutions here are some fun facts about my life at age 33 (i.e., since 2012):
- I learned how to play soccer (albeit indoor) and the endurance it takes to play
- I celebrated one year of learning how to play tennis (and still playing)
- I have run in four races so far this year with another scheduled for July.  Hopefully I'll run in ten total races this year.

As always, if you have any suggestions for resolutions please send them my way.  I'm always looking for something new to make Lindsay 2012 the best yet!

Woohoo!  Another update and the month isn't yet finished.  I consider this a large accomplishment, despite no one really reading the updates.  But, that's ok.  Someday, when I'm famous, we can all look back on these and enjoy them.

Clearly I'm doing better about tracking my progress in the blog.  CHECK!  Running is a fail.  I have run, but not three times a week.  I did just start a grueling workout program this week though, so that should count for something.  Especially since I'm so sore I can't even lower myself to the toilet without causing my quadriceps some grief.  I think this is my body's way of saying, "look, here is a preview of how it will be to be old and feeble."  I'm thinking lifting more weights will be a good way to beat my future old person into submission.

I am doing really well on calling my out-of-town friends too. I have a couple more I need to reach out to (or at least not speak to their voicemail) but I think this has been a nice push to talk to people more often.  Life is just so busy, and for some reason I don't make time for that even though a lot of time I'm just in my car jamming out to some awesome tunes and should be checking in with the most important people in my life (aside from Josh and Mack of course). 

I hope all is going well on your monthly/yearly resolutions.  July is just around the corner and I have had NO suggestions yet.  I think I might do one week of no meat and one week of no dairy (no, not the same week or I would kill people...and then maybe eat them since there seems to be a lot of that going on these days).  I have to have my book club book read by July 11th so I maybe a forced resolution to have it all read?  Too easy?  Yes.  Find me something better!

Look at me!  I'm updating my blog!  This month is going well with the exception of running.  I have not run yet...at least not for long distances.  I'm guessing you wouldn't allow me to count "chasing around a kid" so I will have to say this one isn't working out well.  The others are going swimmingly though!  I've spoken to multiple out of town friends, I'm working on my quilt top, and look at this...I'm updating my progress!  So far I am calling this a success.  Let's see if this keeps up!

So May was a total success!  I managed to do three different physical activites in a week (and also managed to pull a quadricep muscle which was awful), spent more time with Josh, sent a card a week (more than one the week preceding Mother's Day) and spent a good month in general learning weird facts.  I also fell in love with the blog where Isaac Lamb proposes to his girlfriend.  It's rumored I watched it more than ten times this month, but you shouldn't listen to all rumors!

Ok, so what will I do in June you ask?  It's a good question.  I feel like I'm recycling old material so I'm definitely taking suggestions for July.  PLEASE comment any good suggestions.  I need some creativity!

Without further ado, here are my June resolutions.  I really need to get better about blogging my experiences during the month, so you MIGHT see that one show up.  :)

- Call one out-of-town friend a week to check-in.  This only gets to count as a success if I actually TALK to that person; voicemails do NOT count.
- Make one new quilt.  My husband and I get so hot during the summer and can't use our down comforter.  We don't have a quilt big enough for a queen bed so we end up using two different ones.  We've decided, being married and all, that we should share covers so I'm tasked with making yet another quilt for us.
- Update people more on my resolutions as well as our family blog.  I think I'm going to define "more" as once a week.  That seems manageable right?
- Run three days a week.  I did a really good job of running a lot at the beginning of the year, but the heat is making me whiny about it.  If I make it a resolution I'm much more likely to do it.

Please do send me your comments on July.  I want something fun (and let's not get too in the weeds...I don't want to have to memorize legislation or Shakespeare for some random reason).

Thanks for your support everyone!

May I have a resolution please?

Well, April was almost a complete failure thanks to my incredibly busy work and travel schedule. I only managed a few Shred workouts total (though I did supplement with some gym visits), I did not avoid all bread products like I wanted, and I only made it halfway through my second book. Pretty much the only one I achieved was deleting a show from my DVR. I ended up deleting three others, so that feels good at least. We are going to try some new things for May. Once again, I want to do things that better me in some way, but it is hard coming up with new things every month. Perhaps that is supposed to be part of the journey as well...who knows. The good thing about monthly resolutions is that if you have a bad month, you haven't missed the whole year! - do three different physical activities every week. These could include (but are not limited to): tennis, running, lifting weights, soccer, bike riding, or roller blading. - send one card to a friend every week. It needs to be a different friend too. I know' you are saying, "but Mother's day is next week Lindsay...that is cheating". That only counts as one week even though I will be sending more than one! - spend more time with Josh. I tend to overcommit myself to a lot of different things, so I am going to try to dedicate one night a week to Josh so we can have some "us" time. - learn one interesting fact a week. This first week I learned that a Lambourghini (not sure how to spell it and am too lazy to look it up) is almost as wide as a London bus! Alright...hopefully these will get me back on track. I hope you are all doing well on your resolutions for the year! I will try to login each week to let you know who received a card and what fun fact I learned!

April Showers...improvement!

I have been so busy I haven't yet had time to post my resolutions for April, but rest assured they are underway! It's been a busy month (albeit only two full days), but it's been good in that I have been working on the new and improved Lindsay!

As you know, I try to improve in multiple areas each month, and April is no exception. Below are April's resolutions. Fingers crossed I am as successful as March!

- Do 30-day Shred three times a week. This is a Jillian Michael's video, so it pretty much means I'm signing up to be yelled at three times a week. I've done this video before, and it's a good workout when you don't have a lot of time so I really like it. So far I'm one workout in for the week, which is good since it's only Tuesday. :)
- Read two books. This one will be good because it's a book club month which means I typically only read one book. I have one on loan from a friend so that one will need to be read as well.
- Delete one recorded series from my DVR. This will improve me on many levels. One, my completer personality won't feel the need to finish out the shows all the time and two, it'll give me more time with friends and family. I did this on Sunday and "Modern Family" got the axe. Don't get me wrong, I love that crazy family. But, it's not an improvement if I don't suffer a bit. (The caveat to this is that I also cannot ADD a new series).
- No bread or tortillas. I think it's clear which resolution will be the most difficult. At least I'm keeping pasta around.

Good luck to me, and happy resolutions to all!