2021 – Story of My Life

December recap

December 29, 2021KelliLeave a comment

My December started out with my Spotify wrap. Apparently parents by YUNGBLUD was my top song of the year, which is honestly a mood. I thought that my Spotify wrap was pretty accurate, although I became obsessed with some songs in November and December that were not on my top 100 and they probably should have been.

I AM WOMAN by Emmy Meli has probably been my favorite powerful song here lately. This is the first song I put on when I have a singing/dance session. It definitely helps lift my spirits when I feel down.

I have gotten into the routine where I go to this coffee shop at least once a week to try and get a start on some work that I want to do. I think the employees expect me now actually. My favorite thing I drank this month (and am drinking in the picture) was a Christmas cookie latte – hot.

Anyway, this is my favorite spot to come to. I come in and either caught up on some social media stuff, or try to write for my book. Sometimes I will even just journal too.

My friend, Tawnie, and I ended up going to eat Mexican at our favorite place where I ordered a strawberry margarita. A strawberry margarita which had very few strawberries and a whole lot of tequila. Not going to lie, I got pretty tipsy, and I did not even finish my drink. It was a super fun night though. We took a couple pictures like the one above. We then went to this house that had those Christmas lights where you turn your radio station to a certain one and it plays in tune with the lights. That was pretty cool.

My babies have been super cuddly. It is rare for me to not have one in my lap unless I just don’t let them.

Khole and I spent quite a bit of time at my Pa’s house. Khole loves to go up there, and I think my Pa loves it too.

Yes, I took a picture with Santa. Regrets? None. He was actually a pretty funny dude.

This drink is called a patio punch, and these are dangerous. These have three different kinds of alcohol in them and you can’t taste a single one. They are super good though. This night I went to see a friend play some live music at this pizza bar. It was a really good night.

My cat, Leo, lays like this all the time. He is so cute half the time. The other half he is the devil. But he sure loves his Mama.

Gym update: I still go. Often. This month I even got one of my coworkers to start going with me as well.

My Favorite Christmas Tradition

December 4, 2021December 6, 2021KelliLeave a comment

Today I have been feeling really sentimental. I was going through some pictures when I found some from when I was about seven or eight at my birthday party. One picture that really brought tears to my eyes were one that had my Nana and I in it… She died almost 12 years ago, but I still miss her just as much as I did back then.

When I was trying to figure out what I wanted to write for Blogmas day 4, I saw this prompt and immediately thoughts about my nana and my Pa (whom is still alive).

My favorite Christmas tradition is Christmas at their house on Christmas Eve. Every Christmas Eve without fail (at least that I can remember). My aunts, uncles, their children, and their children’s children all gather and my Pa’s house to eat and open gifts. The children all received gifts and the adults play dirty Santa. I love it now, but I loved it even more when my Nana was still alive. She had always been the glue that held this family together.

She knew how to keep everyone from fighting.

But I still look forward to Christmas Eve. After having Christmas Eve with my Pa, I would stay the night at my mom’s house. We bake Christmas cookies and drink milk. When I was younger we would leave some out for Santa. Even now I get up excited for Christmas Day. Christmas is my favorite time of year.

Spring bucket list RECAP

June 21, 2021June 21, 2021Kelli1 Comment

Spring is now over! Here is a recap of my Spring bucket list.

~~Try a new coffee shop~~

I did try a new coffee shop during this time, and I loved it! It was called the Coffee Place, and I do plan on going there again. I didn’t drink coffee that day, but their London fog tea was delicious.

~~Try Dunkin Donuts~~

I finally tried Dunkin and I loved it! I’ve been four times in the last month. I haven’t tried but one of their coffee, but their ice matcha latte is the best thing ever. If you have any favorite coffee orders from dunkin please comment on this post.

~~Renew my car tags~~

I did do this.

~~Go hiking~~

I did go hiking a few times with my best friend, Ricky. We went to this wonderful nature park that I had been to before, but he had not. It’s a park that is made up of bridges to older people have easy access. There are also a few large cages that contain eagles and owls. We also went to a place even I hadn’t been to before.

~~Go to strawberry festival~~

The strawberry festival is this awesome festival that has fair rides, live music, food trucks, and strawberry shortcake!

~~Try a new restaurant~~

I did try Longhorn Steakhouse for the first time. I went with my family. I’m not a big fan of steak so I just got their Caesar salad, potato soup, and steamed asparagus. Those were so good I might actually go again sometime just to get that meal again.

Start doing meditations and affirmations more regularly

I did a couple meditations, but other than that I have not done them regularly. I am going to keep trying.

~~Go on a trip~~

I had planned to go on a vacation to the beach, but ended up not going. One of my friends did come down though and for three days we went around to some hiking places nearby. It was really fun.

Grow flowers

I tried. I failed.

~~Work on book~~

I have slowly been working on a book I’ve been wanting to write for forever. My big problem with writing this is that I hate writing rough drafts. In school, when I was writing a paper I would never have a rough draft, only a final draft. I am having to remind myself that I need to write a rough draft and then I can go back and keep improving it instead of trying to make it perfect the first go around.

~~Buy something for myself~~

I feel like I had something in mind when I put this on my list, but I don’t remember what it was. I have spent a lot of money on myself this season though.

~~Finish reading 4 books~~

I have actually read 7 books this season, not counting all the fan fiction and other non formally published works. Here is what I read:

Without Warning by David Rosenfelt
To and Fro: Kelsey’s Journey by LT Ladino Bryson
Crown of Midnight (Throne of Glass, #2) by Sarah J. Maas
Coming Up Roses (Southern Roots, #1) by L.K. Farlow
An Uphill Battle (Southern Roots, #2) by L.K. Farlow
Weather the Storm (Southern Roots, #3) by L.K. Farlow
Shielding His Baby (Deuces Wild, #3) by Taryn Quinn

June goals

June 5, 2021June 8, 2021Kelli1 Comment

May seemed to have gone by in the blink of an eye, but I am proud of all that I have accomplished with my goals. Here’s the new goals for the month of June.

Buy a new planner
Read 2 books
Post 4 blog posts
Post 4 YouTube videos
Get tanner
Walk 30 miles for cancer
Take vitamins daily
Meditate 3X a week
Go hiking
Practice writing
22 push ups every day
22 squats every day
Clean house

April Goals

April 13, 2021KelliLeave a comment

Hello! I have been absent for a month or so, but I am back! I’ve been struggling with motivation, but I have some back now so I am going to try to keep it up.

I can’t believe April is already half way over. I made a list of things I want to accomplish this month.

Post 4 Youtube Videos

Starting this month, I really want to challenge myself to post on YouTube again! It also helps that I’ve got a deal with one of my best friends if I do start posting again. I’ll talk about it in a video I am posting tomorrow.

Post 4 blogs

My goal is to start posting once a week (or more). At the beginning of the month is when I usually plan everything out – when I post and such.

Take more pictures

I LOVE taking pictures, but I don’t allow myself to have time for it anymore. I have decided to make myself have time for it. I may post some of the pictures each month.

Be more organized

I haven’t been organized in a while, as I said before I just have not had the motivation. Thankfully, motivation has decided to show up again, and I hope it is around to stay a while. I think the warm weather really helps. I have been spending more time outside.

Read 2 books

This one has been a struggle for the past 6 years. After high school, I never made time for reading. Well – I have been reading a lot here lately, but it has been things on Tumblr. My goal is to start reading more books. I have a lot I want to read through so I can donate or exchange them out for more.

Practice writing

I have loved writing for a really long time. I love writing stories. I also want to practice writing more poetry. I used to do it in high school, and I even took a class in college, but I haven’t written any since then.

Take things to Goodwill

This month my mother and I have been cleaning and organizing our house. I want to get rid of anything we don’t use and donate it either to Goodwill or a women’s shelter.

2021 New Year Resolutions

January 12, 2021January 12, 2021KelliLeave a comment

I don’t think 2020 went as anyone had planned. I know because of the coronavirus situation, I (and many others) were not able to finish our resolutions.

This year I decided I was going to make my resolutions into a more broad list. On top of my year long resolutions, I have daily goals for myself as well, which I will talk about at the end.

VOLUNTEER MORE OF MY TIME

I used to just say “volunteer more” as one of my resolutions, and I would mean volunteering at a local animal shelter. This year, however, I decided I wanted to make this resolution more broad. I want to volunteer more of my time toward people, whether it be people I know or strangers. This could also be considered random acts of kindness.

BE MORE PRESENT

I want to be more mindful of things that I do every day. I tend to be thinking of 20 other things while trying to do one. I want to focus more on the now instead of the later.

GET A NEW JOB

It is time I leave my job at my family’s restaurant and get a job with my communications degree. I have been putting this off because I wanted a break that I greatly deserved after going to school for 17ish years straight.

SAVE MONEY

My goal for this year is to save $3,000. In 2020, I reached my goal and then some. I think this was mostly because since we could not really do anything during corona, I did not spend nearly as much money and instead saved it. This year will be more of a challenge as I have more expenses than I used to.

BE MORE ORGANIZED

My life is a whole lot better when it consists of lists and neat spaces. One way I am being more organized is by keeping a notebook that consists of a lot of my resolutions. I keep up with my daily to-do list, weekly self-care, money made weekly, money saved, daily affirmation, books read, new things tried, and workout log. These are the things I want to keep up with the most during 2021.

EXERCISE 3X A WEEK

I have been pretty consistent with this for almost a year now. I just hope to continue my fitness journey.

READ 15 BOOKS

For the past five years, I haven’t read many books at all. I am hoping to change that this year. I added something into my daily to-dos that should change that.

TRY 24 NEW RECIPES

I need to cook more. This is one of my big goals for 2021. I know soon (maybe this year) I will on my own, and I need to make more than basic items like ramen and eggs.

POST ON YOUTUBE 12 TIMES

I want to post a video at least once every month. During December, I posted 19 vlogmas videos and quite enjoyed it. I know I would never be able to do daily videos, but I hope to eventually get into posting once a week.

PRACTICE SELF-CARE WEEKLY

I need to make myself relax weekly. Sometimes I forget to take time for myself. This may be in the form for a nice book, massage, deep face wash, relaxing bath, etc.

POST REGULARLY ON BLOG

I want to try to post weekly. If not, I want to at least post bi-monthly. I’m going to try to be more organized with this. Plan a week or so ahead with what I am going to post.

DO DAILY TO-DOS

This year I am going to have a daily to-do list that currently consists of seven things: write 50 words, read a chapter of Bible, read 10 minutes of book, meditate 5 minutes, watch TJ daily vlog, inspirational quote, and affirmation.

The reason I am doing daily to-dos is because lists make me feel more organized and accomplished. I did set the task to be low in order for me not to feel so pressured and just not doing them at all. I figure I will do more than I required myself to do. However, I know there will be days where I will not finish my list. I will not beat myself up over it, but instead try again the next day.

These are my new year resolutions. I want this year to be a year of growth. I want to do things that make me happy, but also get out of my comfort zone.

May this year be good to us.