The Holiday Detox

I'm still recovering from the holidays. I am a total Christmas fanatic and we do things big around here. We did a lot leading up to Christmas and then spent a week driving from state to state to visit with family. Completely worth it! Now that it's over, we are exhausted and wanting for things to settle down. We are realizing that December was a month full of hemorrhaging money, eating all the {delicious} calories, and not getting enough sleep. 
Well that stops now. 

via

I have a few goals set for January, all of which are meant to help us detox from the holidays! 

{Be Active}
 It's getting to be a cold dark winter here in Boston, making it easy to want to sit inside and be sedentary. But I want to get both of us moving at least 3x a week this month. If you saw what I got for Christmas, then you already know that I have a new pair of skis waiting to be used, plus we have a local ski pass. I'm hoping this gets us moving. 

{More Water}
The old adage of 8 glasses a day doesn't apply to everyone, but I know I'm not drinking enough. For months, I had gone without drinking carbonated beverages. But lately, it has been lots of juice, soda, and cocktails over the holidays, which has meant drinking less water. Time to get back on track. 

{A No-Buy Month Challenge}
We had a budget set for the holidays. Thankfully, we stayed on track with it. But over the course of December, we became accustomed to spending more than usual. Thus, we are doing a no-buy month challenge. If you aren't familiar with this, it is exactly as it sounds. Other than paying for the essentials like bills or buying groceries, you cut out any unnecessary expenses. We are a few days into this and it has been fun to tackle, but hard. It should be interesting to share the results at the end of the month. 

{80/20}
 I don't believe in diets and cheat days make absolutely no sense. They both set you up for failure. But something has to be done about the calorie intake from indulging in all the holiday foods. If 80% of our meals can be healthy this month, I will be happy.

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Linking up for monthly goals 

Ringing in 2016: New Years Resolutions

As I definitely learned in 2015, you can make all the plans your little heart desires but still have very little control over how things will go. Even still…more than anything I feel an urge to set some resolutions for myself...guide lines for how I want my year to go. I realize that my path may change throughout the course of this year and some things may become less relevant. But for now, I know what I want. I have been thinking on these for a while now. So here goes 2016...

>>organize and back-up my photos: I am the worst ever. Husband and I go on these amazing adventures where we take high quality photos with our DSLR. Then we come home and take the time to edit them in photoshop. While many go up on our walls or get shared here, I haven't been backing up my photos. In the past, I never felt a need to. But in the past year, we experienced some life changing adventures and I would be devastated if I lost those. 

>>Vote: With 2016 being a presidential election year, I hope that this is on everyone's to do list

>>Return to regular devotionals

>>Establish a night time routine…I have insomnia so the fact that I don't have an established routine is unacceptable. Winding down and getting to sleep will be a lot simpler for me if I get this done. 

>>Brush up on my Spanish…this is a hint of things to come 

>>Get moving 3x a week: I know that this one is a cliche but I think this is doable for me. I made a similar resolution for 2015 and I lost 20.2 pounds last year. While I wouldn't mind trimming a few more pounds off my waistline, my goals for getting moving are much more motivated on living a healthy lifestyle. 

>>Step away….from my phone. This is a big pet peeve of mine with others, but sometimes I'm guilty of this too. I want to put my phone down and focus on being present. 

>>Never give up a chance to try something new 

>>Adventure often

>>Be more honest: It's not that I'm going around lying to people non-stop. More so that I'm keeping a lot of things to myself. This year I want to make an effort to be more outward with what I'm thinking. It may be uncomfortable, but I'm tired of keeping things inside simply because I'm afraid.

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A Year of New Heights

Blogmas Day 31

Lately, I've been wondering how I would go about summing up 2015. I dubbed 2014 the year of travel fulfillment. Though, in hindsight, we have done even more this year. How do you measure such an incredible year? This is not to say that it was perfect. In fact, there were parts of this year filled with heartbreak too. Having to leave dental school {even if only temporarily} was devastating and life changing. Unexpected health problems, family loss, and realizing there were people in my life that I could no longer call friends. But with everything I've gone through this year, there has come insurmountable growth. And there are quite a few incredible events in 2015 that I will carry with me and remember for the rest of my life because 2015 has quite literally been the year of New Heights! 

As you might have guessed, the best moments of 2015 are all entwined in time with Husband. 

conquering a fear of heights in the most unique way 

this was the best experience that everyone should add to their bucket list. If you are able to take on this adventure then you will never be afraid of heights again. I promise you!

that time we climbed a mountain

I'm still a bit shocked about this one. We climbed straight up and 18 miles later we had climbed our mountain. this is not only a high note of 2015, but one of the best moments of my life, made even better because Husband and I did this together. 

getting swamped!

Life changing views of Niagara Falls thanks to a

 helicopter ride for two

Can you see the rainbow?

Air-ballooning

Really and truly, 2015 was the year of crossing things off our bucket list! 

kissing under the golden gate 

a birthday in Nantucket

This year was filled with so many moments. We celebrated our 2 year wedding anniversary and spent Halloween in Salem. I had the pleasure of treating the best patient ever and spent time together with the 12 dates of Christmas. We explored in 3 states, a new country, and even an island. Plus, we continued to seek out the best of boston. I can't get over how incredible this year was! 

An important lesson I will take away from 2015 is to always be seeking out adventures. Everything that made our year amazing were opportunities that we created for ourselves. And many of these things were so unique and will never be experienced again. With pursuing our doctorate degrees, it can be incredibly easy to live a life full of monotony with the best years of our lives spent sitting in a library. This year of new heights in 2015 has encouraged me to always be challenging myself and seeking out the unfamiliar because life should be an adventure.    

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A Year of Travel Fulfillment

 I travel to learn about myself and about the world. I travel to experience new things and to grow as a person. I travel to enhance my life and embrace others differences. I travel to be fulfilled.

Resolutions 2015

After such a busy December, I have been taking a few days for myself to get things in order before my Spring semester of dental school begins tomorrow. I've also been doing some inner reflection...every year I take the time to write out my New Year's Resolutions and I like to revisit them regularly to ensure that I'm hitting my goals. Sometimes the specifics get revised as I grow and change throughout the year, but the overall goal remains the same. This year's list is short, but so very very important. 

Here's to a Happy 2015!