currently: november 2012

October certainly flew by! And, it was filled with plenty of fun, including lots of swimming + yoga, my first 10K, catching up with friends and hearing Brené Brown speak.

So, how did my October goals pan out? Have a look…

#joblove

I’m working on it… baby steps.

read more, cont.

I finished Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert mid-month, but after hearing Brené Brown lecture on October 11, I had to read Daring Greatly immediately. I’m about halfway through her incredible read on vulnerability and will share some thoughts in November on both her lecture and book. The Fire Starter Sessions is still on the re-read list.

no shopping at lululemon

I didn’t spend a cent at lululemon this month… success! Buuut, I did manage to shimmy into some new wunder unders. Yeah. I picked up Nick’s tri bike following a tune up as well a couple other ironman essentials (bento box + goggles), and in return, he bought me navy wunder unders and a runder under long sleeve. Sooo, technically, *I* didn’t buy the lulu gear 🙂

girl talk

Being immersed in triathlon for the first time, I’ve felt a bit disconnected with my girl friends the past couple months (though I’ve made some really great new girl friends, too!). That changed a bit in October with dinner with Sonia and Nannette at Black Sheep, dinner with Julie + Chad at Ngon, a lovely bike ride with Sonia, catching up with Andrea over coffee at Kopplin’s, brunch at Bon Vie with Suraya + Eric, and sushi with Nick’s mom, Mary. My fabulous sister and I also spent some quality time together (though it really needs to be more, especially considering we live so close): 1) we heard Brené Brown speak and then had a very frank chat on the drive home; and, 2) I helped her with three of her photo shoots (need a photographer? She’s got an incredible eye and takes amazing photos!) and the lunched with our lovely cousin Margaret at one of my favorite delis, Cheeky Monkey.

gluten-free, always

There was far less “oh, just a taste of pizza / bittersweet chocolate cookie / crusty bread,” but I did slip a few bites. For the most part, my GI system felt much better most of the month, though near the end, it flared up, though I’m not sure from what. Stress, perhaps? En route to Florida, I also ate cashews, which I know – I know – don’t play nice with my GI system. Dumb decision… I won’t be eating them again any time soon. And, I never made a doctor’s appointment to test for celiac; it will happen in November. Anyway, I kept a fairly meticulous food journal, only missing a few weekend days. The next step: Keeping track of how I feel after eating.

strength train

Sadly, this happened only once. Gah! I picked up the 12 kg kettle bell ONCE. And, I’m amazed at how heavy it felt. Twelve kgs used to feel light! Jen, please light a fire under my arse!

meal plan

Nick and I were much better about meal planning at the beginning of the month than the end of it. We made fewer daily trips to the market, and used up leftovers (except for the turkey pumpkin chili made with cayenne pepper instead of chili powder… oops!). We’ll continue to focus on weekly big(ger) stock-up shopping trips + homemade deliciousness in November. There will likely continue to be mid-week veggie shopping trips, too.

On to November goals!

#joblove

Like I said above, baby steps.

media-free day

That’s right… one day a week, we will unplug completely. That means to tv, iPhone or MacBook Pro the entire evening. Unfortunately, being a communication professional means I can’t completely disconnect during the workday, but I’ll do my best and definitely won’t be online in the evening.

one thing

I found a new gratitude app in October called 1THING. For the most part, I’ve continued to write down what I’m grateful for every day, but could do better, especially on the weekends. By setting up a daily reminder, I’ll log what I’m grateful for every single day. What I like about the 1THING app: Its sharability, both anonymously and via twitter or facebook.

sleep more

I’m shooting for eight hours, at minimum, each night.

kombucha creations

I’ve been hoarding GT’s Kombucha bottles for months (there are at least 25 empties on my desk at work) so I can attempt homemade kombucha this month. Fermentation masters Dave of the Movement Minneapolis recently shared his process, and Rita’s husband, Matt, shared his as well, so I have top-notch tips. Thanks, guys!

read more, cont.

Pretty sure this is going to a regular goal on my list. Up this month: finishing Daring Greatly and then reading The Fire Starter Sesssions, The Tao of Pooh and Love Doves.

slow down + focus

I’m a multitasking queen, often bouncing between halfway reading a newspaper article, my bloglovin’ feed, checking my email, writing in my daily planner, drinking a cup of tea, working a blog post, filing my nails and writing a letter to my grandma. While multitasking can be a good skill to master, it’s also detrimental to the attention span. And, lately I feel like mine’s about a centimeter long. This month: FOCUS. No more reading-17-things-at-one-time-while-holding-a-cup-of-green-tea-in-one-hand-and-my-iPhone-in-the-other. Focus on just one thing at a time until the task is done.

no more processed + portion control

We do eat really well – you should see our Mississippi Market bill – but processed goods (Whole Grain Milling Co. tortilla chips, pecan crackers and gluten-free pizza crust) occasionally make it in the shopping cart. And, when they do, they’re gone in, hmm… I’m kinda embarrassed to share how quickly we devour them!

What are some of your November goals?!

Be grateful, friends!