"Physical fitness is not only one of the most important keys to a healthy body, it is the basis of dynamic and creative intellectual activity." --JFK

January: Nutrition and Health
February: Kindness and Generosity
March: Order and Purpose
April: Strength and Flexibility
May: Relationships
June: Adventure and Fun
July: Community and Environment
August: Knowledge and Interests
September: Sleep and Tranquility
October: Simplicity and Moderation
November: Gratitude and Positivity
December: Spirituality and Resolution

In October, my best friend went to Hawaii for her honeymoon and brought me back a small souvenir. And when I say small, I mean really small. She bought me a Brazilian cut bathing suit. If you're not familiar with the Brazilian cut, it is basically somewhere between a thong and a regular bikini bottom. Am I the thong type? No. Do I appreciate that my friend thinks I would look good in this bathing suit? Yes. The picture below shows the butterfly bikini she got me compared to my regular bathing suit bottoms:

As you can see, the back is no bigger than the front, which presents a few problems. I think the bathing suit is fun and cute (and conveniently eliminates tan line issues), but I’m pretty modest and this suit demands attention to a specific area of the body. I think I'm like most women in that I slightly panic when I realize bathing suit season is near and the most recent exercising I've done is back and forth to the kitchen. I'm happy with my size and body, but by no means do I feel firm or confident enough to flaunt this thing around like I'm Kim Kardashian.

I promise I'm not busting this bikini out at a casual pool party or a family trip to the lake, but I did decide that I would consider wearing this in public if: a) I am on vacation at a nice beach and b) if I am in excellent shape. I just so happen to be planning a trip to Florida in June with my friend, so if I’m going to wear this bathing suit at any point in my life, this is the one time to do it! With 9 weeks left until my vacation, I need to get my butt in shape...literally, which brings me to the goal this month: strength and flexibility.

Although the bikini is motivating, it’s not just about looking good, and if it was then I would be off base from the whole purpose of this blog. I always want my posts to come back to how each goal and habit will benefit my mind, body, and soul. Exercising releases feel-good endorphins, helps with circulation, increases energy, is good for your heart, detoxes your body, and builds strength and flexibility that is important for a quality life. I DO NOT LIKE EXERCISING when I'm in the middle of it, but I love the empowered and elated feeling I get when the workout is over. There is really no denying that exercise is a crucial part of living a long, healthy life, and this month is all about jumpstarting the habit. My goal is to workout 5 days a week for at least 45 minutes. I'd like to push myself to do high intensity workouts (step, spin, weight classes), but on days when I need to mix it up or give my body a break, I will do low intensity workouts (walking, Yoga, crunches). I know, for a definite fact, that this is a lot easier said than done, so when I'm exhausted after work and avoiding the gym like the plague, it will be time for me to put on some Sisqo and use this bikini as my muse!

"Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful." --William Morris

This past month was all about creating order, and I started with the most daunting task of them all: my closet. For some reason, no matter how often I clean my closet, I quickly accumulate a floordrobe (a wardrobe on the floor) and my clothes become a stressful mess. Here is the BEFORE...














and 3 hours later, here is the AFTER...



Ahhhhh! After doing a happy dance in my newly uncluttered closet, I moved on to the second biggest job on my to-do list: organizing our finances. Overall, I’ve always been pretty responsible about money and bills, but I’ve never quite known exactly how much debt my husband and I have combined or how long it will be before it’s all paid off. Between student loans, new cars, and a couple credit cards, I always procrastinated doing this because I was worried that the truth would be a bit discouraging. After going through statements and figuring out interest rates, payments, and budgets, I was relieved to find out we would be debt-free way sooner than I expected, not to mention we now had a tangible, effective plan that would save us money in the end. Alright, so there might have been a little happy dance after this, too.

With so many things going on at work and on the weekends, I got a calendar and recorded every event, appointment, and to-do for the next few months. I had so many wedding and shower invitations on my fridge that I was running out of magnets and space, but this helped me to clear my mind and my fridge. I totally cleaned the inside, too, as well as the pantry, by pulling everything out, getting rid of expired food, and cleaning the shelves. While looking through the kitchen cabinets, an overloaded folder of various recipes, which I had ripped out of magazines and jotted on random pieces of paper, stood out to me. I rarely opened that folder because of how disorganized it was, so it was as if all those years of collecting recipes had been a waste. I finally sat down and organized the recipes into a binder using page protectors, and now I have an easy way to find what I'm looking for and the papers are safe from spills and splatters while cooking:






(I have no idea why this picture is sideways.)






Throughout the month, one-by-one, I went through all parts of my house and started throwing away garbage, boxing up things I could sell or donate, and re-organizing anything that still had a purpose in my life. Even though some of this was tedious and time-consuming, I know the newly-created space, functionality and peace of mind made it worthwhile. Every time I finished a new task, I felt wonderfully productive and like a weight was just lifted off of me. I also found cool stuff that had been lost and forgotten at the back of closets or the bottom of drawers, which turned each chore into a little treasure hunt. I made life easier and more rewarding for myself by making more room for the things I value and letting go of the things I don't. I actually accumulated so much stuff to get rid of that I decided to have a garage sale. So despite my month of cleaning and hard work, it looks like I'm having mimosas and making cash this Saturday morning : ).

"Organizing is what you do before you do something, so that when you do it, it is not all mixed up." --A.A. Milne

January: Nutrition and Health
February: Kindness and Generosity
March: Order and Purpose
April: Strength and Flexibility
May: Relationships
June: Adventure and Fun
July: Community and Environment
August: Knowledge and Interests
September: Sleep and Tranquility
October: Simplicity and Moderation
November: Gratitude and Positivity
December: Spirituality and Resolution

I love shows like “Hoarders” and “Clean Sweep” where they help families get rid of massive amounts of clutter and organize their homes. I have high anxiety all through the show,but then I feel so relieved when it’s all cleaned up. If I wasn’t a teacher, I’ve always said I would love to be a professional organizer. There is something really satisfying and encouraging about turning chaos into function, and I love how light and liberated I feel in a space that has just been cleaned.

Although I usually keep things pretty neat, there are certain tasks or areas of our house that get neglected, and we are somehow always accumulating stuff but rarely getting rid of anything. In March, I plan to sell, donate, or trash things that don’t serve a positive purpose, to organize cluttered closets and drawers, and to complete projects I’ve been procrastinating. I also want to get important paperwork filed away and a plan together to pay off any and all debt efficiently. These are things that I think about doing all the time, but I never have the time or motivation to get done. The end result should be a little more peace of mind and breathing room (not to mention space to put new shoes in my closet)!

"If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion."--Dalai Lama

I started the month being as mindful and enthusiastic about my goal as possible (time to get out there and be nice...yeah!), then reality sunk in and I was bombarded with bills, PMS, a class of whining teenagers, a pile of laundry, and two big snow storms. I really have every reason to be a positive and grateful person, but I often let everyday mishaps and annoyances put me into a grumpy mood. It would be so much easier to be happy and nice all the time if I lived on the beach, visited a spa and mall each day, and had an entourage of maids and cooks at my service. Maybe the Dalai Lama knew what he was talking about when he said to practice compassion because it doesn’t necessarily come easy in the real world. If I learned anything about myself this month it is that, even when I feel stressed, tired, and irritable, I need to always strive and put effort towards being a genuinely kind and generous person.

February started with almost two weeks of being snowed in at home with my husband and dog. With cabin fever setting in and not having as many enthusiastic greetings or compliments to give out as I planned, my month started with an attempt to simply NOT say anything mean or negative. It’s kinda sad, really. I would say I’m friendly and helpful to 99% of the strangers and acquaintances I run into each day, yet the people I love and see the most don’t always get the same five-star treatment. My husband has known for many years to not take it personal if he doesn’t get a smile or a sentence out of me before I’ve had a cup of coffee and at least 30 minutes to wake up in the morning. With my hair disheveled and eyes half-closed, I’ll even insist he not speak because his natural morning energy is just way too much. I had to give myself a pep talk at first, but this month I forced myself to get out of bed with a smiling, “Good morning!” Ok, so I didn’t remember EVERY day, but the more I did this type of thing, the happier and more positive I truly started to feel. I even held back from complaining about someone’s clothes and dishes lying around the house and decided to quietly and nicely put them away myself each day. Regardless of what my natural inclination is, I don’t want to be a grouchy, nagging wife and mother my whole life, so I’m now learning to make these pep talks a regular part of my day.

I also tried "meditating on compassion,” which is something that has been taught by many spiritual leaders, peacemakers, psychiatrists and Yoga teachers around the world. The purpose is to practice becoming a more compassionate and grateful person from the inside out. When I couldn't sleep at night, was taking a bath, or was on a walk, I would concentrate on kind thoughts about each one my friends, family members, and neighbors. I would imagine them getting good news or think about the qualities in them I am most grateful for, and in the process, I was effortlessly replacing what might have been worrisome or negative thoughts with compassionate thoughts that ultimately improved my mood, my sleep habits, and even my relationships. This is perhaps the easiest way to practice compassion, not to mention many people believe, as I do, that our thoughts (and emotions and prayers) have a confounding, powerful ability to affect people and the world around us.

I did give more compliments and words of encouragement than usual, but I also let not-so-nice things slip out on occasion. I also never found the perfect chance to buy a stranger’s coffee or to put someone’s shopping cart away, and maybe I wasn’t looking hard enough, but these are the types of things I would like to have said I did all month long. If anything, I can honestly say this month has made me more mindful of how I treat people and it has inspired me to continue working towards being a kinder, more selfless person.