Vacation in Cabo San Lucas 

November 5, 2017 5 Comments

Waves, sand, and sunsetIt’s funny, it all started with an email about cheap tickets to Iceland. 

I immediately texted my friend K and asked if I could buy us tickets to Iceland. I think her exact words were something like “wtf?!?”. 

She wasn’t exactly out, but she did say that Iceland in December seemed like a very cold idea. Fair enough. After some talking and research, we definitely wanted a vacation and could afford something not too out of control- we decided on Mexico, and September ended up being the cheapest tickets. 

One of the amazing views from Mt. Solmar

One of the amazing views from Mt. Solmar

I haven’t been on vacation in years. And traveling with K was wonderful. She lives in a different city than I do, so we don’t get to see other that often. We did things and had a great time, but there was no pressure! I got to take naps and just chat with her all that I wanted, without feeling like I was making her miss out on vacation. She is also a big fan of naps. 

Chilled young coconut

A chilled coconut before your nap= epic. Travel diffuser and oils along with it… can’t be beat!


I have always wanted to go parasailing, and I’ve never been. I was beyond excited when K said that she wanted to go, too! Yay! Definitely go if you have the chance. I was really worried about getting sunburnt while up in the air, but I made it! 

Parasailing

Parasailing with the happiest parachute

K wanted to go hiking. I like the idea in theory, but reality is that it’s so hot and muggy that we had to get up at something like 5am (I’ve blocked out the exact time- it was very traumatizing) to not have a heat stroke. Guess what, though? It was completely worth it, and not even that hot. If you go: the base of Mt. Solmar is on a man named Enrique’s property. We walked there from our hotel on the other side of the marina. We had asked a few different people for directions. You have to walk out of tourist land and past a military base, then open this total stranger’s fence and walk on to his property (which is also a doggie daycare, and there are dogs everywhere). 

If you’re brave enough to get past all of that, your reward will be hiking the mountain and glorious views! When you come back down you will see the box where you leave your tip for Enrique. 

J and k’s hiking shoes
Our other main activity (besides eating guacamole, which we tried very hard to do at every meal. The best guac we found was at La Casa Country) was a sunset booze cruise. More amazing views. The drinks were not amazing, but we had a great time and enjoyed several anyway. We’re super brave like that. 

SunsetThe Arch

The next place that I really want to go is Greece. Do you have any dream trips in mind? 

Jillian 

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Bento Box Lunches 

October 30, 2017 5 Comments

Open bento box with spoonSurprising no one, I am still trying to lose weight. Hey, why not make that my comeback post?!

I’m tired of being hard on myself. It’s a struggle for me, trying to be positive. I easily slide into negative thoughts about my weight, self worth, what others think of me. Soooooo pointless.

Last month I went to Cabo (actually, I will post pictures soon, it was so pretty!) and I realized that I freaking love cheese plates and snacks. You know what snacks are? Reasonable portions for actual meals! I don’t know if I am some kind of super weirdo for not realizing this sooner (see?!? I’m being negative again! Gah!), but suddenly my brain said “hey, just put snack food together for a meal, and you’ll feel like you’re splurging”.

I bought this adorable bento box, and I think it was money well spent. I have so much fun packing my lunches.

Open bento box

(Veggie wrap, cucumber, quinoa salad, plum)

Closed bento box
(Water crackers, hummus, feta, plum, tomato, and Field Roast)

Do you have any diet tips that are actually fun? Have you tried a bento box?

Jillian

 

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How I Paint

September 6, 2016 8 Comments

painting by Jillian

I was listening to music in my room, when I realized that I had the perfect idea for the piece missing on my wall. I struggle with forgiveness, and really, mostly with forgetting. The quote “bitterness keeps you from flying” is from the Tim McGraw song “Humble and Kind.” I want to focus on happiness, love, and the present. I don’t want to waste any more time on the bad or bad memories. 

My bedroom wall has been empty for quite a while, and I wanted to paint something this year. I thought the clouds and sun would be pretty, and planned for a quote over the painting. I used an app (PhotoGrid) to decide how I wanted the letters before painting them on there. 

PhotoGrid apppainting mock up
My letters didn’t turn out quite like the app, but it works! Have you ever painted your own art for your place? It’s kind of a lot of pressure… I don’t love how it turned out, but I still like it. 

Jillian

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Simplify Sunday- Annual Goals Update 

March 6, 2016 12 Comments

  birthday drinks 
I cannot believe it’s been seven weeks since I started my new annual goals. I have no idea how that happened. Counting the weeks has made me feel pretty guilty about how little I’ve done. Still, I have done a couple of things that are important to me. 

As pictured here, I went out for dinner and drinks in a joint birthday celebration with my beautiful friend, M. Our birthdays are five days apart, and we usually buy each other gifts. We do often go out for happy hour as well, but not always. I know that she is big into experiences instead of stuff, so I thought she would be the perfect person to start working on that goal with. 

It helped that it was my birthday, too. It’s a lot easier to say to someone, “Hey, let’s go out and try something fun together to celebrate our birthdays instead of buying tangible gifts” than it is to say “You know how I usually take you out for happy hour and give you a present for your birthday? Well, I know you probably don’t even remember what I gave you last year (and hey, neither do I), so let’s just skip that part and spend a little more money on the experience”. The second way you just sound like a cheapass. I haven’t quite figured out to spin that yet. 

M and I had so much fun hanging out. That’s what sucks about growing up- the more responsibilities you have, the more rare that time with your friends is. We used to hang out a few times a week, and now we’re lucky if it’s a few times a month. I loved going the experience instead of stuff route, and I definitely want to keep that going. 

I automated my emergency fund deposits for each month. I’ve had two go in so far, which is awesome. I have really not saved anything over the last year in my emergency fund, because everything I’ve put in has come out at some point. Last year was super expensive! I also checked my credit, and didn’t see any red flags. My score is the highest it’s ever been, which was exciting!

Maybe I find strange things exciting, but I think those are my biggest accomplishments so far on my list. Simplifying gift giving and saving, but in totally different ways. Anyone else trying anything new this year that they’ve managed to stick to?

Jillian 

Filed Under: Annual Goals, Minimalism, Personal Finance Tagged With: , , , ,

My 36 Project

January 16, 2016 14 Comments

Jillian loves the Packers  I thought about it for a while, and even though I didn’t complete 100% of my 35 Things to do Before 35; I still really enjoyed the process and am going to do it again. Here are my goals to accomplish before I turn 36!

Activities

1. Go to afternoon tea

2. Canoeing at Cook Park

3. Tree to Tree obstacle course

4. Go horseback riding

5. Take a vacation- even if it’s just using the days off to stay home

6. Spa day with Chelle

7. Hike Dog Mountain

8. Go to West Coast Game Park Safari

9. Visit Seattle

10. Volunteer at a homeless shelter

11. Frame my two unframed pictures

12. Do a painting

13. Go to a play

14. Go on a picnic

 

Finances

15. Automate emergency fund deposits- and keep them that way!

16. Invest in stock (any amount, even one share. Maybe Acorn?)

17. Decide if I want to save to buy a house/townhouse/condo

18. Do Suze University

19. Check credit

 

On-going goals

20. Visit grandparents once a month (0/12)

21. Send a card or care package every week (0/52)

22. See a friend once a week (0/52)

23. Practice yoga once a week (0/52)

24. Exercise at least twice a week (0/52)

25. Buy myself flowers once a month (0/12)

26. Do purge of belongings once a month (0/12)

27. Use all four free car details (0/4)

28. Post on blog once a week (0/52)

 

Personal

29. Lose 40 pounds

30. Do a cleanse

31. Use my Happy Herbivore meal plans for at least a month

32. Run a 10k

33. Focus on giving fewer things and more experiences

 

Puppies

34. Take Lambeau to two puppy classes

35. Take Riley to a third training class

36. Adopt Lambeau!

 

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My 35 Project- Update

January 12, 2016 2 Comments

img_2781-1Last year on my birthday, I started a project- 35 things to do before I turned 35. It was a mixed bag. I did have to make some alterations to the list after a big life change, but for the most part it remained the same throughout the year.

Things that went well:

The only category that I accomplished every single item was house/minimalism. I guess I should have seen that coming. I love to see clean, simple spaces. I also obsessively organize and discard things when I am stressed or anxious. Sometimes I see this as a bad thing, as I know it’s one of my biggest coping mechanisms. However, the fact is that I love the results. Until I started blogging, I didn’t really realize that minimalism was such a trend. This is probably the first time in my entire life that I have been trendy.

I loved having it be a priority to see people that I love and send mail. Sure, I wasn’t 100% successful on these, but it felt good to flat out tell myself that I “had” to do these things. Investing in relationships is the best thing that I can do for myself. My loved ones make life worth living. Sometimes it feels indulgent to be spending time being happy instead of doing chores. Could this philosophy be more dumb? Now that I have realized I feel that way, I can remind myself what I really want my life to be about. I also got to take a trip to Vermont to see a friend and meet her new baby, and spent time with my puppy taking her to classes.

Paying off my student loans was an incredible feeling. I literally cannot remember the time when I didn’t have this debt hanging over my head. It’s been so long. I feel like the world is at my fingertips. I’ve been putting so much money toward debt for so long, and this feels great! My goal for the next year is to save this money and build a “grown-up” emergency fund. The one I’ve had while paying off debt has never been very much. It has been able to cover my true emergencies, which I am very proud of, but I would like it to be enough to give me peace of mind.

I went to yoga less than half as much as I had intended. However, I’m still counting this as a win because I did find a yoga studio that I love. I also got a great deal on a membership ($29 a month, unlimited- normally $99). If I go once a week, my membership is still cheaper than paying per visit; and now I have no excuse not to go more. I can’t do yoga at home. I love the idea, but I will end up with two dogs on my head and then giving up and taking a nap.

Things that I learned:

I learned that I actually visit my grandparents more than I realized. There is a lot of guilt in my family about visiting grandparents, but meeting my goal of once a month was not hard at all. Most months it was more often. Tracking this made me feel like I’m not such a bad person, after all.

My blog energy definitely ebbs and flows more than I thought. My initial posting schedule (at least once a day) was just insane and definitely did not pan out. I didn’t want to post just to post, of course. Next year my goal will be once a week. If I do more, that’s great, but I don’t want to pressure myself.

I went to therapy for several months. Therapy is something that is brutally hard for me, because I am not good at opening up on a deep level. I do see the irony of this, given my blog and all. This helped me make some very tough decisions, and I am grateful that I pushed myself to be introspective. It hurts, but sometimes life does. Ya know?

Things that didn’t go so well:

Weight loss was a total fail, no way around it. I actually weigh more than when I started. I wish I could change my thinking to remember that this truly is a health and quality of life issue.

My exercise goals completely tanked. I managed to work out four times a week… well. It’s just embarrassing. You can check for yourself if you want. I lowered my goal to twice a week for next year. I feel like that’s so low it’s not worth doing, but I know that is a defeatist attitude and one that I don’t want to have. If I feel I can’t reach the entire goal, I tend to do nothing. I want to learn that doing something in a less extreme manner is still okay and worth doing.

I am going to be doing a list of 36 things to do before I turn 36. This list will be more oriented toward things that I enjoyed this year, and experiences that I want to have. Is anyone else doing a list?

Jillian

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