What's Up Wednesday: February 2017

I had anticipated moving and starting a new job to be overwhelming...but I still under estimated just how overwhelming it would be. I really got thrown into things and in the past 3 weeks have finished work on time exactly once. But I'm carving out a bit of time tonight to fill out the What's Up Wednesday questionnaire because I know that I'll want to look back on it once things calm down! 

What I'm Eating This Week: My meals have been just as chaotic as life this month. I've mostly been invited out to eat as I get to know co-workers and community members so I haven't been doing much cooking myself. I did make some veggie pad thai to have for lunches and I'm thinking that there will be pizza in my future on the weekend!

What I'm Reminiscing About: I haven't had time to reminisce this month!

What I'm Loving: I had to think hard about this one. I guess I'm loving the security of knowing this is where I'll be for the next couple of years. Having that consistency will help me budget better, figure out some long term goals and be able to focus more on the present moment opposed to worrying about finding a new job in 6 months when that contract ends. 

What I've Been Up To: Just trying to keep my head above water.

What I've Been Dreading: I haven't really confronted the reality of not being at camp this year (or next year) and I know that's going to be rough. 

What I'm Working On: Learning how things are done around here. Figuring out a good rhythm to my day/week/month and balancing work and life. 

What I'm Excited About: I made it through the first month! It's been hard but I'm hopeful that from here things will get easier. I no longer feel like I'm going to burst into tears at any given moment because everything is just so overwhelming so I'm glad I'm over that hump. 

What I'm Watching: Scrubs! It's been my happy little escape this month and I'll be sad when it's over. The verdict is still out on whether or not I should watch the 9th season, I've heard it's pretty terrible. 

What I'm Reading: I intended on starting Yes, Chef by Marcus Samuelsson but I didn't get any farther than borrowing the e-book. I don't have cable/satellite in my apartment which means I can't easily access the 6 o'clock news every day so I've also been making more of an effort to read the news online. 

What I'm Listening To: I've been listening to "How Things Work" podcasts on a fairly regular basis. 

What I'm Wearing: My go to outfit is usually dark pants and a sweater. When I'm not in the office it's been lots of jeans, t-shirts, cardigans and scarves. Currently I'm wearing pyjama pants and a Cabela's t-shirt because I'm aiming to be in bed by 10 p.m. 

What I'm Doing This Weekend: The last two weekends I've had previous commitments so this weekend I am looking forward to staying in bed until 8 maybe doing some work on January in my Project Life album and depending on the weather my mom is planning a visit on Saturday. 

What I'm Looking Forward to Next Moth: Settling into more of a routine. February has been off the wall in terms of schedules and planning. Most days I leave my apartment at 7:45 a.m. and don't return until 7:00 p.m.. It's definitely not what I had envisioned but I'm hoping that it's just a result of the transition and by the end of March my days will start to look a little more manageable. 

What Else Is New: It feels like everything is new this month! I want to add blogging back into my weekly routine because I know that I'll regret not documenting the beginning when I look back on this time. It just hasn't been something I've felt particularly compelled to prioritize with so much else going on. 

February Life 2017

Personal Life// January was a weird month because there were clearly two different outcomes. Now that I know the outcome February is going to be a weird month because there's going to be a lot of new-ness. I like routine but between training and moving and the learning curve I realize that won't happen instantly. I'm going to do my best not to let myself get stressed and anxious but it's probably going to be easier said than done. I know that the first two weeks (and really the whole month) is going to be the hardest so if I can get through that things will start going smoother. 

Hobbies// I completed my 2016 Project Life album and have made a start on 2017. I'm still going the monthly route which is a choice I'm happy with. I'm anticipating getting 'behind' this month but I'm not worried. I am a big fan of using my Happy Planner so even if I get behind on Project Life I know that I still have that creative outlet. Bonus being that keeping up with planning will be helpful when I do get to catch up with Project Life. I don't have a great internet connection so I'm anticipating getting through a book or two. 

Career// I have one of those now! Officially! It's going to take anywhere from 4-6 weeks to transition between myself and the person leaving. They are leaving the position but not the organization so there's sort of a big domino effect happening. It's not what I had in mind but it does come with stability and isn't on the other side of the country. So I'm going to focus on the good parts and get through the rest. 

Spirituality// I'm still following through with my bedtime routine consisting of three thankful thoughts, question a day journal, Savor devotional and journalling. It sounds like a lot but most nights it doesn't take me any longer than 20 minutes. The past two weeks or so Savor has been disappointing. I'm not a mother or a wife and a lot of the blurbs have been related to those topics. And the past few days have involved the term 'hustle', which I despise. So I've skimmed over them but haven't really taken anything away from the readings. I'm contributing a lot of my journalling success to the fact I didn't make any rules for myself. Some days I write three sentences and some days I write three pages.

Health// For the first three weeks of the month I didn't drink any pop, only water. And then birthday week happened. And I sort of fell off the rails and returned to having pop a few times a week. I'm not being too hard on myself though because I still drank lots of water, I only drink one cup of coffee a day and I do think treats are ok in moderation. My attempt at doing a yoga challenge lasted three days before I got bored. 

Goals// I accomplished 2/3 of my January Goals. I ended up reading two books and I watched one documentary. I didn't try any new recipes or restaurants though. I had lunch out for my birthday but it was at a restaurant I'd be to before and the other three times I ate out this month were at Subway and A&W where I had my standard order.  As far as February goes I'm a little hesitant to start placing demands on myself. Surviving February is really my own priority. 

Linking up with Gretch & Kristen!

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