new years Archives - Through Heather's Looking Glass

Dreaming Big in 2017

January 2, 2017 by Heather

I have stated this before, but I have a love/hate relationship with the whole New Year’s resolution thing, and tend to veer more towards goals. As with everyone, the Christmas season was very busy, and I have not had a lot of time to sit down, reflect, and think about how I want to move forward in 2017. 2016 was a big year of change for us.

We moved to Florida, Bobby was gone for work for five months, we sold our frozen yogurt shop and our house, I wrote a book, and we now have a very active and talkative two year old. It took all of my energy just to keep my head above water, and I want to get back to some of the strategies I talk about in my eBook for creating more time, organization, and being less stressed out.

I have a hard time letting go of control, and (I have talked about this before,) get bent out of shape when things don’t go exactly according to my plan (which tends to have a VERY high bar). I really need to learn to just let things go, and go with the flow more. With that being said, I also want to be careful to not sell myself short and just let EVERYTHING go, or I don’t think I would ever get anything done!

I am a believer in dreaming BIG and believing in yourself, and that’s exactly what I want to do in 2017. I don’t want to be that person that looks at others and says “wow I wish I could (enter cool thing here) like her. She must be really smart/naturally gifted/better than me.” Hhhmmm. Now, don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of smart, naturally gifted and talented people out there, but don’t ever tell yourself you can’t do something because you weren’t born with a certain special talent.

I firmly believe that if you are intentional with your time, dedicated and ready to work hard, you can do more than you ever thought imaginable (as I look in the mirror and say this to myself!) I also believe in baby steps, and not trying to overhaul everything in one day…because that never works.

So let me ask you a question. What do you WANT out of 2017? Like what do you really really want? Like want it so bad it keeps you up at night, and you worry that if you don’t reach this goal you will never forgive yourself. If there were no money restraints, time restraints, etc. If you could do anything, what would it be? Also next, what is ONE THING I can do today to work towards my dreams for 2017? Baby. steps.

In order to help you with this, I think it’s a good idea to write this stuff down. Goals and dreams work best when they are measurable, so be sure to put timelines, details, and action steps in your plan. Don’t write things like “I want to lose weight”. (how much? by when? How do you plan to do this?) or “I want a new job” (by when? doing what? Where have you started looking? can you make certain contacts to help get you on your way?) Breaking your goals down helps them seem less daunting, and having a plan helps make things more manageable. At least it helps me!

Be sure to sign up to receive your free printables to help you with your dreams in 2017. Just click here and my fitness and goal setting printables (for things other than fitness!) will be delivered to your inbox! Friends, I am right there with you with big goals and dreams and figuring out ways to get there. Making a plan is step one. It’s an important step so don’t skip it. Write everything down and let’s get going. We are going to rock 2017!

QOTD: What goals do you have for 2017? Or go ahead and brag, what is something you accomplished in 2016?

Filed Under: health, holidays, motivation, tips Tagged: goals, new years, printables, resolutions

New Year’s Eve Weekend Recap

January 5, 2016 by Heather

Hi friends! Here we are in the thick of the first week of January and I realized I never recapped the holiday weekend. Whoops! Not that we did anything super exciting, but anyway. I didn’t even make it to midnight on NYE, but did enjoy watching some football. On Friday, I took down the Christmas tree and all the other decorations around the inside of the house (sad panda) aannddd I did it like this:

KIDDING! although, how flippin awesome is that?!? Genius. If I didn’t enjoy the putting on of the ornaments so much, I would consider it. We stayed inside that day because it was pretty chilly. I moved Emma Kate’s table and chairs into the living room and she is really enjoying it.

Saturday was another cold day, but I needed to run 6.2 miles, so I left Bobby home with EK during her nap time and headed out. I swear the cold weather makes me run faster so I can get. it. over. with. I ran a super hilly course and ended up running less that two minutes off of my 10K PR!

Also yall, seriously, I am going to have to go back to braiding my hair when I run. It’s getting longer and is so thick…When I started my run, my ponytail was super tight and ON THE TOP OF MY HEAD. Check out it’s ending location. Whomp whomp. #HairDrama.

Later that afternoon, we all needed to get out of the house, so even though it was 44 degrees, we took Emma Kate to the park. I thought for sure we would be the only ones there and I would be shamed for brining my child out into the frozen tundra (don’t laugh, I have lived in the south my entire existence), but I had to laugh when the park was FULL. Then I remembered, kids have been out of school. For two weeks. Parents are losing their minds. Everyone, let’s go to the park!

Emma Kate LOVED this cool slide. She went down it about ten times. Little daredevil.

She is so sweet. I love it when she has a good time.

After we were sufficiently frozen, we went to Chick-Fil-A where I got what will most likely be my last Peppermint milkshake of the season. More sad times. Emma Kate wanted to try it, and thankfully she loved it, unlike her daddy. Shame.

Sunday morning was a little warmer, and we headed off to church before watching the Saints win their final game of the season. How adorable is Emma Kate’s dress?!?

We went for a family walk (Bella included) in the afternoon, took down outdoor lights, and just hung around Sunday night, because we have a really great social scene here in Mississippi yall.

That’s about it! I hope you had more excitement than us, and that you don’t still have your tree up. Seriously, it’s time. Have a great day all!

QOTD: How long do you leave your tree up after New Years?

Filed Under: baby, family, holidays, running Tagged: family, holiday, new years, running

The Year of Optimism

January 2, 2014 by Heather

Oh, 2013. My head is swimming with so many thoughts that I don’t know where to start. I feel like every year I start the year off all excited and ready for change, but by February I have slipped back into my same old mindset. Not only that, but I totally forget about my resolutions and at the end of the year it’s a surprise to me to even read what they were!
In my house, we have a tradition where we write our resolutions down and put them in our Christmas stockings for safe keeping. Then, the next year when we pull out the decorations we have them ready to read….and ready to be depressed about. I realized that a lot of my “resolutions” are actually things that are mostly out of my control. No wonder I get so disappointed when they don’t happen! This isn’t true for all of them, but a lot, yes. I have decided that this year I am not going to set myself up for failure and disappointment by writing down lofty things that may or may not happen during the year. Especially when I know I will forget about them in a couple weeks.
Hear me out, I’m not saying you shouldn’t have goals or strive for certain things, if you have been reading my blog for awhile you know I typically do small monthly goals. I just think a laundry list of lofty things for the year may not be the way to go for some people (like me).

This year, instead of setting myself up for disappointment, I am going to try to focus on bettering myself as a whole person. I’m not labeling it, I’m not putting limitations, restrictions, or specifics on it. I know technical goal people are probably having a panic attack right now because that isn’t exactly “measurable”, but I want the freedom to make it whatever I want it to be for that day, hour, or even minute. For example: I may wake up one day and decide I want to run 25 miles that week. So I will focus on bettering myself in that way, and then that’s that. The next day or week, I may decide I want to volunteer in some way,do it, then move on to something else. I don’t want to limit myself, box myself in, or set myself up to fail. Heck I may decide in the middle of something to change my mind!

Bottom line, January puts a lot of STRESS on me, and it’s not necessary. I want 2014 to be low key and laid back. This in itself will be a huge feat because I am quite high strung. I have always been very competitive and in turn am very hard on myself. This year I don’t want to beat myself up for things I DON’T do, but instead want to CELEBRATE the things I do accomplish.

It’s all about your mindset and attitude, and I am striving to be more of a glass half full kind of girl. So, my word for the year is OPTIMISTIC. Again, not putting any rules on this, I just want to strive to be an overall better and more optimistic person, whatever that looks like depending on the day. You are the only one who can change your attitude, and we all know your mental health has a huge bearing on your physical health.

So for 2014, I will be counting my blessings and being optimistic about the future. I think if I can do those things, then I will WANT to better myself because I will have the right attitude. It’s a cycle! 2013 was tough, I don’t share everything here on the blog as I don’t want to air my personal issues online…so just know there were a lot of days I really struggled. I’m not sad to see it go and am ready to start fresh with this new approach. Even though things last year didn’t go as planned, I am a very blessed girl and owe every good thing I have to God, who has been with me even when I felt the most alone and sad. It’s tough, but I am trying to remember that my plans may not be what God has in mind for me, and may not be best for me. I don’t want to settle, so I will be optimistic and try to go with the flow and remember it will all work out!

Here’s to a laid back, glass half full 2014. I just know it’s going to be my best year yet. (See, already working on that optimism!)
Thank you for reading my blog in 2013, you all mean a lot to me, more than you can know.

Cheers!

Filed Under: blogging, Faith, Mental Health, motivation Tagged: goals, new years, optimism, resolutions

Happy New Year 2014!

January 1, 2014 by Heather

Well…it’s 2014! I hope everyone had fun last night. I am visiting family so will be writing a couple New Years posts over the next few days, but I just wanted to pop in and wish you all a year of health and happiness!

We all have a blank slate starting today so think carefully about what you will do with it! Do good things, make healthy choices, don’t bring unnecessary baggage into 2014. Love y’all!

QOTD: what did you do last night?

Filed Under: family, holidays Tagged: family, holiday, new years

New Years Weekend Recap

January 1, 2013 by Heather

I hope everyone had a safe, happy, and fun NYE. I fell asleep (again) around 11ish, but was woken up (again) to what sounded like World War 3 outside, it was crazy! So. Many. Fireworks. New years day was pretty lazy, but I wanted to share a few photos from the weekend!

On Sunday we went to a party we go to every year with my family and good times were had by all.

Monday, (New Years eve) my mom had to work so I hung out with my dad and Bobby and then we went for a 1.5 mile walk around the neighborhood.

Wearing my SUPER comfy and long Running Skirts top (with thumbholes and pullover mittens!) It felt good to get out and stretch. (Enter code SKIRTSASS at runningskirts.com for 15% off your order!)

That night we ordered our favorite pizza from Marcos, and played Disney Monopoly and drank pink champagne.

Of course, I was pretty obsessed with the awesome game board and had to own the properties of my favorite rides! We played until the Chic Fil A bowl started, which ended up very depressing for us die hard LSU fans. It’s pretty fitting for our football season as a whole though of you look a the Saints as well. ug. Oh well, I still love my teams.

On New Years day, we slept in and then went to the grocery store and realized it didn’t open until 11:00 so we sat in the car and waited…and took photos.

We lounged around and watched bowl games (go #SEC!) and the headed home. it’s gloomy, humid, and hot and I am wondering where winter went? We had a great weekend and now I am excited about a short work week before we have another one! Today I am going for my last double digit run before goofy, the countdown is on! Happy 2013!

QOTD: Fireworks or no on NYE?

Filed Under: family, holidays, Running Skirts Tagged: new years, running

January 2013 Goals

December 30, 2012 by Heather

Happy New Year! We went to a party last night, and tonight will be watching LSU play in their bowl game. So excited! What a great way to ring in the new year. Will we stay up until midnight? Uh…probably not. I have been quite the early bird as of late, and don’t foresee a change in that unless someone slips me some serious caffeine!

I could have used some caffeine when this photo was taken.

So, if you have been reading RWS since this time last year, you may remember that instead of making huge goals for all of 2012, that I would make small, more attainable monthly goals. When I make BIG yearly goals I tend to forget about them by oh…about the second week of January. But mini monthly goals I can handle, and are on my mind more often. I successfully had mini goals all throughout 2012, some I obtained and some I didn’t. I put pressure on myself to reach some more than others, but over all tried to keep it low stress because I, just like everyone else, already have enough stress to deal with.

With that being said, let’s check out my December goals and see how I did:

1.) Enjoy the Christmas season. (B-) I watched tons of Christmas movies and tried to soak it in as much as I could, but I was dealing with a LOT of different things during the Christmas season this year that kept my attention in other places. There is always next year?

2.) Figure out what’s wrong with my health. (A-) I think we are finally getting things cleared up! The Prevacid seems to really be helping my acid reflux, and I am also working on getting my stress under control which I KNOW is a contributing factor. The only health issue I am still dealing with is my left leg, and my chiropractor and myself both think its a combo of tight hip and hamstring issues and some Achilles straining going on. He has put KT tape on me, and is doing some ART on my legs to get me through Goofy.

3.) Be more thankful. (B+) Still having good days and bad days with this one. Trying to focus more on my blessings and not my circumstances. Still needs work.

4.) Successfully finish my Goofy training. (C+) I don’t know if I would say it was SUCCESSFUL training, but I am in full taper mode. Still just hoping to finish in an upright position and to have fun with it!

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I really liked how I did the mini goals this year instead of huge yearly goals. However, I did write a few things down and put them in my stocking for safe keeping like I do every year, just because it’s fun to look back and see what i was expecting from the year…so more like “things I would like to see happen” as opposed to resolutions. So, here we go with January 2013!

1.) Finish Goofy in an upright position. Ah. Pretty self explanatory. Less than two weeks!

2.) Vlog more. Oh yes. Pulling this one out again. really REALLY want to do better about this the whole year through, but we will focus on it one month at a time. My goal is twice this month.

3.) Stretch more. My chiropractor definitely noticed the lack of flexibility both Bobby and I have, so we have been told to try to stand up and stretch once an hour. So far….I need some work on this.

4.) Stay healthy. This time of year I tend to get sick, so I am focusing on getting sleep, washing my hands, and taking EmergenC so I can stay well through my travels and the cold month of January.

I think that’s a good start, I will check back in with this at the end of the month to see how I did!

QOTD: Do you have any mini goals for January?

Filed Under: blogging, fitness, runDisney, running Tagged: goals, new years

Holiday Wrap Up

January 2, 2012 by Heather

Well friends, it’s January. Christmas is over, decorations will come down tomorrow. It’s 2012, so time to move on and get MOVING! But, before we do that, a few things to wrap up:

Ortholite Giveaway Winners:

Amy

Lisa

Heidi

Ladies, Congrats! Please e mail me at runningwithsass@gmail.com so I can get you your prize. Thanks to everyone who entered! If you didn’t win, don’t worry! stay tuned for another giveaway coming up in the next week or so.

Before I move on to all things 2012, I wanted to wrap up a couple of 2012 things with some pictures. As I mentioned before, my mom’s birthday is Christmas day. So, Christmas night she had a cake, we sang, and we ate…again.

Bobby and Bella had a long day.

My dad testing out my mom’s new foam roller. Ha.

New Year’s eve…

Happy New Year!

I actually fell asleep about 11:00, but woke up at midnight because I thought the street was blowing up there were so many fireworks! The dogs were going crazy of course.

So, looking forward to 2012, I have some exciting things coming up….like a doctor’s appointment on Tuesday as a 2nd follow up for my foot. Hopefully, I will FINALLY be cleared to run (I haven’t run since Thanksgiving.) I have been walking up to one mile with no pain, so I am praying that means I can slowly start running again (and get back to BLOGGING about running!)

Look for some fun things coming up like giveaways, fun vlogs (more than just me talking to the camera sitting in my living room) and some more guest posts. I am determined to make 2012 great! Have a great first Monday of the year!

QOTD:

Do you shoot off fireworks on NYE? Go watch them somewhere? Spill!

Filed Under: family, Uncategorized Tagged: 2012, family, holiday, new years

1-1-12

January 1, 2012 by Heather

HAPPY NEW YEAR! Welcome to 2012.
I hope you have a great weekend spending time with your loved ones celebrating the new exciting things that will hopefully happen in your lives this year. 2011 was full of change and challenges for me, and so I am not all that sad to see it go. I will be writing down some new fun goals That I don’t have to reach (no pressure here, just fun!) That I will be putting in my stocking until I pull them out next Christmas. Its just always so fun to look back. One reason why I love blogging!

I of course have some goals for 2012 for RWS, so stay tuned and go through the changes with me, its going to be a wild ride! I love you all and wish you the very best. No real blog post today, just want to spend time with my family. Here’s to 2012. Cheers!

*I will announce the giveaway winners tomorrow!

*QOTD: any fun New Years day plans or traditions?

Filed Under: family Tagged: 2012, family, new years

2012. Game On.

December 30, 2011 by Heather

Happy New Year’s Eve eve! This short week is nice huh? Next week will be short too….so many reasons to love the holidays! We had a busy weekend planned, but a very fun one. But let’s back track. Yesterday, I did some cleaning because my aunt and cousin were coming over. I met them for lunch and then they wanted to come see my house. We girl talked for a while before they left. They Bobby and I hit the gym after he got home from work. I am getting really excited about the prospect of running in a week’s time!

Ok, so let’s talk “resolutions.” I have some mixed feelings about these babies. On one hand, I think it’s GREAT to make plans and goals for the next year. On the other hand, it can easily set you up for failure, and also, why wait until a new year, why not start now?

So, I have decided instead of having resolutions, I will continue to have “mini goals” like I did last year, and also to have something in life I want to “work on.” I feel that if I leave it vague and obscure, I can’t very easily “fail.” I shared with you yesterday that my word for 2012 is determination. This doesn’t have any “specifics” and can mean (and does mean) a lot of different things to me.

What the heck am I saying? For instance…I can decide one day in February “I am determined to paint the rest of our fence, gosh darn it!” See? I can make things up as I go, al falling under the category of working on my determination. I will be picking and choosing things as they happen, and then celebrate the victories afterwards.

With THAT being said, we also have a tradition around our house where we write out goals for the next year and put them in our stocking for safekeeping. Then, the next Christmas when we pull out the decorations, we can look at out goals for the past year. It’s really fun! So, I will continue to do this for the sake of tradition and fun and mainly to see how my goals and life change over the years. These are not “ohmygoshIhavetodothisorelse” kind of goals…just fun things it would be nice to see happen that year. It is good for reflection I think.