Transforming A New You: Hello and Goodbye...

Transforming A New You: Hello and Goodbye...: Hello friends.  I realize its been awhile since I've been on here, 7 months to be exact..how rude of me right?  Well, I could go on and ...

Hello and Goodbye...

Hello friends.  I realize its been awhile since I've been on here, 7 months to be exact..how rude of me right?  Well, I could go on and list a bunch of excuses as to why I have been MIA, but I will spare you from that.  When I began this blogging adventure in January my goal was to live life to the fullest by completing all these goals I set for myself.  It was ambitious, and I am all about that mindset, but there was a problem with my intentions.  I was trying to wear too many hats and be someone that I thought I needed to be or transform myself (cough cough my blog name) into.

Looking back at some of my goals, they weren't all ones I was TRULY passionate about.  Some of them were things people close to me were doing, or people that I looked up to, so naturally I thought I needed to do them too.  Well, no Kelly, you don't. For example, one of my goals was to do a craft each month.  Okay, NO! I admire people that are crafty and can create all these awesome things, but it just isn't for me.  I do not have the patience or natural talent to make crafts each month, I would rather spend my time doing something else, like reading, working out, going to a concert, etc.  For whatever reason I felt like I needed to be this crafty person..no one ever made me feel that way, so I am not sure where it came from.  I have made one craft this year...yeah, not a goal I should have set for myself.

Another one was baking each month.  I grew up really enjoying baking.  My best friend Amanda and I even had our own cookie business in our neighborhood, Kel-Man Cookies, we were a huge deal.  Over the years I have somewhat lost that passion, and I was trying to bring it back.  Right now in my life I just don't feel the need to bake all these delicious treats. I think it's partially because my taste buds have changed so much over the years that I don't really enjoy baked goods anymore, I'd rather cook a delicious dinner, and yeah I do that!

I could list several more examples like this but I think ya get the idea.  I've gone back and read my first post about my goals, and a lot of them I have accomplished, which is exciting to see!  I think my biggest goal for the year was to believe in myself and just get s#@* done!  Stop procrastinating and just do it!  I wanted to stop living life comfortably and live it fully!  This year has had its ups and downs but its mainly been filled with ups. Some highlights are that I've finally pursued my passion of health and fitness as a career and incorporated it into my daily life, been a long time coming.  I followed and opened up my heart, which has lead me to Dallas.  It was extremely scary and sad to leave my family behind, but I've grown so much as an individual and it was what I needed to do.  I still have my couch bum days but overall I've become more productive with my time and I am not so afraid to take risks.

I've learned it's never too late to start doing something you love.  We don't have to have all the answers all the time.  Sometimes we just got to take one small step forward and learn as we go.  I've done a lot of inward looking this year and I have discovered a lot about myself.  It can be hard to get to know yourself sometimes..like, your TRUE self.

Since I have always been better at voicing myself through writing I do want to continue blogging.  It has been on my mind for a long time and I have been in the process of creating a new blog with a new vision.  I am saying goodbye to this blog, even though it was very short lived.  So I will be back soon, friends.

Thanks for reading and being a part of this short journey.  Until next blog.

xoxo

Don't be a hack...

I just wrote out two whole paragraphs, I was starting to get deep, I was getting somewhere.  Somewhere I thought that my audience, well I am not sure how much of an audience I have, but I was trying to write something that YOU all would like and benefit from.  In the words of Steven Pressfield, I was being a Hack.  I was trying to write what would play well in the eyes of others.  I was still writing something that I believed to be true but I was trying too hard to come up with something that you readers could benefit from and take away from.

Well, no offense, the whole purpose of this blog was for me.  It wasn't really for you.  Don't get me wrong, I am so glad you take the time to read this and I have seen how my journey has encouraged others, and I am oh so glad and it does make me feel good inside.  However, I can't get caught up in that, not yet at least.  I found myself too focused on how many likes, comments, and readers I got.  I would get down when I wouldn't get a lot, and really happy when my blog would get more attention.  I realized I need to step back and remember what this was all about.  This year is about self-improvement for me and my transformation.  I created this blog to keep me accountable.  I have gone longer time spans in between blogs then I was shooting for but its my journey and I am taking it one step at a time.  Change does NOT happen immediately.  I need to remember that everyday!  It takes hard work, dedication, and time.

We are all on our own journey and social media has created an opportunity for us to see other peoples journeys and it can help encourage us in our journey.  That is one beauty of social media; when we see other people succeeding in something, it encores us to do the same in our walk.

So I guess, I am trying to remember I am meeting these goals for me, to be the person I know that I am, and actually become it, and EMBRACE it.

I encourage you to do the same.  Stop trying to BECOME somebody amazing.  You already are that person.  Look within you and embrace that beautiful person that already exists!

Goals, goals goals!

As I wrote goals, goals, goals, the song bills bills bills by Destiny's Child popped in my head!  Which is funny because I have set goals to help out with my bills bills bills, ha.  Ok anyways.... this year for me has been about change, transformation, setting goals and sticking to them.  Most of us probably set a few big goals for the year and have a 5-year plan of some sort in our head.  What we may not always think about is what we need to do on a day to day basis to reach those goals.  We forget that we need to make better choices on a day to day basis which will lead to better habits. Small, smart choices + consistency + time= Radical Difference... (Compound Effect reference again).

Well, life can get the best of us and it can be easy to get off our routines and fall back into our old habits, because we are creatures of habit so if we are not consistently making an effort to make new choices and habits, then we will fall back into our old patterns.

"We are what we repeatedly do". 

-Aristotle

Part of February and March I struggled with sticking to my daily goals because my routine was just chaotic!  From traveling, having family in town, my niece being born, and moving to Dallas, needless to say life was crazy for a bit!  I did not want to give up though and go back to my old ways!  I could already see it happening and I was not willing to let it continue that way.  

I remembered some worksheets I got from the Compound Effect website that I thought would help.  It's a Weekly Rhythm Calendar to track your daily and weekly goals.  I wrote down everything I wanted to accomplish on a weekly basis and I hung it up on my fridge so I can see it everyday!  Just by having that hanging up on my fridge pushes me to complete everything so much more because I get so much satisfaction by putting check marks next to every thing I accomplish!  There is also accountability because my boyfriend sees it and I don't want to disappoint him (even though I know he wouldn't necessarily be disappointed in me, I just know he wants me to live up to my fullest potential).

I am a visual person and I need to see things in order to remember to do them and keep myself accountable.  So if you are like me at all in this way, I encourage you to try it this next week.  Whether you want to eat healthier, work out more, read more, watch TV less, spend more time with family and friends, etc.. it could help you to complete your goals.  And tell people your goals, especially ones you live with and interact with the most; so they can ask you about them and help keep you accountable.  If you need an accountability partner, I can even be that for you.  Let me know!  

Well, here is how I did last week.  I did better and worse in some areas but now I know how I need to adjust for this next week and do better!  I highlighted the ones I needed to do on a daily basis.... I hope to do better this week, but it is a step in the right direction.

Weekly Rhythm

Happiness...

I have been wanting to blog for several days now, but I had no idea what I wanted to blog about.  I went through waves of having too many ideas that I couldn't settle on one, and then waves of nothing, just blank.  It was quite frustrating!  So I kept putting it off until I had this magical, AH HA moment.  That didn't really happen.  Then I remembered my cousin Sam, an awesome blogger and writer sent me this picture incase I ever get the "bloggers block".

Alright Hemingway, I will give it a shot.

I am Happy.

That is right folks, I am happy.  That is what came to mind, and it is the truth.   And NO I am not listening to Pharrell's song Happy... Happiness is a funny thing because it comes and it goes.  It is not a feeling or an emotion that is constant.  There are things in life that will happen that will make you feel unhappy, sad, angry, depressed, etc.  However, I think it is a conscious choice that we can make to be happy.  I am not saying that problems and hardships aren't there in life, but I think we let those things cloud over the little, or big things in life that can make us happy.

I've noticed on Instagram all of the #100happydays.  I finally decided to look into it and it's a challenge to see if you can be happy for 100 days in a row.  It can help you appreciate the things in life that make you happy and to be more optimistic about life.  I think this is a great challenge for anyone, whether you are already very happy, or very unhappy.  

This year is all about changes and transformations, both internally and externally.  I am going to accept this challenge and begin posting my 100 happy days starting tomorrow.  I encourage everyone to try this challenge.  Who is with me?!

100happydays

Sunshine Award

The Sunshine Award!  I had no idea what this was until Samantha Halkias Bivenour tagged me in it from her blog!  My heart skipped a beat when I saw that she tagged me in something!  I didn't know what it was but I truly felt honored!  It turns out that the Sunshine Award is an award from bloggers to bloggers.  It gives bloggers a chance to be recognized by other bloggers, as well as to share a little bit about themselves.

I am new to the blogging world this year but Samantha has definitely been my biggest inspiration to start a blog myself.  She was one of the few that I actually followed and I saw how she has been able to write from her heart and what its like to "feel whole".  I saw how she was able to share her journey in life and it got me thinking that I could benefit from doing the same thing.  So THANK YOU Sam for inspiring me and thinking to tag me in this award!  

When you get tagged in the award you must answer the eight questions that your nominator asked you, and then tag the next person with a different set of questions.

Sooo here are Sam's questions!

1) What would be the first thing you would do if today was your last day?

Well, as much as I want to go scuba diving, ride in a helicopter, hike the Grand Canyon, go to Hawaii, etc. before I die, I really would want to be with my loved ones on my last day.  So Joe and I would head back to Ohio and I would want to hold my niece as much as possible and just be with my family, reminiscing on good times and laughing as much as possible. :)

2) What is your favorite gift you've ever been given?

For my high school graduation my mom made me two scrapbooks from when I was born to the present.  They were filled with all kinds of memorabilia and pictures.  It is something I have been able to reflect back on good times and share my first 18 years with others.  It also helps me remember important moments.

3) Who is your favorite character on Friends? Why?

Chandler!  He’s extremely sarcastic which I find very funny.  He speaks his mind and makes fun of his friends all of the time even though he loves them dearly.  His relationship with Joey cracks me up. He is very witty and finds humor in just about everything.  He is also very good to Monica and treats the ladies nicely. 

4) What do you consider your biggest accomplishment to date?

Graduating college! I was scheduled to graduate early for my class, Decemeber of 2010, but a semester before graduation I decided I didn’t like the direction I was going in.  So I took two years off and I started working; I of course lost my desire to be a student again.  I did not want to go back, but I knew it was what I was supposed to do.  So I went back and graduated this past December, and boy it felt good!!

5) What is the song that best describes your life?

Bittersweet Symphony by the Verve. I can relate because I feel like I go through the motions a lot with “society expectations”, get a job, make money, and live life.  Well, I’ve always wanted more out of life but sometimes I feel stuck, like I don’t know how to change and make it better.  I want to be a better person and make the most out of life, but sometimes I just don’t know how.  That is why I have started this blogging journal to help keep myself more accountable.

6) Dogs or cats?

Definitely a dog lover!

7) What is a quote you live by?

“Everything happens for a reason” As cliché as it sounds, it’s so true!  Life does not always go as we planned and hoped for.  It’s life and we are thrown curve balls.  I truly believe that everything happens for a reason because there is a greater God up there that may have a better plan, we just don’t know it yet.  So when we are thrown those unexpected curveballs, yea they suck at times, and I am sure the last thing you want to hear is “everything happens for a reason” but maybe in a week, month, or year, you will say, “oh yea, now I see why that happened, I am so glad it did because this way is so much better!”  There have been a zillion times that this happened to me and I truly believe that everything happens for a reason.  

8) Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

Oh boy!  This is a hard question for me as there are so many things I want to accomplish and different directions I can see my life going in...  In 10 years I will be 35, so first I hope to be happily married to the love of my life with maybe three kids by then?  I hope we would be living close to family as family is important to me!  I would love to be my own boss someday so I could have the flexibility of working from home to be with my kids while still having a successful career.  I would hope to be an independent Health Coach consultant where I would have individual clients that I work with, and I would also go into company’s to give seminars and workshops.  

I also hope I am still blogging and possibly writing a book by then, as that is on my bucket list!  In ten years, we go through a lot, especially in our mid 20’s and early 30’s.  I hope all of my experiences make me a better, stronger friend, sister, aunt, daughter, and potentially wife.

Alright, time to pass the Sunshine on!

Jenna McCambridge:  A dear high school friend.  Her blog is Clothed In Confetti.  This lady is all about the fashion advice.  She posts her amazing fashion tips and finds and it is a must read!  I am not good at throwing outfits together, so her blog is a site I frequent quite often!  

Carly Goeman: This girl has got it going on!  She is already very well known in the blogging world as she writes about creative ways to live healthy.  She shares clever recipes and workouts that can speak to everybody!

Here are your questions ladies....

1. If you had to get another, or your first tattoo, what would it be of and why?

2. Where has been the favorite place you have visited, and why?

3. Wine or beer?

4. If you could invent a holiday, what would it be?

5. What do you do to recharge?

6. What did you learn from your mother?

7. What do you love most about the city you live in?

8. Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

Leap of Faith...

Leap of Fatith, the act or an instance of believing or trusting in something intangible or incapable of being proved.  Well, I'd say I am taking a big leap of faith as I have made the decision to move to Dallas, TX.  I am completing my number 21. Open up and follow my heart.  I have been very skeptical about dating again and opening up my heart to someone after things I have been through.  I definitely closed off my heart and my feelings for a very long time.  I felt numb and I was honestly okay with it for awhile because I wasn't feeling pain anymore, I wasn't getting close to people to allow myself to feel pain.  Well, after awhile I realized I didn't want to live that way anymore, life is too short! So completing number 21 was a big goal for me this year, ya know, to really open up my heart and be transparent with someone again.  Of course its a daily thing, but my heart is finally happy again, more than it has ever been, and I'm going to follow it to Texas.  Some people may say I am crazy but that is okay because its my journey, not theirs. :)  

Don't worry, I found a really awesome job and career path I have been wanting to go down for a long time.  So with that being said, I am completing my number 23. Pursue a career in health and wellness.  I have accepted a position with MyFitFoods at their newest location in Dallas.  I will finally be a Nutrition Coach, which is what I've wanted to do for years now!  I have had a lot of self-doubt and I thought I wasn't good enough or knew enough to be able to do it, so I never pursued it.  One thing I really admire about Joe is his ambition and confidence, not only in himself, but he wants all his family and friends to have the same mindset about themselves; he doesn't believe in settling for less.  So he really has encouraged me and helped me believe in myself!  I stepped out of my box and put myself out there, and look what happened?  It was a lot easier than I expected and I am so excited to begin this journey!  It is happening a lot sooner than expected, I get to Dallas March 30th and begin working April 3rd.

It is definitely going to be very hard to leave family, as I am a family oriented person, especially with my new niece just being born on Monday!  I am already so sad about that :( I hate not being here to see her grow, but hopefully I'll be back here soon!  I know that this is what I need to do for me and for my life at this time.  Home is always here and we can always come back this way.  

Change is always scary at first, I like this quote by Birdiee Pruitt "Beginnings are scary, endings are usually sad, but it's the middle that counts the most. Try to remember that when you find yourself at a new beginning. Just give hope a chance to float up. And it will..."  Well, I will miss everyone here in the midwest, but I will keep everyone updated on my yearly transformation in Texas. :)

"Your vision will become clear only when you look into your heart.  Who looks outside, dreams.  Who looks inside, awakens."

-Carl Jung

Welcome to Texas.