January Progress Report

This was the month of big decisions!  Adam and I have so much going on and so much to look forward to.  Today marks 28 weeks on the baby calendar!  I am officially in my 3rd trimester and Baby Boy is moving around so much!  Last night he kicked so hard it literally startled me.  We have our first baby shower this weekend and I'm looking forward to seeing everyone and celebrating this fun time.  

I have been in major clean-out, de-clutter mode around the house.  I wouldn't call it nesting, just yet, anyway.  It sure does feel good to get rid of some things tho!  

As I mentioned in my last post, I think I'm going to stick with the same goals for 2016.  So here goes for January --

 

 

 

1.  Used up Products

 

 

1. Olay Body Wash in Creme Ribbons - this has been a favorite for probably 10 years - I know I used it in college.  I wish I had enough self control to only buy and use it vs the 100 different scents I end up with from Bath and Body Works!  I'm not letting myself open another until I move out some Bath and Body Works shower gels now. 
2. Clinique Bamboo Pink lipstick
3. Soap & Glory Righteous Butter - I needed a thicker body butter with being pregnant and this def. fits the bill.  I tried the Mama Bee Body Butter but I couldn't handle the smell.  The Soap & Glory lotion has just a light scent but it really appeals to me.  It's great to use after a shower.
4. Cherry Blossom Sangria Candle - I've been using this just when I'm taking a long bath and the scent is amazing!
5. Simple Cleansing Micellar Water - ok, this bottle isn't "used up" but I can't handle it any longer.  I've given it months to impress me and I'm just over it.  Give me regular rubbing alcohol to cleanse my face with anyday over this product.
6. Laura Mercier Beige Ivory foundation
7. Stow Away lip sticks in Raspberry and Cranberry.  These came in one of my Pop Sugar boxes and I gave each one shot and looked like a clown.  The color is just way too over powering for me.  Passing these on to my mom to see if she is interested in trying them. 

2.  Books & Magazine

• I read and tossed 19 magazines this month.  I attribute so many to waking up super early on the weekends and laying in bed for a bit before facing the day!  Also, our house has been super clean so I haven't had to spend much time on the evenings putting things away so I have more free time!  
• I also read 2 books this month - Mary Higgins Clark "I Heard that Song Before" and "The Girlfriends Guide to Pregnancy."  It took me a while to get thru the Girlfriends book, I just really didn't care for the author and her tone.

 

3.  Blog Posts

• 2 for the month

4.  Get More Exercise

• January = 47.10 miles which beats last January when I got 40.71 miles (yay, me!)

 

5.  Scrapbook Progress

I may have to adjust my expectations this year on scrapbooking!  January was spent making 50+ baby thank you cards and starting the Baby's ABC book.  I also purchased the Baby Boy Project Life core kit and started working on laying out the "before he's born" pages -- I think I have about 20 pages (most are traditional vs pocket style pages) ready to scrapbook that will catch up from when we found out we were pregnant to now, 28 weeks. 

Goal Wrap-Up for the Year

Here we are, halfway through the first month of a new year!  What a year it's going to be too.  Our Baby Boy is about 95 days away from his due date and Adam and I have lots of chaos going on between now and then, more about that in another post.  I still feel good about the goals I'm setting but I definitely need more self-discipline!  I'm proud that I was able to get back to using the elliptical on a 2-3 time per week basis but I can still do better about getting more exercise, especially now that I'm pregnant and that's the last thing on my mind.  I worked through quite a few beauty products at the house BUT I need to seriously stop purchasing these items and keep narrowing down my stock pile!  I'm finding that lotions and scents don't seem to last as long as they use to so I'm having to throw them out.  Along those lines, I just went thru my pantry and had SO much food that was way expired - so, is it better to buy when it's a deal or just buy things as you need them?  I have some work to do on that front in 2016.

I didn't get through as many actual books as I would have liked this year but did get through a lot of magazines.  I also canceled my newspaper subscription which has eliminated tons of papers around the house and I'm not going to be tempted by weekly ads now hopefully.  

I ALMOST beat my scrapbook page total from 2014, so close!  I'm happy with what I did get complete in 2015 but of course, would love to be completely caught up!  Don't see that happening anytime soon now.  I'm starting now in January 2012 which puts me 3 full years behind.  Sigh.  

So here's to another great year with lots of exciting things/changes ahead!  Happy 2016!          

Used Up Products:

Would Re-purchase

·           2 - Clinique High Impact Mascara

·           2 - Lancome lash prep mascara

·           Too Faced Mascara

·           Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion

·           3 - Blistex lip gloss

·           2 - Clinique Bamboo Pink lip stick

·           Laura Mercier Silk Creme Foundation in Hazelnut Beige

·           Purity face wash from Philosophy

·           Redken Satinwear 02

·           Fusion Hair Spray

·           Quiver Hand Soap from Scentsy

·           Bath and Body Works Lush Pink travel size Shower gel

·           Bath and Body Works Sweet Cinnamon Pumpkin Body Lotion

Would NOT Re-purchase

·           3 - It's a 10 Miracle Moisture Shampoo

·           It’s a 10 Conditioner

·           Biomega Smoothing Elixir

·           White Sands Glaze Plus Medium Hold Hair Product

·           Victoria's Secret Endless Love shower gel

·           Bath & Body Works Sweet Cinnamon Pumpkin Golden Sugar Scrub

·           Bubble Bath

·           4 - Bath & Body Works Travel hand soaps in Paris, Midnight Pomegranate, Fresh Sparking Snow and Beautiful Day

·           Bath and Body Works Japanese Blossom Body Cream  

·           Bath & Body Works Brown Sugar and Fig Shower Gel

·           Bath & Body Works Brown Sugar and Fig Body Cream

·           Misty Mountain Spiced Cranberry Hand & Body Lotion

·           Bath Salts from our honeymoon to French Polynesia

·           Mama Bee Belly Butter

·           Laura Mercier Foundation Primer in radiance

·           Burt's Bees lip product

·           Tarte lip stick

·           Tarte Eye Lash Primer

·           NARS Orgasm blush

·           Blue Nyxx eye liner

·           Glitzy Tarte Lip Surgence

·           Smashbox Full Exposure mascara

·           Bliss Fabulous Foaming face wash 

·           2 broken blush brushes

Books & Magazine:

·           121 magazines (72 magazines in 2014)

·           5 books (22 books in 2014)

·           18 Audible books (7 audiobooks in 2014)

•         Upstairs at the White House:  My Life with the First Ladies

•         Mistaken Identity: Two Families, One Survivor, Unwavering Hope

•         Entwined with You (Crossfire, #3)

•         Captivated by You (Crossfire, #4) 

•         Working Stiff: Two Years, 262 Bodies and the Making of a Medical Examiner

•         Still Missing by Chevy Stevens

•         Sea Swept, Book 1 by Nora Roberts

•         Grey by E.L. James

•         Books 2 and 3 of the Chesapeake Bay saga by Nora Roberts

•         The Selection #1, The Elite #2, The One #3 and The Heir #4

•         Uganda be Kidding Me by Chelsea Handler

•         Happily Ali After by Ali Wentworth  

·           The Glitter and the Gold by Consuelo Vanderbilt Baslan

·           The Last Anniversary by Liane Moriarty

Blog Posts:

23 for the year (27 in 2014)

Exercise:

677.43 miles (705.38 miles in 2014)

Scrapbook Pages:

438 pages

In 2013, my scrapbook page goal was 200.  In 2014, my goal was 300 and my total page count for the year was 447 pages!  This year I scrapbooked from July 2011 – January 2013 and all of our Europe trip this summer.  Would really have liked to get more, especially now with baby on the way, but work, travel and life come first!  At least everything related to the wedding (planning, engagement, wedding, honeymoon) are already completed from 2012/2013 so that just leaves the normal events/holidays/trips to scrapbook. 

December Goal Progress

Happy New Year!  This is also.. the year of BABY!  I can't believe how fast this pregnancy has flown by, it seems even closer now that we are in 2016.  We go back to the specialist today for some more measurements and just to doublecheck that everything still looks a-okay.  Excited to see my little munckin again - it's been 5 weeks! 

I wrapped up December strong on some goals and not-so-strong on others!  That's ok, I like tracking the progress and seeing my comparisons each year.  

1.  Used up Products

• Tree Hut Epsom  Sale in Tropical Mango - not sure this product really soothes any aches but the smell is divine.  Really enjoying this brand of products. 
• Vaseline Lotion in Aloe Fresh - a favorite of mine and Adam's
• Neutrogena make up remover cloths - I don't find that these alone remove all my make up so I use a cleanser after but they're good for travel when I don't want to worry about staining other's washcloths
• Urban Decay Melt Away Eye-Makeup Remover - good riddance!  Not impressed at all with this product. 
• Bath and Body Works Sweet Cinnamon Pumpkin Hand Soap
• Misty Mountain Spiced Cranberry Hand & Body Lotion - full disclosure, I didn't use this up because it started smelling funky.  Hate to throw away a practically new bottle of lotion but I can't handle how it smells now.  It's only about a year old too - not sure what happened to it.
• Fresh Sparking Snow Bath & Body Works Travel Hand Sanitizer
• White Sands Glaze Plus Medium Hold Hair Product - I bought this in 2010 when I was still living in Baton Rouge and it's taken me this long to use up!  Again, I'm never really sure if hair products are doing anything or not for me!
• Mama Bee Belly Butter - didn't love this scent at all.  Product is fine but just not my flavor.
• Bath & Body Works Brown Sugar and Fig Shower Gel
• Bath & Body Works Brown Sugar and Fig Body Cream
• Blistex Ultra Rich Hydration
• 2 blush brushes - both broken that I've been hanging on to for what reason? who knows.

2.  Books & Magazine

• Holy magazine!  I read and tossed 13 this month.  I also read an ACTUAL book while we were away for the holidays.  Still really enjoy the Mary Higgins Clark books.  
• I also listened to two Audible books - The Glitter and the Gold and The Last Anniversary.

 

3.  Blog Posts

• 4 for the month

4.  Get More Exercise

• January = 40.71 miles
• February = 41.11 miles
• March = 49.59 miles
• April = 52.51 miles
• May =  50.86 miles
• June =  80.38 miles 
• July =  77.46 miles
• August = 72.02 miles
• September =  57.56 miles (not a good month, more on that in another post)
• October = 60.9 miles  
• November = 46.09 miles
• December =  48.24 miles

5.  Scrapbook Progress

• January = 30 pages
• February = 66 pages
• March = 31 pages
• April = 3 pages (bummer)
• May = 29 pages 
• June = 57 pages  
• July =  30 pages
• August = 88 pages
• September = 6 pages
• October = 0 pages (ugh)
• November = 44 pages 
• December = 27 pages  

So glad I was already able to get our trip to Spain and Portugal documented/scrapbooked and put on the shelf!