16 Before 2016

It's that time of year when we all start to wind down and take stock of our 2015 goals - what we achieved, what we neglected, and the things we think we can still accomplish before the year is done. When I stumbled on Kara's 16 Before 2016 post over at BohoBerry, I couldn't resist it any longer. Here are my 16 goals I'd like to accomplish before the year is done! I'll be checking in periodically to update you all!

To help me get started, I asked myself some questions:

• What "house cleaning" do I need to do so my soul can be ready for a new year?
• Are there any projects still needing to be completed?
• What can I do now to kick off 2016 on the right note?
• Are there things I need to remove or place into my life to make it better?

And then this list quickly formed:

So, there are my 16 goals I need to at least START before the year is done. Wish me luck!

Sculpting The Body You Want

Whether you're hitting the gym, keeping up with those kickboxing classes, getting your #werkout on at Zumba, or going on relaxing walks around your neighborhood, here's some more ideas for you to increase your workout mojo, get your heart pumping, and burn those calories to tone and sculpt your body to make you feel good (and look good, too)!

• Be proud of your "thunder thighs" with these awesome inner thigh workouts
• Use the dreaded treadmill to build those butt muscles from flab to fab
• Women tend to forget their back when working out - no more! Bye bye, back fat!
• Hate lunges and squats? Here are 6 other amazing leg exercises!
• Last but not least, listen to these 10 power songs to finish that amazing workout. You go, girl!

Blogger's Block (and what to do about it)

Since one of my 2015 resolutions was to blog more often (as in 15 posts a month, let's not get crazy), I've been trying to feel out the direction I want to take this blog in. Yes, I'm a teacher, but I'm a SPED/reading intervention teacher at an inclusion school - meaning I don't have my own set of kiddos to post cute and quirky things about daily or weekly. I know comparison is the thief of joy, but I can't help but feel like I'm not measuring up to the "standards" set by my fellow blogging teachers. That said, I also like to dabble in the occasional favorites, fashion, food, and makeup posts as well. This is turning out to be more of a lifestyle blog, in my opinion, and I'm not sure if that's what I want. Actually, I'm not sure what I want at all.

Since I've been feeling down about my blog lately, I gathered up some awesome reads and resources from a few other noteworthy bloggers about the dreaded Blogger's Blog, and what you can do about it. Hopefully these tips will help bring me out of my slump *cue Pete Wentz singing softly in your ears*. If you didn't catch my Fall Out Boy reference, here's a video for some background music while you browse these inspiring reads:

Feeling Lost With Your Blog? Change Your Perspective! | Jennypurr

Why It's Okay to Quit (Sometimes) | The Nectar Collective

Love Your Blog: You Don't Have to Create Content Every Day | Wonder Forest
6 Motivational Videos to Inspire Your Creativity | The Private Life Of A Girl

Slim Down Sunday

Late again, I know, but at least it's not Monday! Here's my weekly check-in, courtesy of the fabulous Gina at Teaching With a Touch of Pixie Dust!

Went back to the gym! Granted, it wasn't the usual 3x a week like I was putting in before, but at least I got back out there, right? This week I really need to work on my water intake and making sure I'm staying hydrated. I'm aiming to get back to 3 workouts a week. Wish me luck!

New Year's Goals: February Check-in

At the beginning of the year, I linked up with Mrs. D at The Third Wheel to set my initial goals. Thanks to her monthly check-ins, there's a concrete way to make sure I stay on top of things! Here's this month's check-in. 

{HOME}

There's definitely been an improvement in the amount of floor space I can see daily, but I want to be better at having set days to do deep cleaning! B-

{WORK}

I've made schedules, now I have to be better at holding meetings. It's been hard in January with all the mid-year testing going on, but February will hopefully yield better results. B

{HEALTH}

As per my last post, I've lost 2.2 pounds since starting my goals, and I was SO GOOD about going to the gym until I got sick. Boo. But now that I'm feeling better, it's back to the gym I go! B

{BLOG}

Oh yikes. My goal of blogging more needs to be more specific, I see. So I set a goal of 15 times per month. I posted 11 times in January, giving me a score of 73%. Our school doesn't do letter grades anymore but I'm pretty sure the equivalent is a C.

Good luck with conquering those goals this month!

Slim Down (Saturday) Monday!

How does it go…better late than never, right?! Linking up with Gina at Third Grade Tidbits (albeit a little late) for Slim Down Saturday/Sunday/Monday. Hey, adding punctuality to my goals, alright?

On the plus side, I lost the weight I put back on after my trip to Oregon, and I didn't feel guilty at all for having a small cheat day. This week, I'm putting in more work at the gym, snacking smarter, and remembering this awesome quote:

Fitness Five for Friday

I'm spending the day slaving away in my classroom, trying to clean up the spiderwebs and lizard poop (gross) before my students return on MONDAY! Taking a little lunch break to post this week's Fitness Five for Friday!

Please, for the love of all that is holy and hilarious, check out POPSUGAR's accurate summary of the Emotional Roller-Coaster Ride of a January Detox if it is the only non-work related (but 2015 resolution related…?) thing you do all day.

Hungry all the time? No? Just me? Well, in case you are, here's 8 lower calorie snack ideas to help with weight loss and those hungry (or hangry) moments!

Craving pizza but want something a little lower-calorie (but still just as yummy)? Try out this low-carb and low-calorie cauliflower crust pizza recipe!

Does working out turn you into a ravenous monster? No? Well if you're like me, then this article is written for people like us.

Miss any of my other fitness or goal related posts? Don't worry! Here's my tips on making a plan and sticking to it, complete with an awesome freebie! Stay tuned for more goal motivation, fitness inspiration, quirky life posts and updates from the classroom of Ms. Burkett!

Making a Plan and Sticking With It! (FREEBIE)

There's nothing that makes me happier than having hard evidence that I'm achieving my goals. That may be a bit unhealthy, especially when it comes to my hate-hate relationship with the scale, which is why one of my 2015 Commitments  is to love more - love others more, love myself more, and more importantly love my body more. 

I picked up this Sugar Paper planner from target to log down my health/personal/fitness commitments for the year, including this water intake sticker I made! It's yours for free - I printed them on Avery's 5260 address labels and then cut them in half horizontally to create two stickers from one. I'm aiming to be very diligent about keeping this running record for the whole year!

Click for Water Intake Stickers

Check back in for more on keeping and crushing your 2015 goals! Good luck!

No Spend Jan...February?

So I started out going to the gym 3 days a week, now I'm up to 4 days a week before I go back to school on Monday. That's when I realized that I didn't have enough work out clothes to keep up this routine (I have 1 pair of leggings and 2 sports bras that are acceptable to work out in...).
That's also when Old Navy emailed me to tell me that all Active wear was up to 40% off in stores AND online.
Furthermore, that's when I broke my No Spend January goal. But one day doesn't have to ruin the other 30! So I'm considering this a little obstacle that won't throw me off my track entirely.

Here's some of my Old Navy Active finds! Links are below the picture for all Old Navy purchases except for the black sports bra and black patterned leggings (couldn't find the links online) and the Nike shoes.

(From top to bottom, left to right)

Compression Capris in Black

Patterned Compression Capris (20") in Into The Fuchsia 

Sports Bra in Fuchsia Benefits

Patterned Compression Capris (20") in Peacock Jewel

Rib-Knit Compression Capris in Fuchsia Leaders

Motivation for Those 2015 Goals...

I've done my research. I've read every article on why setting resolutions are bad, how we never really stick to them. Well here's my big shut the hell up to those articles. I'm setting goals if I want to, and I really am going to try my hardest to stick to them, especially as I go back to work, grad school, Teach for America business...oh boy. So my "Five for Friday" is focusing on 5 very important/inspirational/motivational/necessary/lovely things I've found (among the many) that I will be frequently coming back to in my toughest moments, like when those dang Girl Scouts start knocking at my door...

I feel you on a personal level, Rashida. Are you ready for the setbacks that will come with making those resolutions? PopSugar/FitSugar has you covered! Check out this funny, and true, article on the ups and downs of your fitness resolutions, complete with matching gifs for some inspiration on your darkest days.

Maybe it's the teacher in me, but I love a good flowchart! This one, courtesy of Bit Rebels nicely sums up how to achieve your goals in any capacity, not just our new year's resolutions!

Yes! Many times, we give up on our goals or lose sight of the end goal because we don't set a concrete plan. I've found a few cute printables on Pinterest to help track my 2015 goals that I'll be posting soon, so stay tuned! 

Another cute anchor chart (teacher problems) I found on Pinterest was this guy, talking about 5 motivational ways to follow through on our goals. Number 3 is my favorite, and one that I especially need to remember...

I love POPSUGAR so much - they just put out a 31-day fitness and health program to follow along or modify to make it your own. There's a workout calendar, recipes, nutrition coaching, and even a spectacular giveaway at the end of the program with more information coming soon! I might combine some of the workouts with my gym process already, but we'll see. Go check it out!

Happy goal setting (and conquering)!

Setting The Goals (and the plans)

Mrs. D at The Third Wheel is hosting a cute linkup to kick off 2015 and our fabulous goals, and she's also planning on creating monthly check-in links to keep each other accountable!  How awesome is that. Stay tuned for more goal setting/demolishing posts!

HOME* I know it sounds so easy, but at the end of the day, I'm exhausted and literally the last thing I care about is where my clothes end up. I need to be way better about putting dirty clothes in my laundry basket, and cleaning my room weekly!

WORK* As a SPEd teacher, I make schedules for my support staff in regards to what room they need to be in when, and their general hours for the quarter. I also hold weekly meetings to discuss student progress, concerns, etc. I'm aiming to be 100% more diligent about this practice this year!

HEALTH* Kdog and I have been using MyFitnessPal to keep track of our weight loss journey, some with more success than others (hmf). I'm aiming to lose 30 pounds, and continue to workout to be stronger, happier, and healthier in 2015!

BLOG* I'm really trying to blog more! For real, guys! I promise...stay tuned for more!

49

I have 49 days until my last year of college starts. 
Uhm, what?!
I have no idea where this summer went, where the last 7 years of my life went, and even better, I have no idea what I'm going to do when I graduate.

But let's not think about that now. I have a month until grad apps open online, so I can breathe. Not really, because I need to write essays and personal statements, but it'll all work out. I hope.

Here's my late link-up with Farley at Oh Boy 4th Grade and Jess at I {heart} Recess for July Currently and Goals, respectively.

Currently...

I'm listening to a lot of country music. Florida Georgia Line, Darius Rucker, Miranda Lambert...something about country in the summertime. My current favorite song is Darius Rucker's rendition of "Wagon Wheel." L-O-V-E it!

I'm loving that I don't have to take the GRE! Thank GOD. I took one look at the test-prep book and almost cried. Maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration, but I really really REALLY did not want to have to take another standardized test. Yuck.

I'm thinking that I'm waaaaaay behind with choreographing dance pieces for next year. Oops. I'm one of 3 captains for my college dance team, and I'm in charge of choreographing hip-hop routines during the year, and more importantly, a routine for TRYOUTS in early September. I need to get on this, PRONTO.

I'm wanting more time with my fabulously devilish seventh graders that I'm teaching this summer. I can't believe that next week will be the last week in the program, and I feel like we should've covered more over the 5 week period than we did, but I'll keep that in mind for next year.

Above all, I'm desperately needing summer to slow down. I can't believe that I only have 49 more days until school starts, and even less than that until I have to leave the beautiful 808 state and go back to Portland (not that I don't love the 503 just as much). I'm going to miss the sunshine, beaches, and most of all, the quality time with friends and family that I've had this summer. Cue tears.

Tips, Tricks, or Hints for blogging? Well, I've only been doing this for a short while, but a very friendly and helpful blogging guru told me, when I started this blog, to be myself, unapologetically. I think that's really the best advice for not only blogging, but also for living your life. Be unapologetically you.

And now for some July goals! 
Personally, I need to make more time for myself. I get into a habit of trying to be whatever people need, whenever they need it, and that leaves me emotionally and physically exhausted. I have to remember to fill both others' buckets, and my own. 
On my family level, I would really like to schedule more family dinners before I leave! At least one or two more. I miss them all so much when I go back to school.
My latest health journey is involving the Couch to 5K program I've heard so much about. I downloaded what seems to be a very helpful app, and I'm going to start running today after school with my best friend, so hopefully that along with eating healthier will help me to become fit and lose some of the weight I gained this past year. 
Since I'm not a teacher quite yet, my goal for school is to get all of my ducks in a row to apply for the various graduate schools and programs I've been looking at, and to also successfully graduate from college this coming Spring! I'm so excited, but also sad; I've made so many friends and memories in these past 3 years and I really can't imagine my life without the best friends I've gained through college. 
My main blog goal is to get on here more! I get so caught up with what is going on with the week that I totally forget to write until it's Friday...oops. I'll be more on top of things. Bear with me.
Last but not least, my outside of the box goals (which I'm not really sure if this is outside of the box...) are to try out new recipes and to craft more! I had a whole list of things I wanted to make and bake this summer and I've crossed off maybe...3? Boo, busy life. In the next 49 days, I will become the ultimate crafter/blogger/baker...or I'll try to. We'll see.

Happy Tuesday! 

xo,