January 31st! One whole month down of 2025.

So far, I’m happy overall with my progress on my goals. Yes, as always happens, some of that New Year Energy started to wane a bit around the midway point. (Apparently January 10th is officially “Quitter’s Day”, i.e. when the majority of people already abandon their resolutions. 😅) But I think I’ve kept it up for the most part.

Biggest win= STAYING OFF SODA! 100%.

It has been…. fine. The thing is, I actually don’t struggle with “cravings” that I can’t resist. I really don’t feel urges to go raid the fridge and start downing Dr. Peppers. (Actually, there is none in my fridge. But I DO still have a bunch of leftover Diet Dr. Peppers and regular Cokes in the basement fridge, 10 steps from my office. I haven’t touched them.)

My big issue is that quitting soda just makes me a little grumpy and sort of sad feeling. ha. I feel mildly depressed about not having a “treat” to look forward to that I truly love, especially when we go out to eat. Is it pathetic that apparently a fizzy can of sugar and chemicals was apparently one of the biggest joys in my days? Yes. Still true though. 🤷‍♀️

I felt bummed last Saturday when I was sitting and doing my London planning. That would have been a PRIME “let’s buy a big delicious fountain soda and sit and sip it while I do this!” situation.

But, oh well. I have enough replacements. (Though none of them really truly fill the void…sigh.). I drink at least one can of Bubblr (sparkling water) a day now, which still probably has a few weird things in it, but it seems better, anyway. For a fountain drink fix, I’ve been getting gas station unsweetened iced teas sometimes (with a splash of lemonade for a little sweet boost). I’m not going to fret that a little bit of lemonade has sugar. Whatever. This is still a million times less sugar than I was drinking when drinking soda.

I’m still loving my new water bottle, and I drink my usual black tea. In the afternoons, I often make a vanilla caramel hot black tea for a little “treat” feel.

So, it’s going! I’ve had those thoughts crop up again of “wellllll, what if I just have it now and then?” But I’ve squashed those thoughts, because I know it doesn’t work for me.

I know I just need more time. Like I told Ivan and the boys the other day, I had been drinking soda since I was a tween/teen! So at least like, 30 years? I can’t expect to lose all desire for a basically lifelong habit in 30 days. Right?

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January Overview!

I want to try to do monthly review each month this year, where I look over my habit tracker and my journal pages I fill out daily and do an evaluation. Not listing every single thing (some more personal), of course, but here are some things I recorded:

Accomplish List:

• ordered a bulk order of hot tub chemicals
• a bunch of closet work + my wardrobe spreadsheet!
• took Christmas stuff down
• cooked quite a few times
• swim team volunteer work (senior scholarship coordinator)
• started PT for my back (–> NOT doing so hot on actually doing my exercises….oops)
• volunteered at 2 swim team dinners (bought stuff, made meatballs, helped set up the dinners)
• lots of work stuff, including a large project
• attended swim meets every week, often multiple
• fitness classes x2
• worked on my photo project x3
• sorted out an issue with our orthodontist accounts
• tons of household stuff (listed on many days, way too boring to list here. Think “dishes” or “clean out fridge” or “vacuum living room”)
• massive email clean out of 1,000+ emails
• signed Asher up for lifeguarding class in March
• got a picture hung up in our new bathroom
• cleaned my office
• washed my van
• cleaned out a file cabinet
• took Charlie to the groomer
• London planning!
• wrote some blog posts

Happy Things + Gratitude Lists (combined):

• went to a movie as a family
• the guac at Chipotle was really good
• texts w/ friends 💗
• Bubblrs on sale!
• happy to have Christmas down and put away
• good hot chocolate at my BIL’s house on January 6th for Rosca celebration (Three Kings Day, Mexican tradition)
• snuggles with Charlie
• reading w/ boys
• a few nice lunch breaks just puttering around at home, getting some things done
• music on car on way to a far away swim meet
• time with my parents
• some great swims by Asher! Fun to watch.
• dinners out w/ Ivan
• the hot salsa at our Mexican place has been on fire and delicious lately
• Les Mills Core class really good + effective
• fun evening at Ivan’s cousin’s house watching Packers in playoffs (result not good, but hey)
• a quiet day at work with several people out
• timing my pharmacy pickup run just right one day (didn’t know they closed for break from 1-1:30, and I showed up right at 1:30!)
• my new Uggs are cute
• Ivan has started going to gym with me a couple times a week!
• iced tea + lemonade a decent replacement for treat
• my thrifted Okulai sneakers!
• TV by the fire
• a day off work
• family outing to Chipotle
• a free take-and-bake pizza attendance reward coupon from the gym (ironic they give these free pizza as a Fit Reward, no? Haha. Smart business model, lol!)
• a no school day for the boys
• the pollo caribe (a chicken, rice and veggie dish we get at Mexican place sometimes) was SO GOOD this one day. Best ever.
• clear winter sky views from the hot tub. Seems there’s a red planet I can see lately? Is that Mars?
• being a timer at swim meets with Ethan and talking with him on the side
• got Harry Potter tickets in London when almost fully sold out!
• our sunroom
• listening to a good Girl Next Door ep while grocery shopping last week
• London planning progress
• milder weather finally!
• I made some kick ass salsa this week!
• Life/ BEING ALIVE (written the day of DC plane crash….)
• sticking to my gym plan one day even though it meant an 8 pm lifting session

*Whew, that’s a LOT! I write these every day, so…. I guess they really do add up!! 🤩

Bummers List

• some wasted time
• too cold to walk Charlie
• feeling overstretched at work
• too many video games for boys!! ugh
• an annoying scab
• having a hard time keeping up w/ some fav blogs and feel bad
• evenings have felt kinda “meh” many days. Working late, then it’s dark and cold and feels like boys often just off in their rooms. Not loving current evening vibe.
• difficulty deciding on my closet clean out items!
• Lost $250 in a snaffu with London booking. (When I booked the apartment back in Dec, I accidentally used a non-international card. I realized it immediately after I booked, so I cancelled right away and re-booked. (Had free cancellation). But, they had charged me already. It ended up taking 30 full days to get my refund back, and by that point, the exchange rate was apparently very different. I got the same amount of pounds back, but…. not dollars. WAH.)
• Uncertainty re: Asher’s swim team training trip dates to Virginia Beach this summer causing uncertainty re: some other summer plans.
• failing repeatedly at my Today’s 3 Things goal!
• slept poorly
• messy bedroom! Piles of clothes…
• many of my socks seem to slip down in the heel in my Uggs. It’s very annoying bc I otherwise love the shoes.
• Asher home sick w/ a fever
• DC plane crash 😥

Habits Wins/ Not-so-Great

• Read= 26 (*Not always the 25 minutes, but at least 10 minutes)
• Strength= 15 (*Literally the next day after I posted about how I hadn’t missed any workouts, I jinxed myself and ended up missing like 3 days!! hahaha. So this should have been about 3 higher. Oh well.)
• Cardio= 10
• Walk= 23
• Yoga= 4
• Fitness class = 2
• Salads= 6
• Read w/ boys= 5
• Made breakfast for boys= 8
• Photo project= 3

• floss= 19
• skincare= 21
• today’s 3 things= 6
• new budget tracking= 0
• boys cooking= 0
• Spanish podcast= 1

Books Read:

• The Nurse’s Secret (started in 2024, finished in January.) LOVED this book!! A Historical Fiction set in late 1800s in NYC centered around a girl from the streets who gets unfairly accused of murder… she ends up “hiding out” from the police where they’d never expect her, in one of the country’s first Nursing Schools. She is QUITE the female character (loved her!) and it’s a mystery + fascinating exploration of early modern medicine + nursing all in one. Loved it.

• Essentialism (started this fall, finished in January). Also really enjoyed this one!

• Atomic Habits (re-read, seriously fantastic and worth all the hype. Should be required reading for all people, IMO. haha!)

• Harry Potter #1 (in progress, only a little ways so far but loving already)

Some things I cooked:

• eggs with pinto beans and salsa verde
• chicken tinga tostadas
• breaded tilapia, rice and veggies
• air fryer chicken tenderloins
• ground beef + potatoes + pinto beans in salsa verde
• steak milanesa, homemade fries, cream of zucchini soup
• chipotle chicken bowls
• quesadillas
• salmon, sweet potatoes, broccoli
• chicken, garbanzo beans, potatoes in salsa roja
• more milanesas with mexican rice and refried beans
• hot dogs and frozen fries for the boys one night 😉

Here’s the milanesas one night on the left (plus my DELICIOUS salsa de arbol), and on the right, breakfast for Asher the next morning. 🙂

I think that’s enough of a recap. 🙂

My overall feeling was that this was a nice month, albeit kind of a boring month, in some ways… we just didn’t have anything particularly thrilling going on, but on paper, it seems perfectly full and busy and satisfactory.

So, I think maybe it’s just the COLD and dark evenings and the post-holiday lull I guess that had me feeling a little blah? I LIKE the regular day-to-day stuff we do, so I’m not complaining about that. But I have not felt like we’ve had that much great family connection this month. A little, yes, but pretty low overall. It feels like the boys are just off doing their own thing more and more lately during free time (ie in rooms on video games w/ friends…) and I want to be more mindful of not getting complacent here and letting this get way out of hand.

How was your January?! Drop me 1 accomplishment, 1 happy thing, 1 bummer, 1 thing you cooked and 1 book you read this month in the comments! 😉

Daily Gratitude:

I am grateful for not having any meetings the rest of the day today!!