Progress

As I write this, I am eating lasagna for breakfast and thinking about all the homework that I should be doing instead of writing this.  College life is tough. But I feel like doing some writing, so here I am. 
This year, I've been focusing on different goals.  I updated you here on how that's going, but I failed to mention that I've chosen a word to theme this whole year around. I thought for a while about it, and I decided on this:

Having goals is a really important part of my life.  Without them, I'd probably never get anything done.  I've been focusing on using my planner which has helped a lot and I've been overall making an effort to work towards...more and better.  Lately I have been really stressed out.  I missed a couple days of school, I've been sick, and I don't have enough money for...anything.  So I just keep reminding myself that my focus is Progress.

Life is hard and hectic and I'm struggling to stay positive lately, but I'm working hard to remember...Progress. Every day I'm taking steps in the right direction and heading towards better days. 

How do you look at things when you're feeling like life is getting you down? Do you have a word that you work to focus your goals around?

What's Up Week 4

Welcome to Week 4 of What's Up Wednesday! If this is your first week, please visit here to check out our guidelines!

I'm so excited about this week because this week we have introduced a special guest! Chelsie  from Life With Rosie is co-hosting with Shannon, Ashley and I.  We love that she's been participating in the link up and we've all loved reading about what's up with her each week for the past four weeks.  I've actually just loved reading her blog in general. She's an incredible person and I'm sure you'll love her blog as much as I do.

You'll be able to find the link-up tool over there too, so don't be shy! let us know what's up!  We'll be selecting another linker to co-host next week! Also this week, we've add an extra question! We're going to add a different one each week so we can learn new things all the time! Hope you'll join us. 
What I loved about the past week// Usually I dread the drive to and from Salt Lake, but this time, I actually really enjoyed it.  It was kind of nice to have that time all to myself to think about stuff and not have a ton to worry about for a few hours.  What I'm looking forward to//  I'm looking forward to spring break! It's still about a month away, but the break from school is literally all I can think about. I'm also looking forward to the coming weeks without my extra class online because it's OVER! Woo! 
What I'm nervous about// I'm nervous that I'm never going to catch up from being gone this weekend. 
What I'm daydreaming about// The beach..sandy feet...salty hair...the sounds of the waves crashing on the beach.  and the sun setting over the water.  Yeah...that sounds about right... What I ate for dinner last night// So this was actually two nights ago, but I was at home and my mom made one of my favorite meals, pork chops and rice...mmm...
What I'm craving// I've been craving a coke.  So so bad.  But I'm being strong. No more coke for me! 
What I'm reading//  Unfortunately none of my reading is recreational right now.  I'm reading a book called Revising Prose, one called A Hope In the Unseen, an Educational Psychology book, and I'm pretending to read something about philosophy...but let be honest here...I am not doing so great with that one. 

What else is new? Well, not a whole lot.  I'm doing my thing making school a huge priority, spending time with Travis and living life as best I can!  
Now it's your turn.  We want to know what's up with you!  Just follow the prompt and add your link! 

The Book of Love

In a couple of my Wednesday posts I mentioned that I was working on something for Travis for Valentines day.   Well now that I have given it to him, I can actually share it here.  He's a lurker. Totally would have ruined the surprise.   So I put pen to paper for several hours and I wrote down about 46 reasons that I am head of heels for Travis.  I originally wanted to do that deck of cards thing that you see all over Pinterest and write 52 reasons, but some reasons were just much better than others and I wanted it to be meaningful.  After going through the many reasons, I picked out 19 of my favorites and came up with this. 

I took some of the paper that my family got me for Christmas, got out the glue stick and started cutting paper at about 1:00 am. I don't know why I get inspired to do things at such odd hours of the night. I cut out a bunch of stuff and picked out my favorite things on the list of reasons why I love my cute boyfriend. 

I wrote here that I love how he teaches me things.  I used some Washi tape and I wrote in my best hand writing and I sort of cried a little bit while I was writing these.

Determining which things to write on the pages was pretty hard.  46 is a lot of reasons. Basically what I did was I read through the reasons and I thought about which things make me sort of smile a little bit.  I think about the things that I'll remember forever and always no matter what.  Those are the reasons that I wrote down. (and really I left out a whole lot...)

On a few pages, I wrote a favorite moment and a few simple things that I love about him.  I was sure not to carry on forever, but I just wanted him to know.  Not that I think he's gonna forget or something.  For the finished product, I punched a hole in the corner and slipped a binder ring in it so that you can turn the pages. 

I loved giving it to him and I loved watching him read through it and see what all I had to say to him.  I will probably never get tired of springing random cute things on Travis and I hope that I have a lot more opportunities to do it. 

Checking In

Lately I have been working very hard to make a plan for, well, the rest of my life.  Yeah, I know, life happens when you're making plans, but at least I'll have a place to start and goals to get to where I want to be.  I've been working on different goals and focusing on one thing each month (all two of em...) since the beginning of the year.  So far, I'm doing okay.  I could be doing a lot better though.  For the month of January, my goal was to work on my Financial fitness.  Sadly, that did not go as well as I had hoped.  With the semester starting I didn't really have the ability to save.  I had tuition to pay, books to buy, and I was already at a slight deficit trying to recover from Christmas.   I'm still recovering from the spending that had to go on in the month of January...Isn't that ironic? I was basically hemorrhaging money when my intent was not to spend at all.  However, I'm not calling it a total loss.  I have become aware of some of the really stupid expenses I create for myself.  I'm continually working on making my financial fitness a priority.   

February I've been working on my blog.  I swear.  I really am working on it, but I'm sure that it's hard to tell.  I started a link-up with a few other bloggers, I installed Adsense (I've made like...$2...) and I've been working on bringing quality content to this space.  That is part of why I actually have been posting less.  If I don't have something to say, I'm saying nothing at all.  After we started the link-up *shameless plug* I had this little crisis over this old blog.  I felt like I don't have a niche or a place to fit in here in the blog world.  I was encouraged to take a step back and look at what my blogging goals are.  Even more specifically, bloggers encouraged me to remember why I started blogging in the first place.  That reason is this:  I love it.  So I'm refocusing my blog to write more of what I love. For the coming month of March, I will be confusing on Academic Achievement.  That is something that I have been doing through out the entire semester thus far.  It was not been easy...Let me tell you, it has not been easy.  The planner helps, but I still struggle slightly.   March will hopefully be a time for me to really crack down on everything and get not only on top of my work, but ahead of it. I'm doing okay as of today, but I'm really feeling like I'm drowning in work to do.  Luckily, my political science course ends this week.  Losing that weekly commitment will make a difference. I'll have more specific goals outlined in March 2nd's goal post.  Ha. Goal post... So that's how I'm doing with my goals.  This year has been the best as far as working hard to accomplish my goals and making certain things a priority.  Breaking it up like this is helping me focus and keeping me from being overwhelmed.  I think it's important to work towards something and these goals are making me better.  Hopefully all this hard work will pay off!

What's Up Wednesday Week 3

Welcome back to another installment of What's up Wednesday! We're so happy you stopped by.  For the Link-up Guidlines please visit this link.  

We're working really hard to create a fun place for us all to share our blogs and make new friends.  So the best way to get blog love is to give it.  So share the love and be sure to check out more blogs! Don't link and run :)   Please remember to follow the prompts!  I can't wait to hear what's up with you!  I'll even leave you a reminder here as to what the prompts are! • What I loved about the past week
• What I'm looking forward to
• What I'm nervous about
• What I've been daydreaming about
• What I ate for dinner last night
• What I'm craving
• What I'm doing this weekend
• What else is new (in any area of life)   As for me?  

What I loved about the past week//  It was a four day weekend from school! I loved having Monday off of school. I only have one class on Mondays, but it's amazing not having anything to do besides work did for my day!

What I'm looking forward to//  This weekend I'm going up to Salt Lake with Travis for my unit's Dining out event.  I'm pretty excited about that.  Travis isn't.  Oh well. Unfortunately, I'll probably spend most of the night just sucking in so I don't pop a button on my uniform. They really shouldn't size us for those at the end of Basic aka when I was in the best shape of my life.

What I'm craving//  I can't stop thinking about Cafe Rio Salads.  I had one when I was sick and I couldn't taste it, so I just keep thinking about it...I want to taste it. 

What else is new//  Well, like always, I'm working really hard and keeping up with all my school work.  It has been...A little hard lately.  Being able to find time to do everything is a serious struggle.  Basically, if I'm doing well in school, I hardly ever see Travis or do anything else but school work.  If I'm procrastinating and getting stressed out, it's because I decided to go to the gym and read for leisure and watch Better Call Saul with Trav...so I'm working on figuring out that balance where I get to do it all...The planner helps, but I swear, there just aren't even hours in the day!

Be sure to add your link and share on social media with #Whatsuplinkup!

 

How I Met Travis

As it is Valentines day tomorrow I figure I should probably get around to sharing how exactly the romance between Travis and I all began. It occurred to me the other day that while I introduced the world to my lovely boyfriend a little while ago, I never really told our story.

Travis and I met in the most conventional unconventional way you meet a person.

Online dating.  

At the time I had just moved back to Vegas and was using various dating apps in an attempt to meet some new people, learn some things about Vegas, and to be honest, I was sort of hoping I might get lucky in love and find someone I truly wanted to spend some time with. 

When Travis sent me a message for the first time I hadn't even really looked at his profile and I had a fairly average conversation with him.  I honestly wasn't showing a lot of interest.  As a girl in the world of online dating, quite a lot of guys want to chat and it's really not as easy as it should be to figure out who is actually worth talking to. 

Luckily though, Travis got through my disinterested appearance and asked me out.  I declined at the time because it was a weekday and school had only just started.  I honestly figured I'd never hear from him again, but once the weekend came, Travis sent me another text and asked me if I'd like to do something the following day.  With that text, he'd sent a picture.  Wise.  Not only had I forgotten what he looked like, but it was so cute...I decided to say, "I'm pretty free today!"  So we agreed to go out for pizza at a place about between where each of us lived (now we realize that it was kind of a distance for both of us...but whatever)

To make this long story even longer, it was the best date ever.  At least for me it was.  We were able to talk easily without any long, awkward pauses, we learned a lot about each other, and we even extended the date from dinner to drinks as well.  At the end of the night, he gave me the sweetest kiss goodnight and we parted ways...I remember going home that night and sliding down my door as I closed it just thinking that I really wanted to have that feeling again. 

I figured the next day I would have the strength to not invite him to go out again immediately, but I wasn't so strong.  Instead, the second he text me back, I asked him if he'd like to go out with me to the Arts Factory Bar + Bistro. I remember trying to play it off cool, like I'd be going whether he agreed to join me or not.  Well, as fate would have it, he agreed to go and even made more plans to find a free place to swim and hit the pool when we were done at the bar.

Since that day, we've been virtually inseparable.  As you can see, we spend a lot of our time together.  We take a lot of pictures and we can't wait to see what the future holds. 

6 Ways to Show Your Love

Valentines Day is coming up and everyone is all a buzz with what they're going to be doing and all that fun stuff.  Well, I still have no idea what Trav and I are going to be doing, but to me all that matters is showing him how much I love him.  Some people have a hard time showing affection.  Well, allow me to help.  These are the things that I Travis and I frequently do to show our love for each other.  

1.  We give each other compliments. Travis always notices when I'm wearing my hair different or I put on a special outfit.  He's sure to let me know that I look especially pretty or that I did something well.   2.  We support each others hopes and dreams.  On Tuesday, Travis had a check ride and I wasn't busy, so I went to the airport (it's a small airport with an observation deck) and hung out in the terminal for several hours to watch him fly.  It can be a little bit boring for me sometimes...I've spent hours waiting in that terminal, but I try to show him that I care about what he's up to.  The airport is becoming one of my favorite places to read.  3.  We help each other study.  This might seem silly, but we both have a lot of work to do with school.  So I let Trav teach me about critical engines and he helps me when I forget the Order of Operations.  Consequently, I've learned a lot about aviation.  Doing this is showing that it doesn't matter how we spend our time together, just as long as it's together.  4.  We don't skimp on the hugs and kisses and cuddles.  I never realized how important it can be to just hold each other tight.  Sometimes I'll get frustrated with Travis or I'll randomly be mad because that's what women do and he'll give me a big, tight squeeze and the anger just melts away.  Sometimes all I need is cuddling on the couch to know exactly how much I'm loved.  5.  I give gifts.  So...I'm a gifter.  I just love to give things.  I love surprises and I'm a huge fan of having a present behind my back to give to Trav.  It's not always something big (or really ever) but by giving Travis something like a couple packets of tabs for his books is showing him that I was listening when he said for the 10th time he needed to tab out his book, so I bought him some tabs and you would have thought I'd given him a gold watch.  It's the little things.  6.  We say it.  I tell Trav I love him every day.  Literally every day at least one time.  I'm not worried that he'll forget.  I know that he knows.  But sometimes you just need to say it.  It just feels good to hear it and good to say it.   It isn't hard to show your love.  Sometimes all it takes is a little squeeze of the knee or a reassuring look.  It's an important part of every relationship and I hope that this Valentines day you'll all do well to remember that. 

What's Up Wednesday Week 2

We were so happy to see so many people participating last week, but we were a little bit sad that very few people used the prompt that we provided...The three of us have been working really hard on this and we need your help to make this work, so we made a few changes to the link up this week.  

1. Please follow your hosts:

Ashley ♦ Shannon

2.  Please use the prompt and the graphic above in your post.

3.  Link up the actual post and not your blogs homepage

4.  Share the link up on Twitter, IG, and Facebook using #Whatsuplinkup 

Below you'll find the What's Up Wednesday Prompt.  We want to know What you're up to! You can answer all the questions or just one or two.  We are encouraging sharing pictures! You can even share your favorite Instagram posts from the week! We just want to know...What's up! 

What I loved about the past week//

What I'm looking forward to//

What I'm nervous about//

What I've been daydreaming about//

What I ate for dinner last night//

What I'm craving//

What I'm doing for Valentines day//

What else is new//

As for me...  

What I loved about the past week// A few things...Although I was super sick, I had Travis around to make me sandwiches and bring me soup.  Also my little mold problem in my dorm finally got taken care of.  Even more importantly, the pigeons that have been inhabiting my balcony have been shooed and their presence has been...cleaned up!  Even the nest is gone.  Now I just have to sit out there all time to keep those birdies from coming back!

Shirt cred goes to Whitney Ellen aka my hero

What I'm looking forward to//  I'm looking forward to no longer being a sicky! I just started to feel better yesterday and I'm finally getting to where I can *gasp* smell. I'm also looking forward to the end of the semester.  I know it's still kind of a ways away, but I'm getting excited to find an apartment and start living a live outside of this dorm room...

What I've been daydreaming about// This is going to sound crazy, but I've been day dreaming about riding a bike. It has been over 3 years since I last got on a bike, and I decided today that it just might be time to get back on the horse, so to speak.   What I'm doing for Valentines Day//  Our Valentines Days plans are yet to be determined.  Trav had a check-ride yesterday so we haven't really done much for planning.  I already got him a little gift though.  I also made him a little something that I'll be happy to share after Valentines day.  Like I said last week, he's a lurker.  I don't want to ruin the surprise.  What else is new//  Honestly, not a whole lot.  I'm just doing my thing, working hard and making the most of every day that goes by.  School is totally consuming my life, but I suppose that's how it's supposed to be, huh?  Now it's your turn! Add you link and share with us, what's up!

A Sicky

For the past week now, I've been this kind of sick that makes you want to do nothing but sleep.  The stupid little catch 22 is that it's also nearly impossible to sleep with this.  
I can't swallow.  I can't breathe.  My nose is so read that it's throbbing and I haven't been to work in a week.  I went to math class today and I swear, it was a miracle I got through that hour and fifteen...I've gone through three and a half boxes of tissues, a nightly dose of the Quil...some prescription stuff, Tylenol for the head ache, and a little Travis to help chase away the sicky blues. 
This is what my bed looks like right now...

Yeah...I wasn't kidding about the tissues. I've been eating a copious amount of oranges, attempting to take in twice the amount of fluids, and resting.  Oddly enough though, I feel better when I'm up and moving around. 

So...That is why I didn't post this morning like I should have.  Because I feel like death. However, the link up is still on for Wednesday! I was so excited to see so many of you link up.  I hope to see you again wednesday! 

Moving Out and Moving Up

Moving has unfortunately been a part of my life recently.  I think that a lot of people about my age can sympathize.  We just aren't quite settled yet and our lives can be a little bit turbulent.  And I know that I'm not the only one.  I know lots of military families and bloggers who have lived in more place in the past 10 years than most people have in their entire lives!  I know I'm going to be happy to have this advice when I get ready to move into my new place at the end of the semester!

The following is a guest post written by Alecsy Christensen from Extra Space Storage.  They are based out of Salt Lake City, Utah.   I hope you'll enjoy these tips about preparing to move! 

How to Get Organized and De-clutter Before Moving

Before starting your moving process, a great step is to de-clutter your current personal belongings so you can make room for a fresh start in your new home. Take some of these tips and suggestions to organize your belongings, de-clutter your space, and purge your old items from your home to make your move that much easier.

How to Go Through your Clothes

Do you find yourself looking at all your clothes and thinking "I will probably wear that one of these days" and then putting it back in your closet and forgetting about it? When deciding what clothes to keep and bring into your new home, use the one year rule. If you have not worn it in one year, give it to Goodwill, DI, or have a bunch of friends over for a clothing trade.  By giving items away, you are making the opportunity for someone else to create new memories with them they will cherish.

How to Purge Old Items

Get rid of multiples. Do you have two DVD players, and not use either one because you have a PlayStation you use to play all your DVD's? Put your unused DVD players on Craigslist! Get rid of your old computers and laptops, and anything you have two of. For kitchen pots and pans, if you are really adamant about keeping as many pans as you can, keep a maximum of 4 each, because you only have room on your stove-top for a maximum of 4 pans, no need to store the rest!

The Importance of a Friend or Family Member

Is it too hard to de-clutter, because you cannot seem to throw anything out? Ask a friend or family member to help you with the process, they will have an objective view on your items, and be able to help you logically make the decision whether it is important to keep certain belongings or not. They do not hold the emotional charge you might hold with some of your most prized possessions, and they will be able to make sense of your items with more clarity.

Once your de-cluttering process is complete, it is time to move on to the next steps of moving! Check out the moving guide Extra Space Storage provides viewers with great dos and don'ts for your local move, how to pack and unload your moving truck, how to hire a moving company, and more.

What's up Wednesday

I'm so excited to say that this day has finally come.  Today, I've joined forces with these two lovelies!

&

For the first installment of What's Up Wednesday! For this link up, we want to know what you're up to. Use the following for the frame work, but feel free to get creative:

What I loved about the past week:

What I'm looking forward to:

What I'm nervous about:

What I've been daydreaming about:

What I ate for dinner last night:

What I'm craving:

What I'm doing this weekend:

What else is new:

Guidelines to link up

1. You aren't not required to follow all of your hosts, however, if you like the link up, we would love it if you stick around and link up again. Following is a bonus.

2.  Please link up the actual post and not your blogs home page.

3.  Please visit a few other links! Let them know you stopped by and where you found their blog.  The goal here is for everyone gain new blog friends and have a good time.

4.  Share on Twitter, Facebook, and IG with #Whatsuplinkup!

What I loved about the past week:   I'm still totally on top of all my school work! I have tons of reading and I'm not having any problems keeping up with it. I'm even considering joining an honor society...because get this, I am totally eligible! It feels good to be successful at being a student!

What I'm looking forward to:  I'm looking forward to something I can't tell you about...because it's a surprise and Travis is a luker.  So...I'll let in you in on the secret after I execute what I'm looking forward to...but I'll give you a hint, it has something to do with Valentines day.

What I'm doing this weekend:  Well since my school and work schedule has gotten very demanding and Travis is doing instrument and multi-engine training my weekends are almost completely dedicated to spending time with Travis.  We'll probably watch one of the shows on Netflix we planned to watch together or spend time studying in the same room together. A good weekend if you ask me.

What else is new:  I'm working really hard on all my New Years Resolutions.  So far I've made a lot of goals and I'm actually making tons of progress on everything I've set out to do.  Life is good and I'm extremely happy.  I've got a bunch of blog stuff in my head that I'm so excited to put out there. I've got some of my pages under construction right now, but I think it's all going to be pretty dang awesome.

I'm also running an new Instagram Page for my band!  It's pretty fun to be on IG doing something a bit different with a little more of a theme!

And...that's pretty much all that's up!

Please don't be shy! Add your link!  Your post doesn't have to be formatted like mine, as long as you're sharing what's up with you, you're welcome to share!  We will be so happy to have you.

An InLinkz Link-up

Gray Sky Tuesday

Tuesday...What is it about Tuesdays that just makes the sky look gray? So instead of being sad about Tuesdays I'm just going to tell you more fun things about me.

...You would know that I'm currently watching Breaking Bad and I get confused by how I want the Meth Cookers to come out on top. 

...you would know that I have a recent obsession with bagels.  I like the plain ones with toasted with strawberry cream cheese.

...you would know I get completely overwhelmed sometimes.  The anxiety gets the best of my and I just want to fall apart...but somehow I come down off the ledge, I talk myself through it, and I make it. 

...you would know the only thing in my life that is organized is my planner.  Everything else is a complete mess virtually all the time.  My room stays clean for about 4 days.  Max.

...you would know that I'm totally rocking my new years resolutions.  I didn't share all of them right off the bat, so it's hard for you to know how well I'm doing, but trust me...It's going to so well. 

...you would know that I fell off the wagon and started drinking Coke again about half way through last year. I disappointed myself when I started up again, but the good news is, I quit again for this year! I haven't had a Coke in month. 

...you would know I got a new blog design! Of course, I had the amazing Jane take care of the details.  I also added Disqus to allow for ease in commenting (not exactly a secret, but just thought I'd bring it up...)

...you would know that I'm so happier than I have been in...well probably my entire life.  

Teaching Katie To Blog Gooder

February. 

What? Already?  Is it just me or does time pass way too incredibly fast.  It's probably just me.  Anyway, it's a new month, so that mean a new goal set! January was a good month.  I made a lot of progress, learned a lot and did some ridiculous saving.  I'm pretty dang happy with the way things are going and I'm excited to present this months theme for my goals.

This blog has not only been twice as successful as my first "serious" blog, but it has also been a lot easier to write in. I've gained a lot of new followers doing really nothing but writing and sharing.  I've worked with other bloggers and I've written a few guest posts, but over all, I haven't done a whole lot to crack down on the blog and make it grow. 

For the month of February, I'll be working on making a little bit more time for the blog.  Here is what I've done to make this a little bit easier:

1) I've established 'Blog Business Hours'.  This will not only help me focus on my blog, but it will give me more freetime without feeling like I should be blogging.

2) I'm budgeting for the sponsoring of other blogs and making new blogging friendships. This includes utilizing facebook groups and being more active on Twitter. I'm not so good at that.

3) I've been working on using the scheduling features both on Facebook and Blogger.  I've even been dabbling in Tweet Deck.

4)  I have a lovely new blog design! Brought to you by Jane.  She's the best.

5)  And best of all, the Link-Up I told you about! This month will bring about my first time at hosting a link up! That will be happening on Wednesday so be sure to join in on the fun!