Currently | August 2020
C H O O S I N G
Each day, I’m choosing to show up and have a positive outlook despite the ups and downs of this weird season. “Show up” has become a side kick to my one little word, open, and has really had a huge role in this year and how it’s shaping up. One of the biggest things that I’ve been learning is how my mood and intentionality affects my life. I have the choice to make in how my day and ultimately this year looks. So far that has meant: professional growth, weight loss, starting a business (with Kevin), celebrating others, practicing gratitude, and putting others first. It’s been a huge year of growth.
C O N S U M I N G
In all honestly, I’m consuming way too much content on social media. Whether it’s friend’s opinions of politics, IG Stories of every person I follow, or just vlogs of stranger’s daily lives, it’s too much (and I’m working on setting better boundaries).
E N J O Y I N G
I have thoroughly been enjoying the sunshine and warmth on my skin this summer. Whether it’s getting outside for a sweat sesh or laying out by a pool, the sunshine and vitamin D just hits different in 2020.
O R D E R I N G
I have lots of friends who are celebrating big life events, so I’m over here ordering all the gifts online. It’s honestly so much more enjoyable to me to pick something off a registry for a friend than it is to order something for myself. Pandemic 2020 is really making all the things look a little different and I’m really doing my best to make sure that they feel celebrated during the exciting moments of their lives.
R E M E M B E R I N G
It has almost been a year since we adopted Willow, and I’ve been remembering back to the days of potty training, waking up every night at 2am, and chewing on all the things that made up her first 6 months of being ours. I’m very glad that we’re sufficiently past all that fun and that the dogs are continuing to get along with each other. It truly feels like we just got her and simultaneously had her for our entire lives.
Weekend Wrap Up – Family Lake Weekend During COVID
A brand new deck of cards, morning hikes with a million stairs, a great view of boats passing by, and the best bubbly margaritas.
Amazing time with my sweet fam.
August Goals
And just like that…it’s my birthday month! Despite all that COVID has tried to take down, I’m pretty sure this year is shaping up to be one of the most productive yet. It’s had it’s own set of highs and lows for sure, but I’m so proud of what I’ve personally achieved during what could have been a time of just putting my goals on pause. At the beginning of the year, I set two main goals:
Goal 1: Prioritize my health – physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, environmental, and social.
Goal 2: Allow open to be an invitation to live intentionally.
Every quarter, I use my Powersheets to “rate” how I’m doing in eight areas – health, friends, finances, spouse/significant other, family, recreation, work, and spiritual/personal growth. When thinking of Goal 1, I was planning on using these ratings as a gauge to tell how I was improving. So far, I’m happy with how this is going. I have exercised for 159 days in a row, continued meeting with my counselor, and we made huge improvements on clutter and extra stuff in the house. You should have seen what we got rid of.
Goal 2 has been a little tricky to manage with hosting and celebrating others (in a traditional sense) being put on hold. I have used this time to deepen current relationships over FaceTime/Marco Polo, but it’s just never the same as having people sitting next to you on the couch. Hopefully, I’ll be able to work on this one even more as we continue throughout the year.
July Monthly Goals
4th of July Weekend in Hamilton– We had the best weekend with friends for the 4th of July. It’s become a tradition for a group of us to go visit Sarah and Cole, and I hope it never ends. I’m truly so thankful for this weekend getaway every single year.Revamp/Clean Up Spotify Playlists– Whew I did some work on these playlists in July, just in time for Taylor Swift’s new album. BOOM.Read 4 Books– Yep, wrapped up the following books: So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Olau, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins, This is Where You Belong: The Art and Science of Loving the Place You Live by Melody Warnick, Dare to Lead by Brene Brown, and The Selection by Kiera Cass.
July Weekly Goals
Weigh In– Yep! Feeling good about the scale lately!Budget– Done, I typically check it more than weekly, but this is a good reminder.Tending Tuesday– CHECK!
July Daily Goals
Exercise– EVERY. SINGLE. DAY.- Read the Word – Could have done better on this one. I need to work on my morning route.
- IG Post – Definitely not even close to every day.
- Vitamins – I got new vitamins, and I’m back on track with this one.
July Highlights
- FinalVibe got T-Shirts!
- We spent 4th of July in Hamilton and it was everything I needed and then some.
- We celebrated Eric’s 27th Birthday!
- Columbia issued a mask order for the next 90 days. Woof. (This isn’t a highlight, exactly, but it’s important to note.)
- Kevin rode 50 miles on his bike for the first time!
- I hit 150 days of exercise in a row.
- We hung out with Kevin’s fam at the Lake for Scott’s birthday.
July Favorites
Food: Yogurt, Strawberries and Dark Chocolate
Book: So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo
Purchase: A Massage Gun
Song: All of the songs on Taylor Swift’s new album
I mentioned that August is my birthday month, and I’m turning 29 this year! This birthday has a high chance of being low-key and I’m 110% ok with that.
August Monthly Goals
- JR Content Calendar – More regular IG and Blog Posts have been part of my goals over the last few months but I haven’t exactly made it happen. I’m hoping getting a little list going will help me follow through here.
- Birthday Cheesecake – Every year I make a cheese cake for my birthday, and I want this year to be the same. If you know of any good recipes let me know in the comments. I’m looking to try something different this year.
- Successful Work Move – We’re moving offices! After 5+ years in one building, it will be so strange to be going somewhere else every day.
- Spend the Weekend at the Lake – We’re going to the Lake for a chill weekend getaway with the family, should be a blast!
- Onboard New Teammates – Our team at work is growing and I’m looking forward to doing lots of training in August.
- Have One Photoshoot – Haven’t been able to check this off in a while. Time to dust off the DSLR.
- Paint an Accent Wall in our Bedroom – Really wanting to add some navy paint to our room this month!
- Read 4 Books – I may have mentioned this before, but my goal is to read a book a week so that I can hit 52 by the end of the year! It’s a huge goal but I’m currently on track.
August Weekly Goals
Most of these are the same as they’ve been, but I’m seeing progress in all areas, so I’m going to keep chugging. I’m adding the FinalVibe content calendar for each week, because that’s something that I’ve really been enjoying and that has been helpful to FinalVibe progress.
- Weigh In
- Budget
- Tending Tuesday
- Create FinalVIbe Content Calendar
August Daily Goals
- Exercise
- Read the Word
- IG Post
- Vitamins
Anyone else looking forward to August? What goals do you have for the month?
An Update on Open
At the beginning of each year, I choose a word that will be a guidepost on my journey throughout the year. I started following along with this project (originally created by Ali Edwards) in 2013, and I’ve been picking a word ever since. For my word this year, I chose Open. You can read my original post and goals for the year here.
Here’s what I wanted open to look like:
- Open is an invitation to let my guard down, to experience vulnerability, and to invite people in.
- Open is an invitation into wonder and delight. To get outside, go for drives, and take in the natural beauty around me.
- Open is an invitation to enjoy rhythms over routines. To try new things. To allow flexibility and spontaneity.
- Open is an invitation to dig deeper into God’s word and truly experience solitude with the Lord.
- Open is an invitation to really live in the margins. To stop scrolling and spend my time doing things that fill my cup.
- Open is an invitation to a peaceful, deep, and joy-filled 2020.
Open (adjective)
allowing access, passage, or a view through an empty space; not closed or blocked up.
exposed to the air or to view; not covered; unprotected; vulnerable.
with the outer edges or sides drawn away from each other; unfolded.
freely available or accessible; offered without restriction.
frank and communicative; not given to deception or concealment.
not finally settled; still admitting of debate.
Open (verb)
move or adjust (a door or window) so as to leave a space allowing access and view.
unfold or be unfolded; spread out.
establish (a new business, movement, or enterprise).
make available or more widely known.
MORE // LESS
MORE rhythms. LESS routines.
MORE long hugs.
MORE intentional purchases. LESS stuff and things.
MORE drawing from an overflow of rest. LESS running myself ragged.
MORE deep, vulnerable conversations. LESS hiding, not asking for help.
MORE championing others and celebrating small wins.
MORE quiet. LESS noise and distractions.
MORE boundaries. LESS have tos.
Less scrolling (always).
MORE simplifying. LESS complicating.
MORE open.
Quotes
While I am learning to make peace with the plans that fell apart, I am learning to breathe deep and keep an open heart and the hope-filled possibility that there is more ahead of me. – Morgan Harper Nichols
We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure. There is no end to the adventures we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open. – Unknown
Documenting in 2020
Kevin recently shared how he documents his life over on the FinalVibe blog, so I thought I’d take some time to share a little about how I document mine. We are a little different in how we like to see our memories but regardless, we both find so much value in visualizing our journey and how we got to where we are today. Both come down to pictures and words, and being intentional about looking back to see how we’ve changed and how we can inspire our future selves.
1. Project Life
Eight years in and I still love memory keeping with pocket pages. I love the opportunity to be creative and change my process on a whim while still having the cohesive photo sizes. For the past couple years, I’ve done monthly layouts in 12×12 albums which has allowed me to use just four albums over the eight years. One of my biggest fears about this project is how much physical space they take up, but there’s just nothing like having printed pictures. Kevin sometimes sends me photos, too, and I just love getting his perspective in our albums. This project helped me to document through college, graduation, engagement, marriage, pups, and becoming homeowners. Looking back on photos of my college duplex, friends living next door, random celebrations, and first days with our pups are such sweet reminders of the blessings in this life.
One of my favorite things to do as a kid was look at photo albums when I was at houses of family members. I love the way that photos capture stories and feelings. Words do, too, and that’s why I always make sure to include them, even if it means tucking them away behind photos. I always want these to be books we can flip through to remember all of our favorite moments.
2. Chatbooks
Chatbooks are photo books made with your photos on Instagram, Facebook or camera roll and only takes 30 seconds to set up. I keep my scrapbooks in my craft room, so I like to have something smaller and less precious to have on the coffee table in the living room. These have been a piece of cake to make and are always a talking point when we have guests over – everyone picks them up. We go with the softcover edition and print one with highlights from the year and one for each vacation.
Price-wise, these are super reasonable at $10 (+ free shipping). You can get your first one free with my code JACQUELINEREAPE-TXQQ.
3. Hobonichi
I started using the Hobonichi Techo last year after going down a rabbit hole on YouTube. It’s technically a planner but I use it for daily stream of consciousness journaling. It has both monthly spreads and a day per page, which is a great contained way for me to journal (aka I have to keep it short and sweet). Also being that the pages are numbered by the date, it keeps me motivated not to get behind. This space is more raw and unfiltered than project life and includes fewer photos in comparison. I don’t plan on anyone reading these but me.
These notebooks are A6 (4-1/8″ x 5-7/8″) and believe it or not, the ones pictured above started out as the same size. I love how chunky they get as they are filled up over the year. I think I’m going to switch from the Hobonichi band to Stalogy next year, but I definitely plan to keep up the process as long as it’s working for me.
4. The Blog
We’re coming up on 11 years of blogging! I haven’t always been consistent but I truly treasure what I have been able to write in this tiny little corner of the internet. I love doing regular posts such as my currently series, because it’s so fun to see those stack up over time.
Even though I’ve considered quitting more times than I can count, I’m thankful for the fact that the internet seems more concrete and “forever” than physical photos and paper. I look back on posts from 2010 or even just last year, and can get such a clear picture on who I was at the time and what was going on in my life. It might not feel that way for other people, but that’s why I continually keep doing this for me.
Kevin makes a point in his post that you have to document in a way that makes sense for you – but at the end of the day, you just have to start and then stay consistent for long enough to see the effects of being intentional with a practice like this.