So Much Is Happening

Happy Spring everyone. I hope this post finds you guys getting excited about the warm months ahead. I know I am looking forward to the warmer weather. Here in Georgia, we have already had days that reached 75 degrees which is my happy temperature.

There is a lot going on in my life at this point in time. 2 1/2 weeks ago, the youngest of my three older brothers died. He was only fifty-six years old. It is believed that he had a heart attack and he went quickly. I like to believe that, even though I sometimes have my doubts.

My brother and I were very close. He was a lot older than me and lived in the house when I was growing up. He took on a lot of roles that should fall under the "dad" category. There are many things that I had when I was a kid that would not have been possible if Cullen hadn't been there to help mom pay for bills. Cullen was the type of brother that bought a Surface 3 for over $900, decided he didn't like it, and just gave it to me. He was a generous person and we loved him. He will be missed.

I am still recovering from this loss. I have days where I am fine and then moments where something hits me out of the blue and I break down in tears. I find that I function better when I stay busy so I have been keeping myself occupied. There is definitely a lot to do and my task list grows longer every day. 

At this moment, I have two houses that I am trying to take care of. We are currently cleaning out my mom's house and I am trying to keep my house clean as I bring things that I would like to keep from mom's house to mine. Once her house is cleared out, it will need a lot of work. My husband and I have already started compiling a list of the many things that will have to be done before we can move in. It will be nice to go from renting to a house that is paid for, but it will take some work.

This stuff is pretty much consuming my life at the moment. I am doing some reading and watching a few YouTube vids here and there. I am going to be so behind once I get a chance to sit down and catch up. If I didn't have my planner, I would be completely lost because there are moments that I can't remember what I should be doing. It's a lot. 

I hope that all is well for everyone and I will be back to drop a post when I can. Take care and happy sunshine filled days.

Preparing for Spring & Summer

 Who else is excited to see the cold weather go? Be sure that you practice your happy dancing safely! 😊

 To say that I am ready for Spring and Summer is a complete understatement. I put both of these seasons together for the simple reason that I live in the great state of Georgia. Where I live in Georgia, we get about two weeks of Spring before we move into the Summer weather. I’m okay with this because Summer is my favorite season.

 I know what you’re thinking. So many people call me crazy because I absolutely love Summer. I love the sunshine, the fresh air, and the fact that I don’t freeze when I go outside. The heat does not bother me.

 You know what else I love about Spring and Summer? Camping, traveling, planting flowers, swimming, tennis, and many other things. I could honestly spend all day talking about all the things I love about the warmer weather.

 To prepare for the coming of more beautiful days, my husband and I have been working on our camper. We have a small pop-up that needed some patchwork. We have also been making plans of different places we might like to camp. We hope to take our first camping trip in April.

 I also have my heart set on a beach vacation this summer. We are going to be making plans for it, but we will have to monitor Covid closely to see if that will actually happen. If I can’t go to the beach while my husband is on vacation then we will probably do an extended camping trip.

 I just want to enjoy the sunshine and fresh air, take advantage of the warm weather. I love me some warm weather, guys.

 What are your plans for Spring and Summer? Have you thought about a vacation or a staycation? Comment below and tell me what some of your big plans are. Maybe I will get some more awesome ideas.

A Trip to the Doctor

 I recently went to the doctor. This was an referral appointment that was scheduled after I got out of the hospital last year.

 Yes, last year. It took me a year to fill out the paperwork and get to the appointment. Let’s not talk about the fact that what started out as staying away from the doctor’s office out of concern for Covid to plain old procrastination. Don’t judge me. I bet you have things on your to do list that are easily months, if not years old. Procrastination is a thing.

 The Nurse Practitioner I saw was a wonderful woman. Her name is Delores and she will be the one that I see for the health issues that I have. I have to schedule a follow up appointment for three months from now.

 I need to start following a high fiber, low fat diet. I also get the pleasure of possibly having two surgeries sometime in my future. 😱 Saying this is scary is an understatement. I can honestly say that I am starting to think my body hates me.

 I also get to schedule a test. No happy dancing here. In order to schedule it, I need to lose 13 pounds. I don’t say have to, even though I feel I have to. It’s more of a need. I need to get my BMI under a certain number which will make this procedure a little cheaper. I’m all about saving the money.

 By my calculations, I should be able to lose at least thirteen pounds in two months. Which would put me scheduling the test around end of May. This is definitely possible with changing my diet and boosting my exercise.

 I don’t know what my future might hold for this situation. I do know that I am going to start taking better care of my body. It’s the only one I have.

Wish me luck!

 

Life Update March 2021

 Hello fellow bloggers! It has been a while since I posted. I was surprised to see that I had been absent so long.

My original plan was to keep this blog updated on a more regular basis. We all know how well plans are working out for people right now.

Anyway, I thought I would drop in to let you guys know what has been going on in my world since my last post. So here are just a few things that have been happening.

I changed planners. I am now back in an A5 and really looking forward to using it for a while. It is working really well. SMPlans on Instagram talked on her stories about what type of planner she might use if she had never discovered the planner community. This got me thinking and I decided to go back to what I was using when I first discovered the planner community. An A5 rings. This doesn’t mean I don’t love the Stalogy, and I have every intention of continuing use of it in some way.

I have found that using an A5 like I used to have actually boosted my productivity. I find myself wanting to open it more and writing more in it. The most important thing about making a planner work for you is wanting to use it.

Right now, I am using a Traveler’s Notebook for memory keeping. This may change to a Stalogy once the inserts have been used up. This is all part of my “use what I have” mission. I did purchase a new A5 binder from Amazon, but everything else that is in it I already had.

I finally figured out my organization system around my desk area. I still have a lot of cleaning to do for my office and bedroom not to look like a warzone, but I am steadily getting it done.

I have been working mostly from home since the semester started. I have approached my boss with the possibility of finishing out the semester from home. I have learned that working from home is definitely something that I enjoy and I find it much more convenient. There are other reasons I prefer to work from home at this point in my life, but I won’t get into those here.

I have been reading like a crazy person. I am very impressed with how many books I have read since the beginning of the year. I still have not posted videos updating my reads for January and February. I am toying with doing January-March read videos in parts. There are a lot of books to cover.

My 101 in 1001 list is coming along nicely. I have a few things that I already know I won’t be able to do and a few things still to accomplish. I will definitely be sharing an updated list soon.

Well, that is all for updating today. Don’t forget that you can follow me @jaimebarfield on Instagram where I do more frequent updates of what is going on around here.

🥂Welcome to 2021!

 Hello fellow bloggers and welcome to 2021. If you have made it this far into the game of Jumanji, I am super proud of you! Keep fighting through it and maybe we will make it to the finish line together.

 Even though we are already over halfway through January, I thought it would be nice to drop in and say Happy New Year! Unfortunately, when the clock struck midnight and the year changed from 2020 to 2021, our problems did not magically disappear. If you had it in your mind that the New Year would fix everything, I am very sorry that you were disappointed. While we are all happy to say goodbye to the dumpster fire that was 2020, we still have to accept that there is no magic switch, and it will take a while to fix things. We may be experiencing this “new normal” for a bit longer.

 But I didn’t come here to make anyone sad that we have made it to 2021. In fact, I am thrilled to say goodbye to 2020 and have my goals laid out for the New Year. I have quite a few goals for 2021, but I have narrowed it down to my top ten focus goals for the year. I did a video on my channel laying out my goals and going into more details about each one, but I will also list them here.

Lose 119 pounds

Debt free

Low buy/no buy

Finish a rough draft

Oscar (my dachshund) to lose 10 pounds

Take a 2021 Summer vacation

Take a 2021 Anniversary trip

Go on at least 4 camping trips

Have 1 artist date weekly

Read 300 books

Each one of the above goals I have broken down into a monthly plan for the first three months of the year. I have goal dates for my debts as well as how much weight I would need to lose each month. So forth and so on. I won’t go into as much detail in this post, but I do plan to come back and update you guys on how things are going with these ten goals. The majority of my updates will be on Instagram. You can follow me @jaimebarfield if you are interested in seeing how I am fairing on a more regular basis.

Now, if I can just get through January!

I hope that this post finds everyone healthy and happy. Many thoughts and prayers to those who are suffering right now.

May your 2021 be much brighter and happier than the previous year!

101 Goals in 1001 Days End of 2020 Update

START: October 25, 2018

END: July 22,2021

 

Financial

ü  Pay off Walmart Credit Card

ü  Pay off Bealls Credit Card

ü  Pay off Woman Within Credit Card

ü  Pay off Amazon Credit Card

ü  Pay off my car

o   Save 3 months in Emergency Fund (0/3)

ü  Open separate Emergency Fund account

o   Save Down Payment for house

o   Replace Kenny’s Truck

o   Complete a No Spend Challenge

 

Home

o   Have a family portrait made

ü  Refinish desks

ü  Buy a small camper

ü  Buy a Smart TV

o   Buy a Large Grill

o   Buy a deep freezer

o   Buy a new dryer

Ø  Build a Water Garden-- $10 donation

ü  Adopt another puppy

Ø  Host a Halloween Party-- $10 donation

 

Travel

ü  Take an Anniversary Trip

ü  Spend a weekend in the Smoky Mountains

o   Take a Mother/Daughter weekend trip with my daughter

ü  Go on a Camping Trip

ü  Go to a Zoo

o   Hike to Smoky Mtn Waterfall

o   Visit Cummins Falls State Park

o   Take Vacation to Florida

o   Climb to top of Amicola Falls

o   Climb to bottom of Cloudland Canyon

o   Visit Ruby Falls

o   Spend the Day at Red Clay Resort

o   Visit Rock City

o   Go to the Nature Center

Ø  Visit my adopted sister-- $10 donation

o   Visit Road to Tara Museum

o   Go on a Dolphin Tour

o   Go Camping in the Smokys

Ø  Attend Plannercon-- $10 donation

 

Giving

o   Buy food for small pantry in town

o   Host a Fundraiser

o   Donate $10 for every item on this list that is not completed

o   Volunteer at Hospice

o   Volunteer with Food Bank/Community Kitchen

ü  Volunteer at Animal Shelter

ü  Become a Friend of the Library

 

Health/Fitness

o   Lose 119lbs (10.6/119)

o   Rejoin a Zumba Class

ü  No soda for a month

o   Take a Yoga Class

ü  Complete a Fitness Challenge

o   Get a complete Health Checkup

Ø  Run a 5k-- $10 donation

 

Writing

o   Write a novel

o   Write 300 Blog Posts (197/300)

ü  Have another Summer Scare-A-Thon on Blog

o   Stay Up All Night Writing

 

Reading

o   Read 300 Books (127/300)

o   Reread Gone With the Wind and Scarlett

o   Reread The Dark Tower series (3/8)

o   Reread other Stephen King favorites (9/38)

o   Reread Mortal Instruments series (2/6)

o   Reread Infernal Devices trilogy (0/3)

o   Catch up with Alex Cross series (20/28)

o   Read the Bible

o   Join a Book Club

 

Try Something New

o   Go Kayaking

o   Learn to Shoot a gun

o   Take Line Dancing classes

o   Sing in a Karoake Bar

o   Take an Art Class

ü  Take Martial Arts or Self Defense Class

o   Ride a Horse

o   Make a Blanket

o   Learn to Cook Hibachi Chicken

o   Make my own jam and jelly

Ø  Go to a Concert-- $10 donation

Ø  Go to a Football Game-- $10 donation

o   Take Sign Language Course

o   Take Spanish Course

ü  Sign up for Skillshare

ü  Try Audible

o   Take a Cake Decorating Class

o   Ride a Chair Lift

o   Ride a train

 

Personal

ü  Watch all seasons of Game of Thrones (8/8)

o   Color Star Wars Poster

o   Color Fox Poster

o   Finish Dad’s pillow

o   Complete my first Scrapbook

ü  Restart Youtube Channel

o   Watch Disney favorites again (52/75)

ü  Upgrade my cellphone

o   Have a Spa Day

o   Find a Church

Ø  Take an Artist’s Weekend-- $10 donation

Ø  Return to School-- $10 donation

ü  Buy a Hobonichi Cover

ü  No Social Media for ten days

o   Spread Dad’s ashes

o   Make my next 101 in 1001 list (86/101)

 

 

 

Day 6: Favorite Christmas Ornament

 My favorite Christmas ornament is a cat. In 1987, I went with my mom Christmas shopping. One of the gifts she had decided to get for my older brothers was personalized Christmas ornaments. There was one for my oldest brother and his wife, one for my middle brother and his wife, then one for the youngest of my three brothers. While I was waiting for the ones she was having made, I found a cute white kitten ornament that I just loved. Mom decided to get it for me because she felt that I should have one too.

 

This ornament has “Jaime and Frisco 1987” engraved on it and it hung on the tree when I was growing up. Now, it hangs on my Christmas tree every year.

 

For those of you who are curious, Frisco was my inside/outside cat at the time. I had him for seven years before he disappeared and never returned home.