July 4, 2014 - July 6, 2014

I swear-- one of these days I am going to be caught up and on a decent schedule with this darned blog.  But until then.. you will just be surprised randomly  with various posts.. And this one happens to be about the long 4th of July weekend!

July 4th weekend was a pretty fun weekend for us.  Nothing super exciting, but I do have a few pics to share!

FRIDAY JULY 4

We spent the actual 4th of July just running errands, lounging around- I wish I could say cleaning, but NOPE..that got pushed to back burner as always.  The best part - both Damian and I were off from work so we were able to see each other several times throughout the day.

SATURDAY JULY 5
In an effort to live a more healthy lifestyle, I met up with a friend in the morning to go for a run.  It's about a 3.1 or so mile loop, but I only ran about a mile and a half to 2 miles...but it felt GOOD!  I was so proud  of myself.  Damian was off on Saturday also and I picked Madison up from a sleepover and we just hung out around the house for the majority of the day.  Damian worked in the studio quite a bit on some music.  Madison, Mayci, and I met Nicole, Gianna, Bella, Alex, Tonya, Makai, Zoey, and Zane at Manchester Community College for fireworks. Myles stayed home because Gilbert was coming over to play and Rama is probably just too cool to hang out with a bunch of old people and "babies".  But we had  SO MUCH FUN!!  I hadn't seen Makai since he was a baby and had never really met Zoey and Zane.  What cutie patooties they are and Mr. Makai has such a deep voice, he sounds like a man from far away!  And it was great to be able to see Tonya and Alex after years and years as well!  I just wish we had more time that night.  The fireworks only lasted about a half hour, yet it took us a good hour and 15 minutes to even get off of the MCC campus.  Well worth it to spend some time catching up! Makai sure did love himself some Madison... He even informed me that I NEED to have him come over to play with her soon!And both Gianna and Bella yelled at me for not having them over recently over SO CUTE!!  **and nope, I haven't scheduled that play date yet lol**

SUNDAY JULY 6
On Sunday, Ted and Abby had planned a trip to Lake McDonough in Barkhamsted.  I hadn't been there since Myles was 1 month old, so it was nice to head up that way. Damian and I didn't have any set time that we wanted to be there, s that helped meout with my stress level, since social things like this give me EXTREME ANXIETY.  We arrived by late morning and were greeted by so many family and friends: Ted, Abby, Yvette, TiTi TaTa, Melina, Niko, Monica, Jacob, Abigail, Angelina, Christopher, Natalia and her husband and sisters, Uncle Jorge... throughout the day, Zaccai, Luques, Daryl, Dalila, Iliana, Brian, TiTi Ada, Titi Ana, Amanda, Aaron, Alicia, Sammy, Nadia, Bas, TiTi Miriam, Rae-Sheilla & her new baby, Becky, Carissa, some family friends, Nilda..and several more trickled in and out throughout the day.  Unfortunately Madison, Mayci, and I left early so that I could drop Madison off at another lake in Marlborough since she had previous plans made with her friend.  But either way-- everyone had a good day.  I may or may not have forgotten to apply sunscreen to the kids and they may or may not have gotten mild sunburns.. No worries, perfect parents out there, they survived and are doing well!

Here are some pics to highlight this particular weekend, enjoy:

31 goals

As my 31st year of life is drawing near, I have made a decision to create a sort of New Years Resolution laundry list of goals for myself.  I had tried to stop creating New Years Resolutions several years ago because I  felt like I was just setting myself for failure.  What better way to feel unaccomplished than to hold yourself accountable for a list of unattainable goals, just to complete...NOT EVEN ONE of them.

But this age, age 31, will be different for me.  I will NOT set myself up for failure.  I will merely put together things that I want to do.  If I accomplish them---awesome, if not---next years list will just be a repeat of any goals not checked.  I mean, I have to hold myself to more sort of standard.  I can't always hide under excuses and come up with ridiculous reasons for why I am NOT to living my life to the fullest and doing what I am truly happy with.  

I will list my *31* goals but please know that some of them are far fetched, some of them are vain and related to beauty, some are deep, many are superficial...BUT they are mine all the same.  And there are also NOT 31...  I figured that would be a little crazy, since some of these goals are already a bit extreme... I have to be a little realistic.

So here are some of my goals:

- Lose 30 pounds
-Complete the Couch to 5K training app
-Workout/ Exercise at least 5 days a week
-Run 2 5K's
-Run a total of 200 miles
-Start weight watchers again and stick with it until you are a Lifetime member-- (I signed up on 11/22/13)
-maintain a consistent Constant Work in Progress blog
-Get beauty/self improvement YouTube channel ( Makeup of Michelle) up and running
-Start Beauty Blog (Makeup Of Michelle and be consistent with that also
-go on a getaway with just Damian for at least 4 days
-take the kids on 1 family vacation
-maintain a decent savings account at a credit union
-pay every bill ON TIME.... no late fees this year!
-have nail polish on at least 5 days each week
-Attend church again
-Cook meals at least 4 days a week-- no more excuses that because you Renato home a lot, you can't have home cooked meals
-tell Madison, Myles, Mayci, and Damian that I love them everyday- (don't judge me, but I honestly DO NOT tell them everyday
-write in my journal more
-Complain yes
-Attend more of Damian's gigs
-be more aware of the language I use
- Read 75 books
-Work on time management


Whheeewwwwww.......seems like alot when I look at everything.  Each of these goals are very important to me and I know that as I get closer to complete them, it will only make me a better person.....And I could definitely use that!  I have this exact list on my phone so that no matter where I am, I can look at it and be reminded of what I am working towards!!

WISH ME LUCK!!