April 18

I’m still not sure how it’s already May. This year feels like it’s been a big, hot, ugly mess. I’ve had theeee hardest time staying organized and on top of things. It’s like I get caught up on things for a day or so, and then I feel like the rug gets ripped from underneath me. Am I the only one?? 

April felt so short and I don’t feel like I did much. I’m hoping with a new month, I can use it as a fresh start, and I’ll keep trying!

My biggest goal for May is to prioritize my time better. I’ve gotten into the habit of sleeping in too long, napping after work, and overcommitting to things. From the outside looking in, it’s clear I’m tired and need to realign my time. So that’s what I plan to do in May. 

 

April wasn’t a huge disappointment in regards to my goals. Here’s where I’m at for the year:

 

KNOWLEDGE:

• Read 52(ish) books:

I read 4 books this month!

-The 5 Love Languages: Gary Chapman

-In conclusion, don’t worry about it: Lauren Graham

-Turtles all the way down: John Green 

-The coaching habit: Michael Bungay Stanier

• Learn/try something new:

I tried a lot of new foods and did new things while I was in Thailand! One thing my husband has been trying to get me to do, that I tried, was Muay Thai striking.

 

SPIRITUAL:

• Attend the temple monthly:

I didn’t go again this month. I’m not sure why/how I’ve gotten off the wagon on this one, but I’m hoping to turn it around next month!

• Read the Doctrine and Covenants

I started and stopped while we were gone, but again, I’m hoping to start back up in May!

 

PHYSICAL:

• Run 400-500 miles

My mileage for April is laughable. I logged a whopping 22 miles.  

• Trilogize with Runtastic 
  
  Nothing to report here. I’m registered for all 3 races!
• Go to the dentist

I hate this goal SO MUCH. I need to work up the idea of doing this. Haha

FUN:

• Create a bucket list with Mike and cross off at least one item

We started our bucket list (I’ll do a separate post), but haven’t crossed anything off yet.

• Travel to 3 places we’ve never been to together
  
  THAILAND! 1 down, 2 to go! We’re planning on South Dakota and maybe Canada this summer! Have you ever been to either? Send us recommendations! If we go to Canada, we will go to the Banff area.
• Catch up on scrapbooking

I haven’t worked on this in months. So I plan to do something in May…even if it’s just putting together a book online!

 

FINANCIAL:

• Create 72 hour kits

UGH. Haven’t started this either. Or, kinda started, but not much progress. 

• Save 20% one month and 10% May-December
  
  We managed the 20% and will start saving 10% because honestly that’s not something we intentionally do.
• Build up business ventures

Hoping May will kick some things into gear! 

 

 

 

I finished my 30 before 30 list! I’ll have to post about that as well! I anticipate those things will keep me pretty busy the next few months!

I hope your year is going well. Remember, it’s not too late to set goals and it’s okay to readjust goals you’ve already set! If you would like help setting or maintaining your goals, please feel free to reach out to me: bethflint88@gmail.com

MARCH 18

The year is ¼ of the way over and I decided this is a good time to look at my goals and readjust as necessary. Sometimes you get going with a goal and then down the line recognize it may not be the best fit. And that’s okay. I’m readjusting quite a bit, which I used to hate doing because I felt like I was failing, now I recognize it as adapting and part of goal setting.

 

So here’s what I’m planning on changing:

KNOWLEDGE:

• Complete a reading challenge is being changed to: read 52(ish) books. The reading challenge was about this many books, but I know what I like to read and don’t want to feel obligated to read certain genres of books just because it’s on a challenge.
• Learn/try something new each month will remain the same. 

 

SPIRITUAL:

• Attend the temple each month. I haven’t been good at this goal, but it will remain the same.
• Adding: read the Doctrine & Covenants before the end of the year. 

 

PHYSICAL:

• Run more than 822 miles is being changed to: run between 400-500 miles. I’ve been exercising in different ways this year and realized I didn’t want to push for that many miles. Trying to run between 400-500 miles will still be a stretch, but I think it’s more realistic. 
• Trilogize with Runtastic will remain the same. (I’m registered for all three races!)
• Go to the dentist will remain the same.
• Go to the optometrist will remain the same. (I’ve already completed this one)

 

FUN:

• Create a bucket list with Mike and cross off at least one item will remain the same.
• Travel to 3 places we’ve never been to together will remain the same. 
• Finish 2017 scrapbook, scrapbook 2018, and create books for 2013-2016 will remain the same.

 

FINANCIAL:

• Create 72 hour kits will remain the same. 
• Have a no spend month changed to, have one month where 20% income is saved, from April-December save at least 10%
• Book 12 photography sessions is being changed to, build up business ventures. (left broad on purpose)

I’m not necessarily where I would like to be at this point in the year, but my goals keep shifting.

 

Here’s where I’m at so far:

• I’ve read 12 books (this month: How to Stop Time: Matt Haig, The sun and her flowers: Rupi Kaur, Milk and Honey: Rupi Kaur, and The year of less: Cait Flanders)
• In March, I attended a lettering class taught by Tessa Marie Letters
• In March, we went to the Jordan River temple open house, but I didn’t do any temple work.
• I’m up to 86 miles for the year
• As mentioned, I registered for my 3 races with Runtastic (Timp, Nebo, and Haunted Half Provo)
• Mike and I started our bucket list (maybe I’ll do a blog about that)
• I saved 20% of my income in the month of March (and learned that a no spend month is more challenging than I thought)

 

I’m looking forward to the rest of the year. I’m hoping by adjusting my goals, I will be more excited about them. Also, I decided to do a 30 before 30 list! So I’m excited to cross many things off in the next 6 months! I’m still short on ideas, so hit me with any suggestions you have! 

I hope your year is going well. Remember, it’s not too late to set goals and it’s okay to readjust goals you’ve already set! If you would like help setting or maintaining your goals, please feel free to reach out to me: bethflint88@gmail.com

Feb 18

I knew this would happen eventually. I’ve hit a month where I don’t really want to blog about my monthly progress because I feel like I have nothing to blog about. Somehow February felt even longer than January. Maybe it was the tease Utah gave us in thinking Spring was coming. I don’t know. But I feel like I was stagnant this month. 

 

This month I kind of ditched my goals, but I have been working towards creating more balance. Awhile ago, my sister showed me a check list of things she wanted to do every day, when she had checked off a certain amount of boxes, she was going to buy herself something she really wants. She joked about how she was like a child, and it got me thinking about how that could be a great way to bring more balance into my life (I love checking things off!) So I created a chart of things I wanted to do more/less and I am surprised by how effective the results have been. There are still several areas I need some work on, but overall, I think it’s been a great way to change some of my habits. 

 

Like I said, my overall goals took a little bit of a back seat this month, and honestly, I may end up changing them as I work out this whole balance thing. But for now, here’s my progress. 

 

KNOWLEDGE:

·        Reading Challenge (I keep looking at the challenge list and there are some topics I don’t know if I’m into. I’m going to keep with the challenge as long as I can, but have decided I want to read roughly 52 books this year) In February I read 4 books:

-         The Fault in Our Stars: John Green (perfect Valentine’s Day book)

-         When Breath Becomes Air: Paul Kalanithi

-         The Rosie Project: Graeme Simsion

-         Madly in Love with Me: Christine Arylo 

*My favorite book for the month was The Rosie Project. I already have a hold in for the second book. (@simplisisters on Instagram as a monthly book club, go check us out!)

 

·        Learn/try something new each month. In February I learned how to hand crotchet and even made a blanket! Mike has already asked me to make one for him. Haha. It was hard at first, but I started getting the hang of it at the end. I’m glad I stuck with it. 

 

SPIRITUAL:

·        Attend the temple at least once per month. My sisters and I had a date scheduled and then it didn’t work out. I kept telling myself I would go another time and then I never did. No excuse for this one. Clearly this is still an area I’m working on….

PHYSICAL: 

·        Run more than 822 miles. HAHAHAHAHAHA. I ran 0 miles this month. 0. I’ve been focusing on some other exercises. This goal is not looking too promising, but we’ll see how the warmer months ahead go. 

·        Trilogize. I’m still hoping to do this, but the first race won’t be until June. 

·        Go to the dentist. Nope. Hasn’t happened yet. 

 

FUN:

·        Create a bucket list with Mike and cross off at least one item. We still haven’t made a list, but I’m thinking we will this month. My running list is so small though, shouldn’t I have a long list of things I want to do before I die?? What’s on your bucket list? 

·        Travel to 3 places we’ve never been to together. We know where we’re going for all 3 trips and Thailand is so soon!!! 

·        Finish scrapbooking 2017 and get caught up. Maybe I’ll make one real quick tonight. I did well in January and then dropped the ball. March is a no spend month for us so I feel like I will need some time fillers. I plan to work on my 2017 scrapbook. 

FINANCIAL:

·        Create 72 hour kits. I’m hoping to officially start this in April. We have purchased a few things, but have focusing our time/money on a different goal we have together for the year. More on that coming soon! 

·        Have a no spend month. It officially starts tomorrow. Wish us all the good luck. 

·        Build up my business. Initially, I wanted to build up my photography business, but I’ve been focusing more of my time on my sisters Instagram at @simplisisters 

 

So, not really where I want to be, but kind of because I’m finding more balance and feel like I’m getting to a good place. How is your 2018 going so far? Have you set any goals yet? If not, I encourage you to think about something you want to work on or focus for the next month/year. Then choose some measurable goals that can go along with your focus. Need help creating/maintaining your goals? Feel free to reach out to me: bethflint@gmail.com

DONUTS with vanilla frosting

I probably love donuts more than your average person. I could eat them everyday, and would, if I wouldn’t gain one million pounds. 

Last fall I made donuts for the first time and now that I know how easy it is to make them, I’m hooked. I think I’ll try maple next! 

Want to make your own donuts? Here’s the recipe! 

Donuts:

2 TB dry yeast (I used instant) 

¼ C warm water

1 ½ C warm milk 

½ C sugar 

1 tsp salt

2 eggs

1/3 C shortening

5 C flour

1 quart vegetable oil for frying

 

DIRECTIONS:

1.      Mix the water and the yeast 

2.      In a large bowl, mix together the yeast, milk, sugar, salt, eggs, shortening, and 2 cups of flour. Once the mixture is combined, add the rest of the flour in half cup increments. Knead for about 5 mins. Allow the dough to rise. (As I used instant yeast, I let it sit for 20 mins and then used it)

3.      Roll dough out to ½ inch thickness and cut with a donut cutter

4.      Heat the oil to 350*. Fry donuts on each side about 3-4 mins. (Should be golden brown) Set on wire racks to drain any remaining oil. 

5.      Allow donuts to cool before adding the frosting.

 

Vanilla Frosting:

4 TB heavy cream 

2 /12 C powdered sugar 

½ tsp Salt 

½ tsp Vanilla extract 

Sprinkles for decoration 

 

DIRECTIONS:

1.      Mix ingredients together adding more powdered sugar/heavy cream if needed to get the consistency right. 

2.      Once the donuts are cool, dip them into the frosting, add sprinkles, and ENJOY! 

Tag me in your pictures if you make some! @beth_flint on instagram! 

Six tips for showing love to your significant other

Valentine’s Day is coming up and the topic of love is everywhere! Whether you’ve been in your relationship for years or you’re just starting out, it’s important to actively show love to your significant other. I asked my husband to help me with this post and we will take turns sharing tips on how you can show love to your partner. 

6 steps to showing love to your significant other

1.      I think the most important aspect of showing your significant other love is to know their love language. Have you heard of Gary Chapman’s love languages? If not, (or if you need a refresher) take the quiz, linked below. By knowing your significant other’s love language, you can ensure you are showing them love the way they recognize it. (If you’re not familiar with this idea, seriously, go read up on it now!)

5 love languages

2.      Do something for your partner. Whether it’s giving them a back massage, completing a chore/task they don’t like to do, or something they usually do. Go out of your way to do something nice for them. Without them asking. I think this is something universal that you can make work for any love language. 

3.      Do things as a couple you like, your partner likes, and you both like. I love to run and hike, my husband, not as much. So when he suggests going for a hike or signs up to run a race with me, I know he is making an effort to spend time with me. Likewise, I try to offer to do things he likes with him. Also important, find activities you can do as a couple (that you both like), and do them often. *Make sure you have an activity for each season if some are weather specific. 

4.      Make team decisions. It’s easy to think of a relationships as two individuals coming together, but some of the best moments I have had in my marriage is when we make decsions about what things we want to do, see, or experience together. It will make your relationship team more invested in your goals for each other. A relationship is a two person job so be a good partner and don't let your significant other do all the heavy lifting. 

5.      Speak kindly to your significant other. Have you noticed when you use kind words to people, they tend to use them back to you? I think sometimes we get in the habit of treating people we love with less love than those we don’t know as well. We think, “it doesn’t matter, they’ll love me and forgive me anyway” and we use it as a way to justify ourselves venting on them. I know when I’m treating my spouse with love and speaking kindly to him, he is more likely to do the same to me. By doing that, we are inviting love and warmth into our marriage. 

6.      Use fair fighting rules. I think the term fair fighting rules could also be called the disagreement rules because having differences of opinion is part of any relationship and a strong relationship for me is often demonstrated by a couple’s ability to compromise and disagree in a healthy way, as opposed to rarely or never disagreeing at all. 

Read the fair fighting rules: 

fight fair

If you and your partner can both commit to agreeing to these great tips we can guarantee you will have a healthy, happy, loving and more productive relationship. 

JAN 18

Statistically, anywhere from 60-80% of the people who make New Year’s Resolutions have already abandoned them by the first 6 weeks. That number is shocking. Sad. Un-motivating. And scary. Another statistic stated only 39% of people in their 20’s complete their resolutions. 

Maybe you’re reading this and you’re one of the people who has given up. Or maybe you never started in the first place. But if you’ve been around for awhile, you know I use my blog as a way to keep myself motivated and accountable when it comes to the goals I’ve set for myself. I’m not going to lie, I’ve already thought about some of my goals and had the thought that I should change them or stop because they seem out of reach and unrealistic. I’m trying to use that to motivate me even more (we’ll see if it works) 

Last month I mentioned my theme for the year is to live whole-heartedly. I’ve been thinking about this concept a lot over the last 31 days. What I’ve come to realize is it’s about balance and finding balance in life where we live in a world that is constantly go, go, go and do better, be better. Balance is hard. And tricky. And I think it’s going to take me all year to start feeling like it’s something I can achieve. Does anyone have any tips to balancing your life? I feel like there’s so much I am expected to do and whether that’s true or not, I want to make sure I’m in a place where all my needs can be equally met. By finding balance, I’m hoping it will continue to help me stay positive and happy and will help me feel whole-hearted. 

To help myself, I sectioned my goals out so I could start to pay attention to each area. I haven’t had a perfect start to my goals, so I’m thankful there are still 11 months to keep on going with my theme for the year.

KNOWLEDGE:

·        Reading Challenge- I’ve read 4 books this month.

              -No Dream is too High: Buzz Aldrin

              -Furiously Happy: Jenny Lawson

              -Present over Perfect: Shauna Niequist 

              -Brain on Fire: Susannah Cahalan 

*I think my favorite for the month was Brain on Fire. Susannah is a great writer and I was interested about her story. If you’re interested in medical, brain, or psychology topics, this is worth your read! 

·        Learn/try something new each month- In January I went skiing for the first time! I don’t really like trying new things like this and I ended up having a good time. I don’t know when we’ll go again so I can get more practice in, but the good news is, I would go again! 

 

SPIRITUAL:

·        Attend the temple at least once per month- I went with my sisters to the Draper temple this month and we are starting a temple night. Contact me if you’re interested in joining! I’m excited and happy to get back into the pattern of going to the temple each month. I had been going steadily for the last two+ years, and at the end of last year, found myself giving too many excuses not to go. 

 

PHYSICAL:

·        Run more than 822 miles- I’m not off to a good start with this one….I find that I have a hard time running in the winter. Not even because it’s cold, because let’s be real, it hasn’t really been cold. Mostly because it gets dark earlier and I’m not always home before it gets dark. (Or maybe I’m finding excuses…) At any rate, I only logged 43 miles this month. 

·        Trilogize- The first race I’ll run to trilogize won’t be until June. So I won’t bring it up again until then! 

·        Go to the dentist- This is real. I HATE the dentist. I feel like they rip you off and I basically refuse to go unless I have tooth pain. That said, I haven’t been in almost ..3.. (yes 3) years and I’m pretty sure I’ve got to have some cavities, so, at some point, I will go this year. But I haven’t yet. 

·        Go to the optometrist- I actually have no issues with eye doctors, I just haven’t been in about 4 years. I started noticing my glasses weren’t cutting it all the way, so I knew that needed to go on the list too. I went this month and got some new glasses. If only the dentist were that easy for me. 

 

FUN:

·        Create a bucket list (with Mike) and cross off at least one item- We haven’t officially made a list, but I have started thinking about some things I want to add. Does anyone have a bucket list? What are some things on your list?

·        Travel to 3 places we’ve never been to together- We haven’t started this goal yet either (well, I guess we kind of have) We are going to Thailand in a few months so we have started planning and booking our trip! We also know we will be going to Washington, but still need an idea for trip #3!  (Preferably somewhere we can go in the summer)

·        Finish 2017 scrapbook and get caught up since 2013- I actually started this one! I have been opposed to pre-made scrapbooks for years and love ones done by hand so much more, but finally decided it was more realistic to have them made. So in January, I made one for 2013 and 2014. I have 4 more to make…

 

FINANCIAL:

·        Create 72 hour kits- This is something that has been on my mind, but I don’t know that I can say I have officially started it yet. I have started to set a few things aside. I will probably start focusing on it a little more in the next couple of months. 

·        Have a no spend month- We plan to do this in March. 

·        Build up business- This can actually go in a couple of ways and my initial goal may change slightly. But the concept of the original goal was to build up my business, so in one way or another, I will be working towards that. Did you know I do photography? You can find me on Instagram @ bethflintphoto 

 

How is your 2018 going so far? Have you set any goals yet? If not, I encourage you to think about something you want to work on or focus for the year. Then choose some measurable goals that go along with your focus. Need help creating/maintaining your goals? Feel free to reach out to me: bethflint88@gmail.com

14 days of Valentine’s Day

Valentine’s Day is my favorite holiday and has been for as long as I can remember. I love having a day specifically designated to shower the people you love. I think it’s important to let those around you (especially a significant other/spouse) know how much you love and appreciate them. 

This year I decided I wanted to write my husband 14 letters (one for each day leading up to Valentine’s Day)   Each day I answered a different question in letter format. It was fun for me to look back on so many memories and experiences we’ve shared together. It reminded me how much I love him and I hope these letter remind him how adored he is. 

Here are my prompts: 

Day 1: When did you first know your spouse was the one for you? How?

Day 2: What is a skill your spouse has developed they should be proud of?

Day 3: What makes your spouse different from everyone else?

Day 4: What do you think is your spouse’s best quality 

Day 5: Name a favorite memory from your wedding day

Day 6: What is something your spouse does that you think is sexy

Day 7: When is a time you were very proud to be married to your spouse?

Day 8: Name a dream/hope you have with your spouse?

Day 9: What are a few little things your spouse does that just makes you smile?

Day 10: Describe a date you’ve been on when you had a lot of fun

Day 11: What is your favorite physical feature of your spouse?

Day 12: What is a quirk your spouse has you find endearing? 

Day 13: What is your favorite memory with your spouse this past year?

Day 14: Reminisce about the first time you said “I love you”

**You can easily make your own cards or buy a pack of cards at the store.**

I’m always looking for new ideas. What are some other inexpensive ways to show love to your spouse?