My plans to restart the blog delayed a few months as I dealt with a mental block about what to write about. I tried asking Ryan to collaborate with me, but he has other projects on his mind these days. So it’ll be me, for now.

I suppose the easiest way is to fill you in on where I’m at and what I’ve been up to. If there’s a topic you want to hear more about, holler at me.

So begins my “Friday Freestyle” series!

Work - I was recently promoted at my company of 1.5+ years! After 8.5 years with the same job title, I’ve made it to the next rung on the ladder. Who knows how long I’ll be here, but it feels good to know that I’m no longer stuck somewhere forever. The feeling that “I should have explored my options earlier” pops up occasionally, but I know I can only look and move forward.

Fitness - Ryan and I have been going to a personal trainer since November. It was a pretty big commitment and investment - about 10% of our spending each month. While I was doing the occasional ClassPass, Ryan’s only workout was taking the dog out. The few times I’d try to get him to a class with me, his body would not react well, so we decided personal attention would likely suit us best - at least in the beginning.

The foam roller’s our best friend!

We didn’t shop around and went with the first gal we met with. No regrets though - she’s been awesome. Having the personalized attention has been incredibly helpful with getting our bodies used to the movements and establishing good form and practices. We started out with 2 days a week and plan on knocking it down to 1 day a week and adding on a gym membership where we can do our own workouts. We can only afford personal training for so long. The goal is to eventually have the discipline and know-how to exercise on our own.

I know 10% of our spending is a large chunk, but we decided it would be a worthwhile investment in our 30s, so we don’t suffer health-wise later in life due to inactivity.

Volunteering - I’ve always been an advocate of spending many of my waking hours giving back. Luckily for me, my company values community and philanthropy. I was about to go into detail on the various organizations I’m involved with, but I think I’ll save it for another post. Gotta create content where I can!

Disneyland - We decided to become Annual Passholders over the holidays, and so far we’ve more than made up the cost of the ticket. Long trips were out of the question earlier in the year due to a few things coming up at work, so I knew Disneyland would make for great weekend breaks. We can hop around the parks at a leisurely pace each time. So far, we’ve gone in December, January, March, and we’ll go twice in April!

With Mickey and Minnie during Lunar New Year

Reading - I reapplied for a library card at my local library, so that I could access their e-books. I’ve noticed that I seem to be a fan of the memoirs, so if you have any to suggest, I’m all ears!

Budgeting/Saving $$ - I know, I know. All this talk about what we’re spending on… I promise you that most of the time, I’m sitting there staring at my budget in YNAB, trying to figure out how to keep it all together and how to pay more on debt since savings interest is pretty low. Work promotions and bonuses have certainly helped with being more comfortable with where we are financially, but it doesn’t mean we are spending it left and right. We’re making intentional purchasing decisions based on what we’ve prioritized for ourselves (definitely a privilege I don’t take for granted).

Decluttering - Lately, Ryan has been going through our guest room aka storage room and gathering things to donate and get rid of. He’s better at letting go of my things than I am, that’s for sure! But, the other night when I couldn’t go back to sleep after having been woken up by terrible allergies, I read Cait Flanders’ The Year of Less. Thoroughly inspired, I am now trying to figure out how best to tackle the clutter that is my home. I’d like to take an inventory of everything, which is why it’s been difficult to start. Seems so overwhelming!

So that’s what I’ve been up to!