Out for a Stroll

I've been very proud of myself this week. As I stated in my goals post on Tuesday, I planned to take up exercising again. Now that I'm not working two full-time jobs, exercise is a priority again...my jeans and shorts say so!

And so does Harley :) He was SO excited we got to go for a walk Monday evening! We hadn't even left the driveway and he was already pulling me along!

We even had an unexpected visitor on our trip! Deer are common in this area, but this guy sure scared me! Harley could smell him and went right to the edge of the ditch. I hurried and got a picture before he got away :)

I spend so much time inside that it was sure nice to get out! I can't believe how tall the crops are already getting...seems like yesterday everyone was still planting!

What better way to cool off after a long walk than by taking a dip in the pool :)

This is one happy puppy :)

And I'm happy to say that I jogged both Tuesday and Wednesday mornings. (And hopefully as you're reading this, I'm out jogging today too!) I'm starting slow and warming my body back up. My legs are a little sore and those hills are a killer, but I'm determined to jog my 3 mile jaunt again this summer :)

Let's Get Personal

Every year I talk about my Etsy Shop and Blog goals, but I don't ever really talk about my personal goals. I guess many years I really don't have personal goals...my business is my personal time :) But this year I have a few more goals that I'd like to accomplish. And as I've said before, I feel that telling people your goals makes them set in stone and helps me to accomplish them! So here they are...

• Start Jogging Again! I know this sounds like an idle new year's resolution, but I am serious about getting healthier. For about 3 or 4 years, I jogged on a regular basis (3-5 days per week). When I went back to work after my layoff (2 years ago!) I had a hard time exercising again. I've tried a couple of times, but never could be myself back into a routine. I'm starting to see the effects of this and I'm not liking the results! It's time to make a change in my life! I started last week and I jogged 3 times on my treadmill. My goal is to get myself ready for Spring when I can jog 3-4 miles outside and enjoy the beautiful outdoors :)
• Enroll in Online Bill Pay. I've had a couple incidents will bills not getting mailed correctly. Once the mailman delivered my outgoing mail (bills!) to the neighbor. And the other day I was in a hurry paying bills and ripped off the top part of our mortgage statement instead of the bottom. I didn't pay attention to the address in the envelope window and mailed the payment...back to myself! *headdesk* After telling my mom about my "blonde moment" she asked why I don't pay bills online. I can accept credit card payments with my smart phone, but I still write checks, she asked. Okay...good point :) So my goal is to get all of our bills online and get a good system down for getting them paid and in the checkbook balance!
• Keep Track of ALL Sales in 2012! Okay, this is sort of a business goal, but it is for a personal reason :) In the past, I haven't been good about keeping records of all of my local sales. If I delivered an item to work and they handed me cash, often times I didn't have change, so I didn't worry about sales tax. (shhhh...don't tell the IRS!) Those sales can add up, and I don't have record of them. After finishing my taxes for 2011, I realized that I may be able to really make this business work as my full-time job! So in 2012, I want to know exactly what my business is capable of. I want every cent recorded and I want to know that if I'm going to quit my job, that I can really do this. So as I said, a business and a personal goal here.

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It feels good to get these down in writing and out in the world!