Word of the Year 2020 - Renaissance

Hope. Love. Happiness. Peace.

These are the type of things I want to feel in 2020.

Dear Reader, you are probably wondering why I didn't pick these words to be my Word of the Year. Well, it's simple really.

To achieve the above buzz words of emotional goals, I first have to rebuild...recreate...rebirth myself, my habits, and my idea of daily life.

So it's a rebirth, or a renaissance because I'm bourgeoisie.

Word of the Year 2020 - Renaissance
My inspiration for my word of the year came from one of #leohusband and my favorite YouTube Channels, Extra Credits

They had this video out a couple of months ago called A Rebuilding Year. It gave me hope that I could turn my burnout around and take a year to basically FIFO (Figure It the F&#$ Out).


I had so many astonishing but life-altering things happen in such a short time. I got a new diagnosis, a new job, a puppy, and switched from the yoga studio to a gym membership.

My schedule now has an additional day of physical therapy, my mornings start unbelievably early for my job, my puppy is basically a baby that needs to learn everything, and if I'm spending the money, I better get my happy ass to the gym. LOL!

I need to figure out how all this applies to my life and what that looks like now. If you would like to hear more about Word of the Year, check out my awesome podcast with Rebekah Svensson, Chronic Warrior Women.

In fact, Dear Reader, if you are wondering how I am able to make a blog post with all of this and a puppy...I'm at Starbucks and the puppy is taking his post-breakfast nap in his house. Then I'm going to do my normal Friday grocery store run. My Starbucks is right next to two of my favorite grocery stores. Boom. Two birds. One Stone.

If I have extra time, I'm going to get a little reading time in for my peace of mind and my soul. I hate to admit it but I started Daring Greatly by Brene Brown in November and I still haven't finished it. I may even get a little bullet journaling in.

Speaking of bullet journaling, I'm doing something different this year but you will have to wait until next Friday to see.

Which brings me to this Dear Reader, I'd love to post every day, but let's be honest...that ain't gonna happen. LOL! So I'm shooting for Friday's.

Wish me luck this year in my Renaissance while I FIFO! WooHoo!!!

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Just Too Damn Busy

I think the title says it all. I'm not bragging about being busy. I don't want to be busy.

In fact, I totally hate those people who act like it's a badge of honor to be totally swamped. Stop it you pretentious pricks. Insert eye roll here.

I can't seem to catch my breath since starting my new part-time job in the wee hours of the morning, and it's been much worse since the time change. Ugh!

In fact, I can't believe I have the time to update today but I brought my laptop to my doctor's appointment and I finished my feedback for this morning's classes...

So here I am.

No. I haven't died. I've just been busy and when I have a break the last thing I want to do is blog.

Between work, the gym, physical therapy, and trying to get a healthy dinner on the table, most days I nap or I want to binge-watch Netflix and relax.

I actually started writing this post last week, waiting for a doctor's appointment to start and after she came in, I closed my laptop and when I got home, I fell asleep on the couch, until #leohusband got home. Man, talk about being completely drained.

Me and My BFF (My Back Brace) on Vacay

I've also been out of the social loop, on vacation, so I tried to spend a week catching up, with friends, family, and doctor's appointments. Gosh, there's only so much energy to go around y'all.

To further complicate matters...? We've got our favorite festival coming up, the Texas Renaissance Festival. Once again, I'm going for gold to try to win the costume contest. I love that I have something to funnel my creativity into but I always end up waiting until the last minute to get my costume together, even though I started it in August.

Now, and here is the big news. We're getting a puppy, the day after Ren Fest, because I'm apparently a glutton for punishment. It's not good timing but it's never good timing to get a puppy so we might as well jump into the deep end.

Well, that about sums it up. I'm guessing you probably won't hear from me for a while since I'm going to be adding puppy training into my already charlie foxtrot schedule. I'm hoping to be back up and blogging in January 2020!

Wish me luck! Much love to my readers!

April 2019 Bullet Journal Setup

I can’t believe April snuck up on me. I really enjoyed taking a break in March, but it’s time to get back to the desk.

I have my bullet journal set up, and this month I went crazy!

I went with a Harry Potter theme because I am lucky enough to be able to celebrate #BreadwinnerBFF birthday at Universal Studios Harry Potter world this month.

I wanted to get excited for my adventure so I grabbed my prisma color pencils and went to town on drawing Hogsmeade, a Quidditch pitch complete with snitch, and how I always envisioned the Firebolt to look.

My favorite book is Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban so I took my cues from that book!

If you were a chronic pain warrior or a chronic illness warrior, and you haven’t started a bullet journal yet to keep track of your symptoms, pain levels, and day-to-day activities I highly recommend you starting one. You can start in the middle of the year it doesn’t have to be January.

How to Track Your Medical Expenses

Every year of my adult life since 2009 I have met my out of pocket maximum on my medical insurance. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, then you don't have severe medical problems or you have an HMO.

I want to make it clear that I am well aware of my priveledge to have and have had medical insurance since graduating college. I don't know the numbers of uninsured Americans, but if you are one of those then my heart goes out to you. I don't know how you do it, let alone survive.

However, this post is about tracking your medical expenses in the hopes to get a nice tax deduction and $$$ back from the government.

How to Track Your Medical Expenses
I'm not going to get into the merits of HMO vs PPO suffice to say that if you have no medical problems get the HMO, if you have legit medical problems, Type 1 Diabetes, Chrons, or like me, Adhesive Arachnoiditis, you want the PPO.

Why? Well, after I meet my deductable, then I start paying a percentage of each visit or procedure. Once I reach a certain amount spent out of my wallet, I don't have to spend any more and the insurance picks up everything at 100%.

I'll save the nitty gritty of HMO vs PPO for another post.

Since 2016, I know I've done a diservice to our finances by not tracking what we are spending medically. Even though I reach my out of pocket maximum that doesn't include perscriptions, and now other things can be covered by FSA's like massages and acupuncture.

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I need to take advantage of this in 2019 and start now with writing down monthly expenses.

I have alotted a page in my bujo next to personal expenses for this, now the tricky part is filling it in, or in my case, finding the time and energy to fill it in. Shame I didn't think of this when I was setting up my bullet journal in December.

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March 2019 Bullet Journal Set Up

How is March here already?

I was telling my mom yesterday that all the grand plans for 2019 have not worked out at all so far. She laughed and said it's only eight weeks in.

"Not good enough!" screams my inner perfectionist.

March 2019 Bullet Journal Set Up
Without further ado, I actually got my March bullet journal done in advance so there's that. I'm going to give myself a pat on the back for that.

I'm still loving my new month view calendar format but I think I'm going to make room for the month title at the top if I can, in April.

I may have to draw up some practice sketches first.
I kept my weekly's in the same horizontal layout because I'm really digging the overall appeal on the page.

I got some amazing wreath stamps, not that I minded drawing my own in January and February, but February has been such a weird month I needed a bit of a breather and hand drawing wreaths was not in my wheel house.

The stamps are gorgeous and I just colored them in with a tombow to make sure that they didn't bleed through the paper.



I intentionally added a menu section on now that my Whole30 is over. I'm debating adding a grocery list on the page below. I used the space below in February for what crafting project I wanted to complete that week.

BT Dubs, did you know that March is National Crafting Month! So definitely look for my Chronic Pain Crafts posts this coming month!



My bubble emotion and energy tracker has been looking awesome in February. In fact, I think it looks like Jupiter. Not sure if February and Jupiter have a corralation, but it looks cool. I haven't picked my emotion colors for March yet...maybe I should go with a Mars theme?

I kept my main tracker page the same because I really like the fact that I've ordered each category in keeping with my daily schedule.

Hope this gives you some inspiration this month! Get out there are get planning.

If you don't have a bullet journal yet or are looking to start one, you can start at any point in the year.

Fun fact, I started my first one in March!

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If you shop through any of my links in this post, you help support this blog at zero cost to you. Thank you for your consideration.

February 2019 Bullet Journal Spread

Where did January go?

Seriously?

Well, February is here and so is my bullet journal set up for the month. Last year, I opted for a sleek minimalism scheme that really didn't speak to my artist's soul.

I'm working on a balance between super detailed and artistic and simplicity in 2019.

Thing's I've changed up are a full calendar for the month at a glance spread.

I've also opted for a horizontal weekly view.

The trackers in January just didn't work for me. The pages were too busy, which made it hard to figure out what was going on.

I went for a colorful visual emotion and energy tracker that I'm looking forward to blending colors for, especially since I fluctuate during the day. Hoping to get a better bead on my adrenal fatigue and the emotions associated with it.

I'm seperating my AM and PM tasks into different columns so I can really tell how I get through the day and the consistency with the night time tasks.

I've also added back in my pain + sleep tracker to the same area.

I also had a nice doolding session one evening while exhausted, it totally made me feel better.

Does Love Lower Your Pain Levels

Last week I talked about how I constantly feel overwhelmed and behind and that is not good for healing from chronic pain.

My word for 2019 is consistency. Part of that consistency is developing a schedule for each day, tasks to follow at particular times, things to do each day. I own the fact that I've totally failed at it so far. However, each week is a new week and last week I really followed my schedule to the letter.

I just about died from exhaustion by Friday, but I also started PT on my shoulder injury Tuesday's and Thursday's.

So I upheld my weekly schedule, but I didn't take into account the physical therapy sessions I was adding in. Which explains why by Friday after my dry needling session I was completely out of gas. I texted #leohusband to figure out dinner because it was just not going to happen.

However, other than my shoulder pain, I didn't have severe adhesive arachnoiditis pain last week.

It's too early to tell if consistency is helping my pain but I'm honest enough to say that I'm not really giving it all. I really need to evaluate where to start.
Does Love Lower Your Pain Levels

Let's break down what habits and scheduling I'm wanting to make and do to follow through and be consistent.

I want to work out in some form every day.

That's yoga, walking, or physical therapy exercises. I would really like to add in strength training this year.

I want to keep up with household tasks.

That's putting things away when I get them out as soon as I'm done using them, making sure I have a place for everything, and staying on top of chores, like laundry or menu planning.

I want to eat healthy no matter the circumstances.

That's eating Paleo or Whole30 at friend's houses, family gatherings, or even date nights. Holiday's and Birthday's excluded.

It's Monday of February and I can honestly say I at least worked out every day of January, except for the week I had strep.

However, I'm beginning to realize changing everything at once is exhausting. I mean seriously exhausting. I can hang in for about 4 to 5 days but when it comes to the last 2-3 days of the week.

So what is the answer, Dr. Dispenza would probably tell me I'm on the right track, and to add in love (and forgiveness) to everything I do.

Which is what I'm trying now.

Doing my tasks with love in mind. Very similar to the KonMari Method where she shows gratitude and thanks for everything in her life...even the trash can!

Today I thanked the tea I was drinking for waking up my brain and giving me antioxidant power throughout my body.

Since this is a new concept, I'm pretty sure it's going to take some time to adjust and incorporate it on top of my three goals, but I really feel it fits in well with the new Adina I'm trying to create.

Simply because it speaks to my main 2019 goals:

Consistency and
Kindness

Bullet Journal Daily Routine 2019

2018 was a year that I tried to get things right and failed miserably. In that failure, I realized what I needed to do to change and that change was being consistent in all things.

Basically, it's learning to be a baby boomer. It's learning to be an adult. It's tidying every day. Putting things back where they belong. Not being a Scarlett O'Hara and waiting until tomorrow. Doing it now. Doing it even when you're tired and sick and struggling because not doing things is what got you into this mess. So do them.

2018 I plotted out two days, one day where I feel great, and one day where I'm having a pain flare.

Bullet Journal Daily Routine 2019
The problem was I never freaking followed either of my plans. I didn't even test them out to see if they were actionable, practical, or achievable.

This year I have taken a different approach. I have what I want to do each day plotted out but I'm waiting until I have a months worth of data before I fill the times or the chart in.

How long does my morning routine take on average?

How long does it take to blog and get pictures for my blog?

How long will menu planning, making the grocery list and doing the actual grocery shopping take?

So many questions, so little data.

I started out strong at the beginning of January only to be thrown a complete curveball with getting strep and a sinus infection. However, part of consistency means not giving up and getting back on that horse. February is right around the corner and my stopwatch is waiting to be activated.

2019 Budgeting and How to Track your Spending

I spent 2018 trying to figure out what I actually spend on myself that is not medically related expenses. It was hard and I failed miserably. I just plain gave up in June. I was still spending way more than I should. Shopping is an addiction and it's one I've had for a long, long, time.

I do want to say up front that I fully recognize that I am a child of privilege and I have distinct advantages that some readers do not have or have had or ever will have.

So let's dig into my first world problems...

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Is a massage a selfish frivolous perk? Paying for a pedicure because scrunching up or bending over to do my toes with arachnoiditis is not pleasant, is that extra? Well, yes and no.

I went almost a year without "getting my toes did" and the resulting ingrown toenails on my big toes were not pleasant either.

What is necessary? What is medical? What is a perk? What are additional expenses?

Back to the massage, I will say I like get a massage once a month because it helps my chiropractic adjustments last longer, but I definitely don't go enough because I usually spent my money elsewhere, like on pajamas, bras, makeup or haircare.

However, I cut my own hair every other time and dye it myself. So what gives?

I also get Botox.

It helps with my headaches, or lack thereof, due to my arachnoiditis, which my insurance refuses to pay for. Insert obscene gesture here...but I get it. It's also helping the aging and the wrinkles so it's an elective expense. Honestly, though, I'd pay anything to not get headaches all the time like I used to back in 2016. Botox is a huge expense and if something happened, it would be the first thing I would cut. That said, I am tracking it for budgeting this year.

2019 Budgeting and How to Track your Spending

Honestly, I had to make a decision to what categories I wanted to allot my monthly spending, and I wanted to go back to the cash system that helped me do things like pay off my car early, pay for grad school, and put money in savings.

January 2019 is my flagship month with me keeping spending to a bare minimum to reset my mind, spirit, and body for what I really needed. I am tracking exactly what I spend regardless of staying within my allotment. This way I'm hoping to see a pattern.

Here are my categories of spending, and a few I don't use thrown in for examples:

Personal Upkeep:
Makeup, hair styling (products, cut and color), skin products or treatments, waxing, pedicures, manicures (I don't get these but other people do).

I don't wear makeup everyday so what I have lasts. However, I do go through quite a bit of skin care products so I can't wait to track that this year.

Self Care:
Massages, acupuncture, botox (or other medical procedure), yoga class, gym membership, box subscription etc.

Let's talk about massages again. This year I want to see if I can get a chiropractic adjustment and then, in two weeks, get a massage. I want to flip them back and forth to see if I can cut down on both of those expenses this year.

Clothes:
I think this category is pretty self-explanatory but everything clothing related from your blouse to your shoes and your socks to your handbag.

I think I mentioned back at the beginning of 2018 when I was cleaning out my closet that I shopped my way to happiness through the tragedy of getting adhesive arachnoiditis? Well, when I cleaned out and moved to a capsule wardrobe, I resolved to not buy anything else unless it was replacing something that was worn out or broken. I did this for the most part. I can list the clothing I bought for the entire year of 2018. Can you?

3 sweatshirts at Costco to replace worn out, stinky ones.
3 t-shirts at Target, no replacement, just needed something in between super casual and business casual.
3 Dresses - 1 Anne Taylor and 1 Michael Kors from Goodwill and 1 designer dress from Stitch Fix for my 20th reunion
2 Skirts - 1 Banana Republic pencil skirt and 1 Anne Klein circle skirt from Goodwill
1 pair of Kut from the Kloth jeans from Goodwill
2 pairs of Lunya Restore pj's
6 Third Love Bras (2 of which are a black and nude strapless) (my biggest category expense)

That's it, folks.

I would like to say that I personally know the best Goodwill in the entire state of Texas and they always have amazing clothes that usually still have the price tags from the original store attached. No, I'm not telling you where it is.

So even when I do buy clothes, they're not crazy expensive. I save money for the big stuff, like my 20th reunion dress...which will probably be my 40th birthday dress when that rolls around in 2020.

What my 2019 financial tracking isn't going to cover are my other necessary medical alternative treatments like medicine, supplements, or dry needling.

I'm starting a separate medical expenses tracking collection in my bullet journal for those.

Wish me luck. Ok, I'm done complaining about my stupid lack of responsible spending in 2018, which is a problem of total privilege, and I resolve to do better in 2019.

Tidying Up with Marie Kondo on Netflix

I've often listed as cleaning out one of my finest selfcare moments. If I'm upset or stressed, I tend to clean. I know I've mentioned this before but when #breadwinnerbff and I were roomie's in undergrad...we would know if each other had a bad day based solely on how spotless the apartment was when getting home.

I distinctly remember her walking in once to me violently cleaning the floor and saying in a mildly amused tone, "So, how was your day?" We still laugh about it.

So my house is relatively clean and tidy. Monday was my tidying day, and I'm not ready to KonMari the attic or garage yet so I did the next best selfcare thing I could think of.

I put Tidying Up with Marie Kondo on Netflix.

I've talked about the KonMarie Method extensively because it's awesome and it works. I love it, you should love it. Read her book. Check out her YouTube videos. Watch the Netflix show.

Seriously.

I can tell my hormone cycle is making a shift because I'm so dang tired. I literally Googled "Yoga for When You Don't Want to Do Yoga" this morning. Ugh.

I need some selfcare y'all.

I've been waiting to watch the show since I saw it drop on Netflix over the holidays. 5 minutes into episode one I'm totally hooked and want to binge watch so bad but I'm going to restrain myself. Ok, so I may have watched 30 mins into episode two, but I really need to get to work around the house, but my almost 90 minutes of selfcare was worth it.

I will say overall the show is informative, heartwarming, and peaceful. Marie's calm nature washes over you and you do feel refreshed and rested after an episode is over.

2019 Bullet Journal Set Up

It's hard to believe we are already one week into 2019. Last Saturday, I looked at #leo husband and said that I couldn't belive that Monday was 2018. It felt like 2018 was three weeks ago, not 5 days ago. Man, that time dilation field gets me every dang time. #stargate #nerdqueen

So much has happened in one week. From taking all the decorations down, which after this meme by a friend, I felt totally cool with procrastinating...

...which was great because with all the family and friend fun I was totally behind on setting up my third bullet journal for 2019. Ticks me off though because last year, I was telling myself that I needed to start earlier next year, like the beginning to mid-December early. Well, that didn't effing happen. Ugh, best-laid plans of mice and men.

Well, with my niece's here I got to work on it because they love all things art. I've even tried convincing my oldest niece to try one. Showed her a couple of videos and she dug it. I love corrupting, bringing others over to the dark side, inspiring those around me to dig cool things that aren't mainstream.

Like Bullet Journals.


2019 Bullet Journal Set Up

This year I feel like I streamlined my collections to what worked and didn't work. It's an evolving process which I like. I'm also super stoaked about my brush lettering. Half of my setup was just having fun trying to come up with beautiful titles or unique ways to put the letters on the page.

What I kept the same:

My health/body tracker is mostly the same with the exception of I went to measurement only, instead of weight and measurement. That may change but I feel too many negative emotions are tied up by my scale. I want to see improvement in my tape measure, not the scale.

My Satan's Waterfall Log was super handy last year so I'm keeping it mostly the same but with a few new additions for symptom tracking.

My replacement tracker is exactly the same because I made it last year on a seperate page and never put it in my bujo.

Expenses, after tracking last year, I spend about $200-300 a month on myself. It seems like a lot but it is mostly medical related "perks" which I will talk about in a later post. I save what I don't spend and redeposit it at the end of the year into savings.

What's new:

I changed up the design for the year at a glance from a horizontal layout to a vertical one. I added the month view calendar above the item lists.

I have a Goal's page with my goal of consistency and kindness. I left blank spaces so I can add to the list as I become aware of the areas I need work on.

Vacation and Gifts have been narrowed down to one page instead of a two-page spread.

I cut movies because that was way too hard to keep up with, we watch a lot of movies, and increased my reading spread to two pages with 24 spaces because my goal is to read 24 books this year.

I have a perfect day "Daily Routine" which I haven't been able to reach yet, but I am building habits that will get me there. Although I will say part of the problem is my complete lack of a sleeping schedule from the holidays. Ugh.

I made a dedicated Whole 30 planning spread, and I'm hoping to do two Whole30's this year, I'd love to shoot for one each quarter but that ambitious goal is going to be a 2020 one.

I added a weekly tasks page because I tend to lose focus and do what's immediate and urgent that day. I really want to get into a good schedule because consistent daily routine reduces inflammation.

I have two blank pages left for anything that may come up later in the year that I feel is necessary to add.

2019 is going to be a great year. I've got a basic handle on my adhesive arachnoiditis. #leohusband isn't going to be in Europe for 8 months out of 12. We have big ideas and goals for us as a couple and can't wait to see them come to fruition.

Happy New Year my lovely readers!