Tag Archives: goals

life, lifestyle, Motherhood, New Year

Hello 2025

It is that time of year again where I write my blog post about all of my New Year’s goals and acknowledge that it has been forever since I have been on here and blah blah blah.

Well, it is a new year, it has been a long time since I have written, and it is okay. I am actually proud that last year I wrote six blogs, it was definitely an improvement from the year prior. Of course I have a goal to post more this year, I want to publish a blog once a month (at the very least). I think that is doable. The hold back I have had with posting I think, is that my content is changing so much. I have been in a shift, really for the last few years, where my blog and I are evolving. We started off silly and tragic, then shifted fully into style and fashion, now… we have been trying to figure it out. So much has happened over the last four and a half years, both good and bad, but priorities and just life itself has changed. I met the love of my life, married him, and had the best baby boy ever (who is now a one year old toddler and is absolutely everywhere).

I still love style and fashion, but to be honest, I have let it slide… A LOT. It is something I want to get back into this year, mostly for the reason that I want to feel good about myself. I have written time and time again, that feeling good in an outfit gives you such a sense of confidence, and I want that back. I need that back. So I am making changes this year.

The last two years I have had the same New Year’s resolution: Change My Entire Outlook On Life (see the 2023 post here and the 2024 post here). How naive of me to think my entire life could change in a year, and even after adding a bonus second year. My sister and I talked IN DEPTH about changing our entire lives, and we still discuss it today. We came to the conclusion that year one was a “prep” year. Although things did not LOOK different with us, we felt different, our minds were different and changing. Year two was when I thought it would all be put into action, but I am still not there yet. You always hear change doesn’t happen over night. I KNOW this, but here we are on year three and still working towards our goal.

I think part of the delay (for lack of a better word) is that along my way on this journey, I am figuring out exactly what my goal(s) in life is and fine tuning it. It is funny how one of my goals last year, and is again this year, is to slow down, and then realizing all of this change is SLOW. I guess it all goes together and is a lesson to be learned.

This past year, and mostly the last few months, I have been able to envision CLEARLY what I want for my life and my family’s lives, and it makes me so excited. I day dream about it all the time and it is like watching a preview to a movie I really want to see. My husband and I want to move. We do not want to stay in California. He never has (and has left once before), I don’t know if I ever cared too much about moving. I think I thought about it more when my sister moved out of state, but even then I had no plans. But when I met my husband for the first time in Montana, my eyes were opened. I still don’t think I have ever seen a more beautiful place. A place that just gives you feelings. I just felt such a sense of peace out in the open land, away from a big city, with fresh air and mountains. I want that. I want to feel like that every day. It took me a while to admit that. I thought about it A LOT to myself, but was afraid what it would mean to say it out loud. What actions it would spark. I have never moved away like that. The farthest I have lived is Orange County. But I am ready, and not just ready, EXCITED and CRAVING. I want it. I want the change. I want a new place for my son to explore (not that he has explored a lot here, he has only been walking since November, but I want him to grow up somewhere else).

So what do my husband and I envision for us? We want land, we want to build a house and a shop (maybe even together), and we want simple. I want our dogs to have room to run, I want goats and chickens, he wants horses and cows, I am determined to add in a donkey and alpaca somehow 😆. I just want the simple, slow life where we spend our days and nights together and exploring. I want my son and future children to play outside and not care about screens. I want to have to drag them inside when it is time for dinner. I want summer dinners outside under beautiful sunsets, and family time around a fire pit under the stars. I want a cozy house when it is winter, with a wood burning fire place and piles of warm blankets. I want both of our families to come camp on our property and just let the cousins run wild and all be together. I dream of all of this. I yearn for it. The want is clawing at me in a motivating way.

I know there is a trend of this lifestyle. It can be seen all over social media. But I have made it a point to start following all of those accounts that have the lifestyle I dream about, and I watch their posts and stories not in comparison, but as inspiration. It is like a live vision board that constantly gets updated with new things.

What are my goals for this year then?

  • Work towards our family vision, which is definitely a work in progress and will take some time
  • I want to continue to slow down. I have learned it is a practice, you cannot just decide to slow down, especially when you have been a go-go-go girl all of your life like me
    • Not only do I want to slow down for myself, but I want to slow down for my son. I do not want him to have a rushed and stressed mentality like I have and grew up with
  • Along with slowing down, I want to be more intentional with my time. This has a lot of factors:
    • I don’t want to waste my time on useless things, like scrolling social media endlessly. I want to scroll with a purpose, or give myself an allotted time and stick with it
    • I try really hard to be intentional with my son, but there is always room for improvement
    • I need more intentional time with my husband
    • I don’t want to waste my time on drama, or complaining, or gossiping. I have much better uses for it
    • Lastly, I don’t want to give my time to people who do not deserve it or do not respect it
  • As always, I want to read and write more
  • I want to make more homemade food (my husband is the chef, but I have had such a spark to expand my cooking skills and make more things from scratch)
  • I want to get healthy
  • My last goal, which is a new one for me… I want to be more adventurous this year. This doesn’t mean crazy things. One idea I have already is to kayak. We live on a lake. My husband and our roommate have kayaks that they never take out. I want to get my own kayak and have family outings on the lake. I want to go camp more places. I want to do more hikes or explore more places nearby or close enough to be a day trip
    • I can be such a homebody, which is fine, but I need to push myself to get out there. I know once I finally get out there, it is so worth it. I think my struggle is that our family is so busy already, adding in new things can feel exhausting. There needs to be a balance of activities and recoup weekends at home.

Of course I have more small goals within all of these goals, but this is the general idea. I am excited for this year. I really feel deep down that this is going to be a year of significant changes in myself. I am pointed in the direction I want, and I am going to keep working and building until I get to where I want, giving myself grace where I need it. Change is slow, and slow is okay. Slow is what we want. Cheers to 2025 ✨

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lifestyle, the.B.Law

Changing My Entire Outlook On Life

It’s me. Hi. I’m the problem, it’s me.

I don’t care how often that lyric is getting used by basic girls around the world, I still love it. I am the problem I am never on here and hopefully I will be the pushing change to come back.

Anywho, hello! Happy 2023! Not going to lie, not a fan of the number but whatever, can’t change the name of the year because I am weird. We are 20 days in and I am fighting the urge to feel behind because my sister and I decided we are doing this year different. We are going to give ourselves grace and space. Working on stopping the toxic mindsets of needing to change everything about us all at once. Instead our plan is to change everything about us, but slowly and one piece at a time. We call it… “Changing Our Entire Outlook On Life”, and I am here for it.

Last year was a big year. An exciting year! But an equally stressful year. My fiancé and I moved in together in February, and in November got married. So great! Like dream status. But that all came with a lot of stress and a lot of pressure put on myself by myself. I will do another post on the wedding and wedding stress later, but all of last year was basically consumed with that.

This year I am focusing on myself, my husband, and what makes me happy, no matter how small! My sister and I started off by making a list of little things that make us feel happy or put together. Simple things like having our nails painted (which I haven’t at all these last 20 days), making cute lattes at home, and dressing in our color aesthetic. It is hard to explain, but we basically want to make our aesthetic our lifestyle. I know that makes no sense to most, but if you get it, good for you.

These last 20 days I have been working on internally fighting the pressure to be at the gym every day, change my entire diet, and be hitting every single goal I wish I could be. Instead I have been giving myself time. Time to reflect on what I really want to accomplish, the person I want to be, and the wife I want to be. I really haven’t gotten that many tangible things done in this first month, but I think getting my mind right is a good first place to start.

So here is to the new year. I say it every year, but this time I truly have feelings this will be THE YEAR. The year that is mine, and not everyone else’s because I keep giving it to them. Sorry everyone, but it is my turn.

PS – my hair is brown now. What can I say, new year new me.

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lifestyle, the.B.Law

Can We Just Start Over?

Wow, I have not posted since October… shame on me. Not to use the same excuse that everyone has, but 2020 was rough. It started off great and we thought it was going to be like THE YEAR, and then the rug got pulled out from under us. AND THEN, to let the year come full circle, I am spending the first two weeks of the long awaited new year IN QUARANTINE because yes, my whole house got COVID (we are all fine). But maybe this is a good thing? Because 2020 started off great and then went downhill. Maybe since my 2021 is starting off at the bottom of that hill, it can only go up from here? I am hopeful.

Aside from 2020 being different, and hard, there were a couple great things for me. I turned 30 in February and didn’t die (but then the world actually ended… I don’t think those events are related), and I got to have an epic 30th trashy birthday party. The other amazing thing was finding a boyfriend and love! So 2020 may be the year of the pandemic, but it will always be the year I found my person and got to visit Montana three times to see him and move him home. A big enough event for me to say 2020 wasn’t all that bad.

Two of my sisters and I sat down this past Monday and set goals for the new year, but kind of broke them down into weekly and monthly goals with check-ins. I know it has only been a few days but it really has me motivated. My goals include getting my brand Tragic Girls H.Q. up and going, working on my writing (poem collection and book), and obviously this blog and my Instagram that goes with it. My relationship with this blog has really changed over the years and fell in place with where I was in life. I was pretty steady (I think) about three years ago, then post break up I realized I used my blog as a clutch. I was literally pumping out content about three times a week and planning and doing most of the work on Sundays. That wasn’t a bad thing and I really enjoyed it. It was what I needed at that time in my life. Then the next year I came out of hiding and started going out with my younger sister and had A TON of fun, but didn’t leave as much time for blogging. This last year as I said above, there was the pandemic, falling in love, and I still didn’t leave myself much time for the blog.

NOW THIS YEAR I want to get back to it. I want to continue documenting my adventures and all of the new adventures that are going to come. My goal for this year is to post every Friday. If I get a second in for the week then go me, but bare minimum I need a put a post out every Friday. I am ready for the challenge and ready to get back to creating. I need it!

Thanks for being along for the ride. Content will vary between life, adventures, styles, advice, all of it! Let’s do it!

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lifestyle, the.B.Law

2019 Goals!

This year, I think I will just use “goals” in place of “resolutions”. After all they are goals, plus my resolutions the last couple years have not been completed so maybe they need some new juju.

So here we are, my goals for 2019:

  1. Finish my course (which I will tell you about after I finish it)! This is my number one. It is so important I am even giving myself a time frame! End of March I need to have all three books read. HOLD ME TO IT!
  2. Buy new car in maybe the summer?? Since my commute has tripled I have over 120k miles on my barely five year old car. There is nothing wrong with it, but I want to trade it in before it is literally worth nothing. Plus I would rather have a new car with a warranty than worry about a car with a million miles start to break down. Personal preference here. Plus I have had a car payment for forever so why not keep it going right? lol (also now I get to work local two days a week and I carpool at least once so I would be putting less miles on a new car)
  3. Move out in the fall/winter. This is a huge goal which will totally depend on current circumstances at the time. If all goes as planned I will move out. I trust God will guide me to what I am meant to do and where I am meant to be. If it is not time for me yet, then that is okay. (You guys I literally daydream about decorating my own apartment all the time. It is going to be the cutest!)
  4. Okay these next few aren’t giant goals like above but still important to me. I want to create more and better content for my blog and Instagram. I don’t want it to just be for cute outfits (don’t worry, there will ALWAYS be cute outfits), but I want this to be my space to be creative and be me. I think I have already started to tap into that this year with more personal posts, but I want to continue and grow with that. Also Tab and I have a ton of fun ideas for content.
  5. This is basically the second part of goal 4. Not necessarily trying to put a number and pressure on it, but I want to get to 5k Instagram followers by the end of the year. For some of you that is chump change, but that will be almost double my current following and I think that is a good number to grow to (obviously the more the merrier).
  6. Kind of another branch off of 4. I really want to go to places, like travel to places, but I am not in the position to do that right now which is okay. I decided I want to try and do as many “local” travels as I can. Places I can drive to if anything. I have already started a list with Tab. Some places include: Venice Beach (BECAUSE I HAVE NEVER BEEN), Joshua Tree (which us girls BETTA BE GOIN TO in March), the sand dunes in Death Valley, the Neon Museum in Vegas, and more! I know some of these might seem silly to some, but I am super excited about it! I would love to plan at least one “travel” a month but we will see how it goes. Please let me know any suggestions!
  7. Aside from the blog, I have had a book idea for a few years now. I have planned some and have even started a chapter. It has now developed into a series and I am so excited!! My goal this year is to fully plan out the three books (using notecards as suggested by Tab who’s friend does it).
  8. Second part of goal 7, I want to write ten chapters of the series. These can be chapters from any book, I just need to finish ten. The reason I can write from any book is because each chapter is a different story and as long as I plan it all first I will have the chronological order.
  9. Pay off debt, obviously.
  10. Get fit, OBVIOUSLY (already started!)!

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lifestyle, the.B.Law

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a great and safe time. I know this post seems late, right? Well my “blogging new year” didn’t start until yesterday. Why? Well my coworker was in jury duty SINCE BEFORE THANKSGIVING! Isn’t that ridiculous?! So for the last two months I was trying to do my work while trying to cover her work, AND THEN my other coworker is on a three week vacation AANNDD THEN (I wish my font could get bigger there for emphasis) my manager went on vacation for a week. So yeah, I have worked late every day except one when I had to leave for a dentist appointment. That was the only day I saw a glimpse of the sun after work, not even the sun but a sunset. Anyways her first day back was yesterday and I was all pumped to hit the ground running this past weekend and I get the flu. THE FREAKING FLU! I spent all weekend in bed and even had to call off yesterday because I still didn’t feel right and I didn’t want to get my coworkers sick. Three out of the four of us share a small office, so close air is shared. I am feeling mostly better besides my throat which aches when I swallow and eat and I am getting a horrendous cough. So a great start off to the new year, but we keep on keeping on.

I am excited to get this year going but I feel nervous like it is already going to go by so fast, 2017 was like a blur! I think a big part of last year going so quick was the fact that I was counting down to my sister’s wedding events in April, May, and June so half of my year literally flew. Then the second half was recovering and then the holidays. This year I hope to just take one step at a time. I so far have no major plans. My sisters, BFFF, and I planned a one night Plan Springs getaway and I feel myself getting excited for that I am like dude, just chill. Apart from how fast it went, 2017 was a growing year for the.B.Law. I got more comfortable in my niche, grew immensely in followers, and even started collaborating. It gets me excited for 2018 to see what it will bring.

My resolutions the last couple years had great intentions but really were not ideal. I don’t always take into account how busy I am, then I set these goals that on paper with no clock work great, but when it comes down to it, I just don’t have time for everything no matter how hard I try. Then I am just left feeling disappointed instead of accomplished. If you remember my last resolutions they were like a list. This year I want to keep is simple. I want to actually get healthy inside and out. I know everyone always says that every year, and I do not mean a strict diet because I have never really done one of those and when you live with a boy it is kind of impossible… at least with my man-child. What I mean is I want to actually pay attention to what I am putting in my body and on my body. I want to always try and make the healthier choice when I can. I even got my favorite Starbs the other morning, a white chocolate mocha no whip (because why do I need to put 70 calories on top of my already a million?), with almond milk instead of the normal 2%. I mean it was different and not my favorite, but it is something I can get used to. I even bought vanilla almond milk creamer from the store. That one is pretty good I must say.

Brando got a juicer from his dad for Christmas and we have made a couple juices. They were not terrible but I did feel like I was drinking a salad. We will learn. But I think making the better choice will help make this not feel like something we need to do, but want to do and I am hoping it just changes into a lifestyle. I obviously need to get back to the gym too, but I bought a 21 day yoga pass for a nearby studio that I am super excited to get into. I feel like yoga could be my thing.

For skin I want to start reading labels and look at the ingredients for make up and skin care. I want to find better brands (the first one I already love is Pacifica!). I recently found a new one at Target called Love Beauty & Planet. I bought their lavender body wash and I am obsessed! But I will go more into products I have found at a later time. If you have any recommendations please let me know!

For the blog I want to work on consistency and content. I am guilty of just throwing a quick few words together about what I wore and posting it. I want to give you all more quality posts and I apologize for the more recent ones that have been lacking, you deserve better.

As I said I hope you all had a great new year and are ready to get going (or if you have been going this last week good for you! LOL!) So cheers to the new year! I think 2018 will be great!

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Favorite Things, lifestyle, the.B.Law

Hanging Out in La La Land

I feel the need to express my shameless obsession and love for La La Land. I saw it a few weeks ago and have literally been living in my own “La La Land” ever since. After seeing the beautiful masterpiece I immediately purchased the soundtrack and have kid you not, listened to it at least one time through EVERY-DAY-SINCE. It just makes me happy. I even have to be careful when I am listening to it with my earphones at my desk at work because I catch myself trying to sing and dance, which may be frowned upon by my cubicle neighbors for my not so charming tone. But you know what? In my La La Land I have a fantastic voice so oh well!

This movie is just one of those that makes you feel like you too can achieve your dreams, and be fabulous doing it, and be so artsy that you had no idea your inner self was a cute hipster. It even made me want to go down to LA for fun and I HATE LA. Well I hate the traffic but who cares?! In La La Land people embrace traffic and use freeway overpasses as their stage! Totally realistic to walk away from your car on a stopped freeway overpass and dance with a stranger on top of another stranger’s car, like you totally won’t get beat up for that. The world is your oyster though right?! But like, am I right, because that truly is a strange saying, what does an oyster have to do with anything?

Well that is neither here nor there, the point is I saw La La Land and I now want to make my dreams come true. Positive vibes only! Who is with me?! Come and live in La La Land with me. We will accept happy people only, cranks can go live in an oyster or something because NOTHING is going to bring me down!

“It’s another day of sun!”

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lifestyle, the.B.Law

2017 New Year’s Resolutions

Happy New Year everyone! I hope you all had a fun and safe New Year’s Eve, I know I did! My boyfriend and I did a repeat from last year and went to Amanda’s, from Glitter It Gold, house. It was so fun again. We made dinner, well Amanda made dinner because she is an amazing cook and I helped by chopping up mushrooms, had champagne and cocktails all night, had her homemade dessert (ice cream and lemon-something-something bunt cake), played Card Against Humanity, then played corn hole in the living room until midnight. Their other friends came too, who I like to consider my friends as well now. They had to leave for another party but came back right after midnight. We all thought we would barely make it to midnight but we did! Once the other couple came back the three of us girls ended up staying up until 3:00AM! It was so nice and we didn’t have to worry about driving or rides or anything.

I can’t believe it is 2017. I still can’t get over the fact of how fast 2016 went. I hope this new year slows down a little. When I was thinking about my resolutions for this year, I realized that they are going to be very similar to last year’s. Not that I failed last year, I did attempt at all of them but I think I could have put in more effort. This year I want to be better and try harder, find my inner motivation.

2017 New Year’s Resolutions:

  1. The obvious… working out and eating healthy– this is always one of my goals and one of almost everyone else’s, but this year I have new motivation. In June we are going to Cancun for my sister’s wedding for a week and I want to look my best… and I have NEVER felt my worst. I have ben working out pretty regularly but I guess I have been doing so lazily. Just doing cardio mostly and not being too serious. I don’t even want to see myself in a bikini right now. I have actually been really looking forward for the New Year to start this. Apart from working out (better) I am changing my diet. I am going to go gluten free again and this time around I want to start ACTUALLY trying something new. I am so stuck in the few healthy things I know how to make and although I want to try new things, I somehow never sit down to find the time to research and realize how easy some of these things can be. I have already been making meal lists and finding things on Pinterest. I also bought a few new workout things from the Target value spot: pink yoga mat, pink 5 lb. kettle bell, and a pink fitness bag that you can strap your yoga mat to (are we seeing a theme here?). Not only do I want to feel good about my body and get in shape, but I also want to feel better and have more energy.
  2. Reading– My goal last year was to read 6 books but I ended up about 80 pages short of reading 4. I know I can do better than that. Finishing those 80 pages won’t count for 2017 but after that I already have a pile of 5 books with a 6th on the way from The Book of the Month (BOTM) club.
  3. Reading the bible– my bible has a one year plan in the back where it tells you which pages to read every night of the year. I started last year and didn’t make it very far. Getting behind one night isn’t too bad, but more than that and it is easy to not let yourself get so behind. I am really weird about liking to do things in order. Although I got so far behind I could have still started on whatever day I was at but instead I thought I HAD to catch up and it didn’t work . This year I am going to try my best and if I get too far behind, I will still move forward.
  4. Writing– this goal goes for both blogging and writing my novel. I have like 3 started novel ideas that are only just started. I want to post a blog a MINIMUM of twice a week and work on my novel writing at least 3 times a week. That seems pretty reasonable. Even if I do not get much down, writing more often helps.

Okay, reading these resolutions I noticed that they are not similar to last year’s but they ARE last year’s, with an exception of one. I know I can reach all of these goals and I think I will feel better and more fulfilled doing them all regularly. I am excited to see what this new year will bring and what adventures will come.

Happy New Year!

PS- it has been a year since the blog changed names from Tragic Girls to the.B.Law and I still couldn’t be happier with the name choice.


 





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the.B.Law

2016 Year End Wrap up

I think that 2016 has been one of the fastest years yet, at least for me. It honestly feels like it was just New Years and I was at one of my best friend Amanda’s house (aka Glitter It Gold) playing Cards Against Humanity and siping on cocktails all night. Now it is December and we are about to start a whole new year. Why did this year go by so fast? I think a big reason why is because some big things happened. The biggest of all was my boyfriend joining the National Guard.

We live together so I am with him everyday. He went and tested in February and when he came home to tell me how it went he said he was leaving in the middle of April for training. It was so fast! First started the countdown to him leaving so that made time go quick, then came the countdown of him coming back. We had to get everything ready for when he was gone. Our lease in our apartment was going to end in the middle of his training and we were not renewing, so I had to pack us all up and move everything out and live with my sister for the last month. Thank God my other best friend literally helped me pack my entire apartment, I couldn’t have done it without her. My dad, his friend, and my boyfriend’s mom all came on the day of the move to get us out of there. That move was such a huge stress on top of the stress of him being gone at training. He was gone for three and a half months with our only communication through writing letters. It felt like a movie waiting for a letter from him. There was the occasional phone call but since he got to call at weird times I missed quite a few and was so sad and depressed after it. When we finally did get to talk on the phone it was short, one time was literally 23 seconds. Finally though we had a couple good calls, 30 minutes, then they had their family day that he got his phone the whole weekend! (I am not a horrible girlfriend, I didn’t go to family day because I was all set to come out for graduation, and out as in all the way to Georgia).

Finally August came and he came home! Two days after he returned we moved into our new place in Fullerton. I am really grateful for my month at my sisters, it was great to see her every day and to really bond with my niece more (we slept together every night!). Also during his training I had one of my other best friends, Theresa’s, bridal shower and bachelorette party. Luckily while he was gone I had so many events on the weekends that I didn’t have much time to be home alone and bored.

As I said, he came back and we moved into our new apartment the first week of August. Then the next weekend we had Theresa’s wedding (now I have three married best friends! Crazy!) AND THEN Theresa got me an interview at her now old job and I got hired! I absolutely love my job, it’s already been almost four months!

So this year probably felt fast because it had some big things. I am grateful for it all but I am also excited to see what 2017 holds. I want to make new goals and I want to still reach old ones. I will have my resolutions up soon. I hope you all had a great year as well!

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the.B.Law

26 Years Young

So today is my birthday, I am now 26. I don’t fully know how I feel about this. I have been told twice that this is now considered late 20’s but I refuse to believe that. In my opinion 24-26 are considered mid 20’s because hello, they are in the middle! Someone else told me that it is just a downhill slope from here. Again, refusing to believe this! But as my birthday approached I was worried that they were right! I had no urge or want to do anything for my birthday, or at least nothing big. I feel like it would be silly of me to plan something for my birthday because I am 26, it doesnt seem important. But my bfffff came down last night and we went to get milkshakes at Ruby’s on the pier. They were amazing and it was nice and laid back. I love the beach in the winter because there is no one there. Anyways, I was reflecting on the past 25 years of my life since I am starting a new quarter. I was feeling kind of down about it like I don’t have that much to show for it except for a B.A. in English, which basically means I am a bad ass at English, and a job that doesn’t have anything to do with my degree. But there it is, hanging up on the wall in my office.

But as I was starting down the path of self-deprecation I paused. Even though I have a degree that I am not currently using, I still got that degree. In my first quarter of life I had completed all of my schooling from start to finish. Not only do I have an education, I also have a job, a great boyfriend, and great friends. So maybe I am not exactly where I thought I would be at this age, but I am not in a bad place. I now have a whole new quarter to start getting to where I want to be now that I have all of the fundamentals down.

So here is to 26, let’s see what I can do!

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