Weekly Challenge: Water

If I started a support group entitled Big Ideas:Small Follow Through, would anyone else feel inclined to join me? As I've mentioned in the past I love to get excited and feel like I can conquer any challenge...and then I either move on to the next or fall flat, get discouraged, and give up. Enter The Comeback Season! To resolve my conflict with feeling like I neglect this blog and stick to the master plan, I have decided to start implementing weekly challenges. These will be small things that I've been needing to work on that I can focus on each week. So check in every Monday and I will issue a new challenge to start on for the coming week. Some may piggyback on another, or just be something that may improve our way of life. As always, I'm open to suggestions as we go along as well! 

Challenge #1: Drink More Water!!! 

As I'm sure you know, our bodies are 60% water so it's no surprise that when we're not getting enough H20 we're not at our best. Maintaining a balance of fluids will help maintain essential functions in the body like digestion, circulation, and the transportation of key nutrients throughout the body. Common sense tells me that if our bodies are in balance we get more energy and a brighter mood as a result which really is the whole point, right? The Institute of Medicine recommends that woman should consume 2.2 liters of water a day to maintain this balance. This is about 9 cups. My drinking glass that I am committed to keeping at my desk at work holds 16 oz. If my math is correct ...

that means I need to fill up (and drink!) 5 glasses each day to reap the benefits of hydration! Sounds doable to me! My challenge to you this week is to find a glass/cup/hose/scoop,whatever, do the math, and commit to getting enough water. 

Game Changer

Confession...uh, I mean...update time!  We're now headed into month four of The Comeback Season and as I'm sure you assumed, this is getting hard!  Not January, January was easy.  We were motivated and focused...and really didn't have any other choice.  February is some what of a blur, but I am pretty sure it consisted of moving, rearranging, stacking, cramming, and a lot of deep breathing.  The hubs and the little one both entered new phases; him with his career and her with the speed at which she can get into everything!  Following the adjustments of February, March brought reality. 

The reality of my long list of coping mechanisms, some of which have been counter productive to my season such as shopping, eating, and overall laziness! So in true Comeback Season fashion, I've been making an attempt to turn these realities into learning tools and opportunity for improvement. There is something about having a stressful work week that draws me to need something shiny and new to reward my hard work. It's much like how a busy morning should be accompanied by a Starbucks beverage...and doughnut, of course. Rather than throwing in the towel, I've gone in search of ways to keep on track, feed my coping mechanisms, and reward our successes. 

As a Pinterest junky, I started there. To help me justify my addiction I am always looking for ways to use this brilliant site as a tool.  I am constantly seeing things that I want to have, see, or do so rather than just aimlessly pin and re-pin sparkly things my friends are also drawn to, I've created a Rewards Board.

 As I come across things I think I can't live without I will pin them as a reward and in the description I decide what I will be rewarded for.

Example: 

This has also doubled as a great tool to set mini goals. One thing I've learned this far in the process is that the big goal is inspiring in the beginning but I need stepping stones along the way to act as a road map. 

I know you're thinking that all these rewards are a little counter productive to our spending fast, but don't worry, I've got that covered as well. We added a few new rules to the fast. Basically the spending fast includes all regular income, but anything extra is free game. This has led to a little creativity, but I've found several easy ways to bring in a some extra. If you haven't used consignment before, I highly recommend it for shopping and selling. I recently covered Baby Girls entire next stage wardrobe at a Just Between Friends Consignment Sale and still can't believe how much I was able to get for so little! I also love Plato's Closet as another great consignment store because they will pay you for what they want to sell and give you back the rest. There's no waiting and hoping something sells. I've already enlightened you all on my furniture consignment find and I'm happy to report all of my furniture has sold...and I have a cutesy new jean jacket to show for it! 

While I'm waiting to become a millionaire blogger, I'll also continue to follow my "every penny counts" moto and take full advantage of our local Bottle Drop (if you don't know what that it, go to the link! This is the best idea that has happened to soda cans ...and my garage...since the  can deposit!)  

And my biggest score has come from Amazon Trade-In...I can't believe I didn't know about this in the past! This has also helped us clear out a little space! Basically you can go to their trade in site and put in the ISBN code of whatever book you'd like to trade in and if they want it they will give you an amount they are willing to "pay" you for it. They actually pay in Amazon gift cards but considering Amazon has anything you could ever want, I don't see that as a problem. I'm two shipping days away from bringing you this blog from my new Kindle Fire HDX thanks to the box of textbooks we've been storing for the last few years! Oh, and did I mention that they even pay the shipping?! 

So with all that, I will leave you with my renewed commitment to this blog and my mission. 

What have you all been doing to stay on track?