Living a Joyful Life

1. What We're Eating This Week... Sunday: Stuffed peppers, mashed potatoes, & broccoli Monday: Leftovers Tuesday: Sausage, french fries, broccoli 2. What I'm Reminiscing About... My trip to Turks & Caicos that I took in February of 2012 3. What I'm Loving... My family, being an aunt, spending time with my mom, watching my favorite TV shows, reading 4. What I've Been Up To... I've registered for substitute and special education workshops so that I can work as a sub and a para pro in the school system. 5. What I'm Dreading... Nothing that I can think of 6. What I'm Excited About... Attending my second planner meet up this weekend 7. What I'm Watching/Reading Watching: New seasons of shows --> Pretty Little Liars, The Fosters, The Bachelor, Total Divas, Just Jillian Reading: One Wish in Manhattan -Mandy Baggot (I'm still working my way through some Christmas novels) 8. Wh...

I love reading and watching videos about subscription boxes. I subscribe to Pop Sugar Must Have Box. This is my third year receiving Pop Sugar Must Have box. The box has allowed me to find new brands and products that I've never heard of that I love. This year, in addition to writing a blog post about each month's box, I'm also going to be filming an un-boxing video for my Youtube channel. January 2016 Unboxing Video: Here is what I received in my box this month: ^What Inspired January's box^ ^Information card^ Pehr Designs Pebble Speck Bin Retails for: $40 I absolutely love this bin! It's such a cute design. The fabric is so sturdy and durable and it's a wonderful sized bin, not too huge but not too small either. It's the perfect size. I'm going to use this bin to store some of my planner supplies! This is my favorite product from this month's box! Patchology FlashMasque Trio Retails for: $20 From informa...

1. Etsy Sticker Shops Haul Video I recently made my first purchases on Etsy from sticker shops for my Erin Condren Life Planner. I did a haul video and put it up on my Youtube channel. 2. Weight Loss Update As of January 20th, I've lost 10 lbs! I'm so proud of myself. I still struggle because I have a huge love of sweets but I'm eating more fruit and veggies and snacking less. Besides my morning iced coffee, I'm mostly drinking water. I've also been taking lots of walks. On my next pay day, I want to purchase a FitBit Zip to keep track of my steps. Right now, I'm using my phone but I don't always carry it on me and obviously it won't track my steps unless it's on me or in my purse that I'm carrying or my pocket. Credit:  This Website 3. Past Week in my Erin Condren planner 4. Finding Neverland OBC Soundtrack As I've mentioned in previous posts, I saw Finding Neverland on Broadway in December and I...

Side-Note: I wrote this post on Thursday thinking it was Friday. 1. Rest peacefully, Aunt Barbara My Aunt Barbara passed away last weekend after battling a long illness. She was my mom's best friend and I've called her and her husband aunt & uncle my whole life. The world will be shining a little less brighter without her in it. Rest peacefully, Aunt Barbara. 2. Golden Globes Fashion Here are my choices for best dressed at the Golden Globes. Jenna Dewan Tatum Credit:  E! Leslie Mann Credit:  E! Queen Latifah Credit:  E! Viola Davis Credit:  E! Jennifer Lopez Credit:  US Magazine 3. New Books I recently ordered some new books and I can't wait to read them all. Dancing Through Life -Candance Cameron Bure (birthday present from Mom) A Parcel For Anna Browne -Miranda Dickinson (I purchased) Make A Christmas Wish -Julia Williams (I purchased) The Wild One -Gemma Burgess (used a gift card ...

Reading: Christmas At Lilac Cottage -Holly Martin (yes, I'm still reading Christmas novels.) Listening: Lots of Matthew Morrison, the Finding Neverland OBC soundtrack, and Adele's new album Watching: Tonight I will be watching the season premiere of Pretty Little Liars! Wearing: My normal look: shirts/jeans/sneakers. Eating/Drinking: Iced coffee Feeling: Sad. My beloved Aunt Barbara (she was my mom's best friend and I have called her Aunt my whole life) passed away this weekend after being sick for a long time. I'm so thankful she's not in any more pain but the world is shining a little less brighter without her here. Wanting: My aunt's family, my mom, and her friends to be comforted in their time of need. Loving: my family Grateful For: My family and their health.  Excited About: My second planner meet up later this month  Buying: Groceries

1. Get Healthy Right now, I’m down 7 lbs. from when I started a few months ago. I really have kicked it into gear starting the first of this year though. I’ve been making & eating salad for lunch every day,  eating more fruit, snacking less, and walking more. 2. Find a Full Time Job I love my job that I have right now but I really want to find a full time job. I love working with kids. I love bringing joy to the kids every day and they give me so much joy in return. I really hope that I can find a full time job working with children. I'm taking the substitute workshop in February and after I take that class, I can take the special education workshop class. 3. Blog More/Comment on More Blogs I love blogging but a lot of times I have no idea what to write about. I want to find more topics to blog about. If any of you reading this have any suggestions, feel free to leave them in the comments! I read a lot of blogs on a daily basis and I want to get better...

1. Pandora Ring With Christmas & birthday money, I treated myself to this beautiful Pandora ring. I saw it at a store in December and I knew that I wanted to buy it so I decided to use my Christmas/birthday money to do so. It's so beautiful and I love it so much! 2. Getting Healthy This has been on my mind for a while. I want to get healthy and lose some weight. So far, this year, I've lost a total of 2 pounds and near the end of last year, I lost 5 pounds so I'm down 7 lbs. I've been eating salads for lunch everyday, lots more fruit, cutting down on snacking, and walking more. ^Salad with chicken, cucumbers, olives, croutons, and dressing^ 3. Planner Pages Here are some of my recent planner pages: 4. #Influenster #TryDry Spray from #Target This week, I received two deodorants to review from the Target TryDry Spray Voxbox from Influenster. I received this box complimentary for testing purposes. They sent me Dove Men...

 + Niece O’s birthday + Trip home to see my family (20th-30th) + Quality time with my family in NY + The Holiday season: Christmas Eve, Christmas, New Year’s Eve + Celebrating my birthday with my mom + Seeing one of my favorite actors/singers perform on Broadway in Finding Neverland (photo and/or video) + Family party at my aunt’s house + Early birthday dinner at my favorite restaurant in NY + 9 year anniversary of meeting David Wright + Planner meet up (my first one!) + Received my December Pop Sugar Box + Made Etsy purchases + Read some great books

Currently reading? Christmas Wishes & Mistletoe Kisses -Jenny Hale Your book goal of 2015? 65 How many books read in 2015? 68 Fiction/Non-fiction ratio? 65/3 Male/Female authors? 6/62 Favorite book(s) read? After The Storm -Linda Castillo, The Girl On The Train -Paula Hawkins, and Maybe In Another Life -Taylor Jenkins Reid Least favorite(s)? Her -Harriet Lane & Dear Committee Members -Julie Schumacher Longest Title? P.S. I Still Love You -Jenny Han and In One Year And Out The Other -Multiple Authors Shortest Title? A bunch of books I read had one word titles. How many re-reads? 1 How many audio books? 0 How many of this year's books were from the library? 21 Favorite cover of a book you read? I'll Take New York -Miranda Dickinson Most Disappointing Book? Her -Harriet Lane Book that had the greatest impact on you? Fat Girl Walking -Brittany Gibbons Book yo...

I had a wonderful time in New York. Here are some fun things I did while I was there: + Lots of quality family time + Giving my nieces & nephews their Christmas gifts in person + Saw Finding Neverland on Broadway starring Matthew Morrison! It was so phenomenal. + Family part at my aunt's house ^Excited to see my aunt/uncles/cousin^ + Quality time with my aunt's dog, Maggie + Sleepovers with my nieces & nephews + Dinner at my favorite restaurant with my dad My trip to NY was wonderful. The last photo I'll leave you with is one of me wearing my nephew's hat on Christmas.

1. Happy New Year Happy New Year to all of you! I hope 2016 is an amazing year filled with love, health, joy, peace, and happiness! Credit:  This Website 2. Finding Neverland on Broadway While I was in NY, my dad took my sister K, BIL M, nephew M, niece O, his girlfriend, and I to see Finding Neverland on Broadway. The musical starred one of my favorite actors/singers, Matthew Morrison. The musical was absolutely amazing and phenomenal! We all enjoyed it so very much. Credit: Broadway.com 3. My 29th Birthday On New Year's Eve, I turned 29. I spent the day with my mom. We ate at Moe's and we shopped at Kohl's, Office Depot, Marshall's, and Target. At night, we watched the DVD of my nephew M in a play he was. He is so very talented and I'm incredibly proud of him! We then watched the Rockin' Eve program on TV and watched the ball drop to welcome in the new year! It was a wonderful day. Credit:  This Blog 4. Fuller House...