Need a Fresh Start?

New Years always starts on such a high note. Everyone and their mother are setting goals and resolutions, bound and determined to actually keep them this year. I know, because I have been there so many times, too. Made resolutions, broken them. Remade resolutions, and had to again, restart them. It can be discouraging and disheartening.

I want you to know though, it's okay to have a fresh start. You are allowed to start over. And you can start over and SUCCEED.

Something great that I have heard and keep in my mind is "if you're tired of starting over, stop quitting." So go ahead, take that leap of faith, start over and commit to sticking with it.

I know that I have had to start over with my fitness in many ways on this journe . Whether intentionally starting a new day over after a rougher day before, or beginning a workout program again, or redoing a program and giving it 110% of my effort, or even starting a new nutrition plan again and eating cleaner.

I have been through it. And more importantly, I know how difficult it can be, especially if you are going in on your own, or no one is keeping you accountable. It can be easy to stop and say "no one will know." But then you're right back where you started.

That is exactly where I was last January before I started focusing for real on my health. Of course I still have had to refocus since starting, but I have not gone back to my old unhealthy habits of not working out and not watching what I eat. Before I started, I was a serial quitter. Doing something for two weeks and hanging up the towel.

A fresh start was exactly what I needed. And what made me stick with it was accountability and motivation. That is why I am so passionate about leading the accountability groups that I do every month. It is my way to pay it forward and help others begin THEIR fresh start and establish healthy habits in their life.

My group this month is putting an extra special focus on just that. Making this our fresh start and establishing those healthy habits in our lives. Another really exciting part of this group is going to be a Biblical perspective on taking care of our bodies and how we can find balance in our lives while moving towards health overall.

If you haven't ever heard about my groups, have no fear! Here is a basic outline of what this group (and most of my groups are like):

-We begin April 20, and go for 30 days
-There are ten spaces available in my group (I like to keep it small to keep it close knit)
-Our group is held via a closed online Facebook group, so you can participate from anywhere in the country
-Daily motivational posts and tips from me, your personal and group coach.
-You check in daily and rate how your workout, nutrition and water intake was to keep you accountable.
-I help you meal plan and get recipe ideas that fit your life
-I help you find the perfect workout program for your fitness level, goals and preferences.
-You commit to working out and eating healthy for 30 days
- You participate in our group and find encouragement and community
-We will also have a few contests and prizes for this group!
-When you finish your workout program and submit your results, you get a free T-shirt (who doesn't like free??)
-Personal access to me and weekly check ins to see how things are going

And that is just the overview! Really this format has been the thing to keep me on track for over a year, which has never happened before ever in my life. Its a big deal to me to be able to find something that works. And maybe an online group isn't your thing, BUT I know what is working for me, and I can't NOT share it and lead others who need accountability just like I did.

So if you are interested at all, please message me, email, comment, however you want to reach out to me, and I can give you more information.

You can also invite yourself and add yourself to my group event on Facebook here .

Are you ready for a fresh start, too? Join us! 

2015 "Dream Big 15"

"If you aim for nothing you will hit it every time." Zig Ziglar coined some wise words when he spoke this phrase, and it's one that I believe to be very true. For the past few years, and especially in the last year, I have grown to love the concept of setting goals and dreams.

Not only is it fun for me to pray about and dream about the places that I am called to go, and set goals for the things I am called to do, but it gives me direction. Without the goals, sure, I have ideas floating around of things I want to do. But I am a visual person, and I need a concrete list in front of me to remind me of the direction I am headed in.

I heard recently in a personal development call for my coaching that to thrive, you need to set at least three goals, and to really triumph, you need to set 12. Well, considering it's 2015 this year, and that's only three away from 15, I decided to make this year's goals my "Dream Big 15."

Fifteen goals and dreams that I am actively working to achieve and make happen. There are a mix of personal, relational, financial, health and work goals in this list of 15. And honestly, I have a few more than 15 goals, and have written those down into four categories (spiritual growth goals, marriage, personal, and business) and hang those on my fridge.

But I wanted to take a minute today and share my "Dream Big 15" with you in hope that it encourages YOU to write your own goals. Give yourself direction this year, I promise, it is worth it. Even if you do not achieve all of your goals this year, you are moving in a direction and can check your progress along the way.

My Dream Big 15

1. Help 60 people on their health and fitness journey.
2. Take two vacations with my sweet husband.
3. Save up for a down payment on a house.
4. Pay off two of our credit cards (working towards that debt free, baby!)
5. Lose 100 pounds and wear my special dress for our anniversary at the end of this year.
6. Read 12 books (at least).
7. Build an emergency fund of $1,000 (Anyone else done Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University? Seriously so good, and this is one of his first tips to financial freedom.)
8. Do at least one "Pay It Forward" outreach.
9. Create community by getting involved in a small group and host monthly gatherings for ladies at our home that foster spiritual growth.
10. Achieve the leadership position of two star diamond in my business by my birthday in May.
11. Achieve the leadership position of five star diamond in my business by Christmas.
12. Become a full time coach!
13. Hike Blood Mountain in north Georgia with Zach.
14. Go camping with my hubby!
15. Have one "intentional day" each month in our marriage. This is where one person picks something that both of us do together that we might not normally do together, but it helps us connect with each other on what the other likes.

There's my Dream Big 15 list for 2015! I am honestly really excited about this list of goals, as well as the other goals that I have set for myself and that we have set for our marriage this year. Something that the Lord has been laying on my heart for this year is "Excellence."

Excellence in everything that I do, in every area of life. Spiritually, relationally, in work, in business, in day to day interactions, in chores around the house, literally everything. So I am ready to put my all into this list of dreams and goals this year and see what God has in store.

If I don't achieve them all I won't be an utter failure, but I know what direction I am going in and I am giving this my heart and am working towards hitting each of these goals! What are some of your goals for this new year? I would love to hear your dreams and goals!

Fall Bucket List for a Married Couple

Some of your may remember that Zach and I wrote down some goals and “to do’s” for our fall back in September! We take time every once in a while over coffee or dinner to write down and intentionally talk about what we want the next season to look like. Whether that’s a literal season (like fall) or a season of life.

It is SO important to write down your goals, especially as a couple! It gives you direction and you both are on the same page about where you want to go, and what you want to do. The goals that you set can cover a whole variety of things!

For us, it looked like fun fall activities we wanted to do, things we need to save for, places we want to go, and other priorities that are important to us! We have actually made a pretty good dent in our list, and I am excited to check off the remainder of our items.

Here are a few of the things that we have done so far:

Visited Elijay and picked our own apples. This was a TON of fun. I haven’t been to an apple orchard since I was kid. Zach surprised me with this one as our date day a few weeks ago, and we drove up to the mountains to an apple orchard! We got to pick a whole peck of apples (and taste test a few as well). We visited B. J. Reece’s Apple Orchard, and it was a fun time!

Bake two apple pies with the apples we pick. Keep one and give one away!  This was also a lot of fun, because I love to bake! We picked a total of 23 apples, which was a plentiful amount for two pies (we didn’t use them all). But we baked up two delicious apple pies (you can find my recipe for apple pie here, it’s super tasty for a special treat), and shared one with Zach’s parents!

Have three different couples over for dinner. Zach and I have a big heart for hosting people in our home, and especially cooking for them! It’s our goal to have at least one couple over a month in our home for dinner. We actually have already met our goal of three couples, and each one has been such a joy to have in our home. It’s a wonderfully special thing to gather around a table of good food together, and share good conversation.

Watch “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!” I hadn’t seen this movie in a while, so it was a great one to watch on the first day of fall! The air was cooler, so we had the windows open and made some pumpkin cookies to go along with the festivities.

Visit Burt’s Pumpkin Farm in Dawsonville, Georgia. This wasn’t too far from where we went apple picking, actually! And it was a blast as well. There were a ton of families there, and it was adorable to see some kids riding in wheelbarrows with pumpkins bigger than them. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many pumpkin costumes in my life! But they had some great fun there, and I definitely recommend the hay ride! It was my favorite part, the view is gorgeous. You can even see Amicalola Falls from the hay ride!

We still have a few things to check off of our list by Thanksgiving, but that’s just a short look at some fall fun that we have had as a couple so far. We’ve even made a few of them our designated “date nights” or date days, and it was so fun!

A few of the things we are still looking forward to crossing off of our list: going on vacation, having a Thanksgiving dinner (before or after Thanksgiving for the two of us), taking a few hikes, carving pumpkins, making hot apple cider, visiting Helen, GA and Dahlonega, GA, and finishing up the Dave Ramsey Financial Peace University series (it is fabulous and I definitely recommend it).

What are some of your fall bucket list items? What have you done so far?

Dreaming With Your Spouse

Today was one of those days that was like a deep breath in and a deep sigh out. A day for writing, laughing, lounging, rocking on a porch and talking about dreams and goals. My husband and I typically have one day off entirely together, and today was that day.

I absolutely love the conversations that we have. While we were in the car driving today, he put up with and answered silly questions that come to my mind like "if you could live in any historical era, what would it be?" and "if you could visit any ancient civilization, what would it be?". We actually had some great discussion from it.

Perhaps one of my favorite topics of discussion though is dreaming and goal setting. I am a goal person for sure. At the beginning of the week, month and year I create lists, dreams and goals that I want to accomplish. All you have to do is come over to our apartment and you'll see them plastered on the fridge and on the walls.

Today was one of those days that my husband and I sat out on a porch, the cool summer breeze blowing by as the clouds rumored of a storm. We rocked in the classical southern rocking chairs, and we talked about our dreams and goals together.

Where we see ourselves in the next two years, what we want to accomplish, who we want to help, how we want to bless others, what we will be doing, and so on. Now, I am the first to tell you that God is in the business of the unexpected. I know that my plans and dreams are fully in his hands, and I will accept his guidance.

But I also think that it's important to always be moving forward with a goal in mind. I am so thankful for a husband who is willing to sit down and set goals with me, and ask me what we want our goals to be. If you have never set goals with your spouse, I would really encourage you to try. It doesn't have to be huge, in fact, it can just start small.

Here are a few questions that my husband and I regularly ask each other to hear each other's hearts, and to set and track our goals for the future.

1. What's one thing I can do to love you better this week?

2. What's one goal that you want to accomplish together this month?

3. What's one tangible thing I can do this week that will show my love for you?

4. What do you see for the next year for us? 

5. What's one thing you want to do together in the next six months?

These are just some basic questions that we ask each other. Our answers change and vary. They can be as simple as having the other write a note or give an extra hug to show our love and appreciation. Our goals can vary from paying something off to taking a hike at a place we've been talking about.

Dreaming together and building your lives together is so important. And communication about those topics creates intimacy. I really encourage you to ask just one question and both answer it for each other. See each other's hearts and set a goal that you can both push for together.

What are some of your big dreams? Share one below!