A Newlywed with Spring Fever

After a week of cleaning, working, and getting back to the real world newlywedded bliss, I'm more than ready to make my triumphant return to blogging on a regular basis.  My blogging buddy Amy over at Life's Journey with a Smile started a new series that I just couldn't resist taking part in, and I figured it was a great way to kick things off!








Here's the quick and dirty: the Spring Fever Challenge is all about one of my favorite topics, positivity.  The writers participating will share their goals for the season in an effort to improve their own mood and to inspire others to do the same.  Since Dave and I are newlyweds, we decided that tackling this series together would be a fun way to start our marriage on a positive note.  Dave's a pretty private guy, and I can't imagine him blogging, but we've come up with our goals together, we'll be working on them together, and I'll be sharing them with you.

Without further ado, here is the Spring Fever Challenge: Newlywed Edition!  Unfortunately, this series started last week while I was on my honeymoon soooo today is kind of a two for one...which means it's a little longer than these posts will usually be.  Bear with me!

What are your goals for the Spring Fever Challenge, why did you choose them, and what is your plan of action to make them happen?

1. Create a realistic plan to buy a house within the next year.  I love our apartment.  It has crown molding and vaulted ceilings, and it's a pretty good price for the amount of space we have.  However, it's right next to the very noisy I-85, we've outgrown linoleum kitchens, and the apartment complex itself has really gone downhill (have I mentioned that my car was stolen out of our gated parking lot?).  Our lease is up in February, so we started researching other opportunities to rent, as in townhouses or single-family homes.  We were shocked to find out how much 500 more square feet and a small backyard adds to a rent payment!  We figured now was as good a time as any to become home owners.  If we come up with a plan, start saving, and start looking, hopefully we'll be able to accomplish this purchase next year.

2. Maintain a minimal level of clutter.  During the months of wedding planning, our guest room was filled with all kinds of crap.  Now that the wedding is over, we have even more crap!  We have wedding stuff that we no longer need and would like to get rid of, presents that we need to find homes for, and old housewares that have since been replaced and need to go to Goodwill.  We are slowly but surely trying to reduce these piles.

3. Act like newlyweds in order to feel like newlyweds.  Keep your mind out of the gutter!  I'm talking about spending time together!  Dave and I have been together for six years and we've lived together for three.  Even though we got back from our honeymoon last week, the honeymoon's been over for a long time.  Now that we're married, I want to try even harder to keep things romantic.  We'll try to spend more time together, rather than with other friends.  We'll try to go on more dates (we're big fans of takeout and 30 Rock on Netflix Instant Watch The Big Night In).  Most importantly, we'll turn the TV off more often and have more conversations.

4. Make more good meals.  This one's going to be tough for me.  I love to cook, but I really love to go out to eat.  This goal will not only help us to eat healthy food, it will also help us to save money, thus working towards goal number one.  I think meal planning and thinking ahead will be a big part of making this goal a success.

5. Remember why you're building your family's roots in Atlanta.  When Dave and I moved here for our higher degrees, it didn't take long for this city to grow on us and convince us to stay.  After graduation, we started our careers here and plan to eventually start families here.  I want to remember why we chose to stay.  Spring is so beautiful in Atlanta; it's important to get out and immerse yourself in it.  Be outside.  Do something touristy.  Go someplace new.  Explore.  Yep, I'm psyched about this goal.

What have you done this week to help you achieve your goals?

1. Create a realistic plan to buy a house within the next year.  We paid off most of our wedding credit card bills, and we bought Dave Ramsey's at-home Financial Peace course.  I've heard great things about it and when I completed my purchase on his website, it forced me to pay with a debit card.  If credit cards aren't even an option to purchase the course, I feel like we'll have a lot to learn!  (Um, that's how you get miles?) Hopefully this will get us started on a strict budget to help with saving.  Then, we'll just need to start looking!

2. Maintain a minimal level of clutter.  Yesterday, Dave and I went to Bed Bath & Beyond and Crate & Barrel, returned some items, and completed a few registry categories.  Then, we went home and emptied out our cabinets.  We packed everything up to take to Goodwill, and we filled our cabinets with our new presents.  This put a serious dent in our clutter pile, and now our kitchen no longer looks like it belongs to college kids.

3. Act like newlyweds in order to feel like newlyweds.  I gotta hand it to Dave on this one.  I woke up this morning to the smell of freshly made breakfast.  Our dining room table was set with our new dishes and our new silverware, and he had plated a spinach and feta omelet, as well as a cup of blueberry yogurt topped with bananas.  We ate breakfast together, without TV, without the internet, just talking.  It was lovely.

4. Make more good meals.  We had my dad over for dinner the other night.  Dave grilled a lean yet flavorful steak.  I cooked quinoa in MSG-free/reduced-fat beef broth, then stirred in sauteed veggies.  I also put together a salad with homemade balsamic and agave dressing.  The meal was high protein, low carb, low fat, and not too pricey.

5. Remember why you're building your family's roots in Atlanta.  I came back from our honeymoon with a little cold, but I pushed myself to hang out with friends on Friday.  I was so glad I did.  We had a great time, and it was nice to remind myself how lucky we are to have found such wonderful people in this town.  We are truly blessed to have such awesome people in our lives.

What does this challenge mean to you?

I'm noticing, as I'm describing my goals and explaining what we've done already to work towards them, that many of them overlap.  I think there's an underlying theme of establishing a strong foundation for our marriage, which causes me to take this challenge very seriously!  As I said before, positivity is such an important quality to have in your life.  Why not work on a project to stir up a little more positivity?

What did you do this past week to make you feel good about yourself?

Now that life is starting to return to a state of normalcy, I've found that I have a lot to catch up on with loved ones!  I'm trying to get to them one at a time.  This morning, I talked to my mom for about an hour.  Hearing about our wedding from her perspective was really fun! 

Is your mindset future-oriented or living in the now?  How does this impact you when you are working towards a goal?

Ohhh I am definitely a planner.  I'm very much future-oriented, and I have to make a conscious effort to stay in the present.  When working towards a goal, I often find that I get ahead of myself.  Making to do lists is helpful for me, especially when I assign myself different tasks for different days.  That way, I force myself to only focus on one thing at a time.

Is there someone in your {real} life that inspires you to strive for the best?

Honestly?  Me.  I'm a total perfectionist...not so much with other people, but I'm very hard on myself.  I strive for the best, and I'm often disappointed in myself if I fall short.  As far as inspiration goes, it really depends on the goal and the task.  For example, if it's a professional goal, I'm often inspired by my colleagues or my former classmates.  Regarding these goals, I'm inspired by my husband.  We want these things for us, which is why we've decided to tackle this challenge together.

Let's get to know each other!  What is something most people (er...fellow bloggers) don't know about you?

Dave really loves bad movies (think Sci Fi made-for-TV), and I'm slowly being sucked in.  Last night, we watched The Room, which is reportedly the worst movie ever made.  I agree that it was bad, but it was awesomely bad.

Do you read blogs on the individual websites or via Google Reader?

There are a couple that I have bookmarked and will read individually (like Weddingbee), but I love the convenience of Google Reader and use it often.  If I'm on Twitter and someone tweets a new post, I'll go to the direct link, but usually I use the reader.

And finally, the positive picture of the week!

{image by Evan Hampton / via his Tumblr}

Spring, Atlanta, love, and Coke...who could ask for anything more?  What about you?  What are you doing to spread positivity this spring?