exhale.
Oh, hi. I am alive and not kidnapped. Just spent the whole weekend trying to migrate to a new host (Bluehost – where I host all my other sites). I bought a premium plugin to help me do it, but it turned out to be a Very Bad Idea because it didn’t migrate the database successfully. I spent the money because I don’t understand phpMyAdmin or mySQLWhatever well enough to do it myself. I am finally triumphant and am on my beloved Bluehost!
[January Update]
Don’t buy anything. I blogged about this, but I did pretty well.
Be nicer to Mike. I….think? I’m sure I slipped up a few times, but more on that for this month.
Clean out email. Medium success. I created lots of filters to archive emails that weren’t immediately important so I could check them at my convenience (like blog comments and emails from my moms club) and unsubscribed from several lists (how do I get put on so many email lists when I feel like I spend so much time unsubscribing from them ALL THE TIME.) I starred everything that needed a reply or was a current design project and archived everything else. I got down to 30 emails that I needed to take action on, but then I didn’t keep up with the archiving and deleting as fast as emails came in and…there are a lot again.
Start taxes. Done! Not only did I start, I also finished. I had to pay for the business version of TurboTax only it only took a few hours creating spreadsheets of expenses and income from PayPal and my business bank account. It wasn’t as difficult as I’d expected – my business is still quite small and I have a love of number crunching. (Which is why I love web design – I get to satisfy both my love of creative pursuits and my love of problem solving.)
Finish Why Wait? and firm up my goals for the year. I still function better on specific, monthly goals, but my general themes for this year are: a better marriage, better friendships, more business, and travel as much as possible.
[February Intentions]
Still don’t spend anything. And then I am totally going to get a haircut in March. That is what I’m most looking forward to!
Yoga every day. Even if it’s just a few downward dogs and a double pigeon, I want to do some sort of yoga every single day. It’s sort of an experiment to see how it improves my life. Also, I’ve been getting less flexible than I used to be and want to remedy that (I tried doing a cartwheel the other day and…ouch.). It’s been a little more difficult to get into the mindfulness aspect of yoga with a toddler in the room, but something’s better than nothing.
Visit my grandpa. My grandpa is 90 and lives less than 30 minutes from me. He moved to an apartment more than a year ago and I’ve visited him exactly once. ONCE. It’s embarrassing to admit. I know it’d mean a lot to him if I visited with Gabe.
Give Mike my full attention 3-4 nights a week. Most nights after I put Gabe to bed, I plop down in front of my computer and work until I can’t keep my eyes open, and then shuffle to bed, giving Mike a kiss goodnight. Pre-Gabe, the evenings used to be our time to hang out, talk, and watch TV together. I miss that. It’s hard – Mike is in school and I work from home. So we need our free time to work, we don’t use our free time to hang out alone as much. I want to make a conscious effort to be with Mike and not just in the same room as Mike. On a related note, I am going to…
Get Twitter situation under control. I deactivated my account to give myself a little space for the first week or so of this month, and am trying to figure out how to use it without it being a major distraction/way to procrastinate.
Okay first I couldn’t read your blog this morning and then I couldn’t tweet at you and I might have had a mini-panic attack. Thanks for clearing all that up!
I think you have great goals for this month!
Ha! I have had several people email me or text to me make sure I was still alive. I am! I swear! :)
Having just lost my beloved great-aunt at the age of 90, I urge you to go and see your grandpa. You will regret it if you don’t.
I’ve been thinking about you, San. <3
Thanks for sharing these…wondering what yoga dvds you like to use at home?
I use Hulu for yoga videos, but Baron Baptiste is my absolute FAVORITE yoga instructor with DVDs. I actually have some of his just-audio classes on my computer (this Yoga Bootcamp) which I prefer because I don’t have to constantly look up at my screen to see what he’s doing – I just listen.
Yay, your RSS feed is working and the post is posted. Congrats!
Thanks, Lisa! I feel so triumphant! :)
Speaking of traveling as much as possible…We have a basement that is set up like an extra master bedroom! It has it’s own bathroom, and a fire place! So what I’m saying is…you and your two loves should come and visit us!!! There are a lot of cool foodie places and parks! Just saying. ;) Oh, and maybe you can tell Gabe you are going to have gym time or follow the leader and he could attempt yoga too?! Ha. That would be adorable to see! xoxo
Yay, I’m glad your blog is back and working! :) All great intentions for February. I rushed doing mine and now I’m like wait, is that really want I want to focus on? I may do new ones haha.
I need to do a no buy month. I read about yours and really want to, but then I see something I want/don’t really need and buy it. Le sigh.
My job keeps me really busy during the day so that’s helped on the twitter front. I just don’t have all the time to be on. I miss it, but still pop in when I can. I dont feel the need to always check and be involved in all the conversations now.
I noticed you were “M.I.A.” no blog, no twitter, where was Ashley? Glad that you’re back and thought I’d tell you how much I enjoy your blog!
I love your monthly intentions. Partly for selfish reasons, because you give me good fodder for my own monthly goal-setting. But also because I genuinely enjoy watching you better your life … and I really believe you put thought into these monthly intentions.