What’s up y’all!

Stealing this idea from The Frugal Girl who free flows new things in her life every week, and thought I’d do the same as I’ve immersed myself into a LOT of things lately and kinda just want to blurt it out rather than neatly craft up individual posts… Unless you want a whole article on Pokemon?! Which I can certainly do for you!! ;)

Here’s what’s been brewing lately…

1) I joined a soccer league for the first time in 10 years! Except my friend who convinced me to join it didn’t tell me the games were at 10pm at night!! AT NIGHT! Can you imagine?! I didn’t think I could do it, but surprisingly once I hit the field I didn’t even notice and all my muscle memory came back and it WAS ON. We even played one game in the middle of a rain storm in the freezing cold! Haha… Of course, I’m one of the oldest ones out there at 43, but hey – It makes me feel younger just being surrounded by everyone ;)

2) I’m a yoga addict now! A chance encounter at a coffee shop led me to finally go for it after years of thinking about it, and now – four weeks in – I’ve already done around 25 classes! No joke.  I knew I would like it, but man – had no idea I would enjoy it THIS much, haha… I didn’t realize how powerful it would be for both my body AND my mind?

Here’s a short video I did on it after hitting 3 weeks if you’d rather watch that than read ;)

I just love the culture around it, and all the people, and *especially* all the words that are used throughout. Like “gratitude”, “mindfulness”, “kindness”, “energy”. One of the teachers even ends each session with “If you haven’t been told lately that you’re loved, I love you.” That hit me hard the first time I heard it!! Everyone’s so welcoming there…

I’ve also been experimenting with the different types of yoga too, like Restorative Yoga, Yin Yoga, Vinyasa Yoga, and most recently – Hot Yoga! Which is really something!! Haha… I almost passed out the first time I walked into the room, but my body has finally acclimated and it’s now one of my favorite ways to wake up in the morning. It’s so hard, and refreshing, at the same time!

(Also fun fact: my Wordle scores have been off the chain lately which I 100% attribute to yoga 😂 And now I can actually KEEP UP with all those young whippersnappers at my soccer games too! Lol…)

3) If all that exercise wasn’t enough, I also joined a Gym! Which was NOT something I ever would have guessed as I hate gyms, but as I mentioned in my personal newsletter last week when the world keeps hinting at stuff you have to listen… And for whatever reason, this voice keeps telling me to MOVE MY BODY more so for now at least I’m listening ;)

And it turns out gyms have other things than just weights too – like classes! So I’ve been very much enjoying their early morning Boot Camps which I alternate with the early morning Hot Yogas…. Apparently I thrive more in group sessions than being left to my own devices, lol…

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Quick aside:

I was trying to explain all these recent events to a friend the other day, and it dawned on me that I’ve basically replaced spending time on “online projects” with spending more time on “the project of ME”.

Instead of hitting the laptop at 5 am I’m now hitting the gym and yoga studio, and instead of watching clicks and traffic every day I’m now watching my body and general mood! It’s quite a shift for someone who’s so used to being stationary and looking at screens all the time….

And maybe something to consider yourself as well? When was the last time you worked on the Project of YOU?? Could you carve a little time away this week to build it out again?

It may not be soccer or yoga, but anything that improves your quality of life is worth spending time on. And I’ll tell you this much – just starting somewhere, *anywhere*, is enough to get the ball moving. As I recently read somewhere, “you must begin from where you are.” And I promise you it gets easier from there 🖤

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4) And lastly, the other new thing in my life lately is that I caved and I now collect Pokémon cards 😂 Which I blame on my boys who insist on me taking them to the card store every other day (!!), eventually wearing me down as I was so tired of waiting around doing nothing while they peruse! Which, incidentally, is also what led me to skateboarding the other year after taking them to skate parks and waiting around, haha… So I guess I can’t hate on them too much ;) And now I actually know what they’re talking about whenever they discuss Pokemon which of course they love! So dad FTW!

Here’s Mimikyu btw, my favorite who’s as cute as he is scary (and the one main card I’ve chosen to collect so far):

[He’s shy and hides underneath an old rag pretending to be Pikachu, lol..]

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And then here are some updates on things that are OLD!

Veggie Juicing – Still going strong!! Though my family has dropped off from joining me so now I only need to make it every other day as it makes enough for two glasses which cuts back on a LOT of time… All that cleaning and prepping gets old fast, not gonna lie, but man are the benefits still worth it! My weight loss has stagnated, and actually started going back UP (I’m thinking maybe because of all the working out/yoga and building up more muscle?!) but the blood pressure is still low and I’m still avoiding most sugars and junk food too. So a great habit I plan on continuing 👍

Volunteering – Dropped off a little since taking all those yoga classes, but just recently jumped back into it again and helping clean up/maintain our homeless shelter’s clothing closet. My fave! I haven’t seen Lizzy in a while, but hopefully that’ll change now that I’m back, and meeting a ton of other new friends in the process. You always tend to focus on the job at hand and the “why” behind volunteering, but really the best part of it is just *being there* with people and talking with them! At the end of the day we’re all the same and very much need connection.

Underwear Skipping – Remember when I tried going without underwear earlier this year???! Well, I’m happy/embarrassed to say that it’s stuck, haha… And usually only wear it now when I’m working out/yoga’ing because it’s just so much MORE comfortable without! I wish I’d done it my whole life! (And I KNOW some of you are doing it too because you’ve told me so, so don’t you give me that look ;))

Jigsaw Puzzles – While I was hooked there for a hot minute over the holidays, I actually can’t even tell you the last time I broke one out… Probably January?! It was fun while it lasted, but then I got tired of feeling so lazy and had to join Real Life again, haha… And I’m glad I did. Else none of those new things up there would have come to pass! Cuz puzzles take so dang long!!! I’ll probably whip one out again this upcoming holiday season (why do puzzles feel so good at Xmas??!), but my obsession there has come to an end.

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So there you have it! I’ve turned from a coffee shop reader/lazy puzzle person earlier in the year, to a gym/yoga/soccer ACTIVE person now here towards the end of it! Wouldn’t have ever predicted that, but as the Year of The Flow continues, I’m constantly being surprised at what life puts in front of me, and even more excited to see what’s coming next…

Now tell me what you’ve been up to! Any new and fun habits of your own forming? Has anything completely surprised you lately, for the better or the worse!? How are those finances going????

Probably good to at least talk about money for a second here since it’s still somewhat of a finance blog ;) As for me, the growth continues to climb with having so much invested in the stock market these days, but recently we stopped contributing to the pot with me being out of work and not wanting to siphon away too much from our savings. So that’s the *bad* news.

The good news, however, is that we more or less break even every month which means I can continue with this WifeFI adventure for however long we like without tapping into investments! And right now, “we” most certainly like ;) I’m sure I’ll stumble into some money making venture at some point, but for now – Namaste! The Project of ME continues!

Your friend in money and body (and soul),

PS: For more themes I’ve recognized over this past month, check out my latest newsletter (always free – and fun! – to subscribe to): Cascading Actions (And Watching For Hints)