Turning 31 Road Trip

I turned 31 this week. There's a lot to be said about that but then again, nothing at all. When I first moved to Nashville I had dreams of driving all over and going to so many different states but two and half years later I have only been into the southernmost part of Kentucky and as far south as Atlanta. I decided to do something about that this year and so I booked a night at an AirBnB in Louisville, TN and planned some stops along the way.

The trip was quick, one day out, one day back but I did manage to see a lot. A pink elephant, Hidden Hollow amusement park (unfortunately it was closed), Minister's Treehouse (I did not trespass to get closer, maybe one day), and Cotton Eyed Joe's all took up my first day. On the way back I went through Pigeon Forge (the love pancakes and old time photos), Gatlinburg (was a street away from the fire damage I guess) and into Knoxville (still getting hit by the drought pretty hard) then back home.

I hope to get a few more of these in over the year. Maybe Louisville, KY and Charlotte, NC. Gotta do what I came here to do.

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February/March

February has been unseasonably warm. It's wonderful!

February Goals:
- donate to one new organization: signed up to donate time - I signed up to be a volunteer at a Mud Run in May and this weekend I will be helping weed at a farm for The The Trust for Tennessee. Pretty excited about these.
- one date - accomplished
- at least one call to each of the designated family members - accomplished
- plan my 31st birthday party and/or mini trip - done! I will be setting out to a horse farm by the Smoky Mountains this weekend!
- read books I am excited to read (try to keep it at 4) - accomplished
- exercise 4x a week - DID IT! This is two full months of vigorously moving at least 4x a week.
- spend less than I make - ACCOMPLISHED! Clearly I am pretty excited about this. I have been working on my budgeting system and tracking each month, figuring out what I want to get out of it and this month I even took out the value of two extra days of pay in a short month and saved it for my birthday and STILL I spent less than I made. Praise hands and what not.
- create something... seriously anything (paint a picture, work on the blanket, edit some old photos) - did not do well with this, I am going to add working on the blanket to March
- take a walk/hike in a new park and visit a new part of Nashville every weekend: I did this a couple times but not every weekend
- continue on with gratitude/daily pages - accomplished
- file taxes - accomplished

*The lessons I learned and will carry on from February is/are: I get pulled into drama, not just with other people but in my mind, which means I also create some myself. The lesson I want to carry forward is to invest less, to notice when I'm getting pulled in to others issues as well as when I'm getting pulled under my own, I want to take the importance away from being in the know, to walk away from things that can admittedly be very entertaining and to react slower.

March Goals
- Get all travel plans locked in for trip home in June (plane, parking, rental car, possible mini trip)
- Order bridesmaid's dress for wedding
- at least one call to five family members
- exercise 4x a week: This time focusing on 3 times in gym or hike and then one free exercise any way I want
- stay in food budget - don't let overspending on food take from other categories
- work on the swiss cross blanket
- explore somewhere new every week

*Something I want to experiment with in March is: meditation

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*These questions are part of Nicole from Real Talk Radio's monthly review. I highly recommend her podcast.