Goal Updates - Surprise!

 Treya.....you promised you'd come back and edit this blog and keep it up to date and give everyone cool new stuffs....

I know. I'm a shit blogger. We all know it. I accept it.

Where have you been? It's been months...

I'm well aware. Things have been a bit crazy in the personal life. I guess it's time for an update, so let's go back and revisit those beginning of the year goals:

Spiritual

• So you want to be a witch
• Still brainstorming and working on this. I swear new stuff is coming
• Create more free materials
• Again, brainstorming and working on some things currently.
• More social media activity
• Hey this has been happening. Everytime there is a new post here, it gets linked and shared on the Facebook page, and the Pinterest page (which is why you're seeing more graphics and photos added to posts)
• Landing page
• This may require some outside help, and possibly a transfer away from blogger (I don't wanna, but we will see)
• New journal prompts
• I swear I'm brainstorming!
• More personal updates
• Isn't that what this post is? Also, I will definitely be including some more updates below

Career & Work

• Freelancing 
• Other than graphics and material for this blog, I really haven't branched out much on the freelancing aspect. I am doing some random hodge-podge graphic design work for my regular job, but that's very much as needed.
• Catch up on editing
• So this required a hefty purchase...I have been using Adobe Creative Suite (anyone who uses these apps will now collectively gasp, as I've just dated myself), which doesn't exist anymore because Adobe has moved to a subscription based product. Hello Creative Cloud. I actually took the time to research and pro/con the options before dropping the +$700 subscription. I was hoping to make this money back with photographing weddings. I need 3 weddings a year to pay for it. This year I have 2 weddings...so, I'm sorry budget, I failed.
• Take more photographs
• Ha! Well, I can't depend on weddings for this one. I have been taking some more photos on my phone, but I really need to pull out the ol' camera and actually do it. I have a feeling I will be before the end of the year...

Relationships

• Build on current relationships
• DD and I are still going strong. We are working through tough things, and striving in good things. Our relationship with Fox has hit a road block, and ultimately we split ways. We are all still being civil and working on our friendship. Who knows, we may pick that back up in the future. I think Fox and I both need to work on some personal things and better ourselves before truly entertaining that thought, but I at least, am not opposed to it. 
• Improve self esteem and self worth
• This is a working progress, and will continue to be a working progress. DD has helped where he can, but I know a lot of the work is on me, specifically. I don't think this is a goal that will ever TRULY be accomplished and crossed off. It's a constant working process.
• Build user manual
• I started this! Its currently just a Google spreadsheet with multiple tabs that are kinda messy as I try to organize my thoughts and idea.

Health & Fitness

• Drink more water
• Check...in fact, I have decreased my coffee intake as I've increased my water intake. I've dragged my water bottle with me everywhere.
• Be more conscious about eating healthier
•  Also check. There's a huge factor in this that I've yet to mention (its a surprise), but I have definitely been eating a bunch of fruit lately, and cutting out a lot of snacky carbs/sweets
• Increase physical activity 
• Eh...not check. I haven't gone out of my way to exercise more, and I certainly can't hit the gym right now. I've been trying to walk when I can. That's about all I can do.

Home & Hearth

• Buy a house
• Not check. The housing market is still insane, and DD and I don't bring enough income to afford in this crazy market. Working on saving up where we can. 
• Money management
• I'm not too bad at this. I'm definitely trying to be more self sufficient. I'm working on budget sheets, both for myself and for DD, and for us together. The frivolous spending has really died down, but some other spending has gone up and will continue to do so...
• Work towards self sufficiency
•    Again, working progress. I do feel like I'm trading relying on my parents to relying on DD, and I don't like that feeling either. So I'm still working on this one.

So that's my goal update.

What's keeping me from accomplishing more goals and making bigger steps towards them? Well, that's the big surprise...

There's been a big thing that has really taken precedence on my life the past few months. Actually, since February if you want to get technical. It has been the cause of a lot of changes in life, and some serious scatter brain. I've struggled with brainstorming and writing posts because my brain has been absolutely all over the place. A big change is headed our way, as DD and I are expecting a baby. 

Surprise.

We sure were. Let me just tell you, the odds were stacked against this little one. DD and I both have fertility issues, and honestly, I was to the point where I didn't think I'd ever have another child. DD and I were actively taking steps towards preventing this from happening, but here we are with a little warrior who is beating all odds. It's been an insane whirlwind. Let me quickly outline how strong this little one is:

• I have enough scar tissue that it highly affects my ability to conceive
• 
  DD has a fertility rate of less than 1%
• I had 2 miscarriages prior to this baby. DD has gone through more than 20
• I was actively on birth control that has a 97-99% success rate, and was following the directions of use to a T...religiously
• Since conception, we have had 2 threatened miscarriages
• Since conception, I have taken a pretty hard fall and caused some serious bruising on my entire
  back, tailbone, and elbow. 

Yep. Little warrior. I'm not sure which of the gods have blessed us so favorably, but thank you to them. Oh, and our little warrior is a little girl...and I'm pretty sure she has already picked her name. 

So the health changes and money management might make a bit more sense now. Perhaps my absence makes a bit more sense too. I'm 16 weeks along, and we are expecting to be graced with our warrior's presence in early October. Just in time for a Samhain together as a family.