Good morning everyone!

I can’t believe its time for another one of these posts already!  It feels like I just did a wrap-up for January, and now I’m recapping February.  I feel like this one is going to be a lot shorter, but we’ll see.

You can’t go wrong with hearts, especially for February.  I’m not big on Valentine’s Day, but it felt right to draw hearts.

And the quote you see in one of the pages above was the quote I didn’t know I needed until I was working on this particular page.  February ended up being a little rough especially after Valentine’s day, and that quote just really stood out to me.  I know the size of this picture is big but I just really wanted to make sure the quote was easy to see.

Inspired By:

The 52 Lists journals.  I talked about it a few weeks ago in this post, and while I wanted to talk about it, I don’t know that it warrants a full-blown post.  But I’ve really liked doing them, especially the last couple of weeks.  We’ve moved past the introductory-type lists- favorite things and goals for the year, and that sort of thing.  The lists are starting to get more thought-provoking.  I really am trying to be honest with these lists- it’s a little hard sometimes, because it would be so much easier to just put something on paper and not think about it again.  But I just really want to put a lot of thought and effort into it.

Watching:

This is going to be a short section, because I only wrote down the things I was really excited about: To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before and P.S. I Still Love You.  I just love both movies so much, and while there was crying involved, both movies were also really fun and cute and what I needed when I watched them.

Reading:

Hand Lettering: Creative Alphabets.  I’ve been writing things a lot more this year, and I thought it would be fun to try out different alphabets and ways to write.  So far, I’ve just been looking at this one, but at some point, I may took a look at other books to see what they have to offer.

Thinking About:

Going back to school for RHIT.  I’m also going to talk about this in a different section, but it’s a registered health information technician program that ends with a certification.  I’ve been on the fence for a while, but with some changes at work that are coming, having that certification would be really nice, and open up more opportunities for me.

Scrapbooking.  I honestly can’t remember if I’ve talked about this, and I don’t feel like going back to check, but I have a bunch of photos I want to go through and organize.  I’ve been looking at the scrapbooking section at Michael’s and it’s hard to not get excited about the stickers and washi tape and different kinds of card stock.  It is another way for me to get things organized.  I’ve definitely been on an organization streak this year, and I don’t know why but I’m going to go with it.

Listening To:

Lindsey Stirling.  I don’t listen to her enough, but I highly recommend her.  Her new album, Artemis, is great, but I think Brave Enough is my favorite of hers.

Lovers by Anna Of The North.  I’ve been listening to this song on repeat ever since I watched the To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before movies.

Your Mental Breakdown, which you can find here.  It’s a relatively new podcast that I heard about on My Favorite Murder.  There’s only around 5 or 6 episodes, but I really like listening to it so far.  You’re listening in on a therapy session between the host and one of his clients, and there’s also a breakdown of the session afterwards between the host and one of his friends.  I think it’s really interesting to not only hear the session but to hear a breakdown of it as well.  I really do recommend listening to it from the beginning, which shouldn’t be too hard, because there are only a handful of episodes.

Dream Life:

There’s not much to report here, but the one dream I do remember is the FBI investigating my work.  I don’t know why they were…I just know they were.  It was really weird.

Researching:

RHIT programs.  I work in medical records, when I don’t have to cover as a receptionist, and having that certification would be really nice to have.  It would open a lot of doors, especially if I wanted to move into billing and coding, or something else related to medical records.  Online would definitely be easier, and thankfully, it seems like there are plenty of online programs I could do.

Flower pens.  I know this is random, but somehow, at work, ALL of our flower pens disappeared.  I know there are tons of tutorials, and if I can remember to make sure I have pens at home, I’ll be good to go, since I have everything else I need.

Eating + Drinking:

I’ve been eating chili, comfort food (like pot pies), cookie butter (right out of the jar) and hot chocolate.  Work is really stressing me out right now, so I’ve been eating a lot of fast food to (momentarily) make myself feel better.  That’s not working out for me in the long-run because my stomach always seems to hate me a few hours later.

I made this instant pot chili, if your looking for the recipe.  I brought it to a potluck at work, and there was still some leftover, so I saved it for the rest of the week.

Grateful For:

Awesome and supportive co-workers!  I’ve had a really hard time at work the last couple of weeks, and I ended up talking to my boss about it.  I’m just glad I was able to get some relief until we can get fully staffed again.  I’ve been having a hard remembering that I do have things to be grateful for, and even though I’ve been keeping a gratitude journal this year, it’s fallen to the wayside the last week or so.  It’s definitely time to get back on bandwagon, and it’s something I can use to remind myself of the little things when I need it.  Hopefully, I’ll have more to share next time.

The Good Things:

It’s a really short list this month, but the book signing for All The Stars And Teeth was really fun!  I also stopped by the grand re-opening party for Mysterious Galaxy, which was pretty cool.  Any event that has Storm Troopers outside is a must.  Book club was fun, as usual, and I always look forward to it, so that’s probably going to be the thing that comes up every month.  Basically, everything was fun.

I also started doing yoga!  My hips have felt particularly stiff and sore, and my back has been hurting a little bit more than normal, so it’s been really nice and helpful.  I really, really like Yoga With Adriene, and as someone who doesn’t exercise (even though I know I should), her videos feel very accessible.  Compared to a couple of other channels that I really like but struggle with doing, I feel like I don’t need to be really flexible or in shape to do her videos.  I feel so calm and relaxed afterwards.  I also love that she has so many different types of videos.

Plus, it means I get to use this pretty yoga mat.

That’s all for February’s recap, and I’ll talk with everyone soon!