Dancing - Jamieson Diaries

16 Goals For 2016

January 3, 2016 Leave a Comment

Now that we’re in the year 2016 I wanted to make a list consisting of 16 goals to accomplish this year. I chose sixteen goals because who’s really going to write out two thousand and sixteen goals? Exactly. But in all seriousness I like to brainstorm things I would like to accomplish or improve, write them down, and hold myself accountable to these goals. I refuse to call them resolutions because goals that are taken seriously and strategically planned out tend to drive me more than the cliche new year resolutions ever will.

These are the sixteen goals I wish to accomplish in 2016:

1) Bi-Monthly Food Box

Now that I am getting into couponing I want to be able to bless others as well. I would like to put together a food box at the very least every other month to donate to a local family in need. It’s not major, but it’s a step in the right direction towards helping others beyond volunteer work in 2016.

2) Potty Train Jordyn

I’m pretty sure this is pretty understandable to those who have and don’t have children. However, we would like to talk about another child in 2017 (yes a whole year from now) but the conversation won’t even begin until Jordyn is fully potty trained.

3) Pay Off (A) Major Debt

As your average millennial buried in wonderful college loans, I would like to eliminate some, if not all, debt unrelated to my college loans. I’m aiming for financial freedom as soon as possible.

4) Visit 3 States BESIDES Illinois

My husband and I both are from the surrounding Chicago suburbs. Which means we always to IL for vacations to see family. However, in 2016 I want to explore and travel more than around/to IL.

5) Squat 150+ lbs

Because we all know strong is the new skinny. 2015 has shown us being fit and in shape is more important than being skinny. I plan to work on conditioning and strength this year.

6) More Base Activities

Now that pretty much all of my close friends have moved to new bases and states I need to find more friends. Haha j/k (sort of) I want to be more involved in base activities in general because I believe as a military community it’s important to be an important part of the community.

7) Visit 1 New Montana City

I’ve lived in Montana for almost 4 years and there are many large/popular cities I have never been to yet. Since we live here we need to take advantage of the places around us this year.

8) Visit The White House

We are planning another trip to Washington D.C. to see friends this year since we did not make it there last year. I want to reschedule a White House tour because this is the last year President Obama will be in office.

9) Spend <$100 On Grocery Trip

I’m officially one of those crazy coupon people trying to learn the ways of the couponing professionals. A major goal of mine is to spend less than $100 on a usual two week grocery shopping trip. I believe in me!

10) Take A Cooking Class

I’ve always wanted to take a cooking class. It has always looked like so much fun and would be a perfect date night idea. The husband and I have to make this happen this year.

11) Grow Blog Subscribers By 100+

I currently have 75 subscribers to my blog and would like to grow this list by at least 100 more this year. This is a huge challenge, but it’s one I am up for!

12) Do More Volunteer Work

As most of you know I am a (now level 1 certified) basketball coach for Special Olympics Montana. However, I would like to spend more of my down time helping others vs. doing things selfishly for myself. Selfless vs. selfish is the motto.

13) Eat Cleaner

This goes right back to fit being the new skinny. I want to eat cleaner for my health and my appearance. 70% of losing weight and getting in shape is what we put in our bodies so I need to do better this year.

14) Monetize Blog

I haven’t gotten a lot more serious about blogging. Writing is something I love to do and I would love to merge my passion with my purpose and create a job from it. Who doesn’t want to make money doing what they love?

15) Take A Dance Class

I’m not just talking about any dance class, I want to take a professional ballroom dance class. Learn to salsa, foxtrot, merengue, swing dance…anything!

16) Go To A Concert

Unfortunately living in Montana means we don’t have many diverse, main stream artists come here to perform. This year I would love to go to a popular artist’s concert even if it means traveling to a bordering state to do so. Especially if the artist is worth the hype.

You have officially read my goals (and reasoning) for 2016. I will try my hardest to accomplish all of them this year. What are your personal goals this year? Share in the comments below!

Brie <3

[01.03.16]

Jordyn is 11 Months Old!

May 18, 2015 Comment : 1

This is my last official “monthly” blog post of, Jordyn, and I can’t believe how fast it has all happened. She was 4 months old when I started this blog. It’s all gone by so fast it almost seems like a blur. It was exactly one year ago, as of yesterday, I had my baby shower in Illinois, and here we are exactly one month from her first birthday. As sad as I am that my baby girl is growing so fast, I’m so happy and grateful she’s been blessed to grow so gracefully and lovingly. Here is a picture of her trying whipped cream for the first time…in case you can’t tell, she is definitely a fan!)

Today, we are leaving for our first official long distance road trip, by car. The hubby has to go to Salt Lake City for a class/training this week, and we’re tagging along, to not only get a break from Great Falls, but to spend some much needed quality time with our friends, the Jones’, who live in Utah. The Jones’ moved back to Utah a week and half before I went into labor with little miss Jordyn. This will be the first time they get to her, and she will finally get to meet them. I’m so excited all of our girls get to finally meet each other! 🙂

This last month, Jordyn has for sure found her feet. She hasn’t gotten brave enough to let go and walk on her own, but I swear this child is going for the world record of “fastest almost walking baby.” No, seriously, if you put her down at the table, and blink, she’s standing in front of the entertainment center giving you the “I’m innocent” look.

Jordyn is at the age where she definitely knows who Daddy and Mommy are, as well as, enjoying mocking Daddy and Mommy. She has also become very vocal and uses hand motions to tell you when she does or doesn’t want something. Either way, no matter what emotion she may be feeling at the time, you can be sure it won’t be a secret.

As usual she looooves her big brother too. When she sees him walking towards her she gets the BIGGEST smile on her face. If he decides to give her some wonderful licks in the process, she giggles her little heart out. These two are the cutest double trouble you will ever see.

Jordyn went swimming for the first time last weekend and oh man does she love the water! She splashed and kicked the water until she was “all wrinkled” as Dennis the Menace would say. She swam with her BFF, Norah, who wasn’t the biggest fan of the water at first, but warmed up to it and enjoyed it herself.

Have I mentioned Jordyn LOVES music. This little girl will dance and shake her head to whatever song is playing. However, she REALLY boogies down to the theme songs for the shows “A Different World” ( the Aretha Franklin intro) and “Psych.” It is both adorable and hilarious to watch.

I hope you’ve enjoyed the monthly series leading up to Miss Jordyn Denise’s first birthday. After her first birthday post/update, I will post Jordyn blog updates every 2-3 months, or share funny stories as they happen.

Say a prayer for safe travels to, around, and from Salt Lake City for us. See you all again in a month for the big, 1st birthday post!

Brie <3

[05.18.15]

All Posts, Family Love

Jordyn is 8 Months Old!

February 19, 2015 Comments : 2

My baby girl is officially 8 months old, today. In only 4 short months she will be a year old. Where is the time going? 🙁

She’s been rolling over in the middle of the night for about 2 months now, but would never do it so we could see her. That is until she randomly decided she’ll share her expertise at rolling over with us the other day trying to get my cell phone. She legit rolled over to her stomach like she’s been doing it for years. She also looked at us like we were crazy because we cheered when she did it. Clearly we’re behind and she wasn’t impressed -_-.

In other developmental news, Jordyn can officially wave “hi and “bye” to people. oh, and she LOVES to stand. She needs to be holding onto someone or something in order to do it, but she is almost to the point that she hates sitting. Lastly, this little girl loves to DANCE! Music doesn’t even have to be playing for her to dance. I’m convinced she has a permanent soundtrack playing in her mind and that’s what she dances to. Either way, it’s adorable and there’s no stopping her lol.

We’ve been working on getting her to hold her own bottle, crawl, and say “Mama” and “Dada.” As of right now, she’s not impressed with any of these things. Giving her the bottle to hold is a joke, because she drops it, then looks at us like “why aren’t you doing your job?” When we try to get her to crawl, she stretches her legs back out and proceeds to army crawl/scoot to get to her destination. And when we tell her to say “Mama” or “Dada” she looks at us and cracks up laughing. She either thinks the words are REALLY funny or is mocking the fact that she’ll say what she wants, when she wants, and not a second before. Oh, she’s also into throwing things too. If she doesn’t want it, it usually ends up half way across the room. (In case you can’t tell, her independence and feisty-ness grows right along with her lol.)

This month we get to add cantaloupe, pineapple, watermelon, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, and eggplant to her already extensive diet. I bought cantaloupe, pineapple, broccoli, and kale at the grocery store the other day for her to try. Tomorrow we will give kale and cantaloupe our first try. Let’s hope she likes it!

Thanks for reading up on my little Jojo. We’ll be back in a month to give another update on what amazing things this amazing kid has learned. Have a happy and blessed Wednesday evening! I’ll leave you with this adorable picture of Princess Jordyn in her Valentine’s Day outfit <3

<3 Brie

[02.18.15]

All Posts, Family Love

Jordyn is 7 Months Old!

January 18, 2015 Comments : 6

My little stinker is 7 months old, today. Every time I write one of these monthly posts, I am in disbelief of how fast time goes by. However, I am just as ecstatic I am able to be with her every day to watch her as she grows.

We worked on getting her to go to bed almost 2 hours earlier than she usually does, so Mommy and Daddy can spend time together every evening before bedtime. It didn’t take long at all- after making her stay up (a.k.a. we entertained her for almost 2 hours straight) and skip her last nap of the evening. She now gets story time at 9pm, cereal bottle at 9:30, and is out for the count by 10pm. Once we decide to start sleep training her (we’re thinking this week so pray for us!) we will put her to bed about an hour earlier than we do now.

In other 7 month news; she has learned how to blow air in our faces. She inhales (making the funniest inhaling sounds ever) then she puckers up her lips, and blows the air out. It’s hilariously adorable. She also likes to be held so she can stand on her legs. She can’t do it without us helping her but she quite determined. She can also sit on her own without any assistance which is pretty cool.

Since the last post when she had her first meal (peas) she has now also tried carrots, green beans, sweet potatoes, avocados, bananas, pears, and apples. She likes them all, but her favorites would definitely be sweet potatoes, carrots, and bananas. When she’s eating her food and she’s REALLY enjoying it, she does her “I’m so happy to be eating dance.” (She’s for sure my kid because I dance and hum when I enjoy my food LOL) Big brother, Ares, also tries his hardest to clean up after her too…

Oh, and did I mention she has a tooth coming in?! We can officially see it when she smiles big enough for us to see her bottom gums. She’s been teething like a champ too, because she hasn’t been anymore more fussy than usual. Lucky us!

Princess J celebrated her first Christmas and NYE as well. We had a great time with family and friends on both occasions. Here go a few family pictures from both occasions; and I’ll be back in a month to update you on Miss Jordyn Denise again 🙂

Brie <3

[01.18.15]