December 7-14: Let's Play Catchup.

I have a lot of crazy stuff happen this last week and it has completely drained me. I didn't touch my computer for a whole five days and then it took two days to sit down and decide how to write all of this out. That was an incredibly long sentence. This is going to be a very long blog post.


December 7th: Donate! 

This is the holiday season. Unfortunately, not everyone will have a luscious tree, big presents, or a warm bed. Some may not even have families to visit or spend time with. Today's task: DONATE! Donate to a cause that is near and dear to your heart. I'll link some causes that are near and dear to mine! Even if you donate $5, you will be helping someone!

YWCA Charleston
PCOS Awareness Association
St Jude Children's Research Hospital
WV Free
Human Rights Campaign
ACLU
Planned Parenthood
American Cancer Society
Feeding America
World Wildlife Fund
Invisible Children


December 8th: Reconnect with a Friend You've Lost Touch With!

An important part of the holiday season is to spend it with the people you love. Unfortunately, as you get older, you get out of contact with people. I've lost contact with people from elementary school, middle school, high school, college, and just people in general. Becoming a mom and an adult has really affected my social life and how I keep in contact with people in my life. This has made it so a couple of people have fell through the crack. This saddens me deeply.

Today's task: Connect with someone you haven't talked to in a while (we'll say 6 months or more). Ask them how they are doing. Let them know how important they are to you. See what things have changed in their lives. Try to make plans to see each other soon.



December 9th: Clean Out Your Email Inbox

If you're anything like me, you receive a lot of emails. I receive emails from businesses announcing their sales. I receive emails from newsletter subscriptions (some of which I don't remember subscribing to). I receive spam and scams. Usually, I archive or delete everything immediately unless I want to remember something for later. By the end of a semester, I have about 100 emails in my inbox that I haven't deleted after I initially read it.

Today's task: Thumb through your e-mail inbox. Delete anything you no longer need. Clear it out.



December 10th: Holiday Party

Everyone is throwing get-togethers this time of year. Some people don't get invited though. This saddens me. This year, I threw my own holiday party (and probably will do it yearly). You should throw one too! Even if it's a game night. Everyone brings a game and a food dish. That's today's task! I'll share photos from my party at a later date.


December 11th: Change Oil in Car

Did you know that you are supposed to change your oil regularly? This is an easy part of car maintenance that gets ignored often. Is it time for yours to be changed? GO CHANGE IT! Getting awfully close? DO IT ANYWAYS!


December 12th: Clean up Social Media Networks and Your Phone! 

This one is a little tricky. It may even be time-consuming. It needs to be done. I think the end of the year makes people feel crappy. In my mind, I really feel better when I purge all the old and bring in the new. This is one of those days for sure. Today's task: go through your phone and your social media profiles. Edit information that is no longer relevant. Make sure your privacy settings are correct. Go through your friends and delete anyone you no longer want on there. Go through your phone too! Get rid of old contacts. Add photos to your contact information. Go through your photos and delete old screenshots or pictures. Go on and on until you've gone through everything!


December 13th: Collect Change! 

Do you own a piggie bank? Or a change jar? Do you use cash even? This task is going to be important for my post on the 17th. Collecting change is one of those things that seem insignificant now, but it is going to be a big thing later. Collect 100 pennies and you have a dollar. We bring our piggie banks to a Coinstar machine every year. This last year, my son had $18(!!!) in change. Isn't that crazy?

Today's task: Collect change. Get a new piggie bank or a change jar. Start saving! You never know how much you may be saving by saving.


December 14th: Own Your Awesomeness!

Self-worth is a topic I have touched on before on an earlier blog. Self-worth sometimes gets derailed by others' thoughts and opinions of you. This causes you to sometimes feel like your actions are weird or judged. OWN YOUR AWESOMENESS! Be yourself. Be who you want to be. Don't give a fuck what anyone thinks of you! I know that's hard, but it needs to be done! You are fabulous the way you are and anything you do (except like... homicide or racism, etc.) is awesome. If you want to wear mismatched socks, DO IT. If you want to tweet every thought you have, DO IT. If you want to party like its 1999, DO IT. If you are not harming yourself or others or breaking the law, you're golden pony boy.

Today's task: OWN YOUR AWESOMENESS! Scream it from the rooftops. Or from the internet. Whichever! I want you to tell everyone that you're awesome, regardless of what anyone thinks.