The Year of You

Hi, my name is Amanda and I'm the blogger behind Derby City Darling.  You may remember me from such posts as Five Tips for a Successful Photo Shoot, Meet Me at the Hop (in Red, White and Blue), and 25 Thoughts I Had While Shopping the Sephora VIB Sale.  Just figured I'd remind you since it's been 99 days since I last shared anything on this little nook of the Internet.  All jokes aside, it's a brand new year and with that comes a new set of goals and aspirations.  I already bought myself a new bag, because new year equals new bag, am I right or am I right?  With Marc on my shoulder I'll pretty much be able to conquer anything. 

Toward the end of last year I let myself slip into a dark hole, and to be perfectly honest I am still climbing my way out.  I'm definitely getting there, though.  I don't know if it's the promise of a fresh start or the fact that an old chapter in my life has come to a close, but I'm motivated more than ever to unleash my creative side again.  I knew it was back when I was washing my hair and thinking of how I would write this first post since my little break.  There were so many witty thoughts running through my head as I lathered and rinsed that I knew I needed to get this out tonight, at 10:38 PM before bed.  I've got other projects on the horizon too, including re-opening my Etsy shop, that I can't wait to get going.

I got the idea for The Year of You from a YouTuber that I follow, Marissa Lace.  We both had similar experiences in 2015 as mentioned in paragraph two, and so I was really able to relate to her in this video.  I decided as soon as I watched it that I wanted to make 2016 the Year of Me.  I'm going to focus on things that I want to do, things that I enjoy, and spend time nurturing myself.  I've always made a list of new year's resolutions in my head, but this year I wanted to document them here on the blog.  If you know me then you know I love lists, and more importantly checking things off of said list, and so what more important list to have than one of goals for a new year.  These are the things that I'm going to do for myself this year.

Listen to more podcasts (hi, Straight Up With Stassi)

Read more books

Re-open my Etsy shop

Exercise 3+ times a week

Drink enough water every day

Save more money

Cook more often

Keep my bedroom clean

Use my planner to its full potential

Be spontaneous

Keep a consistent blog schedule

Take more staycations

Whether you had a tough 2015 and welcome a blank slate or had an amazing 2015 and want to keep on rolling into 2016, I hope that you are able to reach your goals and dreams and make it The Year of You.  I'd love to know what your resolutions for the year are, and if you have any recommendations for other podcasts, feel free to send them my way.

xoxo,

Amanda

Sunday Funday and the Case of the Missing Apples

If you follow me on Instagram (and why wouldn't you be?) you may have already read about my disaster of a grocery run from this past weekend.  I elaborated in that caption more than I usually do and figured that would be that.  As I was sitting at my desk yesterday afternoon, though, a light bulb or bell went off inside my head - whichever you prefer - as it so often does at random times throughout the day.  Sure, in that moment at the grocery store I was so frustrated, but in sitting at my desk working through a stack of papers a mile high I realized that I have a bad habit of letting things get to me.

For this to all make sense, let's rewind a bit shall we?  Sunday is supposed to be Funday, hence the title of this post.  My Sunday, however, was anything but fun because there was lots of work to be done at my office in order to make a certain deadline.  It's a part of the job, I get it, and I'm not complaining about that.  But what really set me over the edge after I had been working for 8 hours was walking into the grocery store, ready to conquer my list faster than Ghengis Khan could conquer China, only to realize that nothing was as it should be. 

I made a beeline to my first item (sliced apples) but was staring at mushrooms instead.  I did a 360 as the annoyance set in, and weaved in and out of aisles like a maze trying to find the things I needed.  I asked an employee where said apples were now located, and he politely replied that they didn't have them anymore.  Say what?  Just like that I felt like my whole meal plan for the week was ruined.  Dramatic much?  Yes.   But it's exactly how I felt at the time.  As humans we can only take so much bending until we break.

I ultimately settled on a different fruit to take the apples' place, and looking back now it seems so trivial and so small in the grand scheme of things.  This is my problem.  I'm quick to focus in on the bad instead of being thankful that I have the money to buy my groceries, and healthy food at that, every week for myself.  I am the first to admit that I get caught up in the little things and let them drive me insane until something else comes along to occupy my mind.  Whether its sitting in the drive thru wondering why the heck they're taking so long, or staring at my phone wondering why someone hasn't responded back to me, I have to learn to see the bigger picture. 

At the beginning of the year, I started jotting down something good that happened or something I was thankful for every day in my planner.  As things got busier I got away from that, but I am going to challenge myself to get back into that practice from now on.  Then at the end of the year when I am reflecting back on 2015 and how awesome it was, my views won't be ruined by a few bad apples.

xoxo,

Amanda   

How to Deal

After reading Chelcey's

post

 about when things don't go according to plan, it really hit home.  I am not a roll-with-the-punches or go-with-the-flow kind of girl.  I'm the girl who asks what time we are meeting up to hang out tomorrow and secretly freaks out when you say "we'll figure it out."  I

like

need to have things planned, preferably so I can jot it down in my Day Designer.  Ok, that may be a bit exaggerated, but you get my point.  I have my spontaneous moments, but for the most part I keep things nice and organized. 

So when I was involved in a car wreck this past weekend, throwing off my weekend plans, you can imagine it was a little difficult for me to handle.  I kept it together the night of the accident, but the next morning I had a minor breakdown.  Blame it on hormones (thank you, mother nature) or the fact that I had just been dealing with some other apartment problems (which had just been fixed), but in that moment I was wondering "why me?"

I don't want to come across as dramatic, because I know I have a lot to be thankful for - that no one was hurt, that I am living in a brand new apartment, that I have a great job and am an independent woman - but dealing with life's blows is something I admit I need to work on.  I'm going to challenge myself to handle these situations better in the future.  I realize that life is not perfect and things will not always happen as I want, so I have to be able to deal with it.  First up with this will be dealing with the aftermath of the accident, waiting to hear what will happen with my car.  If I end up having to get a new one, then I'll make it work and move on from this with a positive outlook.

But it doesn't have to always be the big things either.  I'm terrible about dwelling on the little things that can get me down until something else comes along to take my mind off of it (ahem, salad dressing on my shirt).  Seriously, what a waste of my time and energy to put so much into these thoughts that just ruin my mood. 

So, thank you Chelcey for helping me see the bigger picture.  And I challenge you to do the same, don't sweat the small (or big) stuff.

xoxo,

Amanda