Holla for Thursday!!! And all the new faces I keep seeing popping up around here in the comments. Hi, friends! 🙂

This week keeps going at the speed of light! It also keeps getting better and better. Things keep turning out better than expected. Like my speed work run on Tuesday. Or getting lots of things accomplished which I expected to cause a ton of stress. Or receiving exciting news I did not expect to get. Or when a random dinner pulls together tastier than I could have hoped.

I shall call this little masterpiece “Rainbow White Bean Salad” for its colorful variety. So simple – aka open, chop, mix, and toss a bunch of random whatever. So flavorful – aka lots of fresh goodness going on in that bowl. So Tina – aka filling and good for a budget.

Rainbow White Bean Salad (for 2)

• 1 can white beans, drained and rinsed
• 6 oz artichoke hearts, chopped
• 1/2 pint grape tomatoes, halved
• 1/2 small red onion, diced
• 3 large carrots, peeled and sliced small
• 1/2 large cucumber, chopped
• 1 T minced garlic
• 2 T olive oil
• juice of 1 lemon

Simply combine all the ingredients. Stir to combine. Allow to chill until ready to eat. I love summer food. Why can’t winter food come together this easily? Oh, yea. You have to actually cook. Blech.

Now that I have enticed you all with beans at breakfast time, I shall move on to other things rattling around in my brain. Like my race on Saturday and the question I currently bat back and forth in the tennis courts of my mind. To Garmin or NOT to Garmin?

I love my little run toy. It does wonders for me during training runs. It allows me to just go without having to plan out every bit of my route. It helps me learn more about my pacing. It guides me during things like tempo runs where I have a goal pace. Yet, as this is my first 10K and I mainly have the goal to finish strong (which hopefully involves a sub 1:00 time), I’m considering running the race without my little pal.

I want to see how simply trusting my body and just going works out for me in a race setting. I wonder if trying to focus on my pace by keeping up with Mr. G could actually hinder me during a race. Right now I lean toward going without it to see how it plays out and if it would be something I enjoy for future races. I want to trust my training and trust my body. I guess in my mind all I can do on race day is get out there and run. Hopefully I have learned enough to race smartly and finish strong.

• If you run races, how closely do you track your pace?
• What is your favorite thing about summer food?

I have a lot of goals for myself. Although, when I consider my goals, many range in a broad spectrum and I don’t have specifics in how I hope to achieve them. That kind of bothers me. I have written previously about my approach to goals and simply striving each day for a balance in giving time and energy to all of those things which matter most to me. Yet secretly, I always wish I could organize my goals and thoughts – for example, like other bloggers do with monthly goal posts. Today, I decided no more wishing. I’m taking my broad spectrum hopes for my life and breaking them down into more detailed actions. I will keep my overall, broader perspective, but also include action points that fit into each.

Personal: A Balanced Life of God, Family, and Personal Passion

• Spend at least 20 minutes each day in quiet prayer (does not include my random chats with God through the day) and Bible reading/study.
• Continue making regular, concentrated time for family activities: 2 hours total full-blown family time each day and 1 weekly special family focused activity
• Look into personal training certifications. (more details on why next week)
• Read one book.
• Stick to our newly revised budget and keep up with tracking our expenditures daily.

Health/Fitness: Continue Trusting My Body & Making Healthy Decisions Regularly

• Make one new healthy recipe each week. (this week’s coming tomorrow!)
• Run my first 10K and achieve a sub 1:00 time.
• Maintain my running stamina while on vacation for a week by completing three low-key runs over the course of the week. <--- excited to run at the beach!
• Complete at least two unassisted pull-ups in a row.
• Continue using healthier coping mechanisms when faced with stress or difficult emotional situations.
• Eat on average 6+ servings of fruit/veggies daily.

Blogging: Have Fun While Developing My Biggest Personal Passion

• Stay organized, focused, and balanced with my blogging routine. Continue using solely nap time for blog work to keep that balance.
• Produce quality content that includes a variety of topics – personal, fitness, recipes, body image discussion, FFF daily life, cute kids, and more.
• Stay connected with the wonderful blogging community by commenting on 10-15 blogs per day and staying up to date on my own blog’s comments/emails.
• Put up a recipe page. <--- Still uncertain on this one since I’m not really a “foodie” type blog and my “recipes” are more tossing things together typically. 😉
• Stay active in Twitter and Facebook to connect with you all because without you sharing the love with me, FFF would have nothing.

Wow! That wasn’t as bad as I thought. I think the blogging goals were the hardest to lay out there. I strive first and foremost to have fun with the blog, but I can’t deny how strongly I feel about developing this passion of mine. I feel called to pour myself into it no matter how I try to step back. God just keeps reeling me back in full force to share myself with each of you. I have goals for the blog, but I still don’t care for goals like having X amount of readership or gaining X number of Facebook likes or anything like that. In sum, I believe putting my story out there, staying genuine to myself, and connecting with you all provides all I hope for in my FFF baby.

Tangent aside, it does feel good to put my goals out there in writing rather than rambling around in my head as a hodge podge of hopes, dreams, and paths I feel God calling me towards. I’m always one to go after life. So let’s make June happen. And the fact it’s June could create a whole other tangent in itself so I will stop this post there. 😉

• Do you like writing out goals? What is a goal you have for this month?
• Do you have blogging goals?