Predicting The Gender

Old wives tales...do you believe in them? Over the weekend we found out the gender of baby Mackvick and couldn't be more excited to finally know the gender! The weeks leading up to finding out, I thought it would be fun to do some old wives tales and "guess" at what we could possibly be having. I don't believe in all of them but it was a fun process for sure.  

Morning Sickness

I guess the sicker you are, it means you're having a girl. BOY

Ring Test

  Your supposed to off your wedding ring, tie it to a piece of string and hang it over your belly. If it swings in a circle, you are having a boy; back and forth indicates a girl. GIRL

Mayan Test
 The Mayan tale adds the mothers age at conception and the year of conception. If the result is an even number then mom is having a girl. If the result is an odd number then a boy is on the way. According to this, we are having a BOY.

Baby's Heart Rate

Supposedly if it's above 140 it's a girl and if it's 140 or below it's a boy. All of the times we've heard the heartbeat, it's been over 150. GIRL

Acne

They say girls steal your beauty. Thankfully I haven't been breaking out more than normal! BOY

Sleep

If you sleep on your left side, it's a boy. If you sleep on your right side, it's a girl. I've been sleeping on my left side for the longest time because it's been more comfortable. BOY

Shape of Baby
 If you are carrying high with a big, round belly, they say you are having a girl. If you are carrying low with a smaller belly that sticks straight out, it’s a boy. I'm not 100% sure what the shape of my belly is so I'm guessing on this one. BOY

Food Cravings

Salty cravings mean boy and sweet cravings mean girl. I've always had a sweet tooth but haven't had more cravings of either salty or sweet foods. But if I had to pick one...GIRL

My Gut Feeling

It was boy in the early stages, then girl for a brief period, then BOY again. 

Friends and Family
 We took a poll of our friends and family and what their guesses were and the majority said BOY.

BOY - 7

GIRL - 3

To find out what the gender is, be sure to tune-in on Instagram (@mmackvick) when I reveal the news later this week! Hope everyone has a great Monday!
 

Goals for 2016

Ah, 2016 is finally upon us! I don't know about you but I feel like 2015 went by so fast. In 2015 alone, I got engaged, Will and I moved, I gathered inspiration and planned for our wedding, we got married in June, honeymooned in St. Lucia, spent a long weekend in NYC, visited Brooklyn, and welcomed a precious little niece into the family to name a few highlights.

And although the start of a new year can be bittersweet, it's also a time to start afresh. To set new goals and try new things. In years past, I was one of those individuals who would set resolutions but always failed at keeping them. A lot of resolutions I came up with were just not "doable". For instance, why would I ever tell myself I would never, ever, EVER drink another soda again for the rest of my life? I mean...if I'm being realistic here...that's just crazy. I don't drink soda weekly, but every once-in-a-while I'll have one.

Now that I'm married, I've been thinking about traditions Will and I can implement, and setting goals for the coming year is one of them. On New Years Day, we woke up and enjoyed breakfast at one of my favorite breakfast spots; The Flying Biscuit. We don't go there all that often, so it made it feel extra special. Throughout the rest of our morning, we took time talking through what we wanted to accomplish for the year and weeded out goals we felt weren't realistic.

Nancy Ray wrote a blog post recently hat explained something worth putting into practice and it's this: "The most vital part of my goal setting process is simply this: set monthly goals. Let your yearly goals guide what you write. Break them down across the 12 months of the year, then implement them in 4-week time frames. That is the perfect amount of time to really accomplish some things".

So that's what we did! Below our the categories used with my personal goals for the year broken down for each. I thought of others, but wanted to make sure I was being realistic with what I felt I could accomplish in twelve months. And because this is my first time making a list of goals for the New Year, I didn't want to pressure myself by breaking everything out into months. However, I do plan to keep you guys updated each month on what I've accomplished!

Family/Friends

- Host four game nights at our house. We actually had our first game night over the weekend!
- Spend two + weekends visiting our parents (not including the holidays).
- Reach out to my group of girlfriends on a weekly basis. Communication is important to me.

Self

- Back up all photos/documents/etc. on all computers and devices twice throughout the year.
- Clean out my closet and invest in essential items. My motto these days is "quality over quantity".

Spiritual
- Attend an Abundance Conference.
- Increase my prayer life and pray out loud with Will more often.
- Develop a 30 minute morning quite time routine that I do everyday.

Financial
- Find a CPA to help us with our taxes.
- Go back over Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University course as a refresher.
- Review our bank accounts and finances at the end of each month.
- Help Will pay off the rest of his student loans.

Physical/Lifestyle
- Attend classes at the YMCA twice a week and walk for 30 minutes three times a week.
- Go one month every quarter with no soda.
- Meal-plan healthier lunch and dinner options with Will every Sunday.

Marriage
- Celebrate our one year wedding anniversary in June!!
- Complete The One Year Love Language Devotional with Will.

Intellectual
- Take a SkillPop class and discover a new passion.
- Read at least six new books. The one's currently on my list include:

1. The Ten Best Days of My Life by Adena Halpern
2. The Artist's Daughter: A Memoir by Alexandra Kuykendall
3. Make it Happen by Lara Casey
4. Bright Young Things by Anna Godbersen
5. Beautiful Days by Anna Godbersen 
6. The Lucky Ones by Anna Godbersen
7. Unglued by Lysa TerKeurst
8. What You Do Best in the Body of Christ by Bruce Bugbee
9. The Best Yes by Lysa Terkeurst
10. You and Me by Francis and Lisa Chan

Travel

- Take a weekend getaway to the Blue Ridge Mountains with Will's parent.

- Explore four new cities: Chicago, Atlanta, Boston and somewhere in Florida.

What goals or resolutions do you have for 2016? I'd love to hear what you have in mind!

No More Excuses

Did you know that it takes three days to overcome a craving, three weeks to develop a new habit, and three months to see a physical transformation? What about the fact that it takes 3,500 calories to burn 1 pound of body fat? Those are some of the things I learned when reading The No More Excuses Diet book by Maria Kang.

I'll start off by telling you that one of the excuses that I've carried around with me for years is that I never had enough time to work out. But the solution I needed was to make the time for it and commit to setting aside time each week to doing just that. With a wedding right around the corner (literally in 39 days) I've made sure that each and every Tuesday I attend the Weights and Warriors class at the Dowd YMCA. That class is a MUST for me. I also try my best to go to at least one or two other classes throughout the week, and the rest of the days I try to fit in some light cardio, walks around the block or at-home yoga and stretching.

One of the things I love about this book is that it breaks down an acronym, SPEED which is the main focal point of the book and stands for: Set the Goal, Plan the Attack, Envision the Journey, Execute the Plan, and Deliver the Results. SPEED is summed up really well by Maria saying "while on any program you will hit plateaus, deal with distractions, and have to bust some excuses" SPEED is a "goal-setting model that you will use to effectively and efficiently target your short-term goals" and I couldn't agree more.

Will and I created a short term goal that we want to carry out long term and that is to lose weight and be our physically best selves by the time of our wedding in June. We literally measured our starting points by individually weighing ourselves on a scale last year, jointed down that number and marked that as our starting point. We took "before" photos and checked back three months later to note our halfway point. In the course of those three months, I've lost a total of 6 pounds and started to see definition I hadn't had prior to our starting point. That right there was half of my motivation. The other half has been having Will as my "motivational coach".

Honestly y'all, I feel consistently and sticking with a new routine for at least twenty-one days is key because things really do start to become a habit! Even with other areas of your life such as at work. For me, it's really worked in my prayer life (spending my mornings with God in devotion) and trying to eliminate the amount of soda and sugary foods I allow myself to have. Today I can say that I crave less soda but am still working on my sweet tooth cravings! But again, it takes time.

The first handful of days are hard, and they were for me. I had days when I would lose motivation, but as the weeks went by I started to see that I was looking forward to going to work out after work! It's absolutely vital to schedule the most realistic times for you to workout as well. Otherwise you won't stick with your plan. I tried the whole working out in the morning thing but that didn't work! And that's okay. It's not the best time for everyone. For me, working out right after work before going home, is the best time for me. And one that I can stick with.

Another thing this book has shown me is that I need to find ways to stay motivated from start to finish and to really understand the proper ways to stretch and do certain workouts. To help curve my motivation, especially towards the beginning when things were a lot harder, I went out and purchased new fitness attire. All I can say is what girl doesn't like to shop, even if it's for workout gear. This book is a must read if you are having a hard time sticking to a plan. It's an easy read and very informative. I would like to lose another two pounds before the wedding, and I know that with determination and will-power, I'll be able to do just that with the help of The No More Excuses Diet (but it's more so a lifestyle and less of a "diet" if you asked me)!

I received this book to review from Blogging for Books. However, all opinions are my own.