Hi friends,

I know it’s been a long time since I’ve written a post. So let’s get the updates out there:

Personal Life

I’m getting married again, and that relationship comes with relocation. I’m sure that I’ll be sharing more about them as we combine our lives together. But for now, we don’t have a wedding date (and we’re not sure that we won’t just elope), but sometime in 2023, we’ll tie the knot.

Next month, we’ll be moving to Canton, NC…which is about 30 miles outside of Asheville, NC. I’m not going to lie. Getting ready for a move in less than 30 days is overwhelming and a little scary, especially since I’ve lived my entire adult life in the Columbia area.

But I love the Asheville area, and I’m super excited to share here as we explore a new city and the hiking and outdoor adventures that come with it.

Fitness Life

I’ve picked a really big running goal for 2023: I want to run a full marathon. I actually announced this on social media a couple of months ago, but I’m targeting the Asheville Marathon in March. Open Enrollment at work was really time-consuming so I haven’t really run since Halloween. As I get back into my running groove, a different race may be necessary; we’ll see.

However, consider this the announcement of a new weekly series here on the blog: Monday Miles. Beginning next week, I’ll share my thoughts about the week’s training and any other running-related musings or epiphanies.

I’m still working toward my second-degree black belt. Unfortunately, I took my black belt exam in October 2021 and didn’t pass; that was a hard experience for me. I’m not used to failing at things, but jujitsu is a great passion in my life so I’m still training.

This spring, I’m going after that belt; it’s beyond time that I take that exam again, rock it and get my promotion. Expect more details as I determine an exam date and get ready.

Professional Life

Finally, from a business perspective, I’m expanding my business. A new city means that I’ll be expanding my insurance agency into North Carolina (possibly Georgia and Tennessee as well).

For now, I’ll be splitting my time between the two cities as I hire new staff and get the agency a little more automated. I’m super excited to see my company make a difference in a new community and for the new business leadership challenges that I’ll get to learn from.

So, that’s that.

I’ll see you here soon. In the meantime, connect with me on social:

• FACEBOOK
• INSTAGRAM
• SNAPCHAT
• TWITTER

P.S. Yes, my name changed, but for now, I don’t anticipate changing my domain name.

It’s 9:15 on a Sunday morning.

And for the first time in weeks, I have a lazy morning planned. So the Mister and I are geeking out on our laptops. He’s watching YouTube, and I’m trying to clear my inbox and social notifications. Of course, it’s been more than a month since I’ve written a blog post. So, I figured that I also owe y’all a quick July & August life update.

Home

We started July with the Mister having a week off work; his company always closes the week of Independence Day. My workweek was pretty relaxed as well.

We decided that was the week to push hard on our kitchen updates. The cabinets and wall have been painted, and the hardware has been updated. We also installed a new microwave.

Next on the to-do list is painting the ceiling and installing new linoleum flooring. I also plan to sew new curtains; the jury is still out on whether we’re going to replace the windows now or wait.

We also spent plenty of time with friends at the pool because it’s summer and we live in South Carolina.

Work

After the holiday week, I’m happy to report that I made some progress toward one of my major goals for the year. I started interviewing candidates for my part-time admin position at work. At the moment, the search has been narrowed down to two really good ladies.

The next step is to have the Mister sit down with us for the second round of interviews; I’m hoping his gut will help me decide who would be a better personality fit for my work-style.

Travel

If there’s one thing that I learned from working with my business coach over the last 18 months, it’s that having space in my schedule for self-care is ESSENTIAL. For me, that means taking some time off. I’ve been doing that all year long by taking the last Friday of each month off, but taking a real vacation is also a priority for me.

A girlfriend and I made plans to head to the Chicago jujitsu clinic. We left a 5 a.m. on a Wednesday and hit the road. I love a good road trip, and we had perfect weather for this drive. We took our time, stopping for breakfast and lunch, and reached our destination right at dinner time.

As a martial artist, I love this clinic. It’s intimate and packed with great classes. Everyone is friendly, and the food. I love a clinic where they have the meals on-site; it really gives you a chance to get to know the person you’re working out with, make new friends and get some one-on-one time with the instructors.

After the clinic banquet dinner, we headed to Toledo on Saturday night, and then Sunday morning we split ways to head to different parts of Michigan. My friend was spending her mother’s birthday at the lake; I was headed to my aunt’s house.

Those few days in Michigan with my aunt were just downtime for me. I really enjoyed a few days with nothing specific scheduled. We hung near the house, watching baseball and catching up – though I did find a local judo club to work out with one day and visited an indie yarn shop another day.

The drive home from vacation brought us lots of stormy weather. Have I ever mentioned that I dislike driving in the rain? Storms while driving through mountains or in rush hour traffic is stressful for me, but we made it home to South Carolina safely.

Jujitsu

It feels like I barely got home before heading back out of town again. The weekend after vacation was the ATJA/AJJF National Judo Tournament, and I had committed to my judo kids that I would be competing. So the Mister and I headed to Atlanta for the competition.

There were 30+ states and 4 countries represented this year, and our school had 16 students entered. I’m proud to report that I placed Silver in the advanced seniors’ women’s division. The following morning, we had the opportunity to take a class with some Olympic level judo coaches, which was super-cool and extremely challenging.

August is my birthday month, but we’re staying near the home-front this year. After all the travel in July, I’m happy to stay here in South Carolina and celebrate with family and friends.

Currently

• Reading: The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren, The CEO’s Secret Weapon by Jan Jones and Building a Story Brand by Donald Miller
• Listening: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain and Start with Why by Simon Sinek on Audible
• Watching: NCIS on Netflix

What in the world has been going on lately? I sure have missed popping in over here to catch up with y’all and share pieces of life. I hate that I’ve disappeared, but I’m back now.

And the way I see it, the best way to get back to blogging is to give y’all a quick recap on what’s been happening that kept me away. So, we pretty much have to catch up on the second half of April, all of May and the beginning of June, right? Here’s what happened:

Around the House

Just after my last blog post (a round-up of favorite Instant Pot recipes), the Mister and I celebrated our anniversaries: 8 years married, 11 years in our house, 13 years together.

Some days it feels like we just met, and sometimes it feels like we’ve been together all our lives. Looking back on 13 years is kind of mind-boggling. I still feel like the 24-year-old girl who was giddy about the handsome guy with the sparkling blue eyes.

We started May on the lake with good friends, good weather and plenty of drinks. Boat days lead to a lot of laughs; I hope we’ll have the opportunity to head out for at least one more this month.

 

As we headed toward the end of May, it became apparent there was a problem at our house. We’re not exactly sure how, but our kitchen because infested with German cockroaches. Trust me, you don’t want those suckers in your house.

We tried treating the problem ourselves but eventually called in professional exterminators. Two good things about having to pack everything in our kitchen up for the treatment:

1. We decluttered and donated a ton of unused kitchen items.
2. This was the perfect excuse to some much-needed updates around the kitchen.

Also, the pups came to work with me one day, allowing this adorable picture of them stalking me around my office.

 

ddThe kitchen is still currently packed up, but no more creepy crawlies. The Mister and I are hoping we’ll be ready to paint next weekend. Also on the agenda for the kitchen is new cabinet hardware, updating the flooring, and making new window treatments. We hope to be back in our kitchen in the first week of July.

Around the Dojo

On the dojo front, I was pleasantly surprised by a few of my judo students giving me gifts for Teacher Appreciation week. Helping to teach the children’s classes is teaching me new life lessons all the time. I would never have expected to get so much enjoyment for my clan of 8-year-olds.

I had the honor of being the uke for a friend’s black belt exam in judo. (Read, she threw me around like a rag doll for an hour. Also, I don’t know how to fall properly on my left side.) Since passing her exam, she and I have taken over teaching a competitive judo class to help the kids who want to compete in our tournament this summer.

And on the note of judo tournaments, the South Carolina State Championship was the first weekend of June. Every student from our school who entered took home a medal, and our dojo won second place as a team. I’m really super proud of our kiddos.

 

Everyone’s sights are now on the National Championship, which is the first week of August. I think I may be crazy, but I’ve even committed to competing. The thought gives me butterflies every time it comes in my head – I’ve got conditioning to do and weight to lose. What was I thinking?

Around the Office

Work has been really good lately. I’m in a good rhythm with my sales and working hard to grow a few lines of my income.

The big news at work is that I’m starting interviews for an admin assistant. This is a big scary step for me. It’s one thing to work for yourself and completely another to be in charge of someone else’s employment. However, I know in my heart that I’ve grown my business to a point that this is the next step so I’m taking it scared.

So many friends have asked me about the work I’ve done toward scheduling and with my business coach – it was a huge financial investment that may be too big step for a lot of friends. A more accessible step is a course I took last month, Peace Pace Progresss by Shunta Grant. Since the course is only open until June 21, here is my endorsement:

 

Taking the course for me was a great way to re-focus my goals and re-energize some of the daily & weekly routines that have helped me get efficient in my schedule. My next step is to start getting up an hour earlier to build my personal time into my day; that’s going to be challenging since I’m not a morning person yet.

We also finally decided to sell my 1999 Pontiac and upgrade my vehicle. We are now officially a two Subaru family. I’m thoroughly enjoying my new ride, especially windows that roll up and down and cup holders that work.

 

A post shared by Aubrey (@aubreyeshaw) on Jun 4, 2018 at 7:59pm PDT

Currently

• Reading: The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah and The Ascent of Money by Niall Ferguson
• Listening: Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty on Audible
• Watching: The Looming Tower on Hulu

Happy Friday, friends!

I want to take a few minutes every Friday morning to share with you a few things that are making me happy each week. I believe that focusing on the good things tells the universe to send more blessings our way. If you need a little help with consistently looking for the blessings, consider ordering The Five Minute Journal to start your day with a little gratitude.

5 Things That Are Making Me Happy:

1. Getting back to jujitsu class.
2. Finishing a good book.
3. Listening to vinyl with the Mister
4. Warmer temperatures for a few days.
5. Massage class tomorrow.

What’s making you smile this week? Take a moment to share with me in the comments.