27 things I’m welcoming into my life

I’m a big fan of New Year’s, but actually, I think your birthday is an even better time to set intentions. After all, it’s like your own personal anniversary. I’ve been really big into manifestation lately, so I’m clearing mental space for the following to come into my life this year. So without further adieu…

1. Alignment:

I spoke about misalignment in my previous post, so naturally, I’d like to welcome alignment into my life. Aligning my thoughts with my words, my words with my actions, so that everything is symbiotic for what I truly want in life.

2. Abundance:

I also spoke about letting go of a scarcity mindset. Enough of that. I want ABUNDANCE. Abundance of love, happiness, health, money, friends, family – everything. No need to deprive yourself.

3. Health:

SO, SO IMPORTANT FOR ME. If you’re not up-to-date, I’m having a few health issues (you can find other posts about this on my blog if you’re interested!). It’s draining, but I absolutely need to get it in check this year. So, I’ll be working on truly switching my mindset and making the right moves to welcome health in. And of course, I’ll continue to document on here 🙂

4. Freedom:

Freedom – health freedom, food freedom, mental health freedom, etc. I’ve felt very constrained by a lot of these things in my life, and I’m hoping to move away from that mindset and feel more free.

5. Acceptance:

Acceptance is just a great feeling, don’t you think? The word itself just makes me feel less stressed. Learning to accept your past mistakes, accepting other people, accepting that we cannot control everything – I think this mindset will be helpful for me.

6. Meditation:

This is hard because it takes practice and I’m just not great at it, if we’re being honest! It’s a very disciplined practice, but everyone swears by it. With my stress levels, I know it’s important.

Something I actually have been loving is this app called “Beatfulness“. It’s binaural beats (learn more here) that can focus on different things you’d like to work on such as deeper sleep, stress relief, etc. I have been using it to fall asleep to, and I can honestly say that I have started to feel more rested! It’s not exactly meditation, but it’s been helpful, no doubt.

7. Mindfulness:

Somewhat similar to meditation, but what I mean by this is being mindful in the moment. Making sure to be present, instead of letting my mind wander to the past or future.

8. Getting Weird:

Okay, only my family and closest friends know this, but I was a WEIRD kid. Just super quirky – always making faces, being goofy, etc. Somewhere along the way, I grew out of that, but honestly, I miss that little girl. I miss her carefree attitude, her zest for life, and silly nature. I want to get back to that because life is too short to be serious and boring.

9. Spontaneity:

I’ve never been great with this, but I hope to work on it! As a Taurus, I love plans, structure and consistency. I don’t mind change, but it definitely makes me feel a little anxious and pushes me out of my comfort zone. BUT growth doesn’t happen by staying where you are! I’m looking to make some awesome memories this year, and sometimes the best memories come from things unplanned.

10. Discovery:

Like I said, I want to make some awesome memories. I’m looking to welcome in discovery – discovering new things I like, new places, new events, new people. I want to discover more of myself.

11. IRL Living:

“In Real Life” Living: I mean this in the simplest of ways — less time on social media, more time in the real world.

12. Community Engagement:

Going along with the “IRL” theme, I want to become more of a citizen of my local community – attending more local events, actually learning about the community I live in, etc.

13. Deeper Relationships:

I have some AMAZING people in my life. Truly – sometimes I sit and wonder why I have been so blessed with my friends and family. But I have to admit – I sometimes feel like I could do a better job of deepening those relationships. So, I’ll be working on that this year. (WARNING: Friends and family, if I start loving on you TOO much, just let me know – I won’t be offended).

14. More time with girlfriends:

See the above point – I want to spend more time with all of my favorite gals because they are always my ROCK. For instance, yesterday on my birthday, I was standing in line at Sprinkles to get some more cupcakes (duh), and I started to feel really sick. I almost passed out, and my friends Emma and Haley were the MVP’s and literally were pulling my jacket off of me, patting my head with a water-drenched napkin, pulling my hair back, warding off boys who were trying to flirt with me while I’m literally dying (WHAT), and coming up with a master plan to get me out of there ASAP. AND, they still got my cupcakes for me.

Girlfriends are the family you weren’t born into, but somehow found you along the way because God knows you need them. It’s so important to maintain those relationships and hold them close.

15. New Relationships:

While I love all the people in my life already, I am always open to welcoming new friends in! Also, seriously wouldn’t mind meeting a guy one day, ya know, organically, like in one of the movie scenes like I talked about… LOL.

16. Family Time:

Family is everything. I spend a good time with family already, but I’m always happy to spend more time with them. I have nieces and nephews, and I love watching them grow up and getting to know them as they get older! Auntie life is the best.

17. Continued Learning:

I’ve always thought about going back to school, getting a certification in something, or learning a new skill. I’m not sure what this exactly looks like yet, but I definitely want to find something where I feel like I’m continuing my education.

18. Art:

The fine arts – I used to be so obsessed with musicals, dance, music, etc… and somewhere along the way when life’s responsibilities crept in, I pushed all of those passions to the back-burner. Recently, I’ve been able to see two musicals (Jersey Boys and Hamilton, both great!), and it reminded my how ignited my soul becomes when I experience art in that way.

This year, I want to see MORE musicals, go to art exhibits, etc. I always feel so culturally engaged and my soul is happy when I am experiencing art.

19. Color:

Black is a color… right? No? Oh… I want to bring just a liiittle more color into my wardrobe… but it’s just so hard because neutrals. are. life. This will be a struggle.

20. New Hobbies:

Similar to continued learning, I want some new hobbies! It’s always fun to introduce something new into your life – coloring? puzzles? knitting? The opportunities are endless! (Okay, now I just sound old).

21. Traveling – for real:

Finances, health, work… I’ve had a lot of excuses not to travel. But now that I have a very generous vacation policy, I MUST take advantage of this! So excited to travel more this year… where should I go?! Comment below 🙂

22. Writing:

I actually really enjoy writing. I often don’t know what to write about, but when I do write, it is so cathartic. I love the feeling of my fingers whisking across the keyboard, and my internal thoughts suddenly becoming visible. I often wonder if writing is a dying art form – I mean, who needs to read blogs when everyone has a podcast, after all?! (Not bashing, I’m an avid podcast fan). But there is something to be said for the written word – a homage to both things that have passed and things that are to come.

Anyway, I hope to continue writing more this year, whenever inspiration strikes.

23. More Cooking/Baking:

I’ve really started to appreciate trying to recipes. There’s something adventurous about it: will it look like the Pinterest picture? Or better yet, will it be edible? The anticipation is real, people!

I think it’s so important to learn the art of cooking and baking – it’s something that you can always take with you, and you can share both the food AND knowledge with others. A gift that keeps on giving!

24. A personal trainer?:

I’ve been debating getting a personal trainer. I’ve come a long way on my fitness journey, but in terms of form and lifting, I’m pretty much self-taught. I’d love to work with a trainer to perfect form and improve, because I’ve been feeling pretty stagnant lately.

Chicago friends, any good recommendations?!

25. Strength:

Going along with the personal training aspect, I really want to improve my strength! I took a [solidcore] class this morning, and even though I’m in the gym 4-5 days a week lifting weights, this class KICKED. MY. BUTT. It was different than anything I am used to doing, and humbled me big time. It just goes to show you that your body has different modes of strength, and I still have improvements to make!

This is important to me because I have chronic pain issues due to arthritis in my back (guys, I swear I only turned 27), so improving your overall strength is imperative to pain management.

26. Creativity:

I want to tap back into my creative side this year – I think this will come naturally along with some of the above points, so I’m excited to open myself up to that side of me again.

27. Fresh Flowers:

Honestly, I just really love fresh flowers.

I’m so excited to see where this next year of life takes me. I was feeling somewhat blah about it this past week, but I shifted my mindset. I made it another year, I have so many blessings to be grateful for, and I have the opportunity to continue to live an amazing life. Can’t ask for anything more!

happily Haleigh

27 things I’m moving on from

In no particular order, here are 27 things I plan to leave behind when I turn 27, or at least try to. Hey, nobody’s perfect, but I gotta work it, again and again til I get it right… okay I’ll stop.

1. Misalignment:

I’ve been getting a little “woo woo” lately, and one of the podcasts I listened to spoke about manifestation. It’s a very interesting concept that has been talked about for years and years, but really what I’ve taken away from it is this: Manifestation is not just about wishing or envisioning something happening in your life.

Girl, YOU GOTS TO DO THE WORK. You can’t just say “I want x” and then just sit on your couch and expect the universe to hand it to you on a silver platter. No. You want a new job? Guess what, you have to be open to opportunities AND you have to apply and go to interviews.

Are your actions aligned with the life you want? This is something I’m going to be consistently assessing this next year, and I’m leaving the misalignment behind me.

2. Dating Apps:

Okay hear me out here: I have always been the girl who is perpetually single, and to be frank, I’m fine with it. Honestly. Even my mother has told me that she thinks I may never get married, and I wasn’t offended in the slightest by that statement!

But I have always said, that if I do meet “The Guy”, I want it to be organically. Yeah, I want that somewhat movie-magic moment where things just fall into place. Maybe it’s the other part of me that’s a hopeless romantic, but dating apps just seem forced, and have ruined dating culture. I could go on and on about this… But I’ll leave it here:

I’m leaving the apps behind because (to my previous point), having them is not an action that aligns with what I want to welcome in. So catch me in real life, knights in shining armor!

3. Scarcity:

“Minimalism!” Honestly, NO. Guess what, I don’t want to live minimally. Do I want to have a bunch of stuff I don’t need in life? No, BUT, I can’t totally get on board with this trend.

Life is meant to be lived LARGELY and when I’m living in a state of scarcity, I am a sad Haleigh. And this blog is call happily Haleigh. That would be misaligned… so bye bye scarcity! HELLO TO ALL THE THINGS IN LIFE.

4. FOMO:

Oof, this is a tough one. I’m not sure one can truly do away with this mentality, but I definitely am aware of how awful I feel when I have this emotion.

Fear of Missing Out is a construct of society though. Fear that something you say “no” to will be that one magic moment where your life has so much value added to it that you have completely missed the boat by not attending.

Guess what – life gives you what you need, and if you’re trusting your intuition, the decisions you make should make you feel grounded. Know that those decisions are what are right for you, and you’re not missing out. What was there, was not meant for you. And your Netflix in bed probably saved you from a truly horrific night.

5. Fake Likes:

Again, SOCIETAL PRESSURE IS REAAAAL. Have you ever felt like “Oh I should read more because I’m supposed to like reading.” Or ooo, ooo, better example: GAME OF THRONES. (Come one, you don’t all actually like that show).

So, you pretend to “like” something because everyone else does, or you’re supposed to, or it will make you look like a better human. Well no more of this. I shouldn’t feel shame because I prefer watching a good show vs. reading most nights. I shouldn’t feel the need to keep up with certain celebrities that I truly don’t care about.

Stop pretending to like things. It’s dumb and make you a robot.

6. Fake Friends:

Same goes with friends. Stop pretending to like people you don’t like, and stop trying to keep people in your life who don’t actually like you. Plain and simple.

7. Second Guessing:

CONFIDENCE, COHEN. (If you don’t know this reference, you’re a fake friends and I can no longer associate with you. Kidding, kinda).

8. “What If’s”:

Ah, yes, “what if” is a classic and extremely well-known term to any ruminator. I’ve spoken about ruminating before – I’ve done this my WHOLE life. It’s in my blood. I’ll probably still have a lot of these moments the rest of my life, but I’m going to do my best to be more aware of when I get in my head.

9. Saying “Yes”:

I like to make people happy – plain and simple. I don’t like to be difficult, because I think the world would be better if we all just tried a little harder. But sometimes, I hand out “yes’s” like Oprah handing out cars – “You get a Yes, You get a Yes, Everybody gets a Yes!” It gets draining! Knowing my health issues, I have to be a little more protective of myself this year. So if I tell you no, it’s not because I don’t love you, I just have to love me more this year 🙂

10. Saying “No”:

I know, I’m contradicting myself, but I have a point. Some of the things I say “yes” to, I could definitely cut back on. However, I could also stop saying “no”. No to opportunities, no to new people in my life, no to things that could welcome awesomeness into my life.

Basically, I need to work on a better balance between “yes” and “no” this year.

11. Hiding:

Isn’t it so easy to hibernate in your room, in your bed, under the covers, watching Netflix or endlessly scrolling on social media? It’s so easy. Especially when you have a valid of excuse of “I’m really not feeling well, I need to rest, etc.” (this is valid in my case).

And yes, knowing things I’m going through, I do need to rest and take care of myself. BUT I do NOT want to become a hermit in this world. I live in the most beautiful city, with awesome people, and amazing experiences. It’s a shame to hide from that, and it’s a shame to hide myself from the world! Again, balance.

12. Society’s Timeline:

BOY BYE. Do you feel like everyone you know is getting married, having babies, buying houses, etc? Yeah, I feel that too. And it’s polarizing when you are no where near that point in your lie. But remember, God isn’t putting that timeline on you – society is. And you know what God doesn’t care about? Society. Yeah, he really doesn’t lol.

You know the only thing you should care about? Your timeline that God has given you. He has it worked out. Don’t stress.

13. Comparison:

MUST. STOP. SCROLLING.

Again! Don’t compare your chapter to another’s chapter – YOU’RE IN A DIFFERENT BOOK! Of course they won’t look the same 🙂

14. Control:

I’ve also touched on this before on my instagram, I believe – trying to give up that need to control EVERY little thing in my life. As the great Carrie Underwood once said: “Jesus, take the wheel”. Amen, girl.

15. Other people’s baggage:

Repeat after me: “Other people’s baggage is not yours to carry”.

Do you work at the airport? Are you a taxi driver? NO. You are not a baggage handler!! Let people figure their own stuff out. It’s great if you want to help, and I think we should all help each other. But don’t carry it. DO NOT.

16. Band-Aids:

Netflix, food, social media, coffee… you name it. We all have a lot of “band-aids” that we turn to when we are stressed or wanting to feel numb. Band-aids don’t have to be anything “bad”, but I definitely know that there are things in my life that I use to distract myself from feelings or thoughts.

17. Resentment:

I mean, this is just never a good thing, I think we can all agree on that! I don’t carry a lot of resentment, but I do have a hard time forgetting when someone hurt me. I carry around little nagging feelings, and they are sometimes hard to shake. But, I have to shift my mental picture on this to understand that this emotion does not affect the other person, it only affects me… not cool! So buh-bye!

18. Boring Nights:

Now let me clarify, I will still revel in my Netflix nights. But what I mean by this is shifting my mindset. Some might say a typical week-night at home is “boring” because it’s normal, nothing special, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be enjoyable! I’m going to practice shifting my mindset to enjoy all of my nights, even if it’s my normal meal-prep, dinner, netflix bed routine.

19. Things I just don’t want or need or use:

Stuff. Get rid of the Stuff. ‘Nuff said.

20. “I’ll be happy when”:

Oooo yes, “the grass is greener”, “I’ll be happy when”‘s… LIVE IN THE MOMENT HALEIGH. We are not promised tomorrow, so just be happy now.

21. Guilt:

Past mistakes are in the past – the guilt will eat you alive, and cause you stress, and make your health issues worse, so stop that.

22. Perfectionism:

I will never truly be rid of my perfectionism, so this is more of a thing I’m always working on. But, I know that it contributes to my stress levels, and again, I’m trying to zen out over here.

23. Waiting:

Because I am a very “what if” person, I tend to think on decisions for quite sometime. Sometimes that is good, but sometimes you just end up waiting. Waiting and doing nothing. Because Hamilton is on my mind, I related so much to “Wait for It” sang by “Aaron Burr”. I’d like to think I could be more like Hamilton, but maybe a mix between Burr and Hamilton would be better…

24. “Just”:

I’ve pretty much successfully erradicated this term from my professional emails because I once read an article that women use it to justify themselves in business settings (ain’t nobody got time for that).

But I realized that this word creeps into other areas of life:

“Oh I’m just going to brunch with a friend” – NO. You are going to brunch with a friend!! You have a friend! You have money to buy brunch! You will be fed! You will be creating memories! THIS IS AWESOME!!

“Oh I’m just hanging out at home” – NO. You have a home to hang out in, a roof over your head, a place to keep you safe! THIS IS AWESOME!!

“Oh I’m just doing laundry” – NO. You have clothes to wear! You have money to buy clothes and do laundry! You have a way to express yourself! THIS IS AWESOME!!

Do you see how diminishing the word “just” is? Nike should get a new slogan.

25. Tension:

I literally feel stress and tension in my shoulders every day and that just needs to stop. Maybe I just need more massages?

26. The past:

All I have to say is this:

“There’s only us, there’s only this
Forget regret, or life is your’s to miss
No other path, no other way
No day but today”

(again if you don’t know this reference… ugh.)

Mic drop.

27. Coffee

LOL. You thought I was serious.

happily Haleigh

#slayingSIBO // general update

SO.

Here I am, 3 days after finishing my two-week round of Xifaxan, and I feel… the same.

In fact, I might feel worse? Because along with not finding relief, that ROUGH round of antibiotics left me with some fun side effects: breakouts, weird rashes, swelling in my limbs, worsened joint pain… super fun times, my friends!

Thankfully, I have another appointment with Dr. Nicole on Monday. The plan is to chat about anything she found in my bloodwork, and discuss about next steps (remember that super fun test I talked about previously? Yeah, that’s probably gonna go down LOL).

In the meantime, I have also secured an MRI for my chronic lower back pain and emailed a doctor about my toe pain (I was set to actually have a toe surgery in January, but getting a new job threw a wrench in that!). Not only is my original, right toe still hurting, but now my left one has started bothering me. OOF.

Today in Chicago, it is snowing. Yes, in April. And honestly, while I’m not THRILLED about it, it’s given me the perfect excuse to take this Saturday and truly do nothing. As I’m typing this, I’m laying in bed in the middle of the afternoon with no plans for the rest of the evening, and it’s glorious. I did start my day off nicely though – woke up for a workout where I met a new friend, grabbed a coffee, went to my first therapy session, and wandered Whole Foods just because (does anyone else do this?! Didn’t even buy anything – I just love it!)

Tomorrow, I’ll be attending a restorative yoga session – yoga, something that doctors have told me time and time again to partake in for stress management, and something I usually blow off. However, in the spirit of working on my mental health, I’m going to try. Again.

So anyway, this post was really not substantial because truly, there has not been much change. More to come, and I’ll keep you all posted, but until then, I hope your life is beautiful and your days are wonderful.

happily Haleigh

It’s been a minute!

Just a little update on what’s going on in the world of Haleigh!

(or 4 months, same thing)

Hey everyone!

Isn’t it kinda weird that we start off posts with salutations, as though we expect people to be reading these updates? I highly doubt many of you read these, but to those of you out there, hello, again 🙂

Well, I realized that I hadn’t posted since 2018 (oops, you all know I’m bad at this), so I thought it was HIGH TIME I wrote a little update on life!

Actually, quite a bit has happened since I last posted, so let’s break it down into some handy-dandy bullets:

Fitness update: I stopped adhering to a strict bulk. Ugh I know, I was so committed. Feel free to yell at me, but with my health issues, it was hard to keep up with. I have found that I am just not able/don’t want to go to the gym quite as often as necessary to stick to a proper bulk, and right now, I’m committed more to trying to listen to my body than a program.
- In terms of fitness programs though, I’m going to start Meggan Grubb’s Peach Plan next week – has anyone else tried this?!
Health update: Still dealing with the SAME OLD ANNOYING ISSUES OMG HOW.
- Endocrinologist – I started working with one, and we checked my pituitary for any tumors. We found a 2mm one, but she doesn’t seem to think that’s causing my hormonal imbalances (although, I still think this could be a possibility – anyone with any experience here?) Now she is sending me for ovarian and uterus ultrasounds since I haven’t had a period in 2 years.
- Gastroenterologist – I started working with one of these – she basically told me I’m super backed up (duh, and sorry for the TMI), and I had to go through this super cleanse that they put you through before a colonoscopy. It was hell. AND it didn’t really even help. She’s having me take Miralax everyday, but I still have issues. This morning, I went in for a hydrogren breath test to test for SIBO – to be continued here…
- General health issues I’m still dealing with:
  - No period
  - Hair loss (has stalled, so I’m hoping this was seasonal and hair starts growing back soon)
  - Acne
  - Weird, peeling skin on my face
  - Joint pain
  - Fatigue
  - Gastro issues
  - FUN FUN FUN
Career update: I STARTED A NEW JOB! In January, I started a new job at amazing consulting company in downtown Chicago. Honestly, this job has been a God-send. I struggled so much in finding a job with a company that I valued and respected, and a role that I somewhat enjoyed but also paid the bills (city living is expensive, ya know?). But this year, I found it! Everyone here has been so great, and I no longer dread going to the office everyday. It’s a great starting point, and I feel less stressed in my work life – MAJOR win.
Other life updates:
- I’m still single
- All my friends are getting married or having babies
- I am enjoying new co-worker friends
- I am BEYOND excited for Chicago summer
- I’m trying to get back into practicing piano again
- I’m so ready for my favorite show The Bold Type to come back like I cannot wait.
- I’m looking forward to more life changes later this year!

Alrighty, that was short and sweet, but sometimes, in a world where we’re all “connected” on social media but don’t actually speak, it’s nice to write things out, in case you care to know anything about my life.

I sincerely hope you are doing well, and if you aren’t and you’re reading this, I want you to know that I am always willing to listen to any word vomit you may have. Let’s chat.

Haleigh

Your 2018 Holiday Movie and TV Guides!

So it’s mid-November — who needs to just escape into the holiday spirit? No? Just me?

DON’T LIE! As the year wraps up, I’m starting to look forward to heading home to Mom and Dad for the holidays and just escaping the realities of the world because not to be dramatic, but it’s been a TOUGH year. So, if you’re anything like me, you may enjoy indulging in some escapism via warm and fuzzy television programs and classic movies.

But you know, a girl can get overwhelmed with the amount of holiday programs on tv, Netflix, Hallmark, Lifetime, oh boy, oh boy…

Well, to help you not go entirely crazy and make catching the most fabulous airings of the holiday season just a little easier, I’ve created some fun, little guides to follow this holiday season!

Print ’em off, check ’em off, and check it twice 😉

2018 Holiday Movie Guide

This, by no means, is all encompassing, BUT here is a list of classic holiday movies, Hallmark’s 2018 holiday releases, and Netflix original holiday movies!

2018 Holiday TV Guide

Again, this is by no means an all encompassing list, but here are some of the holiday TV options available to you, including some of my all time favorite TV show holiday episodes. Check your local listings, folks!

AND IF THIS JUST ISN’T ENOUGH FOR YOU…

THIS IS BY FAR the most detailed TV holiday schedule I have found on the world wide web. Crack open your planners, friends, because you’re going to need to schedule your viewing times accordingly.

AND IF YOU READ THIS WHOLE POST… guess what…

Those of you who complete the guides in their entirety (or the person who completes the most) will be up for a fun little holiday gift from Santa’s little helper, aka me!

CONTEST RULES:

Share your completed checklist by December 25th but sharing on instagram (story or post) and tagging me, @happilyhaleigh so I can see it!
If there are multiple completions, a winner will be chosen at random.
Winner will be chosen December 26th 🙂

HAVE FUN, HAPPY HOLIDAYS, AND DON’T BE A GRINCH!

happily haleigh