Reviewing the First Quarter of the Year

The first quarter of 2015 is complete! These past three months have been really, really good. I’m just very happy with my life right now and where it is going. I think 2015 is shaping up to be a fantastic year.

I thought I would take the time to review the first three months of the year – looking back to detail the successes and the challenges – and to look ahead to the second quarter.

Q1 Review – What Went Well

• Giving up a relationship that wasn’t serving me

It wasn’t hard to make the decision to break things off, but there was an initial pang of Oh-my-god-what-have-I-just-done. The realization that I was, once again, single. The worry that I would be single forever, that nobody would ever love me, that I am too much of a mess to handle being in a relationship. And some of that worry is still there, but more than anything, I feel complete peace at being single and I am 100% certain that ending the relationship was the right idea. He wasn’t the person I needed him to be. Simple as that.

• Going on two super fun trips – St. Augustine and Savannah

Okay, so maybe the trip to St. Augustine was with the aforementioned boy, but we still had lots of fun! I really enjoyed exploring St. Augustine, and I’d love to go back again with my mom (my favorite travel buddy!) to check out the fort and the lighthouse again, along with some other places I didn’t get to see.

And what else can I say about Savannah? It was a wonderful weekend away. That city has a piece of my heart, and I’m glad I was able to enjoy even more of it the second time around. Next time, I want to rent out an apartment or stay at a B&B in the historic district.

• My nephew was born!

Dominic is the most delightful thing I have ever seen. Well, aside from six-and-a-half years ago when my first nephew was born! Dominic was born a few weeks early at the end of February, and he is a chunker. Which is my favorite. He’s got baby rolls for days.

• Giving up soda for 46 days

This was such a tough challenge. It was tougher than the time when I quit soda for 30 days back in 2013. But I saw it through to the end and I am so proud of myself!

• Running a 5k

I didn’t develop a love of running through training for this 5k, but I did it! I’m so glad the race is behind me, and I can focus on other forms of exercise that I like more.

Q1 Review – What Was Challenging

• Budgeting

Spending within my means, saving money, and paying off debt. It was all hard, hard, hard for the first three months, and I don’t see this tough thing getting any easier over the next 3-6 months as I have a cruise in May and then a move in July. I want to put myself on a strict no-spending “diet,” but I’ve tried that before and I’ve failed miserably time and time again. Something’s gotta give, though.

• Eating well

I’m trying. I really am. But I’m stuck on this 5-lb plateau where I lose a few pounds and then gain them back, lose a few pounds, and then gain them back. While I did give up soda for Lent, as well as eating sweets at work, I still slipped up more than I should have. And while my goal is to one day eat healthy 80% of the time, I’m nowhere near that right now. I’m not meal planning, not making recipes, eating out too often, and allowing myself too many “cheat meals.”

• Dealing with Dutch’s injury

Dutch is 13 years old, and I am scared on a daily basis of losing him. So, when he injured one of his hind legs in March, I was terrified. Dachshunds have notoriously fragile backs; because their backs are so long, they are at greater risk of injuring them (this is also why an overweight dachshund is such a hazard.) So I was worried he injured his back. But it was simply a pinched nerve and within a week, he was back to his old self. He’s running up and down the stairs like a champ and even went on a long walk recently and to the dog beach this past weekend so I know he’s back to his old active self.

Looking ahead to Q2 (April, May, and June)

The next three months have a lot to look forward to! In May, I am taking a cruise with my mom, and some time at the end of May or early June, it’ll be time to make a decision on where I’ll be living next. I also really want to focus on budgeting and healthy living. These are two areas of my life that need so much work, and I sometimes get lazy with myself. It’s time to stop making excuses and start putting in the effort in order to see the results I want.

All that said, I’m setting five manageable goals to accomplish over this next quarter. I decided on four goals that have a definite end date; these are goals that just require a checkmark – Yep! Done! They are somewhat related to the goal categories I set for my monthly goals, and you might see them end up on those monthly reports, but we’ll see. The last goal I set is more of a habit-based goal; something that will take daily or weekly commitment and doesn’t have a specific end date.

Here are the goals I want to accomplish in Q2:

• Refinance my auto loan.
• Schedule an appointment with a therapist.
• Launch a brand-new blog theme.
• Make a decision on an apartment.
• Start writing fiction again.

I really like the method of setting quarterly goals rather than yearly goals. Three months gives me enough time to make them ambitious, but I also have to be super specific with them so they are easy enough to accomplish in this time. I think the goals I set are definitely achievable, and I’m excited to see how this next quarter of the year unfolds for me!

What were the highlights of the first quarter of the year for you? What do you have to look forward to over the next three months?