2022 Goals | Q1 Recap

Happy Friday, friends! It has been a doozy of a week and I am excited for a relatively low-key weekend around here.

Since we’re settling into the second quarter of the year, I wanted to take some time to look back on my 2022 annual goals and report on my progress.

Three Big Goals

1) Reduce my sugar intake. Here are the things I wanted to do to reduce my sugar intake:

• Get bloodwork done at the beginning of the year to give myself a starting point. Complete! I got bloodwork done in January. My glucose and A1C numbers are on the high end of normal and my cholesterol was on the low end of high.
• Stop drinking soda at home. I have cut down to drinking smaller cans of soda (7.5 ounces) and I try my best to only have one of those a day. I’d like to get better about only drinking one can per day in Q2.
• Drink more water. Ugh, no. This is still such a struggle for me.
• Eat dessert in moderation. This is the area I’d really like to work on in Q2. I consume an incredible amount of sugar in my desserts. I like chocolate candies after lunch, a sweet treat to munch on in the afternoon, and, of course, that delicious after-dinner dessert. My goal is to have just 1-2 pieces of dark chocolate candy after lunch and my after-dinner dessert. That’s a starting point.
• Cut down on the amount of creamer in my coffee. My coffee creamer doesn’t have a ton of added sugar (5g per tablespoon) but I could do a better job of having less of it.

2) Save $4,000 for a down payment. Ugh, barely any progress made. And I really need to get serious about this goal because every time I look at rent prices around me, I want to cry. (A coworker just told me she’s moving to a new apartment and her rent for a one-bedroom will be $2,200—utilities not included. All of the curse words!!)

3) Reorganize my blogging categories/tags. I set myself a specific goal for each quarter to tackle this massive goal. In Q1, I wanted to work through my blog posts from 2009-2015 and start a spreadsheet to list out each blog post and label the post with a specific category and some tags. I got that done, although it has turned into a much bigger project than I was expecting. Whew.

20 Fun Goals

1) Buy a new mattress. Not yet complete. I will likely get this done in Q3.

2) Complete the 2022 Unread Shelf Project. In progress. So far, I’ve read:

• January (the book you’ve been putting off reading): The English Wife by Lauren Willig ★★★☆☆
• February (a title you couldn’t resist): Wordslut by Amanda Montell ★★★☆☆
• March (a memoir or biography): Why Not Me? by Mindy Kaling ★★★★☆

3) Read all of the books added to my Goodreads TBR in 2017. (6/21) I need to read 5-6 books on this list per quarter to meet this goal, so I’m doing good so far! Some DNFs, some outstanding reads. It’s been a worthwhile project so far.

• Columbine by Dave Cullen ★★★★★
• I’ll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson DNF
• All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven
• Men Explain Things to Me by Rebecca Solnit DNF
• Accidental Saints: Finding God in All the Wrong People by Nadia Bolz-Weber ★★★☆☆
• Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
• The Purity Myth: How America’s Obsession with Virginity Is Killing Young Women by Jessica Valenti
• Words in Deep Blue by Cath Crowley ★★★★☆
• Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader by Anne Fadiman
• The Odds of Loving Grover Cleveland by Rebekah Crane
• I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
• Missoula: Rape and the Justice System in a College Town by Jon Krakauer
• A Mother’s Reckoning: Living in the Aftermath of Tragedy by Sue Klebold
• Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult
• Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward
• How to Be a Person in the World: Ask Polly’s Guide Through the Paradoxes of Modern Life by Heather Havrilesky
• Does Jesus Really Love Me?: A Gay Christian’s Pilgrimage in Search of God in America by Jeff Chu ★★★☆☆
• Flight of Dreams by Ariel Lawhon
• Close Enough to Touch by Colleen Oakley
• The Nix by Nathan Hill
• The Names They Gave Us by Emery Lord

4) Do 100 Peloton workouts. (17/100) I’m behind schedule with this goal by 8 workouts, thanks to a very lazy March. I’m hoping my goal of working out every day in April will help me catch up!

5) Restart my novel. No progress made.

6) Go back to therapy. Complete! I tried to start in January but that turned out to be a disaster. I had my first appointment with a new therapist on Monday, and it went really well. Fingers crossed she’s the one!

7) Watch 12 movies. (1/12) I may adjust this goal to include standup specials and documentaries, since I am just not someone who enjoys movies. I did watch Marry Me with a friend for Galentine’s Day and it was cute.

8) Watch 6 TV series. (1/6) So far, only one show and it was Only Murders in the Building. It only has one season so far, so it feels a bit like cheating to include it, but hey, it was a new show and I watched it and this is my goals list and I can do what I want. So there!

9) Visit NYC at Christmastime. Not complete.

10) Get my third tattoo. No progress made.

11) Walk one 5k a month, in a different place each time. (2/12) I missed doing a 5K in March, but I’m going to double-up in April to keep on track.

• January 17, 2022 – Seminole Park – 2.82 miles with my mom and the dogs in 1 hour, 12 minutes
• February 20, 2022 – Walsingham Park – 3.1 miles solo in 1 hour, 16 minutes

12) Redo my bathroom. No progress made.

13) Get microdermabrasion or laser treatment—whatever is the better option for dealing with my acne scars. No progress made.

14) Read Moby-Dick Emma. I switched this goal from Moby-Dick, which I could tell from the beginning wasn’t going to be for me, to Emma by Jane Austen. I’ve read 12% so far!

15) Go on one date a month. Zeroooo dates. Dating is stupid.

16) Put an extra $1,000 toward my car loan. No progress made.

17) Make 12 new recipes. (3/12) I’m doing well with this goal so far. It’s a pretty easy one!

• January: Air fryer chicken breasts from Skinnytaste (not a keeper)
• February: Baked mac and cheese from Mom on Timeout (delicious but time-consuming; I need to choose different cheeses + use less topping next time)
• March: Crockpot chicken and gravy from Plain Chicken (tasted great on the first night, but wasn’t appealing as leftovers)

18) Make a recipe book. No progress made. I need to find a good digital option for this!

19) Cut gluten out of my diet for one month. No progress made.

20) Buy a coffee table and a floor lamp. Complete! I bought a cute coffee table in January and a floor lamp in March.