We’re more than halfway through the year, and it’s time to do a review of my 2023 goals. During the Q2 review, I like to reassess my goals and adjust any that I know aren’t going to get done for whatever reason. Goals are not static; we can change them if we want to! So that’s what I’ve done for a few of my goals, which you’ll find below.
APARTMENT
1) Move to a two-bedroom apartment – I will be moving at the end of October, and I have been doing apartment tours already to get a feel for the different apartments around me and what I can expect to pay in move-in costs. So far, I’ve narrowed down my selections to two different apartment communities that are a few minutes drive from where I live now, so now I wait until it’s time to put in an application!
2) Hire movers for my move – I got a quote from a moving company because I was curious about the price. It was less than I was expecting so that’s good!
3) Change up my entryway – Complete! I’m so happy with it.
4) Buy a new mattress and bedframe – Complete! I couldn’t be more pleased with this purchase.
5) Install a bidet. Create a favorite books bookshelf. I realize now that installing a bidet isn’t something I’ll be able to do this year, since I move a few weeks before Thanksgiving and things will be crazy. I’ll have it on my 2024 goals list, though! So instead of this, I’m changing my goal to create a favorite books bookshelf. I have been slowly curating a collection of my favorite books and stacking them in my closet. I still need to buy the bookshelf (I have my eye on this one), which I’ll probably do after I move.
HEALTH
1) Go for a walk every day – (95/181) I’m 52% successful with this goal so far (a decrease of 5% from Q1).
2) Complete 100 Peloton workouts – (44/100) I’m six workouts behind.
3) Drink at least one bottle (16 oz) of water every day – (69/90) I’m 38% successful with this goal so far (a decrease of 2% from Q1).
4) Get a sleep study done – No progress made. I need to call my doc and get this done!
5) Research my options for LASIK. I have a LASIK consultation tomorrow!
6) Establish a better morning and nighttime routine. Ugh, no. I struggled a lot with my morning and nighttime routines in Q2.
MONEY
1) Have $3,000 saved in my CapitalOne emergency fund and $500 in my bank emergency fund by the end of the year. No progress made. Disappointing.
2) Switch to a rewards credit card. No progress made.
3) Do a weekly budget check-in. Start doing monthly budget recaps again. After not doing any sort of budget recap this year (and thus, being terrible at keeping track of my bank account), I realize I need that accountability to make sure I’m keeping tabs on my spending. Expect these to return after July!
4) Donate $50 to the following three charities every quarter: Friends of Strays, the Tampa Bay Abortion Fund, and CASA. Ugh, I did not do this at all in Q2! What the heck?!
HOBBIES
1) Read 100 books. (62/100) I am 9 books ahead of schedule!
2) Complete the A-Z reading challenge. (20/26) Nearly finished! I just need to read one book per month for the last few letters remaining (J, P, Q, V, X, and Z).
3) Publish podcast seasons regularly throughout the year. So far, so good! We released season 3 in January/February, season 4 in March/April, and season 5 in June/July.
4) Make a website for our podcast Post to our podcast Instagram three times per week while we’re in season and twice per week when we’re not. Making a website for our podcast is no longer a goal I have (it’s more expensive than I thought), so instead, I want to work on building up our Instagram presence. Right now, I post about once or twice a week when we’re in season (aka, publishing episodes weekly) but kind of fall off the bandwagon when I don’t have episodes to talk about. This feels doable!
5) Complete my blog categorization project. I’m doing one year of recategorization every month, and I got through 2009-2013 in Q1 and 2014-2016 in Q2.
6) Host a silent reading night. I’m going to mark this complete because even though I have not hosted a silent reading night, I am regularly attending Silent Book Club, which serves the same purpose.
7) Watch 6 movies and 6 standup specials. (7/12) I am ahead of my goal. Woohoo!
MOVIES
- Glass Onion ★★★☆☆
- Are You There God, It’s Me Margaret ★★★★★
- The Little Mermaid ★★★★★
- Clue ★★★★☆
STAND-UPS
- Jim Gaffigan (live) ★★★★☆
- Michelle Wolf: Joke Show ★★★★☆
- John Mulaney: Baby J ★★★★★
FUN STUFF
1) Go tubing at Rainbow Springs. Not complete. I need to get this on the books, maybe in August.
2) Take a knife skills class. Complete! It was so much fun!
3) Learn how to French braid. Complete. I’m French braiding my hair on the regular now and even took my braids out in public. (!)
4) Visit one new state. Complete. I visited South Carolina for the first time in early July.
5) Get a tattoo. Not complete. I may be doing this on Friday. Maybe.
6) See a Dolphins game in person. Not complete. I need to look at tickets!
7) Complete Project 365. In progress and going well! Sometimes it’s annoying to try to have to find a picture to post, but overall, I’m very much enjoying this challenge.
8) Go on at least 5 first dates. I’m marking this one complete, as I’m now in a serious relationship!
Wow, your organizational abilities put me to shame. I wish you well on your move, they make me crazy. I love the idea of an A to Z reading challenge. There’s something delightfully quirky about the concept. Good luck doing your blog categorization project. I did that to my blog a few years ago, great in the end, frustrating to do in the process.
I will be so glad to have this blog categorization project finished. I’m treating myself to a brand-new blog layout when it’s complete! I will have been working on it for over 2 years when I finally get it done. It will be worth it, but woof.
I love an A to Z reading challenge because you still get to read the books you want to read! Those tougher letters make it harder, but I’m committed!
Love this check in! So much progress and so many great things ahead of you! And now I want to learn to French braid my hair…
Once I saw a friend do a French braid in person and then watched some YouTube videos, I got the main idea of how to do it down. I think the trick is to know that your first MANY attempts will be messy and not look great and that’s OKAY.
Wow! Look at you checking so many things off your list! Nicely done. I like that you acknowledged that some of the goals don’t make as much sense and you switch them around!
Also, I think this French braiding thing is a lot harder than you let on. I’m really struggling with it!
Well, I mean, I’ve been working on the French braiding goal for 2 years now so I’ve had a lot of time to practice! YouTube videos help a lot and it’s really about just doing the whole braid, even if you know it’s going to look bad, because it gives you practice on going through the motions of braiding. And then you can see where you’re struggling, too! Good luck!
Wow! You’ve crossed a lot of things off!
I’m so excited to see how things go with LASIK. You know PRK has been a bit of a gong show for me but I still (mostly?!) think I have no regrets. It’s still a thrill to take a shower and be able to see the labels on a shampoo bottle!
The beginning of the list was looking rather scary, haha, but I am doing very good on the second half of the list so I’m excited about that!
I think that you are doing a great job with your goals! I also am impressed that you are willing to change them as needed, as I think that is one of the hard things for me. Once I put it on paper, I really am hard on myself if I do not get it done, but I need to become more fluid and/or easier on myself!
I will be interested to find out what you hear about LASIK. I would love to not have to put in contacts every day, especially when I am traveling and/or backpacking etc. However, I do wonder what the chances are that I would not just have to get some other corrective surgery or glasses for farsighteness soon, as I am over 40 and I know that often that becomes an issue later in life.
One of my friends had LASIK at 38 so you’re not far off from where she was! I feel like, at 35, I’m a little on the “older” side myself as I’ll likely need readers in the next decade or so, but I’ll take glasses I have to wear every now and then over being nearly blind without wearing glasses all the time!
I’m definitely a fan of changing goals that aren’t serving you anymore, but I understand that need to commit to a goal once it’s down on paper!
I can’t wait to see your new place and how you decorate it – you’re so good at it! And I can’t wait to see your favorites bookshelf too.
Re: nighttime routine – did you listen to Erin’s on TMYK episode this week? Ha, it made me laugh.
What?! Maybe a new tattoo this week?! EXCITING!!!
That is the best compliment ever, Kim! Thank you so much!
OMG, Erin’s nighttime routine is AMAZING. It makes me want to better commit to my routine because between Jamie and Erin, they’ve got it down pat. (I love that Jamie spends an hour on TikTok as part of her nighttime routine, ha!)
You are doing great with your goals! And it’s smart to readjust things that are no longer a priority.
I’ll be super curious to hear about your lasik consultation. And a new tattoo possibly today?
Does Elizabeth live close to where you live? Totally none of my business but I’m curious! Phil and I always lived closed (well, besides my time in Charlotte), but it took a solid 20 minutes to get there since there wasn’t an easy way to get to his place since he lived close to a lake so there were no major thoroughfares!
You’re doing great on all fronts and there’s still so much time left to catch up on some of the goals. I am so excited for your move to a two-bedroom apartment. I want a second bedroom too but I don’t see us moving anytime soon. At least we get the kitchen floor done soon. It’s something.
I’m so excited to follow the apartment hunt – totally living vicariously through you. Love looking at new places. Hate moving. There’s a conundrum for you… 🙂
And you are doing SUCH an amazing job on these! Can’t wait to hear a tattoo update, if there is one????