Halfway through the year! It’s crazy how quickly time passes, isn’t it? I can’t believe we’re in the second half of this year, but it holds all of my favorite things: the Olympics, football season, fall, the holidays, my birthday, NABLOPOMO 2024! It’s going to be a good time. But first, let’s do a little check-in on my 2024 goals and see what progress I’m making (or not making).
HOME
1. Create a book nook in my bedroom. I have a cozy reading chair and a cute side table, but I didn’t work on this area of my bedroom in Q2. I would like to eventually add a lamp, floating bookshelves, and some bookish prints.
2. Finish my living room gallery wall. I have a few more prints to hang up, but this is about 95% complete.
3. Move to a two-bedroom apartment. This will be a Q4 goal.
4. Buy a new area rug and a new coffee table for my living room. No progress made. I’m less and less convinced I’ll accomplish this goal in 2024; it depends if I end up moving at the end of October.
5. Reorganize my home: add shelving to my kitchen, hang an organizer in my kitchen pantry, and buy new organizing containers for my closet. Complete! The shelf was hung in March. I hung a headband organizer that I already had on the pantry door to organize small items like cat treats, oatmeal packets, snack bags, etc. And I added organizing containers to the shelves inside my pantry to make it easier to store things.
MONEY
1. Switch to a rewards credit card. No progress made.
2. Complete monthly budget posts on the blog. So far, so good.
3. Add at least $1,000 to my emergency fund by the end of the year. No progress made. (And since I had to use my emergency fund in Q2 for a stupid expensive locksmith, I probably should bump this up to $1,500.)
4. Pay off the majority of my LASIK bill. I’m making payments, but I haven’t made any additional payments yet.
5. Complete a no-spend month. Happening this month!
HEALTH
1. Figure out an exercise routine that works for me. Complete, as long as I keep doing what I’m doing. Right now, this looks like two HIIT classes, one strength-training class, and a trainer-designed workout per week.
2. Lower my resting heart rate. Currently, my resting heart rate according to my Apple watch is 91 BPM, which is exactly ONE BPM lower than it was in Q2. Progress is progress, right?!
3. Use my standing desk more often – get to a place where I’m standing for two hours each day. I didn’t work on this goal at all in Q2 but now that my sciatica has improved (ironically, it got better once I stopped my chiropractic care…), I would like to work on this goal again.
4. Get a sleep study done. Done! And I found out I have severe sleep apnea, which is slightly terrifying. In August, I’ll do a sleep apnea sleep study and receive the equipment I need.
5. Be able to comfortably walk 3 miles regularly. I haven’t specifically worked on this goal and right now is not the time to test out my endurance. Maybe in Q4 when the weather is nicer, I can go out for some 3-mile walks and see how it goes.
HOBBIES
1. Read 100 books. (53/100) I am two books ahead of schedule!
2. Read 6 books by Agatha Christie. (3/6)
- Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie – ★★★★☆
- Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie – ★★★★☆
- A Murder is Announced by Agatha Christie – ★★★★☆
3. Reach 100 listeners per episode on the podcast. No progress made. There’s a lot of work I need to do to better market our podcast so it reaches more people.
4. Update the blog with a new theme and reorganized categories/tags/pages. Complete! The big recategorization project is DONE and I launched a new blog theme in May. I’m so happy with the way it turned out!
5. Watch one season of a show every month. (6/12) I was able to catch up in Q2 so now I am on track with this goal.
- January: Only Murders in the Building, season 3
- February: The Bear, season 1
- March: Mr. and Mrs. Smith, season 1
- April: New Girl, season 1
- May: Suits, season 1
- June: Bridgerton, season 3
1. Spend a long weekend at Rainbow River. Take a solo vacation. Burn through one candle every month. Okay, so the solo vacation isn’t going to happen. I need to be careful about my spending for the second half of the year. Instead, I’m changing this goal (again, I know!) to burning through one candle every month. I have so many candles and I am so bad at burning them. I love my candles but it just never crosses my mind to light them up. By the end of the year, I want to have burned through six full candles!
2. Get my nose pierced. Done!
3. Get more tattoos. No progress made.
4. Take a cake decorating class. No progress made.
5. Find a dry shampoo that works for my hair. So far, I’ve tried two dry shampoos – I Dew Care Dry Shampoo Powder and Not Your Mother’s Plump for Joy – and neither have worked like I wanted them to. I didn’t make any progress in Q2.
6. Listen to one new album every month. (4/12) I am behind on this goal!
- January: Olivia Rodrigo, GUTS
- February: Noah Kahan, Stick Season
- March: Florence + the Machine, Dance Fever
- April: Beyonce, Cowboy Carter
7. Learn how to back into a parking space like an overconfident white man. I’m working on this, but I haven’t seen much improvement, HA.
8. See a Dolphins game in person. This will be a Q3/Q4 goal.
9. Buy new luggage. Complete! I bought a new carry-on in May.
10. Start working through the “I’m Dead, Now What?” planner. I have worked through exactly ONE section so far this year. Oof.
LOLOLOLOL on the parking space! Listen, I live with three of those and they ALL do that.
I would also like to find a dry shampoo that doesn’t make my hair look worse, or leave a white cast on it. I’ve kind of given up, to be honest.
So you are moving this year? I thought you had mentioned it but didn’t know when
I am potentially moving at the end of the year. My lease is up at the beginning of November and I’d like to move into a two-bedroom apartment. But we’ll see if it happens! My rent is super low for the area I live so it feels kinda ridiculous to move, but gah, I want that second bedroom to use as an office!
“Learn how to back into a parking space like an overconfident white man.”
Word. I am married to a man who is such a confident (and genuinely incredible) driver. When he happens to be a passenger and I’m driving (rare), I feel sooo nervous. I am a fairly confident driver in “easy” situations and never consider myself to be “nervous”…but parallel parking, or backing up in parking lots. Yikes. It always feels so risky…
I am a fairly confident driver but not a confident parker, lol. I have a backup camera which makes it a bit easier to back into spaces, but I still need, like, two full empty spaces on either side of the space to even attempt it!
Have we talked about how Hannah and I have twice now watched a man in a giant pickup truck park MIRACULOUSLY in his driveway in amongst several other cars. I’ve watched him do it TWICE and I still don’t know how – it’s magic. Are white men just given a magic parking gene along with their ability to tell you what direction is north. Okay, fine, the studies show men are better because they are confident, but why is the patriarchy ruining even PARKING for me?!
Ahem.
Look at you going on your goals! You’re so impressive!
PARKING! I am always amazed at the men in huge monster trucks who can back into any parking space without issue. HOW.
All the kudos to you for even attempting to back into a space. I have just accepted that it’s not in the cards for me. I fear I would do harm to our vehicle and I can’t have that happen again! I just do not have the spatial awareness to do this. I think it’s something a person either has or they don’t and I do feel there is a genetic component to it.
You know me and goals… so I have no goals. I just want to keep up with life and stay sane! And maybe start on our 2024 photobook at some point.
I am not making much progress on the parking goal, but I am trying! It would be nice to feel confident about this skill.
The parking… Or driving in general. T and I had a problem a few years back where he COULD not be in the passenger seat without being nervous. Mind you, I am NOT a bad driver but it was something about my driving that he didn’t like. I told him “get out and start walking” because I do not need a 40+ year old man sitting next to me with a sun visor down, telling where to turn and what to do. Nope-get out, and walk home. He stopped after that.
I love reading your progress reports! Well done, keep going!
HAHA – I love that you put your foot down! Yes, we just need to let people drive the way they want to drive as long as it’s not hurting anyone/breaking speed laws. I’m glad he stopped commenting on your driving after you set that boundary!
Dare I say that I am an excellent parker? Curbside and backing in? I admit, I credit that to having an excellent driving instructor in Germany. We practiced a lot.
I think it’s awesome how everyone is chiming in on this goal LOL
You’ve been making some great progress, Stephany…. and there’s still 5.5 more months left!
That’s amazing! I was taught parking in driver’s ed, but it’s not something I use a lot so I lost the skill. Don’t even get me started on parallel parking!