Stephany Writes

Categories: Goals

Monthly Goals | June 2019

I was pretty sure my goals update for this month wasn’t going to be pretty. I kind of… forgot about the majority of my goals, so I’m very surprised by how well I actually did. I could have done better for sure, but April and May were very crazy months with an international trip smack dab in the middle of them, so I’m happy with what I accomplished.

1) Drink at least 16 oz of water every day. Eh, somewhat accomplished? I definitely did not drink water every day but most days I’m making it happen. I could do better, though.

2) Be present in Ireland. Yes! I was really proud of myself for how I was able to be super present while in Ireland and enjoy each day and each moment as it came. I wasn’t wishing the time away like I did on my last big vacation, which just further proves that was a one-off thing.

3) Hang my jewelry organizer. I’m cheating on this one a bit, buuuut my necklaces are finally hung and not sitting in a clump on my bathroom sink anymore. I secured two Command hooks to the side of my bathroom cabinet and I’m using them to hold my necklaces. They’re working out well!

4) Rejoin WW when I’m back from my trip. I can mark this as complete because I rejoined WW… I just haven’t followed the plan in the three weeks since I’ve been on the program. I need to get serious about this, though, because I’m paying for the service. I need to use it!

5) Go to Panera once a week to write. Somewhat complete. I did this maybe three or four times in two months, so not every week like I’d hoped. I want to get back to doing this, though, because I really enjoy it!

6) Check my bank account every morning. Uh… nope. Still in a very bad habit about this.

Here’s what I’m hoping to accomplish in June:

1) Stop using my phone at stoplights. This is an experiment I want to try because I want to be better at doing nothing. I am always multitasking – I listen to podcasts while playing Candy Crush, I watch TV while coloring, etc. And stoplights? If I’m stopped at a red light, I immediately pick up my phone to scroll through Instagram or play a few minutes of a game. It’s ridiculous.

2) Use up at least half of the Sephora samples + face masks I have. So, I’ve been a part of Sephora’s PLAY! subscription for a few years now and I’m pretty good at using my samples (especially the makeup and perfume ones). But lately, I haven’t been and I have amassed a collection. Count ’em: 4 moisturizers, 2 cleansers, 13 face masks, 3 makeup setting sprays, and 3 hair volumizers. It’s time to use these up!

3) Wash and vacuum my car. Y’all. My car has needed a solid wash and vacuum for weeks now but I keep putting it off. Mainly because it’s so hot out and spending time outside is the last thing I want to do. But my car is disgusting and it needs to get done.

4) Buy and assemble a new bookshelf. It’s tiiiime for a new bookshelf and I’m so excited to make it happen this month. I’m nervous about the assembly part because IKEA furniture is notoriously difficult to assemble, but I can do it!

5) Figure out my budget. I’ve been struggling a lot lately with my finances, to the point where even looking at my checking account makes my stomach twist into knots. It makes me feel like such a failure to not have this part of my life figured out because for the love of God, I’m in my thirties and I get paid a decent wage. I shouldn’t be struggling like this! I need to sit down and really get serious about my budget because this paycheck-to-paycheck lifestyle I’m living is really bumming me out.

What’s something you want to do in June?

Categories: Goals

2019 Goals | Q1 Update

Happy Friday, my friends! Ooh, I am very much looking forward to this weekend as I’ll be celebrating my friend M and her new husband (!) at her wedding reception tomorrow evening. I still need to find a dress for the event (oops), but I predict it will be a great night filled with lots of love and laughter.

For today’s post, I wanted to give an update on my 2019 goals, since we’re just past the end of the first quarter of the year. I’m happy with the progress so far! Let’s discuss:

1) Read 100 books. In the first quarter, I read 32 books and this puts me ahead of my goal of reading 100 books by 7 books. I’m pretty sure I’m going to crush this goal. 🙂

2) Read 4 classic novels. Complete the A-Z Instagram challenge. I’m kicking the goal to read four classics off my list in favor of completing the A-Z Instagram challenge in which you try to read 26 books over the course of a year, each with a title starting with a different letter of the alphabet. It’s been fun so far!

3) Reread the Anne of Green Gables series. I read the first novel in Q1 and I’m starting the second novel soon.

4) Dye my hair purple. Not yet! But it’s coming soon.

5) Save $1,000 in an emergency fund. So far, I have a little more than $300 saved and it’s in a savings account that’s not attached to my bank, which helps me to “forget” I have that money lying around.

6) Get something on the walls of my living room. Uh, no. I haven’t even looked into this yet. Every now and then, I look at Wayfair to peruse their collection of wall art but haven’t looked too seriously yet.

7) Take control over my dermotophagia. Yes and no. I’m trying to get better at noticing when I’m picking at my skin and have also started putting a Band-Aid around the finger that I’m compulsively picking at, so I’m trying!

8) Redo my bathroom. Complete! I took care of this in March and love it. 🙂

9) Visit the Grand Canyon. Visit Ireland. Obviously, my mom and I decided to travel to Ireland rather than to Arizona since we got a crazy deal on flights, so I’m changing this goal to reflect that.

10) Visit Washington DC. Not so sure I’m going to complete this goal in 2019, but I’m keeping my options open. Maybe!

11) Build a necklace collection. Slowly but surely, I’m doing this. I add maybe one new necklace to my collection every month and have five currently.

12) Pay an extra $500 toward my student loans. I paid $100 extra toward a loan in Q1 to pay it off (it was my lowest student loan; I still have about $11,000 to go so I’m nowhere near completion here).

13) Go to a movie alone. Not yet – haven’t found a movie I’m interested enough to see yet. Nothing has grabbed my attention!

14) Work out 150 times. As of today, I have worked out 37 times, which means I need to log 13 workouts by the end of the month to keep on track. Hopefully, I can do it! My workouts right now are just long walks (45 minutes or longer) since my gym won’t be open until the end of the summer and I haven’t found a good at-home workout option (suggestions welcome!).

15) Lose 40 lbs. Ha, nope. I haven’t gotten on the scale since January but I am guessing I’ve gained 5-10 lbs during Q1. It’s been a weird season.

16) Give Eloise a sibling. Complete! Lila joined our little family in mid-February and she is the most perfect addition.

17) Start saving for a new apartment. No progress so far.

18) Do a spending freeze once a quarter. I failed at my spending freeze in Q1 but I’m hoping to double-up in Q2 to make up for it.

19) Develop a daily water-drinking habit. Still not very consistent with this. Hopefully, Q2 is when I make this more of a habit.

20) Buy two bigger bookshelves. Not yet, but it’s definitely time for at least one new bookshelf.

21) Complete Project 365. I’m going strong with this one, even though I want to quit the project every other day. Ha. It’s hard to take pictures every day, especially on days when nothing exciting happens. (Which is why there are lots of cat photos.) But I’m hanging in there!

22) Develop a skincare routine. Ugh, no. I still need to figure this out!

23) Start a vitamin regimen. In progress. I am currently taking a multivitamin, Vitamin D supplement, and iron supplement. I would like to add fish oil and a probiotic to the mix soon.

24) Replace all of my underwear. Have not done this yet – oops.

25) Write my novel. I’m trucking along! I wrote nearly 25,000 words during Q1 so I am well on my way to marking this goal complete.

26) Try 10 new foods. I haven’t been keeping track of this goal like I should, but I do know that I tried plantains and asparagus in Q1. I did not like the plantains, and the asparagus was fine but not something I ever feel like I need to eat again, ha.

27) Track my money on Mint. I’m all set up on Mint and set up some budgets for certain categories, but I’m not tracking it too closely right now.

28) Get all of my skin tags removed. Complete! I did this during two different dermatology appointments and it cost $150. But I swear, the minute I got them removed a bunch of new skin tags appeared. Frustrating. I’m going to try the apple cider vinegar trick some of you told me about since they’re smaller and hope that gets rid of them.

29) Sign up for a paid dating service, and commit fully to the dating process for six months. I haven’t done this yet, and I’m not sure if I want to. I hate the idea of paying for dating but the men on Bumble haven’t been very impressive either.

30) Find a new therapist. Visit five new-to-me parks around the area. This was a goal I set originally at the beginning of the year when I was in a weird spot with therapy, just not really having the breakthroughs I wanted. WELL. The appointments I’ve had in Q1 have been amazing and I’m no longer wondering if I need a new therapist. So, instead, I’m replacing this goal with a more fun idea of finding some new parks to go for walks!

How are you doing on your yearly goals?

Categories: Goals

April & May Goals

It’s the beginning of the month, which means it’s time to discuss my monthly goals. I’m pretty happy with how I did, with the exception of not successfully completing a no-spend month. Argh! I am pretty upset with myself for not getting it done, but it is what it is. Here’s how my monthly goals went for March:

1) Accomplish my first no-spend month of the year.

Unfortunately, I did not accomplish this. March ended up being a really crazy month for me with lots of plans, some of which came up last minute. I should have been better at telling friends that I was doing a no-spend month, but I wasn’t. I was doing well up until the 22nd when things just fell apart for me. So, my plan is to do a 60-day no-spend challenge from June 1 – July 30 and do weekly updates on the blog because I need that kind of accountability.

2) Reorganize and redecorate my bathroom.

Complete! I reorganized my under-sink cabinets, removing all of the baskets I had and replacing them with a pull-out drawer system that is working a million times better. I also redecorated with a new shower curtain, new rugs, new towels, and a new shower caddy. After four-ish years with the same pink-and-white shower curtain, my bathroom feels so different with a teal one!

3) Watch the first six episodes of Game of Thrones.

Oof, not complete. Honestly, I’m okay with not making this goal. I don’t really think GoT is for me. Not because it’s fantasy or anything like that… I just don’t do well with intense, dramatic shows. They affect me way more than the average person. Maybe one day I’ll watch the entire series, but it’s not something I care about doing right now.

4) Drink less soda.

Complete! I am averaging around 3-4 sodas a week, which is much better than my habit of drinking 1-2 sodas every day. I recently discovered that if I drink too many sodas in a row, I get weirdly light-headed. I couldn’t figure out what was causing this symptom until I stopped drinking soda and then would have 2-3 sodas in a row. I’m fine if I have one soda and then wait a day or two before having another one, so that’s what I’ve been trying to do. It’s not ideal to have this symptom, but it does help me drink less soda!

5) Hang my jewelry organizer.

Nope – I kept forgetting to ask my brother if I could borrow his drill to hang up my jewelry organizer. I’m also slightly intimidated about hanging it since I have to use a drill, so I keep putting this off and my necklaces remain in a clump on my bathroom counter.

6) Make a writing portfolio.

Not complete. I recently learned that I’m not allowed to use the writing I do for work on a writing portfolio, sooo I guess there’s really no need for me to have a fancy-schmancy writing portfolio. The portfolio page on my blog will have to suffice.

So, only two of the six goals I set were completed in March, but I’m still happy with my progress since two of the four uncompleted goals weren’t done on purpose. And now, onto my April/May goals. I’m combining these two months together since I won’t have space in my blog schedule to report on my progress until early June. Here they are:

1) Drink at least 16 oz of water every day.

As is well documented on this blog, drinking water is one of my biggest struggles. One of my yearly goals for 2019 is to develop a daily water-drinking habit, and I really want to focus on this intention over these next two months. My goal is small at 16 oz but that feels very doable for me.

2) Be present in Ireland.

On my cruise last year (which came right as a major depressive episode hit), I had a real hard time being present. I was in a state of intense anxiety for the whole trip and all I wanted was for the cruise to be over so I could be home in my own bed. It’s an awful feeling to be on a fun vacation, one you’ve paid good money for, and not enjoy it at all. I am hoping the same doesn’t happen while I’m in Ireland. I hope I can be present and enjoy each day as it comes, and I’m going to work real hard to make that possible.

3) Hang my jewelry organizer.

It didn’t get done in March, so it’s back on the list. Hopefully, over these next two months, I can finally get it done!

4) Rejoin WW when I’m back from my trip.

I’m planning to use the online-only version of WW because I’ve never found the meetings to be very helpful. I do like the accountability of being weighed in front of someone, but I’m going to try it on my own for a while and see how it goes.

5) Go to Panera once a week to write.

April is going to be a very busy month, especially on the weekends, so it’s going to be a struggle to meet my weekly writing goal. I’ve been wanting to add in a midweek writing session to my schedule, and the easiest way to do that is to head to Panera right after work, laptop in tow, to knock out a few hours of writing. April is a good month to start this!

6) Check my bank account every morning.

I’ve fallen into a bad habit of not checking my bank account for… weeks, sometimes. I just get worried about what my balance will look like, so I just don’t check it. Which is terrible because what if there’s some charge on there that shouldn’t be there?! Ack. I want to get in the habit of checking it every morning so I’m not surprised by any crazy charges and can feel more in-the-know about where I stand financially.

Categories: Goals

Operation Write My Novel | March Recap

Happy Friday! It’s been quite the week – yesterday, I found out that my work is expanding our work-from-home program so I’m going to be able to work from home once a week! Hooray! This is going to do wonders for my mental health, I think. 🙂

Today, I have another writing update for you! It was a solid writing month for me, especially as I changed my weekly goal from writing a chapter a week to writing 3,000 words a week. That feels much more doable! Let’s get into it:

Week 9 (February 25 – March 3)

  • Words written: 3,100
  • Things researched: old phones, Jane Austen characters, four poster bed, room at a bed and breakfast, best Jane Austen characters, funny hotel signs

This was the week that I changed my weekly writing goal and, man, this was such a good decision. There was something about writing an entire chapter (which can sometimes be 5,000 words alone, if not more) that was overwhelming me, so I think that giving myself a goal of 3,000 words is much more attainable. (And saves my sanity.) This week, I wrote my 3,000 words and felt like it allowed me to take my time, rather than rushing to finish a chapter so I could be done.

I also completely forgot about my writing date this weekend. We usually meet on Sunday mornings, but every now and then, we have to switch it around due to our schedules. We decided to meet on Saturday morning this weekend, and I even put it in my calendar, but for some reason, I kept thinking we were meeting on Sunday. Saturday morning, I got a text at 10:15 from M., saying, “Did I get the date wrong? I’m never at Starbucks before you.” Whoops! I was able to hightail over to Starbucks and felt so bad about forgetting but she was very understanding. Sigh. It meant I didn’t do any editing this weekend but I was able to get all my writing done, so that was nice!

My biggest struggle this week was writing descriptions. I’m so bad at them! I was trying to write a description for the front of a bed and breakfast, and couldn’t think of the simplest phrases. I finally had to just write something lame and move on, because I was spending so much time just staring at my computer screen, not able to come up with any kind of phrase to describe something.

I’ve already plotted out my novel, but I realized the way I had ended the previous chapter (using my outline) wasn’t working for the story and I didn’t think it was the right thing to happen to my main character. So, I went back and changed the ending to that chapter and added in some new characters and a new plot point that I’m really excited about. It’s so funny how that happens, though. I was expecting the novel to go in this one direction and then it’s like my characters guide me to do something entirely different that is so much better than the original plot. Ah, writing. It’s such a joy sometimes!

Week 10 (March 4-10)

  • Words written: 3,025
  • Things researched: overstuffed chairs, bakeries, sample will, reading of a will

I hit my reading goal this week! Two weeks in a row! I’m unstoppable. 🙂 This was such an interesting writing week for me, though, because I nearly completely changed the backstory of my male lead. I’ve had the backstory all figured out for him and it’s what causes his major conflict in the novel, but as I started writing, something different emerged. I had to take a step back and really think about my character and his motivations and what made sense for him. I decided that I wanted him to have the original back story I had planned so I had to delete a few paragraphs and change an interaction this character had with a family member to make it happen. It’s always so interesting how you can plan and plan and plan for something and then once you begin writing, everything changes because the characters are dynamic.

During my writing date this week, I edited chapter six, which was a fairly long chapter (it took me nearly 25 minutes to read it aloud to my writing partner!) There was a lot happening in this chapter as it’s the first long interaction between my two characters so I wanted to make sure they had enough time to get to know one another and set up how their relationship will evolve over the coming chapters. I’m worried, though, that the chapter is super boring and there’s not enough chemistry between them. I have a feeling that’s a chapter that will get reworked again and again during the editing process. And that’s exciting! I’m trying to worry less about creating the MOST PERFECT MANUSCRIPT EVER and just focus on getting the words down on the page and then doing a surface-level edit to refine my writing and make sure everything makes sense. I know once this manuscript is finished, there will be many, many rounds of edits but that’s not something I need to worry about right now. I always struggle during this phase of the writing process because I just want my manuscript to be perfect from the get-go but that’s impossible and too high a standard to hold myself to.

Week 11( March 11-17)

  • No progress

I took this week off writing because it was a busy week and an even busier weekend, and I wanted to spend what little free time I had either reading or working on my Ireland itinerary. I may start giving myself one week “off” every month to kind of reset my brain and take it easy.

I also didn’t meet up for a writing date with my writing partner because she texted me early on Sunday morning saying she had food poisoning, poor thing! (And if you think I still went to Starbucks to edit my novel, you’d be mistaken. I used that time to take an extra-long nap, thankyouverymuch.)

Week 12 (March 18-24)

  • 3,077 words written
  • No research

I had a realization this week. I’ve been spending so much time internally moaning and groaning about having to spend my weekends holed up in my apartment writing. I just kept thinking about how nice it must be to have a weekend where you don’t have to worry about, well, working. Because that’s what this novel-writing process is, you know? It’s work. It’s work that doesn’t pay me and may not ever amount to anything, and it can feel a little defeating when I look at it that way. But then I realized I was playing the comparison game. Because, the truth is, I’m not the only one who spends so much of my free time working. There are people building up a freelance writing career or working on their Etsy shop in their off hours. Or maybe they’re like me, trying to get their first novel finished while working a full-time job. (And let’s be honest: I may still need to work a full-time job even if I finish this novel and get it published.) I recognize this little pity party I’ve been throwing for myself is a privileged one – a lot of people are working on the weekends because they have to, because they have bills to pay and their paycheck at their full-time job isn’t cutting it – but I still wanted to bring it up. The whole point of writing these updates is to completely honest about my experience as I work on my novel. So here it is.

On Friday night (this is before the above realization hit me, mind you), I sat down to write. I pulled up my work in progress, read over the last few paragraphs, and tried to continue the scene. Everything I wrote sounded terrible. I couldn’t get the dialogue right and every action my characters took felt stiff. I know a shitty first draft is par for the course, but I couldn’t get it out of my head. I was convinced that this dream of writing a novel was the stupidest idea I’d ever had and I needed to give it all up. (My brain is a great place to be sometimes.) I stopped writing and told myself I’d try again tomorrow. Hopefully, I’d be more inspired and less annoyed by my writing in the morning.

The good news is, I totally was! When I came back to my WIP on Saturday, the words came easily and felt good. I was working in 500-word increments and each time I passed that threshold, it felt like I had only been writing for a few minutes. It’s amazing how much things can change from day to day!

I had my weekly writing date with M. on Sunday morning, but I needed to do work for my full-time job so I didn’t get any editing done. All in due time! I’m not too far behind on my editing, so it’s all good.

Words written in March: 9,202
Total words written: 24,285

How do you typically spend your weekends?

Categories: Goals

March Goals

And just like that – we’re in March! I am excited about this month because it should be a fun one and it should be a frugal one, as I am taking on my first of four no-spend months (more on that below). However, in February, my goals did not go as planned. I definitely did not have a 100% success rate like I did in January. It happens! Here’s how I did:

1) Organize all my files.

Complete! I shredded some older documents, switched over my 2018 files into my bigger filing box, and made file folders for 2019 documents. It feels good to have this done!

2) Give up candy.

Complete! I successfully resisted it and I think I may keep going with this goal because it was pretty easy.

3) Track my food.

Nope. I did not even attempt to track my food this month, heh. I am trying to eat healthier, of course, but I just don’t like the way I feel when I track what I eat. It makes me feel a little crazy, honestly.

4) Spend 10 minutes stretching every morning.

Oof. I did this maybe a few times but definitely not consistently. It just never became a habit for me (I should have put a reminder in my phone) so I kept forgetting to do it in the morning. My back still doesn’t feel great, so I may try visiting a chiropractor again.

5) Start my nighttime routine by 8 p.m. on weeknights.

Lol, no. I usually get home around six and if I start my nighttime routine at eight, that gives me exactly two hours to myself at night and that’s just not enough time to make dinner, play with the cats, watch a show, clean up, etc. Maybe starting my nighttime routine by 9 p.m. is a more reasonable time.

6) Work out every day in February.

Nope. I was doing well until I had a six-day slump in which I didn’t work out once. I got back on track after that slump and was doing good. But then, everything got totally derailed when I got all bit up while at an outdoor bar at the end of the month (mosquito bites in February – what?!) I ended up with allergic reactions to three of the bites that were on my feet. It made my feet swell up and the skin get very hot and tight, which meant going on long walks and wearing sneakers was not an option. What a weird reason to not hit my goal, but alas! I am only three days behind, though, on my goal of working out 150 times this year so I’ll definitely be able to get back on track in March.

Okay, so two out of six goals complete isn’t my best but it’s better than zero, right?! And I am happy that I abstained from candy for all of February. Here’s what I’m hoping to accomplish in March:

1) Accomplish my first no-spend month of the year.

One of my goals for 2019 is to do a no-spend month once a quarter, and March is the month I’ve decided to do it for Q1. A no-spend month means only spending money on essentials, so I won’t be eating out or doing any shopping or spending money on experiences this month. I do have a few things already planned: lunch with my work book club, an author event, dinner with a friend, a waxing appointment, and my local book club’s monthly outing, but that’s it. I won’t be making new plans or saying yes to spontaneous dinners out. It won’t be easy but will totally be worth it.

2) Reorganize and redecorate my bathroom.

This is another item on my 2019 goals list, so it will feel good to mark this complete! I have been slowly accumulating items to redecorate my bathroom (new towels, a new shower curtain, a new shower caddy, etc.) and I’ll finally be able to switch everything out this month. I’m also planning to reorganize the cabinet under my bathroom sink because it is a mess right now. After seeing this photo from The Home Edit on Instagram, I decided this was exactly what I needed – drawers! I purchased a set from Target and I’m excited to pull everything out and reorganize this cabinet so it works better for my needs.

3) Watch the first six episodes of Game of Thrones.

I have had so many people tell me I need to watch Game of Thrones, but I’ve never seen a single episode and I’m not sure if the show is right for me. As a highly sensitive person, I can’t watch a lot of scary or gory or intense TV shows or movies. I’ve never had the inclination to watch Game of Thrones but recently promised one of my coworkers that I would watch the first six episodes and give it a fair shot before writing off the show as something not for me. (Apparently, it took him six episodes to truly get hooked, which is why he wants me to watch six episodes.) I’m going to give it a fair shot, but if the first episode messes me up, I won’t be continuing.

4) Drink less soda.

I know, I know. Having goals that can’t be measured is a no-no! But I know what this means for me. It means not buying soda to keep at home (which I’ve already started doing and now keep Polar seltzer on hand for when I need the carbonation), opting for water when I’m at a restaurant, and not succumbing to the vending machine at work. It should be an attainable goal!

5) Hang my jewelry organizer.

I got a jewelry organizer for Christmas and I have yet to hang it because I need to borrow a drill to do so. I’m going to try to borrow a drill from my brother so I can finally get this done.

6) Make a writing portfolio.

I’ve been thinking about doing this for a while, and it’s finally time to make it happen. I have a portfolio page on this blog, but I want something a bit more professional, so I’m researching options and then hoping to spend a few hours building it out.