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.