Stephany Writes

Categories: Goals

Quarterly Goals | Q4 of 2023

I’ve always been a big fan of setting monthly goals, but I decided to change things up for the last part of 2023 and set quarterly goals. Some of these goals are part of my yearly goals and some of them are entirely new. I’ve also devoted the entire “Apartment” section to things off my Apartment To-Do List, so it will be fun to start marking things off this list if I can!

So, without further ado, let’s talk about my Q4 goals!

APARTMENT

1) Create a favorite books bookshelf. Since the bookshelf I ordered should be here this week, I am confident I’ll be able to complete this.

2) Create a reading nook in my bedroom with a cozy chair, ottoman, table, and bookish prints. I’ve been scouring Facebook Marketplace for cozy chairs, so I’m hoping I can make it happen soon.

3) Frame and hang the print I bought in Charleston on my gallery wall, and hang two more prints on this wall. I want to update the gallery wall in my living room, and this is a great place to start.

4) Reorganize my pantry and hang up shelves on the wall. I’m excited to make my kitchen more functional!

5) Redo my office space: monitor arms for my monitors, hang up a whiteboard, and buy a pretty table lamp. No office for me this year, so let’s make my little office space work better for my needs, yeah? For commercial property rentals, B8 Real Estate is the best.

HEALTH

1) Go for a walk almost every day (aim for 70% completion). I haven’t been doing great at going for a walk every day, but the weather is getting nicer (at least in the mornings!) so I really want to make more of an effort to get this done. If I can hit 70% completion, I will be well above what my completion percentage was in the first half of the year.

2) Drink at least one bottle (16 oz) of water almost every day (aim for 50% completion). Another area of struggle for me, so I’m challenging myself to hit my goal 50% of the time. I can do this!

3) Make an appointment with my PCP to discuss my carpal tunnel pain and to get a referral for a sleep study. Getting a sleep study done was one of my yearly goals. I also need to talk to my doctor about my carpal tunnel pain as well as the wrist pain I’ve been experiencing for quite a while.

4) Get LASIK! Yesss! This will be happening on October 20th. I just had my second nightmare about the procedure (ugh), so I really just want to get this over with!

5) Adhere to a 10 p.m. bedtime routine. Getting to bed at a decent hour is a constant struggle for me. I really want to work on this in the last quarter of the year.

MONEY

1) Save money every week by using my gamified savings system. (0/13) I mentioned the way I have gamified my savings in my recent Demerits and Gold Stars post, and I want to keep it up throughout this quarter!

2) Switch to a rewards credit card. One of my 2023 goals!

3) Fully fund my bank emergency savings ($500). Another 2023 goal!

4) Do weekly budget recaps (either publicly or privately on my blog). I would like to write a weekly budget recap, even if I make it private on my blog. There’s something about laying it out all out there that really appeals to me.

MISC

1) Finish the A-Z reading challenge. As I mentioned yesterday, I only have three letters left: V, X, and Z.

2) Complete my blog recategorization project. Only two more years to recategorize!

3) Watch 3 standup specials. One of those standup specials will be Taylor Tomlinson, but I’m on the hunt for two others.

4) Get my nose pierced. Eeks! I am excited about this. I think I’m going to do this in November. I’ve always wanted to have my nose pierced, but felt super self-conscious about my nose when I was younger. Now or never, right?

5) Start training Lila to tolerate being picked up. Lila is my skittish little lady and she detests being picked up. So I have respected her boundaries, but it’s time to train her to at least tolerate being picked up. I’m going to start working on this with her, so any tips or advice you can give me are very much welcome.

What’s something you’d like to accomplish by the end of the year?

Categories: Goals

2023 Goals | Q3 Recap

There’s only one quarter left of 2023. That feels insane! Didn’t we just ring in the new year?

It’s time to check in on the 2023 goals I set for myself this year. In this recap, I’m going to be honest about the goals I know I won’t complete this year. When I set these goals, it’s never with the intention that every single one will be completed. That’s the hope, of course, but I am quite okay with failing at my yearly goals. So, let’s get honest here!

APARTMENT

1) Move to a two-bedroom apartment – Will not complete. I decided to spend another year in my current apartment because a) my rent price did not increase and b) two-bedrooms are just so expensive and I don’t feel comfortable making my budget SO tight right now.

2) Hire movers for my move – N/A

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) Create a favorite books bookshelf. This will be complete in Q4, as I bought the bookshelf on Friday and it should be here sometime this week!

HEALTH

1) Go for a walk every day – I stopped tracking this in Q3, oops. In the first half of the year, my completion percentage was 52%.

2) Complete 100 Peloton workouts – (54/100) I’m way behind on this goal and will not complete it.

3) Drink at least one bottle (16 oz) of water every day – I stopped tracking this in Q3! In the first half of the year, my completion percentage was 38%. Whew.

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. Complete! Not only did I do a consultation, but I scheduled the surgery. It’s October 20th!

6) Establish a better morning and nighttime routine. I think I’m doing better these days, especially now that I have a strict daily schedule I’m following.

MONEY

1) Have $3,000 saved in my CapitalOne emergency fund and $500 in my bank emergency fund by the end of the year. Slight progress made toward these goals. I will not get to $3,000 in my CapitolOne emergency fund, but I should be able to get to $2,000 and that’s better than nothing.

2) Switch to a rewards credit card. No progress made.

3) Start doing monthly budget recaps again. Ugh, no. I forgot I had changed this goal, lol.

4) Donate $50 to the following three charities every quarter: Friends of Strays, the Tampa Bay Abortion Fund, and CASA. Again, completely forgot about this goal. ARGH!

HOBBIES

1) Read 100 books. (87/100) I am 13 books ahead of schedule!

2) Complete the A-Z reading challenge. (23/26) I am down to the three toughest letters: V, X, and Z. I am struggling to find books for these letters (well, books I actually want to read).

3) Publish podcast seasons regularly throughout the year. So far, so good! We released season 3 in January/February, season 4 in March/April, season 5 in June/July, and season 6 in September/October.

4) Post to our podcast Instagram three times per week while we’re in season and twice per week when we’re not. LOL, no. I am posting twice a week at this point and that’s good enough for me.

5) Complete my blog categorization project. I’m doing one year of recategorization every month, and I got through 2009-2013 in Q1, 2014-2016 in Q2, and 2017-2019 in Q3. Only 2020 and 2021 left for Q4!

6) Host a silent reading night. Complete. I did not host a silent reading night, but I did start attending Silent Book Club.

7) Watch 6 movies and 6 standup specials. (9/12) I have watched six movies, yay! I just need to finish up with some standup specials. I have tickets to see Taylor Tomlinson in November, so just have to find two Netflix specials to round this out!

MOVIES

  • Glass Onion ★★★☆☆
  • Are You There God, It’s Me Margaret ★★★★★
  • The Little Mermaid ★★★★★
  • Clue ★★★★☆
  • Barbie ★★★★★
  • Red, White, and Royal Blue ★★★★☆

STAND-UPS

  • Jim Gaffigan (live) ★★★★☆
  • Michelle Wolf: Joke Show ★★★★☆
  • John Mulaney: Baby J ★★★★★

FUN STUFF

1) Go tubing at Rainbow Springs. Complete! I went in August with my mom and stepdad and had the best time.

2) Take a knife skills class. Complete! It was so much fun!

3) Learn how to French braid. Complete. I’m an old pro now (lol, not really).

4) Visit one new state. Complete. I visited South Carolina in early July.

5) Get a tattoo. Complete. I got this done at the end of September – yay!

6) See a Dolphins game in person. Not complete. I don’t think I’ll get to this one, womp.

7) Complete Project 365. In progress and going well!

8) Go on at least 5 first dates. I went on two first dates and one morphed into a five-month relationship, so I think I can count this as complete.

How are your 2023 goals going? Any standup specials to recommend to me?

Categories: Goals

Monthly Goals | September 2023

Oh boy, it’s been a bit of time since I’ve checked in on my monthly goals. I originally set these goals back in July and carried the majority of them through until August. I’m glad I gave myself a tiny bit of a break on goal-setting, though, because I found it very invigorating to set some new goals for September.

July/August Goals

1) Schedule a consultation with a dietician. Complete! I had my consultation in early August and she’s the perfect dietician for me.

2) Take a spending break after my vacation. Complete! I went on a spending break from mid-July to about mid-August, and it was much needed.

3) Figure out my ingrown toenail issues. This has been mostly solved. The ingrown toenail treatment I bought at Target works WONDERS! After just one day of using it, I could feel the difference.

4) Get my skin tags removed. Not complete. I’m pushing off this goal until 2024, as I just have this feeling that it’s going to cost more than I thought. (I’m still getting bills from my derm’s office from my mole removal in April. Ugh.)

5) Turn off all devices by 8:00 p.m. Not complete. I forgot I set this goal, lol.

September Goals

1) Schedule my LASIK appointment. There are a lot of little to-dos that will go into this goal, as I need to figure out the financing portion and call my vision insurance to get the rebate set up. My goal is to schedule this for sometime in October, depending on how everything shakes out.

2) Go through my “deal with it later” basket. Everyone has this basket in their home, right? I throw everything in there that either needs to be filed away or put away in a very specific spot. And then the basket overflows and I realize I need to finally deal with all of those things. September is the month I finally do that.

3) Visit my PCP for a physical. It’s been way too long since I had a physical and I also want to discuss a few health-related things with her, like my increasing carpal tunnel pain. I also want to get blood work done + get a referral for a sleep study (one of my 2023 goals!).

4) Stop using my phone when I’m in bed at night. I have a bad habit of getting into bed with the intent of reading for a bit before going to sleep, but usually, I spend more time scrolling through Instagram Reels or playing games on my phone than I do reading. Time to bring Downtime back to my phone!

5) Get back to my workout routine. I really fell off my workout routine in August (and most of July, if I’m being honest). I want to figure out a sustainable way to work out that makes me feel good, which I know really comes down to long walks and strength workouts (typically Callie Gullickson’s classes on Peloton). Sometimes I think about getting back into group fitness classes, but I don’t know if I trust myself enough to join some sort of gym and actually go there regularly. (I’m v lazy when it comes to exercise.) For now, I’m trying to commit to three strength workouts a week and at least a 20-minute walk every day. We’ll see if I can handle that, at least.

Do you have any goals for September?

Categories: Goals

2023 Goals | Q2 Review

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!

Categories: Goals

Monthly Goals | July 2023

JUNE GOALS

1) Schedule a consultation with a dietician. Not complete. I did some research on Zocdoc for dieticians that take my insurance but none of them seemed the right fit for me. I need to do more research, so this will go back on the list for July.

2) Schedule a LASIK consultation. Complete! My consultation is on July 18th and I’m really looking forward to it. (Based on Elisabeth’s experience, I am definitely very apprehensive if they tell me I need PRK rather than traditional LASIK, but knowledge is power, right?)

3) Attend at least one Pride event. Complete! I attended a Pride kick-off event (although we arrived on the early side and nothing much was going on), a Pride immersion experience at a local museum, and the annual St. Pete Pride parade. It was a lovely Pride month for me!

4) Get my skin tags removed. Still not complete. Wah!

5) Use the “Downtime” feature of my phone to stay off apps in the evening. Complete! I have really enjoyed using this feature as it really does force me to stay off my phone in the evenings. I have moved certain apps to be allowed during this time, like my podcast app, Libby (for audiobooks), photos, camera, etc. I’m going to keep this going!

JULY GOALS

1) Schedule a consultation with a dietician. Rollover goal.

2) Take a spending break after my vacation. I’ve been spending money like crazy so I think it’s time to put myself on a bit of a spending break. This means no shopping, no random Amazon orders, and limiting Ubereats orders (1 per week).

3) Figure out my ingrown toenail issues. I’ve been dealing with ingrown toenails for quite a while and have mostly been ignoring them/grimacing in pain every time I get a pedicure. But it’s time to deal with this issue finally. My first step is to try this ingrown toenail treatment that I randomly found during an Amazon search. And if that doesn’t work, I’ll schedule an appointment with a podiatrist.

4) Get my skin tags removed. Rollover goal.

5) Turn off all devices by 8:00 p.m. I have been struggling with my nighttime routine (even though I’m using Downtime on my phone to stay off apps!) But sometimes I’m messing around on my laptop until late. So it’s time to nip it in the bud! The laptop and the TV need to be off by 8:00 so I can start on my nighttime routine and get it done in a reasonable amount of time so I can be in bed at a decent hour.