APARTMENT
1) Create a favorite books bookshelf. Complete! I love it and had such a fun time styling it.
2) Create a reading nook in my bedroom with a cozy chair, ottoman, table, and bookish prints. Not complete. I’m still looking at Facebook Marketplace for chairs and hoping to score a nice deal soon.
3) Frame and hang the print I bought in Charleston on my gallery wall, and hang two more prints on this wall. I framed and hung the Charleston print and also hung my old license plate. (What else was I supposed to do with it? I think it looks fun on the wall!) I have a few more spots that need to be filled in, so I’m hoping to buy some cute prints on Etsy.
4) Reorganize my pantry and hang up shelves on the wall. My pantry has been reorganized! I loved the suggestion from Kyria to put bins in the pantry that I can pull out when I need something. I got these sturdy, see-through bins from The Container Store and each one serves a specific purpose. I would like to get a few more bins, but I’m so happy I can use my pantry now! This weekend, my stepdad is coming over to hang up shelves and from there, we’ll see what else I need for my kitchen.
5) Redo my office space: monitor arms for my monitors, hang up a whiteboard, and buy a pretty table lamp. The monitor arms and whiteboard have been installed. Target had some table lamps, but nothing has caught my eye just yet.
HEALTH
1) Go for a walk almost every day (aim for 70% completion). Omg, no. My completion percentage is 3% and if you’re keeping track, that means I went on ONE WALK in October.
2) Drink at least one bottle (16 oz) of water almost every day (aim for 50% completion). I didn’t really track this in October. My bad! I’m definitely drinking more water. It’s of the LaCroix variety, but my dietician says it counts! I probably have 1-2 cans a day at this point.
3) Make an appointment with my PCP to discuss my carpal tunnel pain and to get a referral for a sleep study. No progress made.
4) Get LASIK! Complete! Yay!
5) Adhere to a 10 p.m. bedtime routine. I’m not as concerned about this bedtime these days. I’m sleeping a little later since I don’t tend to start work until 9 a.m. and I feel good about my nighttime routine these days.
MONEY
1) Save money every week by using my gamified savings system. (0/13) I didn’t do this in October due to some increased expenses, so it just means I need to double up in November!
2) Switch to a rewards credit card. No progress made.
3) Fully fund my bank emergency savings ($500). No progress made.
4) Do weekly budget recaps (either publicly or privately on my blog). I started doing this privately, but I think it just makes more sense to keep it to my budget spreadsheet for now.
MISC
1) Finish the A-Z reading challenge. I’m reading two books right now to knock off V (Verity by Colleen Hoover) and X (The Ex Hex by Erin Sterling), and then I just have to read a book for Z. (I’m thinking Zami: A New Spelling of My Name by Audre Lorde – thanks to Engie for helping me out with those last letters!)
2) Complete my blog recategorization project. I’m nearly finished with recategorizing 2020 blog posts (nothing like re-living those early pandemic days!) and then I just have to recategorize 2021 and I’ll be DONE.
3) Watch 3 standup specials. No progress made.
4) Get my nose pierced. No progress made. This may end up being a 2024 goal, but we’ll see.
5) Start training Lila to tolerate being picked up. I keep trying and she keeps resisting me.
You did well! I love La Croix, there hasn’t been a flavour yet that I don’t enjoy.
I think you can just do a mic drop with the LASIK and call it a win for all of 2023! What a big step!
I can’t believe you managed the A to Z challenge! That’s so impressive. I might do that one next year instead of the Pop Sugar Challenge. I’ll have to look at the prompts to decide which I’m more excited about.
I prefer Waterloo to La Croix. I used to really be a big La Croix fan because they’re huge in Wisconsin – the company is originally from La Crosse, Wisconsin – but I’ve discovered that I like more than just a hint of flavor in my water and Waterloo does that.
Okay, I just bought a case of Waterloo sparkling water today, so I will report back on how I like it more than LaCroix!
I love hearing about all the changes you make to your apartment! You’re an inspiration for me! And people definitely hang up license plates 🙂
And yay for drinking more water! I am proud of you! Will we get any more gems from your nutritionist this month?
Yes, I need to do a nutritionist follow-up post! Another good idea for NaBloPoMo this month!
You really knocked off a to on the apartment goals list. Other two but that jumped out at me since I am struggling in this department. We have a lot of apartment to-dos and I keep on procrastinating. Uggghhh
Getting LASIK is definitely the star of the show.
Out of your “no progress” goals the one that I would pick to focus on is the standup specials! A goal that’s going to result in your laughing your head off should be top of the list. Hmmm…I guess we know what my goal for the rest of the year is.
I love how much you worked on your apartment in the last few months, especially when you realized you weren’t going to be moving for a while. I really want to make some changes in our duplex, but Jon is so reluctant to change things up… sigh. It takes a lot of nudging from me to let me do things to the apartment LOL
Yay for LASIK. That’s a huge thing to cross of your list! And I am so proud of you for drinking more water. That is such an important habit to establish!
I want to see a photo of your gallery wall! I have vague dreams of doing that in my house, and I need inspiration.
If you like Trader Joes… I got their cranberry sparkling water a few weeks ago (actually I’m drawing a blank… maybe it was cranberry orange- it was the one they mentioned on the Fall Extravaganza podcast) and it was soo good!!! They also have a green apple flavor that I want to try.
Yay for LASIK and yay for completing (almost) the reading challenge- I’m impressed.
I showed the gallery wall on this post: https://stephanywrites.com/my-apartment-to-do-list/. I’ll show the updated version when it’s all done!
I really need to make a trip to Trader Joes soon! We have one that’s 20 minutes away and I just never think to visit it.
You made such great progress toward your goals! And I love that LaCroix is helping you move the chains on your water goal.
I love a well organized pantry! That’s such a great accomplishment!
I have been drinking WAY MORE water since I started using a Stanley 40 oz quencher
Also— what about the strategy of pairing to get more walks? Like, buy an audiobook and only listen when you walk or start listening to a podcast for walking only, etc?
Ooh, I do like the idea of choosing a podcast that I can only listen to during my walks! That’s a great idea!
We drink SO MUCH seltzer water here, it’s ridiculous. We prefer the plain, so it’s not flavored at all, and our favorite it the Safeway Select, so it’s generic. I swear, my daughter goes on Seltzer benders, she will drink 3 or 4 in an evening. No dehydration around here.
One of the reasons I wanted a dog when we got Mulder was to motivate me to take a walk in the morning before work. I sit all day in front of a computer, and walking beforehand helps my back a lot. Now that he’s gone, it has been hard to motivate myself. So far I’m sticking with it because it does help, but gosh I miss him. (Sorry if I’ve said this on your comments before, I feel like it’s all I talk about sometimes.)
You can talk about Mulder as much as you need to! It was a huge loss for you and your family. <3
Getting lasik done was huge so that kind of supersedes a lot of the other health goals in my opinion. And La croix totally counts. It’s hydration which is key! I haven’t been drinking as much as I usually do lately probably because of my cold which is a time when I should be drinking more!
I am, as always, envious of your ability to make your apartment your *home*. So, so helpful to feeling, well, “settled”, isn’t it? (I still feel rather transient. It’s been years that I’ve lived here. So yeah. Wanna come organize and decorate my place? ;>)
YES, PLEASE. I would love to come and organize your place. Organization is something I love so, so much!