Somehow it’s already mid-July and I’m feeling that sense of “where the heck is summer going!?” It feels like we had to wait so long for it to arrive (our spring was long, cold, and very wet) so I’m trying to soak up as much of the warm weather and sunshine as possible!
In January, I posted my list of goals for 2019 (find the original post here) and today I thought I’d just give a little update on how my list is coming along so far. Some of my goals were one-and-done things, while others are more ongoing. Some I’ve accomplished and some I have put zero effort into. We’ll see what the second half of the year holds for the list, but in the meantime, here’s how it’s going thus far:
My 19 for 2019
1- I didn’t initially share what this one was, but I’m ready to now. My #1 goal for 2019 was . . . BABY #2. Justin and I both felt very ready to expand our family and hoped to at least get pregnant in 2019, even if baby didn’t actually arrive until 2020. Now we’re just over 5 weeks away from meeting baby #2!
2- Plan an adults-only trip for Justin and I – This one is completed! We planned and took an adults-only babymoon to the Bahamas and it was just what we needed. It was relaxing, fun, and just a wonderful vacation for us to reconnect and enjoy time together.
3- Update instagram account and create Chatbook for LJ – Still working on this one. I have SO many pictures and it’s taking a while but I have put some work into this.
4- Select pictures for family photo albums – Zero progress on this one so far. I want to do one for each year of marriage and we’ve been married 6 years. It’s just a huge project and I have so many photos to sort through!
5- Plan out family photo albums – Again, zero progress. I can’t plan the albums until I have the photos selected, so hopefully I can get at least a little momentum on picking them out.
6- Create a master list of my top book recommendations – This one is done! I wrote a blog post about my top recommendations that you can find here. Now I just need to remember to periodically update it when I find new books I love!
7- Replace our ugly brown recliner – Justin’s $20 brown recliner from college is still with us. Since we moved to a new house and had lots more space it didn’t feel like the right time to eliminate furniture. BUT it has been relegated to the basement for now so at least I don’t have to see it every day. 😉
8- Write and track our monthly spending budget – Justin and I did great with this for several months, but we’ve fallen off the wagon with this.
9- Send birthday cards – I’ve done okay with this one. I have sent many birthday cards, but my pregnancy brain has also caused a lot of them to be belated. So . . . I’m trying.
10- Find a local tailor – This one is also done! I found a local tailor that fixed my pile of clothes that needed attention – everything from pants that needed hemmed to clothing with holes to my bridesmaids dress for my sister’s wedding. Yay!
11- Find a reliable, nearby babysitter -I would say this is partially done. We finally found a good babysitter at our last house, but then we moved. I have a lead on another babysitter but I have yet to use her. I actually plan to reach out this week so I’m hoping she’s a good one!
12- Have house siding washed -Done! Except we did it for our old house . . . and now our new house needs it too! We’ll probably wait to do the new house until next year but it did feel great to get our previous home look so clean!
13- Find comfortable black heels – Pregnancy is probably not the time to be searching for heels haha! I haven’t looked into this at all, so maybe after baby comes I’ll feel more inspired.
14 – Plan our will with an estate lawyer – Not done yet, but I’ve emailed a lawyer to get this process started so some progress has been made!
15- Invest in buying plastic alternatives – This one is ongoing, so it can’t really be “done” but I have bought stainless steel straws and another glass container to store and take along food. Progress!
16- Set up accounts for LJ’s future – We’ve set up his 529 plan! Whoo hoo!
17- Have budget meeting with Justin for each paycheck (roughly 2x/month) – Again, we did really well with this for several months but haven’t really kept this up lately. This check-in is good motivation to get back in the habit!
18- When buying clothing or shoes, look for fair trade, ethically made options – Honestly, I haven’t bought any shoes this year, and the clothes I’ve bought have all been maternity. While I haven’t necessarily bought fair-trade, I have bought a lot second-hand which is at least a very sustainable option and I’m happy about that!
19- Learn more about finances (401K, 403B, investments, etc.) – I’ve been doing this! Mostly by listening to various podcasts but there are also some books that I’ve read that have been helpful as well.
Overall, I’m pretty proud of how things are going with my list. If you made goals or resolutions for 2019, have you accomplished them? I’d love to hear!
simplify the chaos 