We bypassed my favorite month much too soon. I always like October lasting for what seems forever. This year October went by so fast- We celebrated our one year wedding anniversary, then I got the flu/cold/sinus thing that wouldn't go away for weeks. I was also busy at work with a lot of school groups and special events, including our annual Cemetery Tours where I hardly had a voice but did it anyway. It quite possibly was the feeling that "maybe this will be my last year to do them" that really made me suck it up and do it- but also it is my absolute favorite event. So, I was sick for weeks, then my husband was sick for weeks. I took a quick roadtrip to St. Louis to see my brother and nephew, then finished up the month with my birthday. A birthday at work does NOT compare to last year being on our honeymoon for my birthday. I also lost a dear family friend, our next door neighbor Ginny passed away. She was like family. Then my Great Aunt passed away the same week.
Overall, October was a bittersweet month. I was on a roller coaster for a lot of it. but this blog post is about goals- so how did I do?
Goal: De-Clutter
I didn't do anything, but I didn't set out to because I knew it would be busy. My 4/40 goal is to send out my list of duplicates to my fellow Windie friends by Thanksgiving. I did get together a huge pile of stuff for the yard sale that didn't happen. That counts.
I failed on stopping to collect more clutter though. My family now owns several pieces from an amusement park we used to vacation to when I was growing up. Thats a major fail when it comes to de-cluttering.
Goal for October: Keep up with training plan, run Wilderness Run! Go to Yoga at least twice.
Yep. I ran the Wilderness Run. AND I LIKED IT. I haven't felt so proud of myself in a long time. No, I didn't run the whole thing (J & J didn't tell me there were hills....) but I did run a lot of it- and signing up for it did make me push myself to train. No, I didn't go to yoga. But I am so proud of myself for sticking with this.
Goal for October: Limit eating out at restaurants during the week.
Pack lunch at least 4 times a week. Jennifer is going to pick a Button's
Up project for Julie and I from our Pinterest. We are going to make it.
I kind of forgot about this goal. I stress ate a lot when I was sick. Jennifer, I forgot you were going to pick a Button's Up project. So, I failed.
Goal: Keep putting myself out there- e-mail at least 4 more people.
Create list of accomplishments at work for yearly evaluation, and create
list of things I would like to accomplish.
I didn't put myself out there. But I spent a lot of time thinking about what I want to try and do- and how to do it. I DID write a list of accomplishments, went to my yearly evaluation, and got a raise. I also wrote a list of what I would like to accomplish. Success!
Goal for October: Work on my "Life List" - and Blog on my
Awkward/Awesome blog at least twice. Do Button's Up Craft (Yeah, I
couldn't tell if that fits under debt or this.)
I spent a lot of time thinking about my Life List- and it was fun. I didn't blog on Awk/Awe, but I started writing a list about topics I want to blog about. No Button's Up crafts.
Hm. I didn't do so bad.
November
Goal: De-Clutter
Send out the list of duplicates to my fellow Windies by Thanksgiving. Get the back bedroom back in order. Put yard sale stuff down in the storage.
Goal: Lose Weight
I started my "Lose 30 by my 30th birthday" challenge. That doesn't seem hard, but it is and it will be. I want to continue running, sign up for another race, and continue to track in MyfitnessPal. I'm back to wanting to focus on pounds. I'm tired of being uncomfortable with my body. If I lose 2.5 lbs a month, I'll be at my 30 lbs next year. But, I am still trying to figure out what my caloric needs are, so if I don't this month, I am not going to be mad. Apparently I also eat a lot of sugar. So, a SMART goal- run 3 times a week, log into MyFitnessPal.
Goal: Debt
Oh. I don't know. I need to think about some more SMART goals for this one. Can I make it my goal to come up with a goal? I'm going to put this one on the back burner.
Goal: Career
I want to put this on the back burner, too. I need to think of more SMART goals to make this more successful.
Goal: Adultiness
I want to blog again. I also want to spend a little more time with how I look at work. Sometimes I end up at work realizing I wore the same jeans the day before (ssh don't tell anyone)-- I think if I spent more time on how I look, I will feel less uncomfortable with my own body. I also think if I liked how I looked at work I may have a better attitude about my day. For November, write 3 blogs on Awkward and Awesome, and go through my closet- get rid of clothes I don't feel confident in. Keep the clothes that I feel good in.
I'll try my best!
Wednesday, November 6, 2013
Sunday, November 3, 2013
November!
Halloween has passed, the clock has fallen back, and it's time for me to check in on my October goals.
October Goals
1. Health/fitness: No Ben & Jerry's purchases in October. Successfully finish the KC Half Marathon - ideally as fast as (or faster than) my spring marathon.
Done, done, and done!
I'm happy to say I think we've broken the weekly Ben & Jerry's routine.
In regards to my half marathon, I was really happy with my finish. It wasn't a PR, but it was my second fastest (of four) half marathons- and faster than my spring race. This was also my first time doing this race so TECHNICALLY I can say it was a PR for this particular course.
2. Financial: No clothing/accessories/shoes purchases in October. Stay within Mint budget for food & dining.
Part one was a success. I did buy a Mizzou sweatshirt for Josh when we went to Homecoming last weekend, but that's a gift, right? That's how I categorized it on Mint since it wasn't for me. I consciously thought about this goal several times throughout the month. I almost broke down once towards the end of the month and bought a purse - but I resisted. Damn you, online shopping deals! (I will say that I also realized when November 1 rolled around that I could buy said purse. Which I did.)
I did not meet the second part of this goal, but I came close. I have a pretty generous budget in Mint for food & dining (includes groceries, fast food, restaurants, coffee shops, bars & alcohol, etc.). I went $34 over. I did go out of town two weekends for Mizzou games (once to Nashville and once to Columbia), which upped my dining spend. However, it probably evened out since I went to the grocery store a bit less.
3. Work: Positive attitude! Positive attitude! Positive attitude! Prepare for interviews but also stay engaged in my current role.
Huh. A lot can change in a month. I had been hoping last month that a change would happen on the job front, because it just felt like time to move on. In October the job I was interested in finally came open, it got posted, I "interviewed," (though the hiring manager had already decided), and my job offer was extended. Yay! I officially move Nov 18th.
Here's what I'm looking to accomplish in November.
1. Health/fitness: Go to yoga 4 times. Finish two races (Wilderness Run and GOTR 5k) and complete at least two 'long' runs (defined as 5+ miles).
2. Financial: Change savings allocation split among 401k/savings account to increase liquid savings in preparation for Christmas purchases and hopeful near future car purchase.
3. Work: Have a tidy transition to the new job. This means cleaning up old e-mails and the shared drive, sorting through old project files, leaving instructions/details on projects where necessary, wrapping up any loose ends, and reducing my cubicle stuff down to one box. (I will be sharing a cube when I move...so there won't be room for much in my new space.)
4. Other: It's NaNoWriMo month! Participating in NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) is on my bucket list. While that's not going to happen this year, I'm going to incorporate the spirit into one of my goals for the month. I plan to write at least 20 out of 30 days this month. (Not all posts may necessarily be online.) It doesn't matter how LONG I write each day, it's the starting and getting the words down that matters.
October Goals
1. Health/fitness: No Ben & Jerry's purchases in October. Successfully finish the KC Half Marathon - ideally as fast as (or faster than) my spring marathon.
Done, done, and done!
I'm happy to say I think we've broken the weekly Ben & Jerry's routine.
In regards to my half marathon, I was really happy with my finish. It wasn't a PR, but it was my second fastest (of four) half marathons- and faster than my spring race. This was also my first time doing this race so TECHNICALLY I can say it was a PR for this particular course.
2. Financial: No clothing/accessories/shoes purchases in October. Stay within Mint budget for food & dining.
Part one was a success. I did buy a Mizzou sweatshirt for Josh when we went to Homecoming last weekend, but that's a gift, right? That's how I categorized it on Mint since it wasn't for me. I consciously thought about this goal several times throughout the month. I almost broke down once towards the end of the month and bought a purse - but I resisted. Damn you, online shopping deals! (I will say that I also realized when November 1 rolled around that I could buy said purse. Which I did.)
I did not meet the second part of this goal, but I came close. I have a pretty generous budget in Mint for food & dining (includes groceries, fast food, restaurants, coffee shops, bars & alcohol, etc.). I went $34 over. I did go out of town two weekends for Mizzou games (once to Nashville and once to Columbia), which upped my dining spend. However, it probably evened out since I went to the grocery store a bit less.
3. Work: Positive attitude! Positive attitude! Positive attitude! Prepare for interviews but also stay engaged in my current role.
Huh. A lot can change in a month. I had been hoping last month that a change would happen on the job front, because it just felt like time to move on. In October the job I was interested in finally came open, it got posted, I "interviewed," (though the hiring manager had already decided), and my job offer was extended. Yay! I officially move Nov 18th.
Here's what I'm looking to accomplish in November.
1. Health/fitness: Go to yoga 4 times. Finish two races (Wilderness Run and GOTR 5k) and complete at least two 'long' runs (defined as 5+ miles).
2. Financial: Change savings allocation split among 401k/savings account to increase liquid savings in preparation for Christmas purchases and hopeful near future car purchase.
3. Work: Have a tidy transition to the new job. This means cleaning up old e-mails and the shared drive, sorting through old project files, leaving instructions/details on projects where necessary, wrapping up any loose ends, and reducing my cubicle stuff down to one box. (I will be sharing a cube when I move...so there won't be room for much in my new space.)
4. Other: It's NaNoWriMo month! Participating in NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) is on my bucket list. While that's not going to happen this year, I'm going to incorporate the spirit into one of my goals for the month. I plan to write at least 20 out of 30 days this month. (Not all posts may necessarily be online.) It doesn't matter how LONG I write each day, it's the starting and getting the words down that matters.
November! by Julie
Here we go again!
Fitness: In October, I ran 62.5 of the 78 goal miles and I strength trained only 3 of the 10 times I planned. I also signed up for my first solo race in a long time. For some perspective--during the last full week of my October training, I ran 20 miles with my longest run being 6 miles. Four weeks earlier, I only ran 10.5 miles for the week and my longest run was 3.5 miles. All in all, that's some good progress in the course of a month. Goals for November: 1. Run 97.5 (!) miles. 2. Get comfortable running in the dark. 3. Strength train 8 times.
Career: Well, October was a weird month. We had our first big event during the middle of the government shut-down and a state conference. Things got pretty annoying and discouraging. November Goals: 1.Get everyone focused on doing the workplan.
Finance: You know that old saying about if you want something done, do it yourself. Yeah, I should have had a garage sale ourselves. That goal is on hold until the spring. I also didn't do a good job setting a schedule for my side-gig, nor did the stay under-budget thing happen. However, I did accomplish something that I didn't set out to do at the beginning of the month: I cut my toll road costs in half. Every evening, I took the back roads home instead of getting on the toll road. Goals for November: Thanks to my toll road success, I'm going to focus on changing certain actions that will make an impact on the budget rather than "spending less." 1. Use it up. I'm going to focus on cooking stuff from the cupboards and freezer instead of purchasing new ingredients. 2. Get to work. Yep, devote more time to the side hustle. 3. Stay off the (toll) road.
Adultiness: Scarf is done! The knitting part is anyway. I forgot there is fringe so I have to finish that. I also finished my brother's birthday present in time and cleaned off my desk, which got moved downstairs because we have to do work in the room where it was. We finished our house project list but we still need to prioritize and sync them up. Goals for November: I'm kind of leaving this one blank for now because I started participating in this 4/40 challenge. The goals I set are:
Nutrition Use My Fitness Pal to track calories and have a deficit.
Fitness Follow planned workouts.
Self-care Write
Family For this I wrote down a list of 40 things to do and am trying to do half of them.
The end of the 4/40 challenge is Thanksgiving day so that is most of November. That's plenty to think about during November!
Fitness: In October, I ran 62.5 of the 78 goal miles and I strength trained only 3 of the 10 times I planned. I also signed up for my first solo race in a long time. For some perspective--during the last full week of my October training, I ran 20 miles with my longest run being 6 miles. Four weeks earlier, I only ran 10.5 miles for the week and my longest run was 3.5 miles. All in all, that's some good progress in the course of a month. Goals for November: 1. Run 97.5 (!) miles. 2. Get comfortable running in the dark. 3. Strength train 8 times.
Career: Well, October was a weird month. We had our first big event during the middle of the government shut-down and a state conference. Things got pretty annoying and discouraging. November Goals: 1.Get everyone focused on doing the workplan.
Finance: You know that old saying about if you want something done, do it yourself. Yeah, I should have had a garage sale ourselves. That goal is on hold until the spring. I also didn't do a good job setting a schedule for my side-gig, nor did the stay under-budget thing happen. However, I did accomplish something that I didn't set out to do at the beginning of the month: I cut my toll road costs in half. Every evening, I took the back roads home instead of getting on the toll road. Goals for November: Thanks to my toll road success, I'm going to focus on changing certain actions that will make an impact on the budget rather than "spending less." 1. Use it up. I'm going to focus on cooking stuff from the cupboards and freezer instead of purchasing new ingredients. 2. Get to work. Yep, devote more time to the side hustle. 3. Stay off the (toll) road.
Adultiness: Scarf is done! The knitting part is anyway. I forgot there is fringe so I have to finish that. I also finished my brother's birthday present in time and cleaned off my desk, which got moved downstairs because we have to do work in the room where it was. We finished our house project list but we still need to prioritize and sync them up. Goals for November: I'm kind of leaving this one blank for now because I started participating in this 4/40 challenge. The goals I set are:
Nutrition Use My Fitness Pal to track calories and have a deficit.
Fitness Follow planned workouts.
Self-care Write
Family For this I wrote down a list of 40 things to do and am trying to do half of them.
The end of the 4/40 challenge is Thanksgiving day so that is most of November. That's plenty to think about during November!
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