Tag: volunteering

In 2019, I attempted to reach 19 goals, creating more success than I did in my previous 18 for 2018. Here’s the list, along with how I did.

1. Pay off car. Well, I wrecked my car, so technically it got paid off, but now I have a new car payment, so not really sure how to judge this one. Sometimes things just work out a bit differently than planned.
2. Visit Hawaii. Done! I went on a vacation with a friend to celebrate my 40th birthday and her upcoming 50th birthday. I also swam with manta rays and took a helicopter ride for the first time!
3. Meet up with friends for coffee, lunch dates (weekly or at least 52). I surpassed this in November, so I stopped keeping track. I didn’t feel that it brought me any closer to friends and I spent a lot on lunches eating out more, so will probably not do this one again. I probably should have made a rule that they couldn’t be repeated, but then I’d need 52 people to meet with, which seems like a lot. 
4. No brand new clothes. This was one of my favorites. I still bought a few used things on Poshmark and I decided to allow myself to buy clothes on vacation as a souvenir, but ultimately, I only bought one brand new thing and that was because I bought my boyfriend something from TJ Maxx and had to return it, so I had a gift card that needed to be used and I ended up buying pajamas with that money. Technically, I haven’t worn them, so I may post them on Poshmark.
5. Earn an extra $100 a month. This one was easier than I thought it would be, since I get paid to take photos at the farmers market and can decide how often I do it, so I just made sure to pick up at least 4 shifts to cover the $100. Many months, I signed up for 5 and sold things on Poshmark, so I ended making slightly more. I also picked up a few cupcake and cookie orders. I’m hoping to increase this goal in the next year.
6. Read 44 books. OK. I’m just going to have to finally admit to myself that I’m just not in a place anymore where I can just hunker down and read, read, read, ignoring everything else in my life. I like to keep my condo cleaner these days and I spend a lot of time at my boyfriend’s place and, yes, I often choose Netflix over reading, so while I still read more than the average bear, 44 is just too high right now. I’ve read 31 so far and just don’t think I’m likely to finish 13 in the next two weeks.
7. Take a self-improvement class. I didn’t define this very well, so I’m going to count the empanada class I took a few weeks ago, because, while it may not help my career or anything lofty, it definitely adds to my baking skills, which I use a lot for mental health. Whatever. I’m counting it.
8. Volunteer at least once per month or 12 total. I didn’t change this up as much as I had envisioned. I had thought I might try a variety of volunteer activities, but I mostly did the same ones I typically do. A friend and I bake cookies once per month and her husband drops them off at The Christie Center. I did help my boyfriend and his company with a few of their volunteer activities as well as took part in some at my own job, so that was a fun change of pace, but I still want to find my volunteer “thing.”
9. Start a cooking club. Absolutely did not do this. I even thought I might do a last minute cookie exchange, but time is running out!
10. Take 20 hikes. Also, did not do. I did a few for sure between Hawaii and meeting up with friends, but I think I still did fewer than usual. I definitely overestimated my desire to hike and needed to do more planning if this were something I really wanted to do. I can see this being better at communing with friends than lunch/coffee dates if I were to plan it, though.
11. Switch from a particular bank. I still have an account at this particular bank, but the majority of my checking and savings are held elsewhere now. Once I am sure I’ve moved everything over, I’ll close the account, but it takes a while to slog through all the payments to ensure you’re not dropping the ball on any bills.
12. Become a Poshmark suggested user. Totally crushed this early in the year. You can check out my closet at https://poshmark.com/closet/tyoungsteratx.
13. Enter Queen of Hearts cake in a cake show. Won third place in beginners at the Austin show. Definitely need to keep practicing and learning!
14. Electronic door lock. This was done mostly thanks to my boyfriend, who helped pick it out and install it. He also recently installed a Nest thermostat, so I really cannot thank him enough for all the help he’s been in getting these weird things done at my condo that makes it that much nicer.
15. Clean out car. I had done this before I got a new car, but much easier to keep clean in the Prius since it’s four doors.
16. Watch Game of Thrones. Ha … well, that was pretty much how we spent February and May, but totally watched all of Game of Thrones this year (had never seen any of it before). I like to watch everything back-to-back, so this was definitely the way to go for me.
17. Use pasta maker. So much easier than I expected and a delicious way to spend an evening.
18. Use ice cream maker. Made this into a date night, where we made strawberry ice cream. So yummy and creamy.
19. Learn a song on the ukulele. I’ve been working on Jingle Bells and think I should be able to cross this off by January.

Overall, I think I did pretty well. I’d say I count this as 15 and a half complete. A lot of stuff on there I probably wouldn’t have done without my list and deadlines, so I’m definitely going to make a 2020 list. I’ve made a tentative one, but it has about 30 things on the list, so I need to whittle it down a bit before finalizing it.

If you’ve got any fun goals for the new year, let me know! I’d love to hear them.

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