After my humiliating goal attempts in February, I was determined to make last month count. And I don’t know if it was the determination that came from having achieved so very little the month before or if it was the coming out of the sun and springtime weather, but I kicked BUTT in March on my goals.
By which, I mean that I actually managed to complete EVERY LAST ONE of my March goals.
This might be a first in goal-setting history.
Quick recap of what exactly went down–
March Goals
*Finish the books of Judges, Ruth, and first and second Samuel in Old Testament.
For awhile, I was convinced that it would take me two years to finish my goal of reading the Old Testament (and at the pace I was going then—only one chapter a day—it might have done. However, since drastically upping the time I spend each day reading, I’m almost halfway through. Boo-yoy.
*Decide on name for photography business and get into contact with people who can help me design a web page and a logo.
This one took me awhile to commit to (because it meant continually facing my feelings of inadequacy on the subject), but things are officially rolling on this one thanks to some logo and web design help from my talented father and brother. Everything won’t be ready to go for another several months still, but at least I’m taking baby steps towards the end result.
*Visit a new temple.
On our way back from Yellowstone, Matt and I stopped at the Rexburg, Idaho temple to do a session. On our way out to the car, I managed to catch some squinty pictures as proof. (See pictures.)
*Read two books on my lists.
I have finally broken the reading curse that had been hovering over my reading goals since January 1st. I officially read three books in March (one that was not on my lists), and I’m 60 pages away from finishing another.
*Type up fifteen pages of one of my journals.
I finished this one last night at about 9 P.M. (procrastinate, much?), but done is done!
*Learn one new piece in Piano Classics book.
I actually had this one done about halfway through the month and had moved onto a second piece by the last week. I’m still not in the habit of daily practicing the piano, but I’m at least playing a couple times a week, which is improvement. (Of course,when I run out of simpler pieces in that book, I’m going to really need to step things up!)
*Go on an 11-mile run.
If you read the blog last week, you’ll know that I overachieved on this one by accident. I don’t exactly recommend going that route with long runs (although I am comforted knowing that I guess I’m more ready for my half marathon than I thought).
*Homemaking Goal: Save money on food.
I did REALLY well on this one for me—in the entire month of March, I only had to throw away two tomatoes, a piece of old pizza, and a lime. For a person who usually throws away embarrassing amounts of moldy food every week, this was a real success. Plus, I managed to spend less than $130 on groceries last month (when I usually was spending $200-250). Since several readers wondered how we kept grocery costs so low, I’m planning on doing a post on it soon.
Now, onto the new—
April Goals
*Visit a new national park in Utah. Did you know that there are 18 national parks in Utah? Since one of my goals is to visit them all with Matt and since we have one pretty close to us (The Golden Spike National Historic Site), I feel like I have no excuse to keep putting this one off. Plus it will be fun to do something out of the ordinary. Plus I feel like it goes along with the whole “brain food” thing I posted about yesterday. Win-win. Win.
*Read 1 Kings and 2 Kings in the Old Testament. I’ve already read stories about a man who was so embarrassed about being struck by a woman that he made one of his men run him through with a sword and a breach between King David and one of his wives over the fact that she felt he was dancing inappropriately in the streets for a man of his rank. Exciting stuff, people—it’s only getting better with each book!
*Run a half-marathon. I’m not planning on actually being able to complete my ultimate bucket list goal of running a half in under two hours with this first attempt, but I’m sure going to try my darnedest to get as close as possible. (I’m running the Tulip Half Marathon at Thanksgiving Point at the end of this month, in case you missed the news!)
*Lose 5 pounds. When I was ran my marathon two years ago, I was nine pounds lighter than what I am now, and I was a lot faster naturally (without having to put in as much effort). According to some studies, for each pound you lose, you run 2 seconds faster per mile. Since I have no excuse for the extra 9 pounds I’ve put on anyway, I figure I might as well lose as much of it as possible before the half and see if I can save myself a couple minutes on my time.
*Learn a new piece from my Piano Classics book.
*Read two books from my lists, at least one of which needs to come off my “100 Most-Recommended Classics” list (which I’ve been putting off for awhile now). Yeah, I know that there’s not much variation in some of these goals…sorry about that…
*Homemaking Goal: Try out 4 new recipes this month, two of which are more “adventurous” (either due to difficulty level, complexity of ingredient list, or unusual-ness). I once made the comment to Matt that I’m not a picky eater. He laughed at me, which made me feel the need to follow up with—“Well, I’m not picky with the food that I make for myself anyway…” Basically, even when I try out new recipes, I tend to stay in a very safe zone—I usually stick with meats, vegetables, preparation styles, etc. that I am incredibly familiar with. I very rarely venture out of my cooking comfort zone, which means that as a cook, I’m sorely lacking when it comes to my skills making more unusual dishes (especially various ethnic dishes). I’m determined to get a little gutsy this month in the kitchen, which will likely mean me trying out a vegan recipe (from this vegan cookbook my dad bought me for Christmas) and a foreign dish (most likely something French).
What do you do to get adventurous in the kitchen? And do you have any good ethnic or vegan recipes for me to try?
