Seeing as we’re now almost halfway through the year (seriously?!), I figured it was high time to do my first check-in with my 101 in 1001 goals, which I set in lieu of the traditional new year’s resolutions this year.
One thing I’ve loved about doing this type of list instead is that it has meant that I’m overall even more motivated by my goals than I usually am with my resolutions, simply because there are SO MANY to choose from (so it’s basically like I can pick one to work on based on my mood and my current situation). It’s also been a GREAT way for me to combine larger, more “bucket list” type items (or just larger projects in general) with the habits and smaller goals that are more typical of new year’s resolutions, which has been a great balance and a way of pushing myself.
(Also, I love the fact that the time period runs longer than a year, which often feels too short to get some of the really big stuff accomplished.)
Here is where I currently stand (and if you want more explanations on WHY I chose particular goals to put on the list, check out the original post here):
Note: Anything that’s crossed out means this goal is completely finished; anything in red means I’ve made measurable progress on the goal, but it’s not yet completed.
Second Note: There may be affiliate links in this post in partnership with Amazon Associates, which help support To Love and To Learn (at no cost to you).
My 101 in 1001 List
Start Date: Thursday Jan. 11, 2018
End Date: Wednesday Oct. 7, 2020
Health + Fitness
1. Run a half marathon in under two hours
2. Go six months without drinking any Diet Dr. Pepper
I technically went off DDP sometime last December, but since I didn’t record the exact date, I’m marking Jan. 1st of this year as my first date without it, and I’ve gone without it ever since. Almost done with this!
3. Try out a new exercise class
Back at the end of January, I tried a High Fitness class, which combines my love of dance cardio with higher levels of intensity and challenge than most dance classes offer. I have plans to continue taking this class once it is offered regularly at my local rec center (which it hopefully will be around the time I return to regular exercise after having the baby).
4. Do 50 push-ups in a row
5. Get back to my pre-pregnancy weight
6. Have a sugar-free month
7. Complete a 12-week BBG (Kayla Itsines Bikini Body Guide)
8. Try 3 new hikes
9. No fast food for two months (including pizza)
10. Get 10,000 steps avg./day for a month
Financial
11. Complete emergency fund ($10,000)
12. Rollover Matt’s 401k to a Roth IRA
In addition to rolling over Matt’s 401k to a Roth, we also decided to rollover MY 401k to a Traditional IRA (since I’m no longer working, and this way I can eventually start making contributions again once we have it in the budget to do so). This goal took us several months to figure out, but I’m glad we now both have a way to continue contributing to our retirement (since Matt’s current employer doesn’t offer one through his work), so it’s been a load off our minds!
13. Pay $3000 extra on the mortgage
With the raise Matt got in February, we upped our monthly mortgage payment by about $40 (for a total of about $50 over the minimum payment) to start working on this little by little. Since then, we’ve been informed of an Escrow shortage, so not as much of our payment is going towards our principal as we had planned, but progress is progress!
14. Set up a sinking fund for car repairs
As this was such an easy one to cross off (as it only required a trip into our credit union to open up the account), I got it crossed off within a couple weeks of starting this list. Of course, the tricky part now will be actually putting money into this account (since the only money that was put in had to be immediately taken out again, as we got hit with over $500 in car repairs in February). I also opened up a sinking fund for medical costs, which we’ve put money into to cover the cost of having our baby this year.
Personal Development
15. Reach 100% fluency on Duolingo (French)
With few exceptions, I’ve been working on this daily since the beginning of the year and am currently at around 68 in the Duolingo ranking system. Unfortunately, as they recently changed their ranking system, I don’t know if 68 means 68% fluent (like it did before), or if the ranking goes higher than 100. Either way, I’ve been working on this, but I still have a LOT of units and grammar principles left to cover.
16. Set up Facebook page for produce co-op
17. Take a cooking class
18. Type up the rest of my mission journals
My morning routine (more on that in a minute) has helped me the most with this goal, as I work on typing up a few pages when Raven wakes up a little later than normal. I’d already typed up my first mission journal as part of a goal I had a few years back, but I still have two journals left from that time period. As of now, I’m about halfway through typing up the second one (they all have around 200 pages).
19. Type up all of my personal journals
20. Establish a personal morning routine + stick with it for a month
I started this one by accident (meaning, I hadn’t planned to start it as soon as I did) one morning when I woke up around 6:40 to use the bathroom (thank you, pregnancy!) and just stayed awake. I felt so good the rest of the day from having that extra time to myself that I decided to start then and there with waking up around 6:40 daily. More on my morning routine in this blog post.
21. Cook through a whole cookbook
I decided to cook my way through The Food Nanny Rescues Dinner, which has 208 recipes in it. I’ve currently made 37.
22. Try a dozen new cookie recipes
I’m really glad I set this goal because it’s been such a fun one! I love baking, but sometimes I forget that I also love trying NEW baking recipes and so therefore get stuck in a baking rut, where I make the same things over and over. I’ve currently made three new cookie recipes so far this year (an oatmeal coconut chocolate chip recipe from the cookbook above, and two from Mel’s Kitchen Cafe–fudgy brownie cookies and super soft chocolate chip cookies).
23. Go a week with no t.v. time (including movies)
It was hard to initially do this one, but once I’d done it and had the pleasure of seeing how much time it left me to only watch t.v. one night a week, I’ve basically never looked back! I currently just watch t.v. once a week with Matt (and sometimes not even that much), and the rest of the evenings, I do other things. It’s seriously been kind of life-changing to just watch t.v. one night a week—I only wish I would have started earlier! (A few more thoughts on this important life shift are found in this blog post.)
Spiritual
24. Read the Book of Mormon in Spanish
25. Visit 3 new temples + do ordinances
26. Find 100 names for the temple
I’ve currently found about 50, so halfway there! (You’ll notice some of these religious goals have links, in case you’re curious to learn more about my beliefs.)
27. Complete temple work for 15 people
I’ve done some of the initial work for 7 of the names I have and am planning on completely around 5 a year to get this one completed on time. This year, I’ve completely finished 1/5 so far.
28. Make family history photo flash cards
I’ve only indexed 28 names so far this year, but progress is still progress!
30. Study all General Conference talks of 2017
Thanks to my newfound morning routine (where I read 1-2 talks from these Conferences daily), I was able to complete this one recently. It’s made such a big difference in how I feel throughout the day to start by reading such inspired and uplifting words!
31. Study all GC talks of 2018
Since I finished all the ones from 2017, I moved right on to studying the ones that were given in April’s GC of this year.
32. Study all GC talks of 2019
33. Study April GC talks of 2020
Books
34. Read 5 books off of my 100 Classics list
I read Lord of the Flies earlier this year as part of my Assigned Reading series and am in the middle of A Farewell to Arms (also as part of that same series).
35. Read 2 plays
36. Read 15 books off of the Newbery list
I’ve finished two so far–The War That Saved My Life and Out of the Dust.
37. Read 5 books off of the Pulitzer list
I recently finished The Snow Child, which was a finalist for the award a couple years back.
38. Read 12 books off of the 1,001 Books You Must Read Before You Die list
Lord of the Flies counted double as it was on this list too, and I also read Sense and Sensibility. I believe A Farewell to Arms will count on this too, though I haven’t checked.
39. Read 50 books I own
I’ve read 10 so far this year (not counting the books I’m re-reading that I own, because I’m weird like that).
40. Re-read 5 books
I thought this one would be harder to do since it had been soooo long since I’d re-read anything, but I’ve already knocked out two—Peony in Love and The Happiness Project. I plan to do a whole post around some of my thoughts lately on re-reading, just because I’ve revisited the concept after such a long break from it.
Travel + Fun
41. Visit Capitol Reef
42. Visit Goblin Valley
43. Visit a new state
44. Celebrate a holiday I normally don’t
45. Visit the ocean
46. Go horseback riding
47. Go to the condo in St. George
We were able to squeeze this in just in time to consider it a “Babymoon” of sorts. More on that trip to be posted soon.
48. Go to a musical or play
49. Go fly a kite
Ever since we’ve read a few picture books that have kites in them, I’ve been telling my daughter we’d take her to see what it was all about. I put it down as one of our monthly goals for May (since we try to plan a fun “day adventure” every month), and we were able to complete this just last Saturday.
50. Complete my Sudoku book
51. Go on a picnic
Since we were planning an outing to the park anyway to go fly kites, I figured we’d do a double whammy and have a picnic while we were at it. We might not have a fancy picnic basket or a gingham blanket to make it all Instagram perfect, but we sure enjoyed our homemade potato salad, sandwiches, and fresh grapes all the same. Every time I go on a picnic, I think of how we should do it all the time, but as it is, it only seems to happen every other year or so (though we HAVE started eating outside on our back patio al fresco now that it’s warmer and we have a yard of our own).
Blogging + Writing
52. Reach 50 people on my email list
53. Reach 100 people on my email list
54. Break even with blog expenses/income
I got my first ever payout from blogging (from the only monetization I’ve tried so far—Amazon Associates) for about $11 earlier this year, ha ha. I decided I’m kind of terrible at making money blogging, but I love blogging too much to quit, so…I’ll just keep at it.
55. Make $500 in a year from blogging
56. Reach 200 followers on Bloglovin’
I’ve gained 12 new followers this year, for a total of 150 right now. Considering that I haven’t actively been working on this, I’m pretty pleased about it, actually! (If you’re not following yet but would like to, click here.)
57. Reach 300 followers on Bloglovin’
58. Have a post get 1,000+ views
59. Have a post get 2,000+ views
60. Optimize 20 old posts for Pinterest
I was optimizing posts (mostly old recipes) like crazy last year when I first relaunched the blog, but lately, I haven’t done too much on the whole “improve the blog” front. I HAVE at least optimized three posts this year so far, though (this one on 20 Ways to Motivate Yourself to Clean the House, this one on my quest to find the Perfect Dinner Roll recipe, and this one for Red Velvet Love Cookies, which I had the foresight to update right in time for Valentine’s Day).
61. Finish first draft of my novel
62. Make 100 new entries in The Motherhood Diaries
I’ve written seven.
Photography
63. Take another photography class
64. Go to an event with the Cache Valley Photographers’ Group
65. Reach 500 Instagram followers
I’ve grown about 50 followers since the beginning of the year and am currently at around 400, which I’m pleased with. I’ve been trying to be much more consistent about posting at least 4X/week, which seems to have helped a lot. (If you’re not following me already, click here!)
66. Reach 1,000 Instagram followers
67. Complete a self-portrait photo project
68. Pare down photos from 2013-2017
69. Buy a macro lens
70. Buy a tripod
71. Give a free photo session to someone in need
72. Launch photography webpage
The main catalyst I needed to get the ball rolling on this one again was to have my SmugMug account hooked to the domain name I’d bought for my site, and I’ve cleaned up galleries and made a Pricing tab (though that’s unfinished) and such since then. I still have a bit more I’d like to do on it, though. (If you’re curious to see what I have so far, click here.)
73. Back up all photos
Family + Relationships + Service
74. Finish reading over Matt’s book and making suggestions
75. Complete 1,000 book challenge with Raven
So far, we’re just over halfway through, having read about 550 different books together (that I’ve recorded).
76. Create a recent family photo album
Technically I’ve completed this one, but I’ve expanded on it in my head, so I’m not counting it as complete yet. Since I hadn’t made ANY photo albums since we got married over 7 years ago, I decided to make 4-5 albums so that we’re all caught up. I’ve currently made just the first one, which covers more or less the first two years we were married.
77. Sign Raven up for preschool
We’re in the process of trying to get her officially enrolled at the moment (she’s at least the first one on one of the waiting lists, and I’ve called about one for next year already). Apparently signing up your kid for preschool is a bit more complicated than I thought it was… #newbieproblems
78. Go on 20 dates with Matt
We’ve gone on four so far.
79. Sign Raven up for swimming lessons
80. Give/send 12 handwritten notes or letters
I’ve sent two (since I’m counting all the valentines we sent to Raven’s grandparents as just one).
81. Get family pics taken twice
82. Take an overnight trip with Matt
83. Leave a 100% tip at a restaurant
84. Buy someone a just-because gift
85. Give someone flowers
Home + Organization
86. Get bed for guest room
We got this one done back in February, using some of the money from our tax return.
87. Fix plumbing out back
88. Complete built-in bookshelves in office
89. Plant at least two fruit trees
We planted a semi-dwarf apricot and a semi-dwarf peach at the beginning of April (in addition to the two apple trees we already had).
90. Build a sandbox out back
91. Put shiplap up in bathroom
92. Buy curtains for downstairs family room
93. Grow pumpkins
This one, combined with #96, consisted of a little more than just planting a couple vegetables or herbs–it meant building a couple raised garden beds first, which we did as one of our big projects in April. I’m not counting this one as complete quite yet until I actually see evidence of some pumpkins, ha ha.
94. Buy throw pillows for upstairs couch
This one unexpectedly got completed when my mom picked up a couple pillows for us (which we love) that she found for a steal while she was returning some stuff at Kohl’s when we were all down in St. George together.
95. Do a refresh project of 50 Weeks to Organized
After posting about WHY I’m doing a refresh of this, I was doing super well on making progress on this one for weeks and weeks, and then my energy started getting channeled into other house and yard projects. However, I have currently gotten rid of around 100 things (that I’ve tracked anyway), so definite progress has been made.
96. Plant an herb garden
Thanks to the raised garden beds we built, I had a great space all ready and waiting for this! Now we just have to wait and see if we actually get anything out of it. (For the record, we planted cilantro, basil, Italian oregano, and flat-leaf parsley.)
97. Make a canvas print to hang in our bedroom
98. Hang pics up in downstairs family room
99. Buy fresh flowers every month for six months
100. Buy/get a grill
This was VERY unexpectedly completed thanks to Matt’s bosses, who actually gave Matt a grill as a work bonus after we’d mentioned that we’d been wanting one. Matt’s been taking on a lot of extra responsibilities at his work this year, so it was super nice that he’s been shown some extra appreciation for it! (We’ve also made great use of it already and are planning to start a family tradition of grilling and eating outside every Friday night!)
101. Review emergency preparedness + make a will
Number of Completed Items: 14/101
Number of Items in Progress: 29
How are you coming on your current goals for the month or year?
