January always seems to be about three times as long as any other month (not in a good way), but at least this year, we got some wins under our belt during that eterna-month!
Sticking with tradition, we got sick right after the holidays (no surprise there), which extended into the first part of the year, but because we didn’t have much scheduled for the month, I (with the help of Matt and my mom, too) was still able to get quite a bit accomplished. Here’s how the last month broke down:
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January Goals
Go without refined sugar (in the form of treats) for the entire month- It was basically awful, but we did it! Both Matt and I went without refined sugar in the form of traditional treats for the whole month (though we were basically saved by a peanut butter cookie recipe made with honey, which I hope to post soon). Thoughts to follow in a later post.
Install shelves and hooks in upstairs bathroom- Thanks to my mom literally coming up on the last day of the month to help me, we (and by we, I mean my mom) got all the towel hooks installed as well as the above-toilet shelves put up. I can’t wait to share pics! I’m super excited.
Make 4 Instant Pot recipes- I think I made more like 6, and I’m basically probably never going to use my slow cooker again. Seriously, how did I go this long without an Instant Pot?! What a marvelous thing! (In case you’re curious, my mom and stepdad got me this one for Christmas, and I am in love.)
- Update pics in living room
- I was originally going to just update the pics using the same engineering print hack I used last time, but as the quality wasn’t the best, and as I wanted to bring a little more brightness/color to the room, I’ve decided to change up our display in there. (A few more details are below). I did get one new print framed though.
Get my mom updated family pics- Done! Thanks to us taking weekly family pics every Sunday now, I chose my most-recent favorite and finally printed it out for her. Now everyone will know Mathias exists when they go to her house!
Start the Book of Mormon in Spanish- Yep! And I haven’t missed a day of reading yet.
- Set up crib in Raven’s room
- We had plans to do this when we had some friends over (so that Matt could have some help moving stuff around), but…we were having too much fun to remember to do it. Rollover goal.
- Make 5 new recipes from The Food Nanny Rescues Dinner
- So close! I only made 4.
- Decide on canvas size/quantity for prints in bedroom + purchase
- With some unexpected medical expenses this month (see note later), we didn’t have it in the budget to buy anything else for the house this month, so this will probably have to wait until spring. (And since I knew we didn’t have it in the budget, I didn’t bother measuring for them.)
Ask neighbor over for feedback on doing built-in bookshelves- We asked our neighbor (who built his own gorgeous home) over to give us some advice, and I’m so glad we got a second opinion! He gave us some great tips, and he might even be able to help us cut costs a bit (as well as help Matt on the upper crown molding when we get to that point). We have the best neighbors in the world.
List 5 things on Ebay- I actually listed 6, and I’ve already sold (and shipped) two of them. Score!
Finish Self-Assigned Reading- Even though I finished one of the books the day after my self-put “deadline” (of 1/27), I did still complete all the books this month. For a summary of what I read this term, check out this post.
- Register the van
- I forgot to copy this rollover goal into my notebook (which is what I check regularly to make sure I’m on track), so this one got forgotten. Oops. We’re now, what…4 months overdue on this? #notgood
Declutter two 50 WTO areas- I totally decluttered Raven’s room (which will hopefully soon become the kids’ room), and it looks GREAT. We didn’t have a ton of stuff in the two closets before, but it was just kind of all thrown in there without much order, and now everything has a very definite spot. I always love it when I actually get around to doing this regular monthly goal because it makes such a big difference!
And, as always, here are a few wins that weren’t necessarily planned for ahead of time:
- I finally scheduled an appointment with a physical therapist about my back.
- Ugh, I hate that we’re already going to be basically meeting our deductible at the very beginning of the year (I guess it’s better than at the very end though), but something really needed to be done about my back pain. I haven’t noticed too much improvement yet, but I did order this support belt online (in a medium), which I’m hoping will help. I haven’t been able to really exercise in almost two months, and it’s kind of driving me crazy.
- I reached my pre-pregnancy weight
- At first, I (surprisingly) didn’t notice hardly any difference on the scale from going off sugar this month—I lost about a pound and a half immediately, and then nothing else until the very end of January, when I dropped another two. So, I hit my pre-pregnancy weight! In case you’re curious about what all it took this time around, I’ll be doing a post on it at some point this month.
- I redesigned the blog
- I hadn’t necessarily planned on doing this at this point, but it is something I’ve thought about for a long time. I’m hoping the new layout will make certain things a lot easier to find (especially under certain categories). If you have a chance, explore it a bit and let me know what you think!
- I donated several boxes to the local thrift store, as well as a few bigger items we weren’t using.
- I’m always decluttering, but I did a lot more than usual in January, which meant there was actually a visible impact in a couple different spaces in our home. Yay for getting more stuff out!
February Goals
- File taxes
- Gotta start with the fun stuff, right? (Random tip: We’ve filed our taxes through FreeTaxUSA for years, which allows you to file a free federal return (you just have to pay $12.95 for the state one). Anyway, if you’re an Ebates member, they give you 25% cash back on your $12.95. And, if you’re NOT an Ebates member but want to save the cash, you can sign up here through my referral link, which will get you a bonus $10 in your cash back account, virtually making your tax filing free).)
- List 5 things on Ebay
- Since I got a couple sales under my belt very quickly last month, I’m all sorts of motivated to keep the listings coming (more money for house projects!).
- Go to Ikea, look at curtains + bathroom lights
- Would you believe I’ve never been to Ikea? I’m fully expecting to feel overwhelmed, but I have a very definite (and very short) list of things to check out (and a husband who loathes shopping with every particle of his soul), and we shall see how well I can stick to it. Wish us luck.
- Try a new cookie recipe
- One of my more fun 101 in 1001 list items was to bake a dozen new cookies. If I make a new one this month, that will be #12 and complete the goal (although let’s be honest–now I’m kind of addicted to it!).
- Make 5 new recipes out of The Food Nanny Rescues Dinner
- Still plugging along on this 101 in 1001 goal of cooking my way through a whole cookbook. I haven’t gotten to the really hard stuff yet (hard meaning it’s stuff I’m not excited to make or it’s things like appetizers that I’m not in the habit of making), but we’re definitely having to sift through a bit more to find what will most easily work into my time and money budget at the moment.
- Buy plant for bathroom
- Our bathroom shelves are up, and they look AWESOME, but…now they actually need stuff on them. A plant is at the top of the list.
- Get book recommendations from 5 people
- I’m really excited for this new addition to my 101 in 1001 list because I think it will breathe some fresh air into my reading life. I already have five people in mind, but I might change my mind if you comment below and tell me a book you want me to read 🙂
- Contact insurance about possible treadmill reimbursement
- Our insurance this year will reimburse both Matt and I up to $240 (each) this year for a gym membership, but I’m curious to see if they’d be willing to fork over the same amount to reimburse me if I bought a treadmill, instead. I don’t expect a yes, but I figure it’s worth a shot.
- Set up crib in Raven’s room
- Rollover goal. And as Mathias gave me the best night of sleep last night that I’ve had in months (all of 6 uninterrupted hours, baby!), I have hope that he might go back soon to the 9-10 hours he was giving me before The Regression to End All Regressions, which means I’d feel comfortable moving him to Raven’s room.
- Go on a date with Matt
- This is already planned (for tomorrow, actually) and childcare has been arranged. Woot woot!
- Take my mom and stepdad to the aquarium and out to lunch for their birthdays
- Still going strong on our tradition of giving mostly experience gifts to our parents for their birthdays. The more I think about the fun times we’ve had because of this switch, the more I’m so glad we did it. (I wrote a post all about that decision here.)
- Hang up artwork my MIL made for the kids’ room
- We asked my mother-in-law to paint an elephant watercolor for the kids’ room before she left on her mission, and boy, did she deliver! It’s now framed and ready to be brought back home, and I can’t wait to get it on the wall!
- Declutter one 50 WTO area
- Continuing along with this monthly goal so that I can slowly but surely declutter the whole house (again). For more details on the project, you can click here.
- Get oil changed in Buick
- If I don’t put nagging tasks on here, they often won’t get done. So there you go.
- Get oil changed in Mazda + check engine light looked into
- See note above. Suuuuuper excited about this one, let me tell you.
- Register van
- Let’s see how long we can go without registering the thing, shall we? (Eternal rollover goal.) P. S. No, we haven’t been driving it. Obviously.
- Hang up new print in front room + paint over nail holes
- I’ve got the new print in the frame, and I’ve spackled over the old nail holes (since I’m changing the whole arrangement). Now I just need to pick up some more paint in the right color. (If we get really lucky with selling Ebay stuff this month or with our tax return, I *might* look into getting some smaller frames to make a bit of a gallery wall this month, but I’m not setting it as an official goal.)
- Reupholster new (to us) kitchen chairs + cover with vinyl
- We’ve long been using folding chairs as two of our kitchen chairs, but my cousin was about to get rid of two of her nicer chairs, so we snatched them up. Problem is, they’re covered in white cloth, which…is obviously not a good idea in this household. So I think I’m going to buy a different print to bring some color in and cover it all with plastic vinyl. Look at me, going all DIY. (Or, look at me—convincing my mom to come up again this month to do all my DIYs.)
- List crystal lamps + downstairs throw pillows on KSL
- Apparently I’m just in a house project state of mind. The twin lamps in our front room were never really supposed to stay with us, but I’d tried listing them before with no luck (I think I was asking too much). We also have some throw pillows that came with the basement couch that I’ve never liked. So I might as well just sell it all and buy something I actually want, eh?
If I’m actually able to get all this done in this short month, be expecting a LOT more house updates soon!
How did your January go? Did you get a lot accomplished with all the new year motivation? Or did the winter blahs just make you want to hibernate until it was over?
