Hello, lovelies! It’s currently Christmas Eve, as I write this, but you all are reading it while I am in Michigan for a wedding. We’re about to drive to Florida tomorrow, and I want to enjoy the next few weeks of travel and family without worrying about this blog, which is why I’m writing things early.
I haven’t processed that 2020 is coming. It’s not a year I’m particularly excited about since a lot of life things will be up in the air. That’s why I started setting goals early. I hope you enjoy.
//How I Did On My December Goals//
Finish The Semester Strong– Complete? I don’t know. I’m sure I would’ve done much better if school was my top priority, but I had so much to do regarding my family. My grades were good, so I’m calling this a win.Clean the House & Declutter Bedroom Before New Year– Complete. I can see the floor of my closet again. This took less time than I thought it would.Go To Tag Office And Renew Tag For Car– Complete. I actually did this online, which saved me a lot of effort. I just needed to wait for the sticker to come in the mail.Genuinely Rest Once The Semester Is Over– I did do this. Once finals ended and my mom returned from Bangladesh, I was able to chill for a bit. I read books, watched T.V., wrote blog posts…it was amazing. For about a week. Then I became super stir crazy. This happens to me every break. I don’t know why I was surprised by this, but for the last few days before our trips, I’ve been feeling super meh. I dunno. It’ll go away tomorrow once we’re on the trip and the semester starts. I like having things to do.Publish One Blog Post Per Week & Schedule An Extra Blog Post In Advance– I am super proud of this goal. I published a blog post every week in December, but I also scheduled so many blog posts ahead of time. I already have five blog posts scheduled in advance for January. I’ve never been this ahead of schedule before. Hopefully, I’ll be able to keep it up.Finish 10 Books– I have one week left in the year and I should hit ten by New Year’s Eve. I had te books left in my “100 books in a year” goal at the beginning of December, and I’m happy that I’ve been able to read so much this month. (Update: I did it!!!)Do The Prep Work For 2020 Goal Planner– Complete. You all can read my 2020 goals in the post I published yesterday.- Update Facebook & Instagram With Photos From This Year – I did not do this. I actually deleted Instagram to clear up phone space for photos.
- Habits
- Work Out – Nope. I worked out whenever I was on campus, but I was barely on campus last month, so this doesn’t count.
- Journal – I did journal a bit during the month of December. Not every day, but I did write when I felt like it.
- Eat Well – Complete. I was better about eating balanced meals every day.
//My January Goals//
//Buy Fitness ClassPass For Semester
I plan on taking fitness classes again through my school, and you have to pay for them. It’s 25% off the first week, so I’m going to buy the unlimited pass for the semester since I know I’ll use it. It’d only be a little over $1 per class, which is a worthy investment to me since I work out more productively when I take classes.
//Start Job Application Process
There are multiple action steps related to this like “go to the career center” and “look over resume.” This is a huge priority this month.
//Plan A Spring Break Trip
I’m in between taking another trip for Spring Break or staying home. This is my last year of college and this is one of the last times I’ll have time off without having to ask my boss and accumulating PTO. But I also don’t know where I want to go. Spring Break is in March, so I would like to have a tentative plan by the end of the month.
//Read Little Women, 1 Tome, & 2 Shelved Books
I didn’t set a reading goal for a specific number of books this year. I just want to finish all the unread books on my bookshelf. I also have the goal of reading one classic and one 500+ page book every month. I haven’t published my classics list yet, but the book I chose for January was Little Women, which is also a 500+ page book. (The post is scheduled to go live on January 24th). I’ll definitely read more than three books, but these are the ones that relate to my 2020 reading goal.
//Create Assignment List + Get Organized For Semester
My final semester of college is starting next month, and I always set this goal at the beginning of the semester. I compile all the assignments on my syllabi and put them in order by date to know which assignments and exams are coming up and in what order.
//Go To The Dentist
I have a tooth thing that I need to get fixed, so I need to make an appointment and find time to go.
//Publish 2 Blog Posts Per Week + Start Scheduling February Blog Posts
Unfortunately, there are a bunch of timely posts that have to go up in January, which is why I have to write so much. I’ll start publishing blog posts every Tuesday in February. For January, a post will go live every Tuesday and Friday. I have five blog posts already scheduled for this month, but there are five others I still need to write. Plus, I would like to stay ahead of schedule with February. This isn’t too bad of a goal since I enjoy writing and the beginning of the semester is pretty chill, but I would like to stay ahead of schedule.
//Track Income & Expenses
I’m pretty good at tracking my income on a spreadsheet since I’m self-employed and taxes are a nightmare, but I’m really bad about keeping track of expenses. One of my friends gave me a personal finance planner for my birthday, so I’m excited to start using that in January.
//Work Out 4 Days Per Week Once School Starts
I would like to take a workout class from Monday through Thursday every week for the rest of the semester. This is completely doable. I’d go to a class Friday, but I usually drive home pretty soon after class ends and wouldn’t have time.
//December Reflection//
This is the only part I waited to write until the end of the month, so I should be back from the cruise at this point.
Hey, guys! I’m currently in a hotel room in Kentucky on my way to Michigan and Canada to visit family. My family has managed to go from Mexico to Canada in the span of a week without getting on a plane, an idea that would’ve seemed impossible a few years ago. This decade is off to a cool start.
December was a mixed bag of a month. The first week and a half were stressful. I’ve deleted most of it from my memory, so I can’t remember much. Mostly just cooking, driving, writing papers, and taking tests. After finals were over, my mom came back from Bangladesh and I was able to relax for two weeks. The first week was amazing. I could sleep in, read books, and got ahead on a lot of blog posts. After that, there were a few days where I was feeling a lot of anxiety that I haven’t felt in years. Whenever I’m on break for an extended period of time and have nothing productive to do, I get very lethargic. I don’t work out, which doesn’t help, plus I’m the type of person that needs something to do, which is why I always try to occupy myself with something.
Anyway, the thing that triggered my anxiety wouldn’t have been a problem if it happened during the school year, but it didn’t, so I was kind of sad for a few days. Then I went on vacation with my family and I was fine. First, we drove to Orlando to visit my cousins there. I hadn’t seen them since March when I went to Harry Potter World, so they were excited to see us. I wish we could’ve stayed longer than a few hours. After that, we drove to Tampa to meet up with the other two groups of cousins.
We went on a four day Carnival Cruise to Cozumel, Mexico, though my family never ended up on Cozumel. We took a tour of the Mayan ruins of Tulum in Playa Del Carmen, which was insanely cool. The rest of the trip was spent relaxing, running around the ship with my cousins, dancing, and watching shows. I’ll write a recap of it soon. We had never been on a cruise before, so this was a first for us. It was definitely forced relaxation, as my aunt told us previously. Our phones were on airplane mode the entire trip and we didn’t have any internet, which was refreshing. We weren’t expected to be productive and didn’t have YouTube or Netflix to binge-watch. It was pretty cool.
We got back the night of the 30th and I spent the 31st finishing the last two books on my reading goal and packed for the trip I’m currently on. I meant to finish my year in review post for 2019 but decided to postpone it to next week when I have time.
Well, that’s it for now! I’ll be in Canada the day this post is published, so expect photos in next month’s post. January will hopefully be a productive month. I’m already excited about the books I’m going to read and working out again. I’ve also been writing more, which I’m happy about.
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What are your goals for January? How are you starting off your year?