1. Read the Bible twice through. 1532/2378 chapters = 64%

4. Save $2,000. Completed 3/15/2012

5. Publish The Journal. Completed 12/26/2011

6. __________. (find a new job) Completed 12/28/2011

9. Read 160 books. 102/160 = 64%

I read a *few* books this month. At this rate, I’ll be at my goal before the end of the summer…but I don’t really plan on keeping up this rate.

10. Read 5 classics. Completed 2/20/2012

12. Work a polling place during an election. Completed 10/11/2011

16. Make an author website. Completed 12/20/2011

18. Pray through Operation World. 17/246 = 7%

I’ve started making a more conscious effort to work this in to my day.

19. Spend time on Yom Kippur fasting, praying, and thinking. Completed 10/7/2011

20. Decorate my apartment for Christmas. Completed 11/25/2011

21. Meet my niece. Completed 12/27/2011

22. Write in my journal 100 times. Completed 2/23/2012

23. Make a baby blanket for Bean. Completed 11/9/2011

25. Write 70 encouraging letters or emails. 14/70 = 20%

30. Read the Qur’an and the Book of Mormon. Completed 4/20/2012

1. Read the Bible twice through. 1344/2378 chapters = 57%

2. Memorize Colossians. 5/95 = 5%

Yay for progress! I’m working hard on making the verse that I memorize stick…takes a lot of work, but is worth it.

4. Save $2,000. Completed 3/15/2012

5. Publish The Journal. Completed 12/26/2011

6. __________. (find a new job) Completed 12/28/2011

9. Read 160 books. 75/160 = 47%

I anticipate this number will jump this month as I’m giving up TV. Then again, I’m currently rereading Atlas Shrugged.

10. Read 5 classics. Completed 2/20/2012

12. Work a polling place during an election. Completed 10/11/2011

15. Sell 100 copies of The Journal. 48/100 = 48%

Big jump this month as I gave my book away for free. I still count that as a “sell,” because they still had to take the time to “buy” it. I did sell some more physical copies in there, too.

16. Make an author website. Completed 12/20/2011

17. Fast 16 days. 2/16 = 13%

18. Pray through Operation World. 8/246 = 3%

Just added this in to my daily routine. Glad I finally did.

19. Spend time on Yom Kippur fasting, praying, and thinking. Completed 10/7/2011

20. Decorate my apartment for Christmas. Completed 11/25/2011

21. Meet my niece. Completed 12/27/2011

22. Write in my journal 100 times. Completed 2/23/2012

23. Make a baby blanket for Bean. Completed 11/9/2011

25. Write 70 encouraging letters or emails. 12/70 = 17%

Speaking of letters, 4 years ago today I wrote a letter to Mikey the Spider.

I now have completed finished 8 goals, which isn’t bad at all. At this point, there is only 1 that I think won’t happen as I’ve had to alter my financial goals somewhat. Other than that, I think everything is quite doable!

Here is my goal update as of December 31st:

1. Read the Bible twice through. 630/2378 chapters = 26.5%

3. Lose 50 pounds. /50 pounds = 6/50 = 12%

Yeah, the holidays and general busyness wasn’t good for this.

5. Publish The Journal. Completed 12/26/2011

6. __________. (find a new job) Completed 12/28/2011

9. Read 160 books. 39/160 = 24%

I’m a little behind on this goal, but I have no doubt I’ll get there. Just blame crocheting and general laziness for a poor reading month in December.

10. Read 5 classics. 3/5 = 60%

Yay for audiobooks, otherwise I wouldn’t be this far. Now that I’ll be employed I won’t be listening to audiobooks as much, but surely I can get in two more classics this year.

12. Work a polling place during an election. Completed 10/11/2011

15. Sell 100 copies of The Journal. 2/100 = 2%

I’m grateful for every copy that I sell! And I only had it for sale for 6 days as of this update.

16. Make an author website. Completed 12/20/2011

17. Fast 16 days. 1/16 = 6%

I wish I had taken advantage of my unemployment to fast and didn’t just get caught up in the busyness. Still want to work this into my life regularly.

19. Spend time on Yom Kippur fasting, praying, and thinking. Completed 10/7/2011

20. Decorate my apartment for Christmas. Completed 11/25/2011

I really enjoyed doing this one! Now I just have to undecorate…

21. Meet my niece. Completed 12/27/2011

By far the most satisfying “check” on this list.

22. Write in my journal 100 times. 46/100 = 46%

I’ll soon have this finished as I’ve committed to writing in my journal every day in 2011. So far, I have!

23. Make a baby blanket for Bean. Completed 11/9/2011

24. Have an empty to-read shelf.

It was really almost empty and then Christmas happened. Love that. Will finish what’s left before December!

I’ve now fully completed two of my goals, and as you can see, I’m well on my way to finishing more.

1. Read the Bible twice through. 421/2378 chapters = 17.7%

3. Lose 50 pounds. 8/50 pounds = 16%

I actually probably lost more so far, but I was a bit bloated when I did my final weigh-in this month. That’s okay. During October, I was pretty bad about exercise (It’s cold! I lost my job!), but no more excuses. I only continued to loose weight as I ate out less to save money.

4. Save $2,000.

I’m not sure if it “counts,” but my severance pay helped me reach this goal. I guess I won’t count it if I’m not able to keep it over $2,000…time will tell.

6. __________.

Well, I can no report that this goal is “find a new job.” I had already hoped to look for a job with new challenges come next May, but the layoff certainly forced my hand on this one. Unfortunately, it’s not yet complete! Patience, right?

9. Read 160 books. 23/160 = 14%

I knew it wouldn’t take me long to catch up on this one.

10. Read 5 classics. 1/5 = 20%

I didn’t actually specify that these had to be new-to-me, but they do. I did read A Passage to India this month though.

12. Work a polling place during an election.

The first goal to be completed, and I’m glad I did it. I will likely be working a few more elections in the next year.

17. Fast 16 days. 1/16 = 6%

Not quite where I should be on this, but I’m working on it.

18. Pray through Operation World. 4/246 = 1.6%

I hate that I haven’t been making this a priority. I’ve been praying, but if I am honest, I’ve been mostly praying about me and the situations I am in (unemployment, future plans, friend relationships). It’s good that I bring these to God, but I’m not the only one who needs prayer (though I desperately do!).

19. Spend time on Yom Kippur fasting, praying, and thinking.

And a second goal completed! This was an excellent thing to do, and I hope to do this each year.

22. Write in my journal 100 times. 29/100 = 29%

All the uncertainty at work plus some things that God is working in my heart definitely made for a lot of time spent journaling. I’m making up for lost time!

23. Make a baby blanket for Bean. 34/50 pieces = 68%

Glad that I’m almost done with this, as I have grand plans for more crocheting projects.

25. Write 70 encouraging letters or emails. 2/70 = 3%

Uh, yeah, that’s rather pathetic. I hope to make more of a priority of this.

28. Finish recording the Chronicles of Narnia for my niece. 26/110 chapters = 24%

Whether that is true or not of most unemployed people, I don’t know, but I definitely don’t want it to be true of me.

I have big plans as to how I’m going to avoid treating my unemployment—however long it may last—as a vacation or excuse to do nothing. I want to set high standards for myself, because I know that I will only meet whatever goal I set, not ones that I never thought to make.

So what are my goals? First of all, I plan on leaving the house every “work” day. No excuses. Since I don’t have internet at home (though I do on my phone…so I won’t miss an email from a potential employer), I will be going to the library everyday to use their Wi-Fi. This will allow me to look for jobs, email résumés, and of course, post to this lovely blog.

On most days, I’d also like to go somewhere else each day, though this isn’t a must. I have a good friend who will soon to have a baby, so I can help her and hangout with her. I can volunteer more now, and I hope to pick up some odd jobs here and there, which will also help to stretch my savings. I hope to add some interviews into my schedule regularly, but we’ll have to wait to see about that.

Besides not being home all the time, I’m also setting high goals for what I want to do everyday, even on top of my regular goals. I need to take this opportunity to take care of things that I’ve been putting off. I also know a novel that is just waiting to be finished up…

Basically, I don’t plan on treating this time as a vacation. I’ve had plenty of vacation days this fall (in part because I knew that I had to use them up!). I still have work to do, even if no one is necessarily going to pay me for it (but you’re welcome to!).

I believe that God has a plan for my unemployment, and it’s not just that I find a new job.

That said, I’ve decided to come up with a list of 30 things I want to do before I turn 30 on December 15, 2012. That happens to be 6 days before the “end of the world,” so it’s a good deadline, right?

I have no idea how many of these I’ll actually accomplish. I tried to make them realistic, but I know that when I have a lot of goals, some seem to fall by the wayside. That’s okay…the point is not to be perfect, but to challenge myself in a healthy way.

All that said, these are 30 things I’m working to accomplish before my clock hits “30.”

1. Read the Bible twice through.

The way I read the Bible, I read through different sections at different paces. But I want to read every part at least twice in the next 16 months. Will continue to keep me in the Word, which is a good thing.

2. Memorize Colossians.

I actually want to finish memorizing the disciplined eating questions and verses as well as Romans 6 and 7 before I get to Colossians. So yeah, this is a challenge. Memorizing isn’t hard for me, but it takes dedication and consistency, which I want to work on.

3. Lose 50 pounds.

Okay, this goal sounds HUGE. It is huge. Fifty pounds is a large bag of dog food like those I had to lift too many times as a cashier because some customers insisted on putting them on the belt, though I told them not to.

But, 50 pounds is a pound a week, with about 18 weeks of forgiveness. Incredibly doable if I stick with my eating and exercise regimen.

And yes, I definitely have 50 pounds to lose. In fact, I will still have another 40 on the other side until I get to a healthy weight. Yes, I want to look better (who doesn’t?), but I want my chief motivation to be to better honor God with my life.

4. Save $2,000.

With the move, my emergency savings got cut into a lot. I want to bounce back, for sure. I can’t find security in money, but I do want to use it wisely.

5. Publish The Journal.

It’s still my goal to self-publish my debut novel at the end of this year. Need to get working on editing though, especially if I want to do NaNoWriMo again, which I’m not sure I will this year.

6. ________________.

This goal will remain private. I have no problem being open, but there are things that are not wise to talk about in such a public forum.

7. Pay down my student loans to $XX,000.

I really wish I get these down to 4 figures by the end of next year, but it’s not going to happen unless I stumble onto a pile of cash. But I am pushing myself…I really don’t want to be paying them until December 2019 as I’m scheduled to do.

8. Write What about Emotions (working title).

This is a non-fiction book that is in its infancy. When I have a final product with my novel, I want to get back to this project.

9. Read 160 books.

Perhaps not much of stretch, as this is my current pace (actually, I read a bit faster than that, usually). That’s okay…I have to have some super-realistic goals on this list, right?

10. Read 5 classics.

I don’t read these very fast. I almost always enjoy them, but they take a lot of work.

11. Swim a mile (again).

I want to get back in the pool. There’s just something about swimming that I absolutely love. I think this will be a big part of goal #3.

12. Work a polling place during an election.

Actually, this is on my schedule for next month. I’m looking forward to it. I’d totally do it for the experience, but I’ll be thankful for the financial compensation, too.

13. Celebrate our 30th birthdays with Dana.

Not sure what we’ll be doing, but we’ll be doing something, alright.

14. Cut caffeine down to only one Diet Dr Pepper a week.

I had been down to 2-3 a week earlier this summer, but it has creeped back up with the move and the work craziness. I’m working on slowly getting this back down. I like the stuff, but I don’t want to have it all the time.

15. Sell 100 copies of The Journal.

I’m not planning on this being a moneymaker, but it’d be nice to make back the little bit of money I’ve put in it. I have no idea if I’d even sell 100 copies, or if I’m totally low-balling myself.

16. Make an author website.

I hope to have this done soon. I guess that means I have to get started on it, huh?

17. Fast 16 days.

Not in a row, for sure. But I’d like to take a day a month to fast and pray.

18. Pray through Operation World.

I want to pray for every country throughout the next year.

19. Spend time on Yom Kippur fasting, praying, and thinking.

I’m not Jewish, but I do want to take this holiday God gave His people to remember what He has done for me.

20. Decorate my apartment for Christmas.

I’ve slowly been collecting Christmas decorations through the years, but this will the first year that everything will be my own.

21. Meet my niece.

This is kinda a big deal and should happen well before my 30th birthday…

22. Write in my journal 100 times.

That works out to about every 4 or 5 days, which isn’t really a lot. But it’s more than I’ve written in the past year or two. Journaling is a great way for me to process.

23. Make a baby blanket for Bean.

This is a late addition. I just learned how to crochet (well, I learned a simple stitch in college, but didn’t really do much with it). I learned on a whim (because others were doing it), and I’m glad I did, as I really enjoyed it.

24. Have an empty to-read shelf.

I have no idea if this is possible. I don’t necessarily have to read everything on the shelf, but if I choose not to read it, I need to get rid of it.

This would be easier if I didn’t ask for any books for Christmas, but that’s not likely to happen…

25. Write 70 encouraging letters or emails.

I’d actually like to write more, but this is a good goal number.

26. Bake bread.

I’ve been wanting to do this for a while. I do plan on doing this in a bread machine, though.

27. Make my own laundry detergent.

This is slated for whenever I finish my current bottle. It takes a while for a single girl to go through detergent, though…

28. Finish recording the Chronicles of Narnia for my niece.

I’m halfway through The Magician’s Nephew which is going faster than I expected. 6 1/2 books to go…

29. Walk 4 miles on the treadmill.

Not like that’s very far (I’m pretty sure I’ve walked around the streets of Turkey for at least that far), but I’d still like to do it.

30. Read the Qur’an and the Book of Mormon.

They’ve both been sitting on my shelves since college. I started reading the Qur’an this summer, but I’d like to finish both by some time next year.

But still, my goals roll on.

As far as August went, it started off really well. But on the first Friday of the month, we got a call from a state organization, asking us to take on a large (for such a small company) project.

Which promptly took over 2 weeks of my life.

I love my job. I love that it’s not fast-paced, or at least not usually. But when something like that comes along, it throws me for a loop. My evenings become vegging time in front of the TV, not free time I use to read and do other more productive relaxing activities.

I hope if I ever have a job that is high-paced, I’d find a good balance. But since my current job thankfully only has spurts of craziness, I kinda allow everything else to fall by the wayside when they come.

I think to some extent that’s perfectly fine. I can’t do everything. But there are some things that should still be priorities, like spending time in God’s Word.

Looking forward, work should be more normal and not so crazy, barring any more surprises. I also am in the middle of setting new longish term goals for myself (before I turn 30 late next year), which has provided a bit of motivation as well. I’ll share more about that next week.

To be honest, I’m also glad it’s over because we’re one step closer to cooler weather (and a step closer to two babies expected in December…I’ve already mentioned my brother’s baby, but a good friend is also due in December). Summer is my favorite season, but this one seems like it’s lasted forever.

So how did I do on my goals for July?

Well, for two weeks (the moving week, and week of camp), I didn’t do well. But I didn’t expect myself to do so. Since then, I’ve done really well, earning a new reward on the 31st (nail polish…I’m so glad to have an excuse to occasionally indulge, because I love the stuff!).

Of the 6 things I wanted to daily, the one I did the most was exercise. I can’t believe that I’ve now exercised in some fashion all but 3 days in 2 months. I can tell you I can feel the difference. Now to increase the vigorousness (of course that’s a word) of the exercise, as well as add in strength exercises.

Of the 6 things I wanted to do daily, the two I did the worst at were the same as last month: editing and memorizing Scripture. I finally added these back into my daily routine at the end of the month, so I hope to keep that up for August. Scripture memory for my own spiritual and physical health (more on that later), and editing so that I can get my book ready for self-publishing come Christmas time.

I’m very thankful to have this measurable means of tracking my goals. I’ve not been as “good” as I thought I’d be when I set it up, but they have continued to challenge me. Here’s to August!

The bad news (let’s get it out of the way) is that I didn’t do 2 of my 6 goals AT ALL in June. I knew I hadn’t done them in a while, but I didn’t realize it had been all month. I didn’t not work on Scripture memory or editing/writing. I really need to get back into editing my book so it’ll be ready for Christmas time, but I won’t do that until I get settled into my apartment.

The good news? I’ve exercised every day this month. EVERY DAY. More on that later…it has to do with a challenge I made myself for the month.

Overall, June was a pretty good month for me. Besides exercise, eating out is something I’ve also been excelling in (well, excelling in not eating out). Nothing like a budget crunch to kick the bad habit.

I did well enough to earn another reward: navy flower pillows for my new living room that I’ve been lusting for. I will definitely point them out when I post pics of the new place.

So July will continue the craziness a bit…I think it’ll be the last week of July before I’ll have a “normal” non-moving, non-camp week. So while I’ll try to work on the areas that I’m lacking in, they’ll probably be pretty abysmal in July again, and that’s okay.

At the beginning of the year, I decided to make it my goal to do 6 things everyday, and keep track. So here’s my progress for May:

Okay, so it’s really messy, because I was off by a week when I made some of those marks. Anyway, what it adds up to is a fairly deent month, especially considering how bare those first two weeks are.

I excelled this month in reading. No surprise there, as I was making up for lost time. My worst “subjects” were eating out and writing, so those will be what I’m working on in June.

I’ve gotten in better habit patterns over the last couple of weeks. I want to keep this up this summer, though June has a few curve balls in it. I have 3 trips this month (one for work, two for fun). That always throws things off, but in a good way.