Archives for April 2017

I wrote a New Year’s Resolutions post at the beginning of January 2017 and was so thankful for the positive response that I received from everyone. I plan to come back every month with a goal check-in, so that I have even more incentive/accountability to continue working on my goals. Here is my March goal check-in.

Goal #1: Publish at least one blog post per week on Luggage and Literature.

I missed a week of publishing in March. Oh well, just need to get back ahead of schedule again in April. March was really busy with traveling and work, so no worries.

Goal #2: Complete the Modern Mrs. Darcy Reading Challenges.

You can check out my previous post outlining my 2017 reading plans here. So far, I’m a little bit ahead of schedule for completing both the Reading for Fun and Reading for Growth challenges. My March Reading List post lists the single category that I fulfilled this month.

Goal #3: Play cello at least twice (preferably more) per month. 

I played cello once in March. Just too busy with work and traveling. April will be better.

Goal #4: Pay down debt.

Mike and I are both lawyers. This means that we both have student loans. And we have a mortgage and vehicle payments. Debt makes me anxious. We were previously much more diligent in our efforts to pay down debt than I feel like we were in 2016. I’d like to get back on track with that so that we don’t live our entire lives in debt. In sum, we continued making progress toward this goal. I bumped my debt payments up slightly in March.

Action Steps:

• Prepare lunches on the weekend. Met this goal every week (except for vacation, of course)!
• Pack lunch or eat at home every weekday for lunch, unless meeting colleagues. Met except for one day (except for vacation, of course).
• Eat dinner at home five nights per week. We met this goal this month, I think. The week after we got back from vacation was a blur, so I’m not 100% certain. But I think we met it (except for when we were gone on vacation).
• Prepare/freeze dessert items (I have a major sweet tooth, and if we don’t have dessert items in the house at all, I’m much more likely to go get ice cream or run to the store and purchase snack items). I have no dessert items prepared. I’ve been doing Sunbelt granola bars lately, because they were on sale, so I’m at least sticking with the spirit of this goal.
• Curb spending on books by utilizing the library. I now have a library card from the Kearney Public Library, in addition to the Holdrege Public Library. And I picked up an information sheet on Overdrive. So far I really think I’m going to love Overdrive. I was able to get the book for April’s book club meeting on audio, and have also downloaded another book that I’ve been meaning to read. 
• Curb spending on clothing and accessories, especially by utilizing Pinterest for remixing my existing wardrobe. I did some shopping in April, largely because I spent time with my mom and my sister, and was able to go to some stores that aren’t local to my area. I purchased 4 tanks, 2 sweaters, and a long-sleeved shirt from Old Navy, but these were all on sale, costing about $40 total. I purchased a pair of rose-colored jeggings from Maurices, as I really love my raspberry colored ones so much. I purchased a pair of brown riding boots for $15 (regularly $85)! And that covers my purchases (apart from gifts for my nieces).
• Use up back stock of MaryKay and hair products before purchasing more. I purchased a tube of mascara, as mine is currently getting a bit clumpy. And I purchased some hairspray. Otherwise, I’m continuing to work my way through back stock, and am glad to have a little extra room.
• Clean out refrigerator/freezers/pantry and use up existing food rather than just purchasing more. We hit the grocery store after returning from vacation to get some staple items, but have continued eating from our freezers and pantry. It’s pretty incredible how much food we really have all the time, while often feeling like ‘there’s nothing to eat.’
• Curb unnecessary trips to Kearney (this is about half an hour from our town, so the gas can get pricey when we run there for no reason other than we’re bored/want to go shopping/etc.). I went to Kearney with my sister and mom while they were visiting. We went shopping and ate lunch out. And Mike and I went to Kearney for a movie and dinner out, but we paired it with a trip to the grocery store.
• Take on additional cases and work more hours to increase income. I’ve been working quite a few extra hours lately, and have increased my hourly billing by about 10 hours per week from what I’d been working last year and in January. My passive income stream is down, as an attorney in my office moved to Lincoln, but my active income is up.

Goal #5: Be healthier.

I don’t want a ‘lose X number of pounds by a certain date’ or an unrealistic ‘exercise everyday’ type of goal. Instead, I want to make realistic changes in my life so that I’m healthier. I want to feel comfortable rather than cramped when flying. I want my frequent headaches and neck pain to go away. I want all of the clothing in my closet to fit better. I want to feel comfortable in a swimming suit or a wetsuit for the first time in my life. I just want to feel better and more energized in my day-to-day life. I’m still down about 3.5 pounds since the beginning of 2017. I haven’t weighed myself in the second half of March, because I always seem to forget about it. I was up a bit after vacation, but can tell that I’m back down a bit just based on the fit of my clothing. I’m hoping for some more weight loss in April.

Action Steps:

• Drink no more than 3 pops per day, preferably no more than 2 (but I’m realistic about my job). I stuck with 2-3 pops per day consistently this month. In April, I’ll strive to limit that to 2 per day.
• Drink at least 8 cups of water per day. Met.
• Eat/drink at least 2 servings of dairy per day (when I did Weight Watchers, the studies showed that this contributed to weight loss, plus I know that it makes for healthier bones and teeth). Met, except for on vacation.
• Eat at least one fruit or vegetable per day, preferably more. Met easily while we were on vacation. Pineapple, grapes and watermelon galore. And I’ve been packing strawberries in my lunches, so I’ve done this about 95% of the time since then. Strawberries have been on sale, and I’d forgotten just how much I love them. I’m going to strive for a vegetable and a fruit per day in April.
• Drink 1 cup of water before each meal. I totally failed at this in March. 
• Take my water bottle with me during the day. Met 50% of the time. When I forget to do this, I always regret it, as I get really thirsty in the middle of the afternoon. I think the key will be having it in the fridge and ready to go in the morning.
• Pack lunches or eat lunch at home during the week. Met except for one day (except for vacation, of course).
• Eat dinner at home five nights per week. We met this goal this month, I think. The week after we got back from vacation was a blur, so I’m not 100% certain. But I think we met it (except for when we were gone on vacation).
• Do 10 sit-ups and 10 push-ups 3 times per week (in law school, I had a professor who expected all students to do 10 push-ups at the start of each of his classes, and was surprised how doing this 3 times per week actually made me feel stronger by the end of the semester). I didn’t do this at all in March. Oops! April can be a reset month, I think.
• Exercise (walk/swim/yoga/YMCA class) 3 times per week. I’ve done 1-2 times per week this month. When we were on vacation, we dove 3 times per day. Since we’ve been home, I’ve been walking mostly, and went kayaking one day.
• Walk at least 6,000 steps per day, preferably more. Met about 50% of the time. This will be a real goal to improve on in April, as I just feel better when I do.
• Sleep 8 hours per night. Met 85% of the time (and I definitely could tell when I did not).
• Continue taking a daily multivitamin. Met.
• Track food daily in My Fitness Pal. Not met at all while on vacation. And I’ve been inconsistent since returning. This will be a real goal to improve on in April.
• Continue utilizing my Fit Bit to monitor activity, steps, food, sleep. Met.

Goal #6: Take one trip or visit one local area attraction per month.

I get stir crazy if I stay home for too long. To combat that, I think that this goal will help. Although monthly travels to exotic locations aren’t realistic in my stage of life and with my career, a monthly trip somewhere is realistic. So it can be international, domestic, or just a local area attraction, just some reason to leave my house and my town. Plus there are several museums in my area that I’ve been meaning to visit, but just haven’t gotten around to. So I’m actually really looking forward to this goal. This goal is in progress.

Action Steps:

• January: The Museum of Nebraska Art (MONA), and The Great Platte River Road Archway, Kearney, NE (I’ve wanted to visit the archway since we moved to the area, but haven’t gotten around to it yet…probably because Mike is absolutely not excited about visiting it). We visited MONA in January. After looking at the admission price for the Archway, we opted to skip it for now.
• February: Roatan! What a great time! I’ll be posting about this in the future, so stay tuned!
• March: Scuba diving at Bonne Terre again, perhaps The Roatan trip was February into March and was glorious. Bonne Terre ended up not working out in March, but I did go to Sioux Falls, SD. I met up with my parents for a day, then also spent a day with my friend Tara. It was really fun!
• April: Black Hills for Easter with family, I hope
• May: ??
• June: Stuhr Museum, Grand Island, NE
• July: Michigan again and Canada, perhaps
• August: Total Solar Eclipse on August 21 right in my area
• September: Pioneer Village, Minden, NE
• October: ??
• November: Florida perhaps (Mike wants to get his full cave diving certification, and I’d like to go back to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal)
• December: ??
• I also need to plan a get together with my dear friend Tara. She and I have talked about several different options, but need to nail down the date and location of our visit. Met! We got together in Sioux Falls, where she lives.
• In 2016, I also had a super fun girls weekend with some of my closest friends from college. We talked about making it an annual occurrence, so I need to check in with those gals as well, then nail down the date and location of girls weekend 2017!