September 2018 - Luggage and Literature

After quite a LONG hiatus, this is the thirty-sixth installment in my sorta weekly series, called the Friday Five. In this series, I’ll tell you about five random things that I love, whether they be books, travel, music, movies…or whatever. So without further ado, 9-14-2018’s Friday Five!

1–Key West. Mike and I are going to Key West in November, so I was quite pleased to see this guide to frugal activities in Key West. I’m sure we’ll take part in a few of these when we visit.

2–Florida Scuba Diving. And for the trip to Key West, as well as for future trips to Florida, I might find this post from Alex in Wanderland helpful.

3–A gospel choir. This video from the Proclamation Gospel Choir at Olivet Nazarene University gave me goosebumps, and I’ve watched it several times. I hope you’ll give it a watch/listen.

4–The moon. I’m an astronomy buff, and have been since childhood. I found this video of the full rotation of the moon to be riveting. And unless my travel dreams come true and I get to go into space, this is the closest that I’ll ever come to seeing the moon from anywhere but terra firma.

5–Skating on Thin Ice. I wish it weren’t true, but fall is here and winter is around the corner. This video from National Geographic is beautiful, and shows that winter isn’t all bad.

In 2017 posting on the blog with my progress toward meeting my goals helped to keep me on track and accountable, so I’m doing the same thing this year. Here is my August 2018 Goal Update.

Faith Goals:

Attend church at least one time per month. Met.

Read at least two chapters of the Bible per month. Met. I read Deuteronomy Chapters 11-16.

Read at least one devotional per month. Met.

Attend Bible Study weekly. Met as our group was available.

Reading Goals:

Read at least one fiction, one nonfiction, and one devotional per month. Met. Check out my August 2018 Reading List post for a list of the books that I read.

Track my reading on the blog. Met.

Utilize Overdrive, Kindle Owners Lending Library, Prime Reading, and books previously purchased to keep costs down. Met. And I’ve now started using Libby instead of Overdrive, as it’s much more user-friendly.

Complete PopSugar 2018 Reading Challenge. In progress. My Reading List posts show which categories I’ve met in each month.

Apply to What Should I Read Next? podcast again. Met.

Finances:

Pay off at least half of my Acadia. I paid off my Acadia in full in August.

Pay off law office line of credit. I paid off my law office line of credit in full in August.

Double personal, law office, and LLC reserve funds. In progress.

Continue charitable giving at present levels. In progress.

Keep meal costs in check by eating at home and packing lunches. Met.

Fitness/Health:

Drink 8 servings of water per day. Met.

Drink no more than two pops per day. Met except for the week when I was advising at my sorority’s recruitment and had extra caffeine.

Eat at least one fruit or vegetable per day. Met.

Track food consumption with either MyFitnessPal or Weight Watchers. Met about 50% of the time…I’m trying to get better about doing this consistently.

Pack lunch or eat at home each weekday, unless eating out with friends/colleagues. Met.

Plan lunches for the week on the weekends. Met, and I have some soups and leftovers the freezer.

Cook and eat dinner at home five times per week. Met.

Use FitBit for sleep and step monitoring. Met.

Walk at least 8,000 steps per day, five days per week. Met probably 75% of the month.

Peloton three times per week for 30 minutes. Met. I rode 3-4 times per week for 30-45 minutes.

Law Practice:

Pay off law office line of credit. I paid off my law office line of credit in August.

Double reserve funds. In progress.

Research law office marketing. Met.

Revamp website. Not started yet, but this will be something that I work on in September.

Develop and implement marketing and social media plan. Not started yet, but this will be something that I work on in September.

Write blog post once per month. Not met in August, but I will be getting back on track with this in September as soon as I’m finished with my public defender duties.

Hire associate or advertise office share availability. Met! I hired my summer law clerk as an associate. She’ll start in about a year when she’s finished her last year of law school and has taken the bar exam.

Blogging:

Post at least once per week. Not met, but I plan to get back on track with this in September as soon as I’m finished with my public defender duties.

Post travel post at least once per month. Not met.

Post goal update monthly. Met.

Post reading list monthly. Met.

Develop and implement marketing and social media plan. Not met yet.

Take additional Travel Blog Success (or replacement) course. Not met yet.

Find/watch Lightroom tutorial series. Not met yet.

Utilize travel journal while travelling. Met so far. In progress.

Update old posts with pinnable images. Not met yet.

Increase photo size in old posts. Completed.

Travel:

Take at least one trip or local adventure per month.

January–Bahamas. Met! This was such a fun trip!
February–Rapid City. I went to Rapid City for a weekend to see family.
March–Florida with my friend Tara. We went to Tampa, Clearwater, and St. Petersburg. It was so fun!
April–I went to Rapid City for Easter. And then went to Arkansas for a family funeral about a week later. And the weather in our area was horrible for much of the month.
May–I didn’t travel in May.
June–Cour D’Alene, Idaho and Spokane, Washington for Mike’s family reunion
Girls weekend with my college sorority sisters, Lincoln, NE Met.
July–I went to Washington DC for work, and also spent some time with a cousin who lives out there and did some sightseeing. In particular, I visited the National Cathedral and the Library of Congress on this trip.
August–I didn’t travel in August.
September–Stuhr Museum or Willa Cather Museum ?
October– Philippines with my friend Paige
November–Florida Keys with Mike
December–

Go to Iceland ?

Archives for September 2018

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