So completely missed the three quarter mark for very logical reasons. With only three months remaining I doubt I have made much progress during this last quarter. This quarter has been an eventful one for sure with Baby Millers arrival. There have been many priority adjustments, schedule adjustments, and all together life adjustments. Despite these adjustments here is where I stand.
- De-clutter the house and organize the garage.
- Bryan and I really put in a lot of effort to organize our house and garage to prepare for all of the new baby gear that we have accumulated and make ourselves sane. We completely reorganized the guest room/nursery. We also tried to tidy up an de-clutter the workout room and I tried to overhaul the pantry just a bit.
- Cook 20 meals at home every month.
- Our average for July – September was 22 meals/month. I think this is really pretty good for having a new baby in the house but also is helped by friends and family helping us out with dinner and my freezer meals that I prepped before baby.
- Revamp my wardrobe, making it easier to pick out outfits by getting rid of what I don’t like and storing away seasonal stuff. Focus on buying quality pieces in the store versus cheap items online.
- Wardrobe is literally only concerned with what fits and is flattering for these past three months. For the last six weeks of pregnancy I had my very small selection of items to chose from to wear that sufficed and since baby I have continued to reach for the same clothes and any and all that are comfortable and lightweight. I did, however, like every single item in my Stitch Fix box which has never happened before.
- Visit my grandaddy.
- This was done in November…see how far behind I am!
- Buy a family car.
- Bought a car…and we love it!
- Prepare with organization and structure for the SE exam. Prioritize this for the first three and a half months of the year.
- Didn’t take it in October because that would have been impossible. I just don’t think that my brain can truly focus on studying again right now. This is a big bummer because I know the longer I go the less I will have retained from the spring but I can’t worry about that right now.
- Have fun learning guitar.
- Might try to do this in the beginning of next year. I will not forget about it!
- Make at least six girls nights happen.
- We’ve had four girls nights so far. We’ve had candle-making, yoga and brunch on the rooftop, fall baking and my baby shower (I’m going to count this one). There are a lot of ides for the fall and winter and in general, it is easier to get people to free up their schedule outside of the summer months, but the holidays sometimes fill up all that time too.
- Maintain a healthy skin routine.
- Have been doing an okay job with this. Still keeping regimented with face wash, toner, serum and lotion. I think my skin has been looking pretty good.
- Re-learn our lindy hop choreographed dance from the wedding.
- Need to work on that.
- Pack five picnics somewhere.
- We’ve done two; the one early in the year at Discovery Park and then when we picked up cheesesteaks and ate on Lake Washington.
- Work through my devotional book and pray nightly with Bryan.
- Definitely slipped on this. It is something that I would like to get back into though.
- Read ten books for fun or learning.
- I’ve successfully read two books for fun and three full books on baby. Maybe I will have time to squeeze out some more before the end of the year (maybe?!?).
- Swap reading/music/puzzles for TV one night a week.
- I continued to work on my cross stitch projects while watching TV and nearly finished them all. Plus we have generally been busy on many nights. Before baby we were trying to take advantage of our last few days without being parents and enjoying our friends or date nights out. Now with baby we have a different routine at night.
- Cross stitch something.
- I have nearly finished them all now and it was quite the project but I also had a good time doing them.
- Make at least two recipes from three different cookbooks.
- I really haven’t opened a cookbook in a while. But we have cooked. Some kit meals from various delivery companies but I think that I am already transitioning to cooking more time-friendly meals (i.e. spaghetti, tacos, etc.). I have branched out a bit for a few potlucks but definitely want to break open my cookbooks at some point. Although I am proud of myself getting several freezer meals prepared during the dreary weather this past weekend.
- Travel to visit a friend.
- We visited Grandaddy in November and will visit Amy in April. Don’t know if those count, probably not, but maybe something else will come up. I’m also going to count going to see friends in Michigan in October.
- Dine at five new-to-me restaurants.
- Along with all of the restaurants that we tried at the beginning of the year we have managed to go to a few more. We tried out Super Six in Columbia City, King Philly Cheesesteak in Rainier Beach, and Aglio E Olio in our own Madison Valley.
So far there has been progress for the first three quarters of the year. The last quarter is almost over as well and probably not much more will be accomplished, although I already feel like we have accomplished a lot despite the circumstances. One of our goals as parents was to still be ourselves and still do the things we love to do, just now introducing those things to baby. We don’t want to go cold turkey on things we currently love…at least, not in the long term and so far we have done a pretty good job of that.
Chelsea
Evolving in the Emerald City 