Birthday Goal Review

One month ago tomorrow, I turned 26 and I laid out a plan for my goals for the upcoming year. Today, I wanted to check in and let you all see how it's going. I'd say I'm doing okay for now. No outstanding progress has been made, but I'm enjoying the journey and looking forward to the future. Many of these are continuing goals for which I won't be able to really cross off until I reflect on them before I turn 27, but I think it's important to stop once a month, take a break, and assess how far I've come. Here's where I stand today:

1. Make a quilt. This is a work in progress. As in, I bought the sewing machine, and now I'm working on how to use it so that I can make progress on the quilt. It's still early.

2. Attempt one "out of comfort zone" DIY project each month. Two down, ten to go! The canvas that I showed you yesterday was started and mostly finished in October (so I'm counting it for then) and my Yarn Lampshade from last week for the Pinterest Challenge was my November project!

3. Go skydiving. (Full Disclosure: This was on my "25 before 25" bucket list. I'm hoping this time, I will actually face my fears.) This is on hold til the weather is better.

4. Become more financially stable: build up my savings and pay off my credit card. Making progress...

5. Run 365 miles. This is going alright. And by 'alright,' I mean it could be going much better. So far, I've run 12.71 miles in my 7 times at the gym. Clearly I need to step up my game. I'm also considering signing up for a half marathon in May. Considering is the key word, but I'll keep you updated.

6. Live passionately and spend more time celebrating life and how lucky I am to be where I am and how blessed I am to have Josh, as well as the most wonderful family and friends, in my life. Right on track here - I love spending time with Josh and our new pup and I am continuously enjoying time spent with family and with friends. I am truly blessed.

7. Practice yoga more efficiently. This goal has been an epic failure. I really have to get back in the groove.

8. Learn Spanish. I just want to be able to do more than say Hola, Como esta?, Muy bien gracias, and Adios. Seriously, my ability to speak Spanish pretty much ends there. I have the Spanish CD guide on reserve at the library! Hopefully it will come in soon!

9. Make a conscience effort to not only make a weekly menu, but to actually stick to it. This month I am definitely succeeding with this as I am embarking on my 30 Days to Skinny... The Tasty Way Challenge!

10. Create a cookbook with all of my favorite recipes (and ones passed down from family) broken down into categories and indexed. Haven't quite started this yet.

11. Learn how to cook 26 different soups. I can currently only cook 1 type of soup from scratch (and does using pre-made chicken stock really count as "from scratch"?) and while it is delicious and I could literally eat it every day, I would like to expand my repertoire. One down, twenty-five to go! Hurray! I think the key is halving the recipes because Josh and I can only eat so much and then the leftovers go to waste.

12. Keep a meal diary with the hope that one day, this will turn into a lifelong practice and something that I simply do on instinct. Another work in progress... This is much more of a struggle than I thought it would be.

13. Grow this blog by writing in it on an almost daily basis (Monday through Friday) and allow myself to enjoy the experience and to follow the journey that it takes me on, wherever it may lead. More success! I'm loving this experience and enjoying the road that it is taking me down.

Have you made any goals for this year? Or do you generally just stick to New Year's Resolutions? And if so, how are those going? Are you ready to take stock of this past year? I still just cannot even believe that Thanksgiving is just two weeks away!