2018 Goals - Weeks 50, 51 & 52

December has been a stressful month and I just haven't had the mental capacity to check in with my goals. But today is the last day of 2018 so I figured it was high time to evaluate my goals from the year.

Completed: 8 goals
Failed: 3 goals
On the fence: 2 goals (changed half way through the year or wasn't specific enough when I set the goal)

Some goals I totally hit out of the park. I saved more money for house repairs and for my car fund than expected and I stayed under budget in the food department. I read 46 books when I only thought I was going to read 20. I visited two National Parks instead of one. I had a great year!

I am not sure if I will keep up with this blog in 2019. I do want to set some goals but I may set a new schedule on blogging so I don't get burnt out. I am going to think about my goals this week and publish them sometime next week.

1. Complete 30 days of yoga. COMPLETE! I followed YouTube channel Yoga with Adriene to complete this goal. True 30 day yoga journey. 30/30

2. Read 20 books. 46/20 COMPLETE! I can't believe I more than doubled my goal! This year I found out I love listening to audio books during my commute and while I workout.
1. MaddAddam - Margaret Atwood
2. Your Money or Your Life - Vicki Robin
3. The Cold Dish (Longmire Mystery series)- Craig Johnson
4. A Man Called Ove - Fredrik Backman
5. Better Than Before - Gretchen Rubin
6. The Whole30 - Melissa Hartwig
7. Hidden Figures - Margot Lee Shetterly
8. Manhattan Beach - Jennifer Egan
9. Hillbilly Elegy - JD  Vance
10. The Perfect Stranger - Megan Miranda
11. Outliers: A Story of Success - Malcolm Gladwell
12. The Salt Line - Holly Goddard Jones
13. Flat Broke with Two Goats: A Memoir - Jennifer McGaha
14. Endurance - Scott Kelly
15. Counting by 7s - Holly Goldberg Sloan
16. The Great Alone - Kristen Hannah
17. The Genius of Birds - Jennifer Ackerman
18. Into the Water - Paula Hawkins
19. The Nightingale - Kristen Hannah
20. To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
21. The Year of Less - Cait Flanders
22. Wicked Plants - Amy Stewart
23. Go Set a Watchman - Harper Lee
24. Marry Him - Lori Gottlieb
25. Stories I Only Tell My Friends - Rob Lowe
26. The Outsiders - S.E. Hinton
27. Beartown - Fredrik Backman
28. My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry - Fredrik Backman (LOVED this book!)
29. Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine - Gail Honeyman
30. Britt-Marie Was Here - Fredik Backman
31. Us Against You - Fredrik Backman
32. Educated: A Memoir - Tara Westover
33. Furiously Happy - Jenny Lawson
34. The Woman in Cabin 10 - Ruth Ware
35. Death Without Company (Longmire Mystery series # 2) - Craig Johnson
36. Spark Joy - Marie Kondo
37. Kindness Goes Unpunished (Longmire Mystery series # 3) - Craig Johnson
38. Stumbling on Happiness - Daniel Gilbert
39. Another Man's Moccasins (Longmire Mystery series # 4) - Craig Johnson
40. The Boys in the Boat - Daniel James Brown
41. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them - JK Rowling
42. Thirteen Reasons Why - Jay Asher
43. And Every Morning the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer - Fredrik Backman
44. Unsheltered - Barbara Kingsolver
45. Where the Crawdads Sing - Delia Owens
46.  Something in the Water - Catherine Steadman
Currently reading A Sand County Almanac - Aldo Leopold
Currently listening to Little Women - Louisa May Alcott
Currently listening to The Dark Horse - (Longmire Mystery series # 5)- Craig Johnson

3. Visit a National Park. DOUBLE COMPLETE! I visited the San Antonio Missions National Historical Park in July. I also visited Glacier National Park in August.

4. Save $2500 for house updates. COMPLETE! $3375/$2500 I wasn't planning on saving any more since my last post on December 12 but I received some money for Christmas so I added that. I am really happy that I was able to save this chunk of change. We have big plans on some house updates next year including new insulation in the attic and crawlspace and new windows.

5. Save $1000 towards a new car. COMPLETE! $1357/$1000 In 4 years I will be purchasing a new car. I'm really hoping to have a big down payment for that or maybe paying cash for it all. If I start saving the amount a car payment is I should be able to reach that goal.

6. Add 3 chicks to my flock. COMPLETE! One of my Easter Eggers (or maybe both!) started laying again. I have gotten 3 blue eggs over the last 5 days and both girls are squatting for me.

7. Cut back my food budget to $325/month ($3900/year).  $3800/$3900. COMPLETE! 
I managed to feed two adults (and take items to potlucks) for $3800 this year! I am super happy with that! In 2017 I spent $400/month on average, sometimes much more when I shopped at Costco. I think this is our sweet spot. We could do with less but I like to buy organic meat and other grocery items.

8. No buying personal clothing and other items other than the following few items. FAILED $656/$300
Even though I failed this goal, I am happy with my purchases.

Here are my estimates on the cost of the items I plan on buying in 2018 and what I really spent:
Hiking shoes $90 $73
Running shoes $60  $30
Mascara (2) $10 $12
Bra $30 $121 (bought 2 instead of 1)
Undies $20 $19
Haircuts $90 $53
Not planned:
2 pairs khaki work pants $0 $40
Summer tops $0 $40
Prana shorts and two tanks $0 $87
Chacos $0 $110 (old pair destroyed)
2 Brooks sports bras and running shorts $0 $64
2 pairs of jeans (zipper broke on work jeans) $0 $42
Sweater from the Loft $0 $16 (used $20 reward money)
Smartwool Socks $0 $2 (used $20 reward money)

9. Complete a third round of Whole30. Be active 3 days a week. So I have decided to nix the Whole30 reboot. I am instead going to make a goal of being active at least 3 times a week for 30 minutes or more.

I'm not sure if this goal is a fail or success. I definitely failed at completing a Whole30, but I figured that out half way through the year and switched to being active 3 days a week. I was active at least 3 days a week for 6 months. So it's kinda a success but kinda not.

10. Have a better, more efficient garden. Because I didn't quantify this goal I am not sure if I really succeeded or not. I did can a few pints of salsa and we ate fresh tomatoes, peppers and eggplants from the summer garden regularly. Our strawberry plants produced enough every week that I didn't need to buy any for 2 months. My spring and fall gardens are never up to snuff and I usually end up with lettuce that bolts and we end up feeding it to the chickens. I also need to spend more time preserving what I harvest.

11. Sell excess produce, honey and eggs at my neighborhood farmers market. FAILED This goal isn't happening this year. With losing 3 honey bee hives over the winter, only having 3 reliable egg layers and having a crappy summer garden I don't have anything to sell. My neighborhood market has also started charging a vendor fee. I wouldn't have enough product to sell to cover it so it just doesn't make sense. I've thought about having a small stand on the sidewalk but it never happened. Maybe next year!

12. Be a better beekeeper. FAILED We lost two hives this fall. The jury is still out on my work hive. I need to check on them and probably feed them on the next warm day.

13. Finish a craft project. COMPLETE!
I darned one sock.
I sewed a bandanna for my pup Ellie. Then I made a second one for my mom's dog.
I patched a hole in a Smartwool sock that Ellie chewed when she was a pup. 
Painted a mirror frame with chalk paint.