Inspired by The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin, I created my own. It was almost a year ago that I completed it, but I truly think it changed my life for the better. As it’s been nine months since I’ve worked on it (strange how that coincides with finding out I was pregnant! I guess I had other things on my mind…), I think I can take down this blog’s section that was devoted to it, but I did want to document my progress. It was fun to go back and look at the changes that stuck, and ones that slowly slipped away (or never caught on to begin with!). Reviewing these has given me a bit of renewed gusto as well – maybe I’ll try another happiness project in the future!
April 2010 – Organization
My main accomplishments this month were setting up and maintaining a weekly to do list, cleaning schedule, meal plan, empty inbox, do it now philosophy, and grocery item and price list. This is the area where I’ve not only kept up most of my accomplishments, but have gotten better! Yay, me!
May 2010 – Friendship
I continue to attend exercise classes at the Y (filled with potential friends), reply to friends’ calls and e-mails immediately, and occasionally use Facebook to keep in touch. A big “oops” on the YMCA classes. I didn’t continue them, and never really made any new friends. I am better about using Facebook now, though.
June 2010 – Passions
I found that my passions are cooking, camping, reading, and exploring with my husband, and learned that while I am not passionate about blogging, it’s still useful as a documentation tool. I set up 100 Things to Make to guide as a cooking goal. I made 45 of the 100 things to make. Not fantastic… but better than nothing!
July 2010 – Travel
This month was focused on our Mediterranean cruise. Among the many lessons that came out of the trip, I found that it’s advantageous to pack light, research a destination and refer to it frequently, bring a battery operated alarm clock, and prepare for jet lag. Two other essential lessons: function trumps fashion, and always ask for directions.
August and September 2010 – Health
We eat balanced meals, and I got sporadically better at including vegetables into my diet. I am taking a multivitamin nearly daily, and have established a better habit of exercising (including attending Zumba and 30 minute fitness classes). I go to sleep between 9:30 and 10:30 and wake 7-8 hours later. Sleep has taken a big hit since the Bean joined our family! A multivitamin is still in play, though exercise and healthy eating need to step it up a notch. All in all… I have not done well in this area.
October 2010 – Cooking
I started our “top ten” main dish list and am committed to becoming an expert at them. I made a grocery list that revolves around these meals and so we can have ingredients in stock for quality meals whenever we’re ready. I also took a step outside of my usual recipe books and made some meals using nothing but my own previous knowledge. I’ve since taken a cooking class that was quite a bit of fun, and have expanded my cooking repertoire. A success!
November 2010 – Blogging
I successfully blogged every day this month! Surprisingly (though I suppose I should have expected it, with all of the practice), as the month went on writing posts became easier rather than more difficult. Blogging daily made me see that anything can be a post – I just have to remember to snap a few pictures or jot down a few words so I can remember! I didn’t fare well on this front. But I’m back!
December 2010 – Family
I took a “blogging break” this month. While I still posted fairly regularly, I drastically cut back the hours I spent surfing around on other people’s blogs. This left plenty of time for my little family (just Paul and I!) and both of our families. We had plenty of holiday fun with all, including an 11-day stay up north with my in-laws. A by-product of not blogging is getting more face time with the world, so I’ve at least done that well.
January 2011 – Reading
The year’s off to a bang with a few books under my belt already. I signed up for seven reading challenges – perhaps too many to handle, but some of them overlap. I read seven books this month – hopefully this will increase next month, as I’m in the middle of five as of January 30. I stopped keeping track, but have been reading quite a bit of baby-related books lately (mostly in the middle of the night with a babe in arms!).
February 2011 – Love
So far I’ve checked and started to read out a handful of workbooks and marriage-building books from the library. We’ve started our once-monthly Sunday morning dates to work on our relationship. Our relationship is still going strong, though we don’t have regular dates or relationship meetings.
Kate
