so i thought once october hit i'd be really gung-ho about finishing up my birthday list. but instead i just stopped caring about it all together. life's funny, right? anyway, here's where i landed on this goal list i made a whole year ago.
1. decorate our apartment. this means things on the walls. and maybe a rug. curtains if i'm feeling reeeeally ambitious. i'm going to say yes. our old apartment got sort of decorated, and we definitely got some rugs. new apartment still needs some work, so that will go on this years list.
2. make a wedding photo album. i bought an album and got the pictures printed, they just haven't been introduced yet. so...some progress. i also just ordered a photo book of our first year of marriage. photo documentation is happening!
3. create a dinner board of some kind. ideally a chalkboard, with a place to store favorite recipes. like unto this. (but probably a lot less fancy). nope. we did get a chalkboard but not one that hangs on the wall, so i rarely remember it exists. i still have ambitions for meal planning. maybe this will be my year!
4. make our own wall art. - i'm pretty sure when i made this, i meant painting something? but we did create some wall displays for super cheap/free, so i'm calling this one good.
5. make an oversized cross stitch. - nope. i still want to do this, but it's currently a bigger money investment than i want to embark on.
6. learn to crochet. - i'm sad this one didn't happen. especially since my grandma can basically crochet a blanket in the same amount of time it takes me to paint my nails. it's going on the list for this year.
7. visit portland. - yes! and it was so great.
8. change my last name. (something i maybe haven't done yet) - this only happened last week, but yes! i'm officially official.
9. make homemade poptarts. - again, something so easy, and yet it didn't happen. and i love poptarts!
10. write thank you cards to people. (this doesn't include our wedding thank you cards...which are still waiting to be done...) - i started doing this and i love it. and even though our wedding thank you's weren't on the list, i still felt so accomplished when those were finally done.
11. read 20 books. and i'm counting the snl book i just finished. 19 to go! - this was probably my most successful birthday list item. i got to 20 books in june and then stopped counting. i finally got back into the reading habit i lost during college.
12. throw a party. - between brian's birthday, and a couple friend parties that i contributed to, i'm counting this one done. maybe this year i'll try a holiday party?
13. learn to (somewhat) use brian's grown up camera. - nope.
14. go on a waterpark tour. this is HAPPENING this year, you guys. seeing as everyone i wanted to do this with was engaged last summer, i think it might be a little easier to coordinate this time around. - here's the thing. saturdays fill up really fast in the summer. so this still didn't happen. we went to the waterpark at lagoon, but that really doesn't qualify as a tour.
15. establish some kind of regular exercise plan. - this only started in the last month. but i finally have a method that keeps me motivated (sticky tabs on the wall. for serious) and we just got our treadmill. so i'm thinking this one might stick.
16. get over my fear of bread and make some. pizza dough too. - nope. still terrified of baking things that involve yeast.
17. take pictures with my actual camera instead of just my phone. poor neglected camera. - this didn't happen super frequently, but it's definitely becoming more of a habit.
18. visit boise many many times. - i don't know if twice counts as many times. but between school and starting a new job this summer, i think it was a good effort.
19. find a different job. (if anyone has any leads with this...i'm listening) - accomplishing this goal was definitely the most life-changing thing on the list. i could go on for days about why this job is a better fit for me but that's probably boring.
20. continue to pare down my wardrobe. no one needs 14 cardigans. - i don't have a current cardigan count, but i definitely got rid of a lot of stuff i wasn't wearing anymore. (having a less strict work dress code helped with that immensely)
21. try out 5 new restaurants. - i meant to keep a list of what restaurants these were, but between salt lake, san francisco, and portland this definitely happened.
22. make a fancy cheesecake. - nope. partly because it seems like so much work, and partly because i'm too cheap to buy a spring-form pan.
23. buy a sleeping bag. go camping. - done and done!
24. find a photobooth. nothing in salt lake yet, but we did find one in san francisco and portland.
25. pop-up dinner party. - nope.
so all in all i'm pretty happy with that i accomplished in the last 12 months. 25 was a good year and i think 26 might be even better!
