2013 Goals Update 2
Goals

2013 Goals Update #2: Halfway Through the Year!

This is the second of four check-ins that I’ll have for the 10 goals that I made for 2013. Be sure to check out my original post for my 2013 goals and check out my first 2013 goals update for more context.

Wow. It’s hard to believe, but we are officially halfway through 2013. The last three months have flown by, but they seem to have been oddly uneventful. However, as you may have gathered from my monthly review, things are going to be a bit more interesting in the next half of the year.

I have a lot of big changes coming up that I think will help move me forward in achieving my goals!

Without further ado, let’s see how reaching my 2013 goals is shaping up:

1. Run in four races.

Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/athomeinscottsdale/4342735644/sizes/l/

Sadly, I haven’t run in any races yet. However, I will be running in the Philadelphia Color Run in a couple of weeks. Plus, I’m planning to run at least two half marathons (and I’m toying with the idea of a marathon for one of those) later in the fall. Stay tuned for developments here.

 2. Cross off five flux list items

Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/paloetic/4795592340/sizes/l/

It’s really time to dust off my flux list. As I mentioned in my previous post, I’d like to run a half marathon and possibly a marathon this fall. If I can run the half marathon in under 2:00 and if I finish the marathon, that would cross off 2 flux list items. I’m also on track to read at least 1 book every month for 12 months. There are also a couple of others in there that I might be able to mark off. So while I thought the outlook was grim, it’s actually looking pretty good!

 3. Read thirteen books

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check-boxSUCCESS! I reached book number 13 at the beginning of June, which means I’ve officially met this goal for the year.

Here’s a list of all of the books that I’ve read:

  1. Salt: A World History by Mark Kurlansky
  2. Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly by Anthony Bordain
  3. Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
  4. The Meaning of Wife: A Provocative Look at Women and Marriage in the Twenty-first Century by Anne Kingston
  5. The Year of Living Biblically: One Man’s Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible by A.J. Jacobs
  6. Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead by Sheryl Sandberg
  7.  A River So Long by Vallie Lynn Watson
  8. Let’s Pretend This Never Happened: (A Mostly True Memoir) by Jenny Lawson aka The Blogess
  9. The Mobile Book (Smashing Special eBooks)
  10. Somewhere Inside: One Sister’s Captivity in North Korea and the Other’s Fight to Bring Her Home by Lisa & Laura Ling
  11. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
  12. Responsive Web Design by Ethan Marcotte
  13. HTML5 for Web Designers by Jeremy Keith
  14. CCS3 for Web Designers by Dan Cederholm
  15. How to Be a Woman by Caitlin Moran

4. Understand my camera

Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kevinmic/5974385267/sizes/l/

I’ve done some research and played around with my camera, but as with these things there is still a lot to learn. My upcoming travels should result in more use and increased knowledge of my camera.

 5. Redesign Living in Flux

Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/rodrigohaenggi/3310278928/sizes/l/

check-boxSuccess! While an artist’s work is never done, I have successfully gone through refresh #1 and #2 of Living In Flux. I do want to eventually make my blog responsive, but while there are more updates to come, we can consider this achieved!

 6. Start a side business

Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomashawk/45560773/sizes/l/

Haha! This is a funny one. In my last 2013 goals update, I was hopeful that I would be able to get an Etsy shop up and running by the end of April. Well, it’s the end of June and that Etsy shop is no where in sight. Honestly, I’m still not crazy about any of the Etsy shop ideas that I’ve had, so I’m still working on that crucial piece to the puzzle. I’ve also been pretty strapped for time between work, being in an LDR, exercising, writing for this site, and trying to maintain some semblance of a social life. Stay tuned for updates in the second half of 2013 though. At this point, anything can happen!

7. Become a better writer

Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/declanjewell/1352011948/sizes/l/

If consistency in writing is part of being a better writer, I think I’m making headway on this goal. I think that writing for this site more has given me more practice, but has also made me think more about what I’m writing, why I’m writing and how I’m writing. Well, let me qualify the use of “consistency,” I think I’ve been consistent in posting. I think there is a way to go in terms of consistent tone of voice and point of view for my posts. As with many things, this is certainly a work in progress.

8. Pay 20% of my student loans

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I’ve been consistently paying off an excess amount of loans each month, above my minimum payments. However, even with paying extra, I haven’t been nearly aggressive enough to pay 20% of my student loans off. However, I’m expecting that the second half of 2013 will be very different. As I mentioned in my monthly review, I’m going to be moving from Hoboken to Rochester to be with Richard(!!!). That means lower living expenses due to location and being able to split things with someone else. My expectation is that I’m going to be able to double my monthly payments and really make a lot of headway.

 9. Build a $10k emergency fund

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I’m more than halfway to my savings goal, but from my starting point, I haven’t increased my savings by much. In addition to being able to put more towards my loans, my expectation is that after I move to Rochester, I’ll be able to start socking more away in the good ol’ EF.

10. Visit four new states

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I’m 90% sure at this point that I won’t be visiting any new states this year. While that’s a bummer, the upside is that I will be visiting a new country! As I mentioned in my June review, in September, I’m going to be going on a part travel adventure and part working vacation to Paris, the Provence region in France and Barcelona. I’ve been to France before, but not to Spain, so I think it’s okay that four states won’t happen!

What progress have you made towards reaching your 2013 goals?

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