On December 31, I posted my resolutions for 2019 and figured I should do a mid-year check-in to see how things are going. (*Narrator from Arrested Development: Things are not well. Meanwhile, back at the model home…)

Read at least two books per month

My reading challenge for the year was 30 books. I surpassed that over the Fourth of July weekend. At this rate, I’ll probably finish the year around 60 books total read. I’ve been reading on my lunch break at work, and I head into bed early at night to read a little bit more. But there were a few books where I stayed up later to finish them.

Survive my first 10K

HA. This was in reference to the St. Patrick’s 10K I had signed up for in October thinking I could run it in March. I trained my best for it over the winter, but about a month out, I decided not to do it because I didn’t feel ready. In the end, I just paid $25 for a t-shirt for a race that I didn’t run in.

At the moment, I’m not sure if I’ll sign up for it again next year.

Be better about motivating myself to run

I think I’ve been good about this. I’ve been running at least once a week, schedule permitting, and in the last few weeks, I’ve been running three times, which explains why my calves HATE me right now. I’m running between two and three miles each time, and I’m fine with that. I’m trying to not stop to walk but also try to improve my speed. But mostly just survive. I’d love to get to the point when I can just go out for a quick four mile run. We’ll see.

I have a 5K this month and one at the end of August that I’ve already signed up for. There’s one in September I know I’m going to sign up for, and same goes for one in the end of November.

Use my smoothie maker more

I didn’t start doing this until last week. I’ve been making them to take to work to have in the morning. I’ve been using frozen mixed berries and pineapple, bananas, a little bit of honey, orange juice, and a little bit of water or a few ice cubes. It tastes good, I’m just trying to work on getting a good consistency.

We did learn, though, that since the blender is SO loud, it freaks my cat out 😦 So she’ll run as soon as I start it up.

Work on my story at least twice a week

HA again. This was in reference to a story I was working on that took place in Boston and involved a grad student and law student. I had the whole thing planned out, but for some reason, didn’t really feel a true connection to the characters. So I abandoned that ship and thought about working on the sequel to the first big story I actually finished, but I didn’t really do much with that.

I’ve been floating around ideas for another story that would involve some of the funny stuff that’s happened at work. I’ve been jotting down ideas and planning out a structure in bullet points, but I don’t want to do a full dive in yet, knowing how I’ve just given up on my other stories. So, we’ll see. Because I think I like the idea of working on a story but not actually doing it.

Continue to track my spending

This has become second nature to me. I still use my Google spreadsheets to track my credit card and cash spending. Good news, though, is that by the end of the year, I’ll have my student loans paid off. Then my goal for next year is to pay off the rest of my SUV, which I’m already halfway through paying off.

Get better about putting things away

I think I’ve been better about this. I try to put my laundry away the same day and don’t let it pile up. I kick my shoes off and that tends to create a pile in front of my dressers, and I’ve been making an effort to put away the ones I normally don’t keep out.

Dabble in makeup more

Yeah, this didn’t last long. I had bought a lip color stick at Target and used it for a few weeks, but then I just kind of fell off. It’s in my purse, though, just in case I dramatically change my routine. My current issue—even though it’s always been an issue—is the redness on my cheeks. I don’t know too much about foundations or whatever, and I don’t want to cake my entire face every morning. I do use a little bit of coverup and powder foundation, but it doesn’t help hide it.