19 GOALS IN 2019

Last week, I recapped my 18 Goals in 2018. Although I only achieved half of my list,  I'm happy with where I stand. I don't really believe in making resolutions so I have strict to-do list to follow. But I like to constantly dream and aspire to improving myself and the world around me. So, if at year's end I completed my list, hooray for me! If I didn't, no harm or foul- I just have goals for next year!

Here are my 19 Goals for 2019:

PROFESSIONAL
Now that I am a full-time working Mama again (in a brand new-to-me industry), there is so much professional development for me to conquer over the next year.

1. Pass my Series 7 and Series 66 licensing exams. I've already made it halfway through this goal because I passed my Series 7 on December 31, 2018!!! Once I pass my Series 66, I'll become an official "registered representative."

READING
In my heart of hearts, I will always be a bookworm. But with everything I have going on, I'm not putting any pressure on myself to participate in book challenges or spend all my spare time with my nose in a book. I will continue to read as it makes sense to and I'll read the books that I want to read.

1. Read 35 books. Last year, I set what I thought was a realistic reading goal for myself of 42 books. I finished the year with 36 books read, so this year I'm being cautiously optimistic. Work and parenthood leaves little time nor mental energy to read, so we'll see..
2. Read 3 books published before 1990. Last year, I set a goal to read 3 books written before the year 2000 and two of the three of them happened to be published in the late 1990's which feels like I completed this category by a technicality. To challenge myself further, I'm moving down the timeline.

FINANCIAL
2019 is the year I really want to dig our heels in to making some progress with our debt snowball. These are just a few of the things I want to accomplish this year.

1. Increase my credit score by 5%. I have a number in mind, but it will take awhile to get there, so if I can increase my credit score by at least 5% in 2019, I'll consider it a win.
2. Save up enough to buy a minivan in cash. I don't anticipate being able to purchase my new car within the year, but I think it's possible within the next 18 months. My goal is to end 2019 with at least $12,000 saved. I cannot begin to tell you how long I've longed for my very own soccer Mom van (literally since high school). I already have the exact make and model picked out, but because my credit is not the best I'd like to avoid taking out a loan and paying thousands in interest.
3. Contribute at least $500 each to Charlie and Crosby's 529 college savings accounts. One of the awesome benefits I have at my new job is a modest childcare reimbursement. It doesn't amount to enough for me to factor it into our monthly income. Instead, I've been funneling it into the boys' 529 college savings accounts. If I keep it up in 2019, I can definitely hit $500 in each of their accounts. 
4. Pay off remaining credit card debt. We paid one of three cards off in 2018 and have two left to go. We made really great progress last year and if we're disciplined, I think we can pay off our remaining two balances within the first six months of the year!
5. Pay off remaining medical bills. We have a couple smaller bills, mostly leftover from Crosby's birth. We made good progress on these in 2018, so I think we can probably knock these out toward the middle of 2019 too!

HEALTH

I want to continue working on living a healthier lifestyle with manageable and realistic goals for my busy schedule.

1. Go to the gym at least 2 mornings per week. Guys, there is a Crunch gym in my office building. I literally have no excuses.
2. Run a half marathon. I genuinely thought this was going to be one that I crossed off my list in 2018. A week before my scheduled half marathon in July, I found out I was going to have to start running my Farmers' Market single-handedly so I had to drop out. Thankfully, I was able to defer my registration until the following year's race, so here's hoping I can get my butt in shape to run it this summer!
3. Attend yoga class at least once per month. We have a really great little yoga studio in my town that offers a "Wednesday Midweek Unwind." The few times I've managed to make it there, I've absolutely loved it. I'd like to try getting there at least once per month and if I can get into that habit, maybe making it a weekly thing!
4. Plan one vegetarian meal per week. I've done a really good job the last two years of figuring out what foods work for my body and which ones don't. Although I definitely splurged around Christmas, for the most part I avoid eating grains and sugar. I'd also like to start reducing my meat intake. I was vegetarian for five years before Chuck and I got married and I'd like to get back to my plant-based roots.

HOME

I love, love, love my house and making it more of a home is one of my favorite things to do.

1. Finish converting upstairs room to a fourth bedroom. I wrote a post in 2015 about how this was the first house project I wanted to tackle and 3 years later, it still hasn't happened. There are a lot of cosmetic upgrades I'd like to make over the years, but honestly the only thing that needs to happen from a structural standpoint is to install a window.
2. Convert downstairs bedroom into an office/guest room. Once we get Charlie moved from his downstairs bedroom to the renovated upstairs room, I'd like to make our downstairs bedroom more habitable for when my Mom and sister come to visit.
3. Remodel downstairs half bathroom into a full bathroom. Right now we only have one usable bathroom in our house. It's mildly annoying in the mornings with all four of us, but is downright inconvenient when we have guests. We have a powder room in our basement, but the toilet leaks so we've stopped using it and I'd really like to add a stall shower so that we have another usable bathroom for guests. 
4. Landscape the front yard. One of my favorite parts of our house when we bought it were the two trees in our front yard that bloomed every spring. They were so stinkin' pretty, but unfortunately we lost them both in November when Ohio got hit with a nasty ice storm. Our front yard now looks totally awful and bare, so we need to do some work to bring back its curb appeal. I don't know if we can afford to hire a professional landscaping company, but at the very least, I know there are little things that we can take on ourselves to make it more aesthetically pleasing. 

LIFE

These are a few of the random, miscellaneous things that I'd like to see happen in 2019 for me and my little family.

1. Adopt a four-legged friend. I have puppy fever!! Both my boys are very skittish around bigger dogs so I think it's really important for them to grow up with a pet and learn a healthy respect for animals. Because I've developed pet allergy as I've gotten older, we would need to get a hypoallergenic breed. Right now, I'm looking at schnauzers and goldendoodles, but it will probably just depend on whatever pup happens to be available when it's time for us to commit. 
2. Take a kid-free weekend getaway. I know my Mom wants to take the boys at some point during the summer, so hopefully Mommy and Daddy can have some time for a pre-anniversary trip!
3. Take a photography or cooking class. I finally got my DSLR, but I still don't know how to use it. I'm clueless when it comes to photography, but I'd like to learn the basics so I can take better pictures of our family. I've also learned over the last few years that I really love to cook. I attended a cooking class with the Dayton Moms Blog team last winter and had a blast. I think it would be really fun to do another girls' night out or even a date night with Chuck.

The category that completely fell off my list from 2018 to 2019 was blogging. Now that I'm working full-time, I'm not desperately trying to pimp out my blog for side income. And quite frankly, with everything going on in life, it's fallen down my list of priorities. I can't see myself ever truly giving up blogging, But I'm done trying to make my blog into a side hustle and I'm ready to return to just writing for the fun of it.

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So tell me, do we share any of the same goals for 2019?