Snapshot of February
Train coming into the station
1. My first resolution was to prioritize my thesis and get it done. At the end of January, I set a goal to have my results section completed by the end of February. I would say that I met this goal about 90% of the way. Things are pretty much set, but I still have a few more hours of work to do before I can call it done. Once the results section is done, I have four more steps to complete: write up a description of the sample I used for the methods section, write my discussion section, format my thesis/submit for a format check, and complete an oral defense. By the end of March I want to have my sample fully written up and at least the start of an outline done for my discussion.
2. My second goal was to make time for my VIPs. I wanted to increase the effort I put into my relationships with family and friends in order to combat the nasty habit I have of putting school first. This month Neill and I celebrated Valentine's day to together, I got together with my aunt and uncle who were in from out of town, and I've made an effort to call my MIL more (I heart her). But, I'm not so sure I've been the best friend and I think my mother is feeling a little out of touch. In March, I want to make sure to focus on being the sort of friend I would like to have.
3. Last month, I thought Neill and I were doing great with our goal of being more financially secure. And then this month happened and we hit a few (expensive) stumbling blocks. First, Neill and I decided to treat ourselves to a wonderfully romantic, but costly Valentine's day dinner at Graham Elliot. In and of itself this wouldn't have been too bad, but then I discovered that I couldn't register for summer classes until I paid the university 800 dollars. Apparently, I never paid my 400 dollar activity fee for the fall semester and then I also owed them for spring semester. Ugh. And then on top of this, at the end of the month I had a lapse of self-control and went shoe shopping.
Also, Neill and I decided to splurge and take a week long trip to Jamaica this May. Pretty much the antithesis of my "save save save" mantra, right? But, it is his cousin's wedding and it was important to both of us to go. And then we figured that since we're paying for the flight down there we might as well stay a while and enjoy ourselves. So, we've committed ourselves to spending about two thousand dollars from our savings on a vacation. If that's not a good reason to get back on track with saving, I don't know what is.
4. Lastly, I wanted to focus on being healthy. Again, I'm not sure how much progress I've made in this area. On the good side, I've started taking a multivitamin, drinking more water, eating more salads, and trying to snack on things like cucumbers and peppers instead of chips. We've also cut out almost all prepackaged (and preservative laden) bread from our diet and have replaced it with homemade bread. Yum! But, on the not so healthy side? I still have a sweets problem and I'm working out even less than I was last month. It would be a big improvement if I could make it to the gym at least twice a week in March and keep a better eye on my calories.
How are your resolutions going? Do you have any suggestions on how to keep my motivation up?
We cut out preservatives... until we moved to Virginia, our rent doubles, and our taxes went up. Now we eat a lot of soup. Some times it's home made soup, but some times it is canned soup.Oh, how I long for the days when my grocery budget goes up!!
ReplyDeleteWow! I'm impressed - cutting out preservatives all the way is hard to do! I'd love to do that, but I eat a fair amount of premade things. We eat a lot of soup too - especially in the winter! One soup that we eat a lot is pacific natural foods roasted red pepper and tomato soup. It is super yummy and relatively healthy (at least I think it is). Sometimes we add things to it like chicken or rice to make it more of a complete meal.
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