24 for '24 Midyear Update

I didn't have my mom getting diagnosed with Stage 4 Cancer and moving in with us for the summer on my 2024 bingo card so taking where we are with a grain of salt... 

Personal: 

1. Hit state #50, Alaska! Going next week!

2. Figure out the yard/landscaping situation. Paying the deposit this week and work starts next week. This is only for the front yard but getting it going! 

3. Hit the last of the 4 big Hawaiian islands, Kauai. CHECK DONE! 

4. Clean out my closet and get rid of items that no longer fit/serve me by August. This wound up being an exercise in culling my closet for my colors but DONE! 

5. Go to NYC at least once. Not one but two trips booked! 

6. Get back into normal shoes - continue to heal my foot. DONE! 

7. Host a party at our house. DONE! I hosted a party for work people last week. We also had 4th of July brunch :) 

8. Jump off the diving board at Brookridge. DONE! on the 4th of July, not once but twice. 

Health/Fitness: 

9. Complete two serious cut phases with Bailey and focus on true maintenance. Bailey stopped coaching in the spring and things have been a shitshow (putting it nicely). Going to evaluate after the trip if this is something I can do on my own or if I need to find a new coach. 

10. Finish at least 5 Peloton programs and redo Ben's program in June to track progress. Tracking well on this as I just completed one last week and have 2 more going. I've already done Tunde's Arms (which broke me) and I finished Adrian's program in January but I won't count that as I did half of it in December. Reminds me to do another round this year though! 

11. Hit 18K Peloton minutes in 2024. As I'm not even to 8K yet, this one is going to be dicey but I'm going to try! 

12. Go to the gym at work at least 24 times over the year. So far this is an epic fail but I still have time. 

13. Work out at least once with Alyssa. Going to put this on the books for August. 

14. Go to a class with Anastasia. She went and got pregnant so this seems highly unlikely. 

15. Make at least 20 new MFF recipes. Being that I made half of the Chili's month, let me see where we are with this - ONE MORE TO GO! 

• Cheddar Bay Pot Pie
• SW Eggrolls
• Molten Lava Cakes
• Turkey Frito Pie
• Chicken Parm Stuffed Shells
• Crazy Bread
• Turkey Enchilada Skillet
• Slow Cooker Chicken & Broocoli
• 3 Meat Pull Apart Pizza
• Ravioli Casserole
• Skillet Queso
• Philly Cheesesteak Tacos
• Baked Mozz Sticks
• Skillet Chicken Fajitas
• Bacon Rancher Burger
• Margarita Grilled Chicken
• Pizza Waffle Sandwiches
• Mexican Street Corn Chowder
• Slow Cooker Creamy Chicken Lasagna Soup

16. Transfer fully over to Macros First. Work in progress, I'm there when I track. UGH. 

Professional: 

17. Continue mentee relationship with Wendy. We've met once or twice this year but I've been remiss on anything as I missed a lot of work this summer for chemo treatments. 

18. Develop relationship with Shannon. 100% done! Just got a kick ass pep talk from her last week. 

19. Find a cool speaker for a Project Services mgmt team meeting. This... has not been in my realm, sadly. 

20. Help everyone on my team in some way. I don't love that I made this an ambiguous and weird goal but I think I'm headed down the right path. 

21. Be intentional about continuing relationships with Dave, Brenda, Agnes and Audrey. I'd say this is going well. 

22. Monthly HH with Anastasia, alternating times with Audrey. Def doing this! 

23. Hire intentionally to support NIA. I love that I had the foresight to realize what was coming - I'd say this has been really good so far. 

24. Figure out a project to work on in T&D and figure out if PMI is my path before my renewal in November. This is tough to say but I think I've been doing more than I thought I would. 

24 for '24

Personal: 

1. Hit state #50, Alaska! 

2. Figure out the yard/landscaping situation. 

3. Hit the last of the 4 big Hawaiian islands, Kauai. 

4. Clean out my closet and get rid of items that no longer fit/serve me by August. 

5. Go to NYC at least once. 

6. Get back into normal shoes - continue to heal my foot. 

7. Host a party at our house. 

8. Jump off the diving board at Brookridge. 

Health/Fitness: 

9. Complete two serious cut phases with Bailey and focus on true maintenance. 

10. Finish at least 5 Peloton programs and redo Ben's program in June to track progress. 

11. Hit 18K Peloton minutes in 2024. 

12. Go to the gym at work at least 24 times over the year. 

13. Work out at least once with Alyssa.

14. Go to a class with Anastasia. 

15. Make at least 20 new MFF recipes.  

16. Transfer fully over to Macros First. 

Professional: 

17. Continue mentee relationship with Wendy.

18. Develop relationship with Shannon. 

19. Find a cool speaker for a Project Services mgmt team meeting.

20. Help everyone on my team in some way. 

21. Be intentional about continuing relationships with Dave, Brenda, Agnes and Audrey.

22. Monthly HH with Anastasia, alternating times with Audrey. 

23. Hire intentionally to support NIA. 

24. Figure out a project to work on in T&D and figure out if PMI is my path before my renewal in November. 

2023 Year in Review

 1. What did you do in 2023 that you'd never done before?
Ripped the roof off the house and added a second story. 

2. Did you keep your new year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year? 

As usual, don't do resolutions. I royally sucked at my to do list. (same answer as last year, LOL)

3. Did anyone close to you give birth? two new babies in our VDN/KC Crew! 

4. Did anyone close to you die? I don't think so this year... that is lucky. 

5. What countries did you visit? Germany, Croatia, Montenegro, Bosnia, France

6. What would you like to have in 2024 that you didn't have in 2023? Similar answer to last year - more consistency. I really found myself this fall and want to keep that going. Keep making the journey in healing my relationship with food. 

7. What dates from 2023 will be etched upon your memory, and why? Adam's 40th birthday in Paris, the day I interviewed for and got a new job, my day at PSNY 

8. What was your biggest achievement of this year? Leap of faith to apply for a new job and got it. Survived the house remodel! 

9. What was your biggest failure? Other than not having my life together for my to do list - I don't think much was a failure. This year was a year of immense personal growth for me. 

12. Whose behavior merited celebration? our family - we had a great year and I think all of us grew in a positive way. 

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? Same ole same ole, just general work suckiness. I struggle with people who do not get their life together. 

14. Where did most your money go? Paid off the NEW!!! Lexus, Adam golf, the contractor, Drybar

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? Our big trip for Adam's birthday. I wasn't super excited leading up to Hawaii because I was generally stressed but it was such a fantastic trip. 

16. What song will always remind you of 2023? anything Taylor Swift

17. Compared to this time last year, are you: a) happier or sadder? b) thinner or fatter? c) richer or poorer?

a) happier. I love everything in the new house. 

b) def thinner

c) same same, I think although our retirement savings is pretty excellent these days and we drive a way nicer car and have wealth in our house

18. What do you wish you'd done more of? celebrated the small things

19. What do you wish you'd done less of? eating and drinking things that aren't super great for my body (same answer as 2022)

20. How did you spend Christmas? woke up and flew to Vegas and had a fantastic dinner at Mon Ami Gabi then had a top 10 meal of my life at the Bedford on 12/26

21. Did you fall in love in 2023? fell in love is a weird phrase but I definitely had a lot of self growth and did a ton of functional self-care

22. What was your favorite TV program? Emily in Paris

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year? not really but I definitely found myself disappointed by some people 

24. What was the best book you read? I don't think I finished a single book. Dammit. 

25. What was your greatest musical discovery? Midnights (same answer as 2022)

26. What did you want and get? a new job - recognized for my efforts

27. What did you want and not get? probably nothing, I am spoiled rotten

28. What was your favorite film of 2020? The Taylor Swift Eras movie

29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? My actual birthday was a random Tuesday but I did spend the weekend before in NYC living my best life with Peloton and some really good food. 

30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? fighting various ailments over the course of the year, my heel SUCKED. 

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept of 2023? getting back into smaller clothes

32. What kept you sane? friends

33. What political issue stirred you the most? Trump. God I don't want him running again. 

34. Who did you miss? all the friends we've met along the way that we don't get to see as much, my family being further away

35. Who was the best new person you met? Audrey, by far. 

36. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2023. 
That my diet does not have to be all or nothing. 

23 for '23 in Review

 1. Track Food (X365) Big time fail but I did get my life together from August-December

2. Peloton every day (X365) Also failed, I think I got sick the first week in January. Lesson learned - every day things are not good goals for me. 

3. 8K Steps (X365) See above but I did increase my step count trends intentionally despite having horrible foot problems for half the year. 

4. Lunch Bunch (X/12) James moving to Florida kind of messed this up but we did pretty darn good! 

5. Sharon Says So Bookclub Shit. Didn't finish a single book. 

6. Phone down at 8:40 pm. CRUD. 

7. Fly with Dave to Cincinnati Ran out of time so moving this one to 2024

8. Get to know 5 new people (work)  (X/5) massively crushed this one - Shannon, Wendy, Audrey, all my new T&D peers and new boss

9. Get to know 5 new people (non-work) (X/5) not so hot here but we did hang out with our neighbors more

10. Survive the reno and move upstairs WOOT WOOT CRUSHIN IT! 

11. Drive to North Dakota nailed it

12. Read 10 books (X/10) epic fail

13. Budget every month (X/12) even more epic fail

14. Try a new recipe every month (X/12) crushed this thanks to Elyse Ellis and MFF 

15. Make sourdough tried and failed :)  

16. New ballpark Dodger Stadium was VERY cool

17. Figure out the yard/landscaping ran out of money but the new dining room is worth it all day every day

18. Be involved in WTS did ok with this

19. Organize new office and work from home more (1-2X/month) (X/20) did great with the office but not so much on WFH but I don't think I want to WFH more

20. Organize craft space in the basement it was so great having an away place to wrap presents this Christmas and I also use it to actually iron my clothes instead of paying a fortune for dry cleaning

21. Go to the library once a month (X/12) we did great until March then train wreck

22. Take a golf lesson did a golf clinic again and decided that maybe this is not a great goal for me, I don't think I care that I don't golf 

23. Do yoga at least 30 min/week (X/52) I think I made it to Feb. ugh. 

As I typed this out (wrote them on 12/31 and just never got them here, already failed at a perfect on a couple, OOOOOPS), I realized that half of these are habits and half are to do and probably 1/3 of them are pretty tough BHAGs for me. 

23 for '23

 1. Track Food (X365)

2. Peloton every day (X365)

3. 8K Steps (X365)

4. Lunch Bunch (X/12)

5. Sharon Says So Bookclub

6. Phone down at 8:40 pm. 

7. Fly with Dave to Cincinnati

8. Get to know 5 new people (work)  (X/5)

9. Get to know 5 new people (non-work) (X/5)

10. Survive the reno and move upstairs

11. Drive to North Dakota 

12. Read 10 books (X/10)

13. Budget every month (X/12)

14. Try a new recipe every month (X/12)

15. Make sourdough

16. New ballpark

17. Figure out the yard/landscaping

18. Be involved in WTS

19. Organize new office and work from home more (1-2X/month) (X/20)

20. Organize craft space in the basement 

21. Go to the library once a month (X/12)

22. Take a golf lesson

23. Do yoga at least 30 min/week (X/52)

As I typed this out (wrote them on 12/31 and just never got them here, already failed at a perfect on a couple, OOOOOPS), I realized that half of these are habits and half are to do and probably 1/3 of them are pretty tough BHAGs for me. 

2022 Year in Review

1. What did you do in 2022 that you'd never done before?

Did the whole board of zoning appeals thing for permission to renovate the house. It was kind of a months long shitshow but we're approved. 

2. Did you keep your new year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year? 

As usual, don't do resolutions. I royally sucked at my to do list. 

3. Did anyone close to you give birth? I have a new nephew, Hayden! And my stepsister had a baby, Diego. 

4. Did anyone close to you die? Oh... I almost said no but then... Higgy boy. 14 years and a very peaceful end. 

5. What countries did you visit? UK, Belize, Korea, Mexico!!!!

6. What would you like to have in 2023 that you didn't have in 2022? Consistency. Showing up for myself more. Finding things I like to do and doing those things! 

7. What dates from 2022 will be etched upon your memory, and why? Hmmm... this is a tough one this year. I feel like the whole thing was a blur. I think going from zero to 60 in terms of people getting back to more normalcy post-covid made it overwhelming a lot of the time. 

8. What was your biggest achievement of this year? Also tough... I don't feel like I achieved much. Again, it was another season where survival felt like the important thing. I bit off a lot more than I could chew for much of the year and it showed. 

9. What was your biggest failure? Taking care of myself. Setting up healthy habits. Making good choices on a consistent basis (especially food and exercise related choices). 

12. Whose behavior merited celebration? Not mine :) 

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? An unnamed colleague. Goal for 2023 - care less and try to get out of working with them as much as possible. 

14. Where did most your money go? Paid off the Lexus, architect bills, Adam golf, inflation, the contractor

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? London! Belize! Korea! Mexico! all the smaller trips we got to do. It was a great year for wanderlust. 

16. What song will always remind you of 2022? Lizzo's new stuff, It's ME, HI, I'm the problem, it's ME! 

17. Compared to this time last year, are you: a) happier or sadder? b) thinner or fatter? c) richer or poorer?

a) mostly happier. I love it here. I've identified what doesn't serve me, now it's time to leave that shit behind.  

b) so much fatter. UGH.  

c) richer, but about to be crazy spending on what will basically become a new house. YOIKS. 

18. What do you wish you'd done more of? (same as 2021) exercised.  I'm such a bitch without endorphins and I consistently suck ass at remembering that when life gets hard. 

19. What do you wish you'd done less of? eating and drinking things that aren't super great for my body. 

20. How did you spend Christmas? Plan is to wake up, open Santa presents and head to NYC! 

21. Did you fall in love in 2022? Ohhh Lucy dog. I miss her so but she's living her best life. 

22. What was your favorite TV program? sports? I enjoyed the World Cup and EPL soccer a lot more. 

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year? see above re: unnamed but I think the disdain was already highly developed by this time last year  

24. What was the best book you read? Little Black Stretchy Pants

25. What was your greatest musical discovery? Midnights

26. What did you want and get? a new title

27. What did you want and not get? a new job description that makes more sense

28. What was your favorite film of 2020? Downton! 

29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? I turned 41 on a Monday. We didn't do a ton, which was fine. One of my bosses sent me some amazing flowers and we had a low key dinner at Johnny's. I got to do tea at the Brown Palace the following week, except Adam had covid, oops. 

30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? Adam not getting covid. 

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept of 2022? wearing the few items that fit

32. What kept you sane? friends

33. What political issue stirred you the most? Roe v Wade

34. Who did you miss? Lucy, Higgins, all the friends we've met along the way that we don't get to see as much, my family being further away

35. Who was the best new person you met? Didn't meet this year but developed a closer relationship with a friend and she's going to be a life friend. 

36. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2022. 
I feel like I didn't spend enough time learning lessons this year. Good food for thought to go into 2023. 

22 Things to Do - Review

Normally I go over this in June-ish and most certainly did not this year. I feel pretty disappointed in myself. Without further adu, here's how I did.  

22 Things To Do - 2022 Edition

1. Figure out my next steps at BMCD and what I want my path to look like. Kind of but not really. Especially in the last month, I feel more further away from this than ever. 

2. Find and hire a designer to help us with our master renovation since this is going to be a little outside of my wheelhouse. Another kind of but not really. Does an architect count? I can handle the design decisions but thankfully Wes did the space constraint heavy lifting for us. Should be starting the addition any day now! It was a lot more of a journey than we anticipated.

3. Find at least 2 volunteer opportunities. UGHHHHHHHHHHH yes. no. sort of. I am still doing Lead to Read so check for that! I did Big Brothers Big Sisters for half the year but that I definitely bit off more than I could chew and was slightly mislead about how involved Adam and Owen could be with me. We ran a very successful food drive at work and also did a day cooking meals at the Ronald McDonald house, not terrible for a still slightly covid weird year. 

4. Figure out our landscaping situation and what works here in Kansas. Nope but our yard is about to get destroyed during the renovation so this turned out not to be a priority at all. Maybe in 2024.  

5. Go to London. FINALLY. One I accomplished. 

6. Celebrate Alli's birthday in Belize. Make that 2. 

7. Take Mom to NYC for her 70th. We leave next week! 

8. Eat 3/4 veggies at nearly every meal and quit being so stupid about it. Epic fail, nothing more to say. 

9. Do something Peloton every day even if it's just 5 min core or a mediation if I'm sick/injured/whatever. I don't think I even made it out of January on this one. 

10. Find a local race to run since we're missing Rock the Parkway and run a 5K with Owen. Check! Owen won his age division and we did a second one! 

11. Cooking class with friends. Nope. 

12. Find new doctors/dentists/etc (GAH!) Kind of. Owen has a doctor. I figured out how to utilize the on site clinic. Dentist = fail

13. Read 10 books and put my damn phone down. I think I read one. Ugh. 

14. Master the sous vide. I think I decided I don't like it! 

15. Figure out our plans for KC theater tickets. This is also a pretty solid fail. I got season tickets and we have only seen a couple of shows because we have too many other things going on. Not sure how to handle this for next year. 

16. Find friends/community/whatever here and figure out if we are wanting to do church or not. This is a half credit goal. Church = not right now

17. Mother/Son trip Nope. 

18. Go visit the farm. BOY DID WE EVER... This led to our 6 month foster of Lucy dog. HA! 

19. Go to the lake. We managed to do this! 

20. Plan a CDC trip now that we all live in the Midwest again. Half credit, I got to see Kristen in STL. 

21. Visit a new ballpark. Brewers game!

22. Go to a Chiefs game. I think I accomplished this 3 times with another one next week! 

7 and a bunch of partial credit... not my finest year.