December Goals and Highlights

Wow- December. It's hard to believe it's the last month of the year for a few reasons, and I don't have to say again what a weird and awful year this has been. In one of my Peloton rides last week I heard a great quote that I'm trying to keep in mind when I'm having a rough day- If you woke up today, that means you survived 100% of your hard days. I love that, and it's a good reminder that no matter what's thrown our way, we can make it through.

For my highlight of the month, I would have to choose a "me" day that I took at the beginning of the month. It was right after Dan left for his work trip, and it was a beautiful day outside, so I took a vacation day and explored a bit. I started with a smoked maple latte from my favorite local coffee shop, then Selma and I headed to Settler's Cabin Park for a hike, then to Pittsburgh Botanical Garden to enjoy the scenery, followed by takeout sushi and some wine to go from a local winery. It was a day to remember (and hopefully replicate).

Here's how my goals went in November-

Two Boot Camp Classes / Week

I completed this and really liked focusing on taking more boot camps. I think that these classes are an excellent workout, focusing both on strength and cardio. I liked being forced to try more of the tread boot camps, but definitely like the ease of the bike ones since I can do it all in my basement instead of running outside for the run portions. I want to keep this up because it definitely helped me feel STRONG!

Turkey Triceps Challenge

I crushed this one! It definitely helped starting at the beginning of the month instead of feeling like I was playing catch up the entire time. It was also much easier to add arm workouts to my regular runs or bike rides, instead of feeling like I was burning out my legs constantly with my Spooky Booty challenge in October. Plus- upper body is one area that I think is my weakest, so it gave me a lot of confidence to work on it and feel much stronger at the end of the month.

Develop a Night Routine

This was definitely not a good month for getting into a night routine- we started the month with the election, then Dan went out of state for work for half of the month, and then we both self-quarantined when he came back and cases started to spike like crazy in our area. Work was also stressful, so overall sleep was not great for me. I did try to relax at night with either an easy yoga class or stretch, bath, mug of tea, and reading. I also tried to limit my phone usage at night, which I think made a big difference.

Read Five Books

This was definitely a highlight of the month- getting back in my reading routine. I plowed through five (and a half) books and will be sharing all of them later this week- a few might be in the running for best books of the year for me, and I'm even thinking one is the best book I've ever read?

And some fun goals to finish out the year on a high note-

Finish Previous Projects

I'm not sure if you're the same as me, but I love to start new projects and always have a lot of energy when I start off. Then, when I'm almost done I tend to lose interest and start a new one! (I am an enneagram 7, so this is just in my nature apparently). So, there are a few things I started this year that are about 99% done but I want to get them all to 100%. What I'll be focusing on is-

• Paint behind fridge. When I repainted my kitchen and added a backsplash, I ignored one area because I was too lazy to pull out the fridge and clean/paint back there. So, its been untouched for a few months now and I need to get it done.
• Hang my vacuum. A month or two ago, I finally got a new vacuum (this one)to replace one that I got in college! It's cordless (which is awesome for getting my entire house done at once), but it needs to be hung up. Right now I just leave it near whatever outlet is closest. Since it doesn't have a locking mechanism, it has to lie down, so hanging it up will make it look so much better and keep everything more organized.
• Finish GBBO bakes. The finale of Great British Bake Off happened last week, and I'm two weeks behind on my technical bakes (and have to write up my most recent bake still!). Since I was self-quarantining, I haven't been to the store in a few weeks and need a few ingredients for those last two..which look amazing by the way. Really excited to finish these off!
• Haleakala Rides. This was a goal to finish in my October goals and I didn't end up finishing then and only have two left, so I want to do those in December.
• Finish up bathroom. Similar to the kitchen, there are a few last-minute touches that I need in my bathroom makeover- grouting the tiles and hanging a towel rack. These honestly should be pretty quick and easy, but are taking me forever to do...

25 Days of Christmas

I've been in a painting funk lately, so I decided to give myself a new challenge and paint something Christmasy every day in December. I wrote down a bunch of ideas, from beloved characters like the Grinch to a more generic idea like gingerbread houses. I'm excited to see what I can make, and I'll be sharing my creations daily on Tik Tok!

What are your December goals?