Lifestyle

2020 June Goal Reflection

Jessica
2020 June Goal Reflection

In an effort to actually maintain my 2020 goals, because they are in fact good for me, I figured I would blog about them. This seems to be a good medium for reflection and accountability for me. Soooo let’s see how I did in June, shall we?

1. Find a morning prayer routine

Not exactly in the morning, but I did the #rendyourhearts Novena to the Sacred Heart of Jesus from June 11 to June 18 for an end to racial violence and injustice. It beautifully went from the date of our wedding anniversary to the eve of Juneteenth.

The #rendyourhearts novena included:

  • St. Michael the Archangel Prayer
  • Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary

Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil; May God rebuke him, we humbly pray; And do thou, O Prince of the Heavenly Host, by the power of God, thrust into hell Satan and all evil spirits who wander through the world for the ruin of souls. Amen.

2. Travel internationally relatively cheaply at least once

Well no, this is an obvious bust for June, I was hoping that we could get it in for Thanksgiving or Winter Break but I’m not sure how safe international travel will be even then. *fingers crossed*

3. Finish our master bathroom renovation

We’ve finally decided on what art to put in over the toilet, a shelf and towel hooks and found a double covered hamper we love. Now just to convince Will to purchase/build/hang what we want. 🙂

My job is as the #1 motivator of my husband and he is the fixer/doer of the house things. 🙂 Our balance works for us.

4. Work out at least twice a week

Week 1:

  • Wednesday, June 3: 1.5 hour hike with a friend
  • Thursday, June 4: what was supposed to be a 3 mile run that got cut short due do bizzare morning rain
  • Saturday, June 5: BodyRock – Break Free HardCORE Workout (14:46) + Nike Training Club – Bi’s and Tri’s (14 minutes)

Week 2:

Week 3:

  • Sunday, June 14: 3 mile jog/walk (I’m a very slow runner)
  • Wednesday, June 17: Nike Training Center – Boxer Core (20:00) + 2 hour hike
  • Thursday, June 18: 1.5 hour hike
  • All this week – a ton of evening walks (usually 2-3 miles at a time)

Week 4:

  • Monday, June 22: a leisurely hour and a half hike with a friend
  • Tuesday, June 23: half hour neighborhood walk
  • Thursday, June 25: 6.17 mile hike (I don’t know the time, 3 hours maybe?)
  • Friday, June 26: 30 minute neighborhood walk with my mom
  • Saturday, June 27: we hung out at the pool, does that count? lol + 67 minute walk (~3 miles) with my parents
  • Sunday, June 28: 79 minutes total of walking (2 sessions)

Week 5:

  • Monday, June 29: 20 minute run & 45 minute walk

5. Build a bookcase for our library

lolol this will probably the only blank goal by December

6. Do not purchase new clothes unless I get rid of something first

I bought 2 tank tops because 2 of mine were ruined & needed 2 undershirts tanks for the same reason. I also bought a black t-shirt dress because now that we hardly leave the house I need more comfy dresses that still look cute (total $53 because I had to spend at least $50 for free shipping).

To balance it out, I got rid of one pair of “paperbag waist” pants (who names pants like that!?) because they just didn’t hit me at flattering parts and I finally let them go.

I also bought a shirt from a Catholic company, Brick House in the City, because she has been doing AMAZING social justice work on social media in alignment with the Black Lives Matters/Police Brutality protests. I am all about supporting the work of those who are standing up for things I believe in. The shirt was like $25.

I also bought 4 new cloth masks (apparently the new hottest 2020 fashion trend lol. . .). I finally found some with adjustable straps because my face is apparently not big enough for full-on adult masks lol (these do not count as “new clothes” in my eyes but I wanted to include the $25 purchase here)

7. Reduce our grocery bill by $100 a month (it’s like $800 right now!)

Week 1:

  • Tuesday, June 2: $3.99 at Publix (I just needed salsa. . .ya know, the basics?)
  • Saturday, June 6: $175.89 at Winn-Dixie

Week 2:

  • No groceries! yay

Week 3:

  • Tuesday, June 16: $221.84 at Winn-Dixie

Week 4:

  • No groceries this week!

Week 5:

  • Monday, June 29: Zadi Halal Grocery: $50.94 + Aldi: $71.52

Grocery TOTAL for May: $524.18

Restaurant TOTAL: $283.03 ($130 was our anniversary dinner)

8. Finish decorating the living spaces in our home

Yay! We’re moving in the right direction! We purchased a triptych canvas for the wall above our couch of one of Will’s photos from Chichen Itza from our Yucatan trip 2 years ago. And we got a fantastic discount & 2.5% cash back. Saweeet :)))

*Check out my Instagram for the final product!

9. Read and/or listen to at least 30 books

I do a big book review at the end of the year but these are the books I have read or listened to in June:

10. Blog at least once a week (or 52 times over the year)

I successfully blogged 13 times this month:

  1. 2020 May Goal Reflection
  2. The First Amendment & 2020 America
  3. Lesson Plan: Hong Kong Protests via Twitter
  4. Teacher Tips: Surviving Summer & Social Distancing Edition
  5. Dante’s Inferno: “Love, that excuses no one loved from loving.” (Circle 2)
  6. Lesson Plan: Hong Kong Protests via Twitter
  7. Pestilence & Prayer: Vita of Sts. Cosmas & Damian (11)
  8. Fourth Wedding Anniversary
  9. Dante’s Inferno: “Minotaurs, Centaurs, and Harpies, Oh My!” (Circle 7)
  10. Dante’s Inferno: “There Are Worse Things I Could Do” (Circle 8)
  11. 2016 Columbia Spring Break: Budget Reflection
  12. Reality vs Planning: 2016 Columbia Spring Break
  13. Dante’s Inferno: “There is no deceit in death. It delivers precisely what it has promised.”

11. Transform part of my backyard into some kind of garden

We made a verbal & design commitment to do raised beds in the backyard as part of our fourth wedding anniversary (fruits & flowers).

12. Practice yoga at least once a month

Here are the following times I practiced yoga:

13. Cook a meal 100% out of my pantry at least every other week

I slacked off the first two weeks of June, in my 2-week summer slump, but then got back into the groove week three. Totally forgot to share meals on Instagram though.

14. Apply to (& get accepted) to one summer program

Shockingly I did a lot in this category this month:

  1. I worked on the “Women and Politics in 20th-Century America” & “American Immigration History” online self-paced summer courses by Gilder Lehrman.
  2. I finished up a short course called  “Teaching the Arab-Israeli Conflict with Primary Sources” that I had started in May.
  3. Week 3 of June was the grueling AP Art History Exam Reading of 35 hours starting at a computer grading essays.
  4. On June 18 I got an email that I was accepted to the Uberoi Foundation Fellowship for Teaching Dharmic Traditions Summer Program (but did not start on coursework yet)
  5. Will & I are teaching virtual PD this summer for our district. We had 2 morning teaching sessions this month.

15. Host someone over for dinner at least once a month

FAT NO! Especially now with rates dramatically increasing where we live (we’re now a Florida hotspot).

16. Write a letter (& mail it!) at least once per month

ughhh noooooo….

17. See at least 5 artworks from the AP Art History 250 Curriculum

I’m not seeing any art in person anytime soon but I did the AP Art History essay grading for College Board in June so let’s pretend that counts.

18. Have a cheap date with my hubby at least once a month

Certainly NOT cheap but we went out to a nice dinner of cava & paella (our tradition) for our fourth wedding anniversary. And then on a Saturday out doing necessary errands we stopped to get some iced tea & walk around downtown Winter Park (social distancing style). It’s a small thing, but nice to get out while still trying to be safe.

19. Get at least a 65% pass rate for my students in AP World History

I can’t do anything now but wait until the scores come out in early July! *fingers crossed*

20. Vote Trump out of office (!!!!)

This whole month has had so much anger & trying to not let that anger get the best of me. I’m angry at the narrative “Well George Floyd’s death was a tragedy but they charged the cops with murder, why are people still angry?” THEY’RE ANGRY BECAUSE THIS SHIT KEEPS HAPPENING AND YOU DON’T CARE TO NOTICE. No one is protesting over one death, they’re protesting because a huge part of America does not care to notice what is happening in their country.

And I see you, so many Catholics and Christians, struggling with firmly believing all people are equal but can’t jump on the “bandwagon” because the Black Lives Matter Movement doesn’t align to all their hopes and dreams. No organization will have everything you want in it, unless you are the founder lol, but then you had better take a hard damn look at yourself if you vote for Trump. Will you explain away his racism, his sexism, his lack for human life, with the excuse “he’s the lesser of two evils”?

I firmly, firmly believe it is no longer about policies and differing platforms; you cannot cannot support human rights and vote for Trump. I will not unfriend you or stop talking to you but I will not expect you to ever care about me, a minority woman living in America.

JMF

By Jessica

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