Lifestyle

2021 July Goals Reflection

Jessica

If 2020 has taught me anything it is that I have much less control over my life than I could fathom. Without further ado, my somewhat boring goals for 2021!

1. Build proper storage in our garage &/or attic (to finally get the stuff junk out of all our closets)

Garage is done. We actually didn’t have to build anything, just reorganized & moved things around to maximize storage better. Whew!

I’m not sure the attic is in the *final* state Will wants it in but he spent three long, sweaty days up there putting down plywood to maximize our storage. Even if it is not totally “done” – it stores everything we want up there so it is DONE for now.

2. Travel outside the state of Florida at least once.

Does it count that Will got to go to Atlanta while I had to stay home? I asked both my baby doctors & they’re like “We’ll we can’t legally stop you but girl you better know where the best hospital in the city is & write down all your complications and be prepared to accidently have a baby in Georgia.” My response: “yeah, you’re right. I’ll stay home.”

lmaoooo nope! Little baby Furi decided to derail Will’s trip and arrive early on Friday, July 9!

3. Drink at least 8 glasses of water a day.

Much much better with this now thanks due to breastfeeding! I basically spend all day at the fridge filling up our water bottles. I almost exclusively use an cute 20 oz tumbler with straw because its easiest with the baby. Here is the link from Be A Heart Design: https://beaheart.com/products/tumblers

4. Spend an average less than $650/month on groceries.

When we got pregnant Will & I started talking about what current lifestyle routines may need to be amended or changed to make the transition with a little one easier. One of the first things was food shopping. Pre-baby I went food shopping twice a week (the first one was the BIG shoping & the second was just to get us through the weekend to reduce food waste) & I made a 2-week meal plan. I am keeping the 2-week plan, because it helps me to plan better and not waste food, but we are going to start using a food delivery service for the Monday food shopping to save me some time (& it’ll probably save me money because I am not buying random BOGO stuff lol).

Week 1, July 1-4 (super short “week”)

  • On list:
    • $85.50 at Aldi (as much as I could find there for the 2 week rotation; now with gestational diabetes I’m spending more money on keto-friendly snacks *eye roll*)
  • Off list:
    • $10.60 ay Aldi (coconut water, eggs, Halloumi cheese – this came up in a recipe I made last week but I substituted for something else because I had never heard of it and BAM there it is – so I got it)

TOTAL: $96.10

Week 2, June 5-11

  • On list:
    • $23.89 at Target
    • $38.80 at Winn-Dixie (just a few things I couldn’t do with my Target pick-up order)
    • $25.06 at Publix
  • Off list:
    • $16.27 at Winn-Dixie (Blue Moon was BOGO, brown rice was on sale & we were low, and cold fried chicken was on sale & I knew it was too late for me to cook)
    • $9.48 (some yummy bars were BOGO & I couldn’t resist a fizzy elderflower drink)

TOTAL: $113.50

BABY FURI WAS BORN ON FRIDAY, JULY 9!!! Sooo keep that in mind for the next few weeks for grocerses (lots of friends dropping off food, lots of quick bites & not much meal planning going on).

Week 3, June 12-18

  • On list:
    • $19.81 at Publix (just cold cuts & random stuff)
  • Off list:
    • $13.98 at Publix (went in for prescriptions, walked out with on sale ravioli)

TOTAL: $33.79

Week 4, June 19-25

*Note: my mom bought our groceries this week

  • On list:
    • $0
  • Off list:
    • $0

TOTAL: $0

Week 5, June 26-31

*This is my first time using Instacart – absolutely needed with this baby!). A lot of these food items are stocking up on snacks & are to make freezer meals.

  • On list:
    • $135.90 at Aldi (using Instacart + $16.20 service fee & tip)
    • $100.67 at Publix
  • Off list:
    • $46.53 at Publix

TOTAL: $283.10

  • Monthly Grand Total On List: $429.68
  • Monthly Grand Total Off List: $96.81
  • MONTH GRAND TOTAL: $526.49

5. Write 2 art history blog posts a month.

Not with baby here!! Lord maybe in August or September or October when I have this babe on a schedule? lol probably not

6. Keep my potted herbs alive (& maybeeee add more green things to my backyard).

Keeping baby alive > keeping plants alive. All I’ve got to say.

7. Use my slow cooker at least every other week.

This month, one of my major goals is to prep meals that are freezer/slow cooker friendly for when baby comes. So here are the meals I made OR prepped that work for the slow cooker.

Baby literally came a few days before I was going to start my cooking palooza! But my mom stayed with us for the first 2 weeks and she thankfully made some meals to freeze. We did however use the slow cooker to make Pork Carnitas.

8. Go for a jog or long walk every week.

So I got diagnosed with Gestational Diabetes (just add it to the growing medical shit list) which means I now need to go on walks or be active for about 20 minutes after every meal.

  • Week 1, July 1-4: our annual Fourth of July neighborhood walk was EPIC this year – we had some professional-grade fireworks in the area
  • Week 2, June 5-11: funny enough we went for a walk (while I pulled, yes pulled, Will on his longboard) the night I went into labor. Maybe that was it??
  • Week 3, June 12-18: We did 2 short little walks with the baby in his stroller but by the end of the week I started feeling too sore so I waited a few days to resume
  • Week 4, June 19-25: we went for a 1.5 mile walk after dinner on Sunday
  • Week 5: June 26-31: more after dinner stroller walks

9. Practice yoga at least twice a month.

I need to wait for my 6 weeks postpartum appointment to start “real” yoga but around 3-4am I am definitely using meditation and stretching to stay awake and focused on that 1-2 weeks newborn all night cluster feeding.

10. Read at least 5 books classified as “classic literature.”

I thought I’d be reading more while breastfeeding but I kinda need both hands or holding a phone is all I can manage (maybe an e-book would be better than paper books?)

Still working on Meditations by Marcus Aurelius in short spurts as I sit in doctors offices.

Finished:

11. Grow my emergency savings account to at least $5,000.

At the end of the month my emergency savings account was at: $1,436.97 (-$1.238.75 from last month).

I totally forgot that I always pay our homeowners insurance from my savings account in July so this went down by about $1,000.

12. Vacuum at least once a week.

  • Week 1, July 1-4: I did not vacuum this week – my mom paid for a cleaning lady to come July & August so I’m being lazy until then
  • Week 2, June 5-11: no
  • Week 3, June 12-18: my mom vacuumed for me
  • Week 4, June 19-25: I don’t think so
  • Week 5: June 26-31: cleaning lady came – yayyyy

13. Focus on working out my arms more.

I’m still doing quite a bit of manual labor: emptying, cleaning & organizing the pantry & finishing the nursery. Oh and then holding a baby = new mom workout!

14. √ Finish our patio decorating.

DONE DONE DONE – now it just needs to be less blazing hot so we can actually enjoy it!

15. Spend an average of LESS than an hour and a half on my phone per day.

Heck no. I’m googling newborn things literally all day & night. Ugh hope this calms down when I get more confident?

16. Buy no books (unless I have a gift card of course).

Nothing this month.

17. Do no school work on Sunday.

In summer, the days blend together a bit more but I do want to make an effort to have Sundays “set apart,” which is not easy when you have to try to remember what day of the week it is in the first place.

  • Week 1, July 1-4: I did no school work period.
  • Week 2, June 5-11: I got 2 full units of AP World History plans done
  • Week 3, June 12-18: baby came July 9th!!! Actually managed to finish 2-3 lessons
  • Week 4, June 19-25: didn’t get anything done this week
  • Week 5: June 26-31: negative

18. Call someone out of the blue to chat at least once a month.

I actually called my cousin out of the blue to talk about religion and politics on the Fourth of July no less. lol

It’s not exactly “out of the blue” but I’m definitely talking to a lot of family members as this baby arrived.

19. Finish decorating our two extra bedrooms.

Besides wanting a rug in the nursery we are DONE!!!

20. Organize an intentional date with my hubby once a month.

Not sure anyone will count this but we shared glasses of prosecco at in bed the 3rd night with our newborn baby.

21. Start a family.

I meannnnn BABY is here!!!

If you are interested in the blog version of this baby saga, here you go:

JMF

By Jessica

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