Another month gone, and it’s finally August. July sort of disappeared on me, but probably because I was busy doing some pretty exciting things! For one, I went to Camp Bisco earlier this month. There is still plenty to be written on that trip, so be ready! I also coached my last swim meet where three of my swimmers qualified for state finals! It was an awesome way to top of my last season of coaching. Aside from that, I’ve been going on interviews, spending a lot of time with family, and helping my mom prepare for my brother’s wedding (which is today!). So, let’s check in on my list and see what progress I made in July.
Completed will be bolded. In Progress will be italicized. Incomplete items will stay normal.
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Start date: May 15, 2015
End date: February 9, 2018 {3 COMPLETE, 98 TO GO} |
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6. Do at least 10 random acts of kindness. {1/10}
8. Have a conversation with 20 strangers {5/20} 10.Do at least 10 new watercolor paintings. {3/10} 11.Try 15 new recipes from my Food Faves board. {1/15} [Mexican Corn Dip] 22. Swim 3,000 laps (42 miles). {84/3,000} 41. Put $10 in savings for every goal I cross off this list. {3/101} 45. Go to two new music festivals. {2/2} CounterPoint [5.22.15]. Camp Bisco [7.15.15-7.19.15] 49. Listen to 10 classic rock albums all the way through. {1/10} [Rumours - Fleetwood Mac (1977)], 79. Publish 100 posts on my blog. {21/100} 82. Get 50 people to subscribe to my blog. {15/50} 92. Learn how to do custom lettering & hand typography. |
Goal #45 is officially checked off. Check out my post on Camp Bisco! And, I unintentionally made a lot of progress in my Send Good Vibes category. I had forgotten about goal #8 if we're being honest, and as it turns out I talk to strangers a lot more than I thought I did when I came up with these. So, I decided for the purposes of this list I would only count the conversations that are helpful, inspiring, or compassionate in some way. The specific reason for this goal is because I want to practice stepping out of my comfort zone, I guess.
I think its an amazing thing when you can meet someone and in the first five minutes of talking have an impactful conversation. One that stuck out happened while I was at Bisco, hanging out on the lawn at the main stage. This wandering hippie type of guy sort of bumped into us (by that I mean hit us with a nerf gun), and he started to talk our ears off about his philosophies and nature and the importance of sharing knowledge with other people. I decided I would make him a watercolor painting as a ‘thank you for the good conversation’ gesture. So in that one scenario, I added to goal #6, #8 and #10. The whole weekend was a 'spread good vibes' kind of crew, but I'll get to that another day!
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I'm also very happy with how another one of my watercolor paintings turned out. I made two for Vinnie during our trip, and I couldn't be happier with the results. Getting back into watercoloring has reminded me why I put this on my list in the first place; it's an expressive art that I feel complete peace when doing. Watercolors bring out my inner creative spirit in a completely unique way. It makes sense that water is my preferred medium, because of my deep connection to the ocean and all types of water. I love the beautiful art that water is capable of creating, and many times the droplets will follow a path of their own and direct the paint in a way that could never be recreated. Vinnie even made me my own little art gallery in his room where my paintings are hanging. It means so much to me that he realizes how special art is to me, and that he appreciates it in his own way.
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Back on track here, I'm again disappointed that my fitness goals are being neglected. Thanks to swim team, I was motivated enough to add to goal #22. I thought after college I'd have more time to workout, but I'm finding that that's just another joke of adulthood. Once again, I will (really really) try to use this month to catch up on my fitness goals!
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On a higher note, I began making progress with goal #11! I love cooking, but I have a lot of favorite standby recipes that I gravitate towards before I’ll jump in and make something completely new (hence why this goal is on the list!). One night Vinnie and I decided that we wanted to have a taco night, and I thought it was the perfect opportunity to try out this Mexican Corn Dip recipe that I had been drooling over on Pinterest. It was actually super easy to make, and while mine didn’t come out as pretty as the one from Damn Delicious, it sure did taste good. It was super easy to make, so consider giving it a shot!
Goal #49 has to do with music (one of my favorite things in the world), so I knew it would be a fun one to work on! Ever since I could talk, I've been singing classic rock songs. My parents listened to Rolling Stones, David Bowie, Paul McCartney, Led Zeppelin, The Eagles and countless others on each of the many car trips we took as a family. I thank them for my good taste in music, but I never properly learned which song was which until I got older (or really until my brother Joey learned it all and taught me). I don't know a lot of albums by name, so in an effort to change that, this goal made the list. I started crossing it off on the way up to North Carolina for Joey's wedding, which I thought was fitting because he's a big reason why I'm such a rock and roll fan.
The first album I chose was Rumours by Fleetwood Mac. In case you didn't know this, Stevie Nicks is my spirit animal. Well, not quite but I do have this deep appreciation for her spirit, and I feel it mirrors my own at times. I didn't realize how many songs I knew off this album!
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And then I heard some new ones too, so it was a really fun time listening to Rumours all the way through. Dreams is one of my all-time favorite songs, so it was cool to hear it in album order with the rest of the tracks. And of course Don't Stop and Go Your Own Way are classics! I was surprised to learn that The Chain was a song by Fleetwood Mac. I had heard this plenty of times before but just never knew the name of it! You Make Loving Fun was sort of the same situation, and I had never gave it a good listen before, but it's an awesome song. And then the album closes out with Gold Dust Woman, which is another favorite of mine that I never knew the name of! I picked a great album to explore, and it's made me very excited for the next nine of them! If you have any suggestions for a classic rock album I should check out, let me know! I'm always looking for ideas.
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The blog posts keep coming, so I'm making steady progress on goal #79, and because of that goal #82 is picking up quite some steam as well! I keep getting more and more ideas for posts to write, so I hope I'll be able to keep up with it all. You'll just have to stay tuned and find out! Also, be on the lookout for a post about the chalkboard menu I wrote out for the rehearsal dinner. It will touch on my plans for goal #92.
So far each month has been so unique, with a good variety of goals being worked on across different categories. I'm excited to see what August's mix will look like! Until then, all of you should start brainstorming a list of your own and see where it takes you.
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