Goals - October 2013

Goals – October 2013

I apologize for being MIA lately. Life is crazy for me right now.

I’ve spent a lot of time reflecting over the past few weeks and one of the things that has been bugging me has been my goals. I set goals every month, but really, my goals have been my to-do list. I am not ok with that anymore. My goals should be more than just a to-do list. And I should set some long-term goals too. I’m not sure I’m ready to set those today, but I am going to be less “to-do list” and more “big picture” in my goal setting moving forward. I also think you’ll see goals repeat themselves, for good reason, as the months go on.

That said, I’ll update you on how September went before moving on to my new style of goals.

Professional Goals - September 2013

Finish fall mailer. – Nope. Not done yet. Hoping for end of next week.

Finish Annual Report. – Nope. If this goes out in November, I’ll be happy. And surprised. It’s out of my hands now.

Finish analysis of 12-13. – Done. Many learning curves with a new staff member helping me with this.

Present at the Advancement committee meeting this month. – Done. 

Calendar plan winter and spring (fall is done). – Yes.

Reach out to MS and LS principals about Grandparent Day. – Yes. 

Start website overhaul. – Nope. This HAS to be done in the next few weeks before we launch our campaign.

Finalize volunteers. Not quite. 

Get art work and my diplomas up on the wall in my new office. Art work = check. Diplomas = still somewhere in our garage storage.

Personal Goals - September 2013

Workout three days a week. I was until two weeks ago. I haven’t done anything but walk Winnie since.

Yoga once a week. I’ve gone twice in the past week. It is amazing what yoga does for my mind, body, and soul. 

Figure out our plan to redoing the basement. That’s on hiatus.

Have a puppy play date with our neighbors. Yes.

Goggle hangout with my besties so we can “meet” Kristen’s daughter. Yes, this was Oct 2 but I’m still counting it! 

Take Winnie on at least one long walk (i.e., around a lake) every week. We do long walks every day now. I love that time together. 

Finish one item from my summer to-do list: “B” cork project, selling some wedding stuff on Craig’s list, or sorting through pictures and music on my phone and computer. Nope, nope, and nope. I did finally get started on the B project; just not finished. 

Stain our deck. Yes. I didn’t do anything on this project so it really should not have been on my list. But good for Michael for getting it done!

Clean out our flower boxes and get yard ready for fall. Not yet. If the weather cooperates on an upcoming weekend (this weekend is supposed to be total crap), then I can do this.

Change out my closet from spring/summer to fall/winter. I’ve taken my spring clothes out, but haven’t brought my fall/winter stuff upstairs yet.

Go shopping for fall clothes. Nope.

Host my annual Miss America party. Yes, always a good time.

Girls Night sometime this month. Canceled. Hoping for one in late October.

Read 3 books. Yes, I’ve been doing a ton of reading lately.

Menu plan each week and stick to it. Nope. We’ve been really bad about this lately.

Blog three times a week.  Hahaha…

Do another “life planning” session with Michael. While not as formal, I would say we’ve done a few of them.

Plan our travel calendar for the next year. Not quite, though we did book our plane tickets for skiing over new year’s with Michael’s fam.

Go out on a date, just Michael and me. Yes. It was so nice. And needed.

Enjoy our one year anniversary! Of course.

Professional goals

1. Re-read my notes from Lean In, take one thing from my notes, and implement in my career.
2. Answer the following questions: What skills have I learned from my jobs? What skills do I want to learn? If I cannot get those skills from this job, how can I learn them? 
3. Answer the following questions: What do I bring to the table in my job? What should I be bringing to the table?
4. Read at least one business/leadership book. 
5. Implement new volunteer management plan.
6. Take at least one parent volunteer to coffee to build relationships with my volunteers.
7. Become a more active volunteer for my local professional organization. I have been on a committee for three months, but have yet to make a meeting. 

Personal Goals

1. Commit to yoga at least once a week. Commit to running two days a week. Do them both because they reduce stress, calm anxiety, and make me feel good.
2. Relax and go with the flow. Be more spontaneous. Everything does not have to be planned.
3. Work on my listening skills.
4. Go on at least 2 dates with Michael this month: dinner, apple-picking, hiking, bike riding, etc.
5. Start the Michael and Jenni Reading Club – read a book at the same time and discuss. 
6. Take more pictures of me and Michael.
7. Reconnect with my girlfriends. 
8. Eat better. Cut down on sugar. 
9. With Michael, finalize a budget plan.
10. Walk with Winnie and Michael every day. We’ve been doing a lot of Winnie and Jenni or Winnie and Michael walks lately. We need family walks.
11. Stop letting Winnie keeping me from things I want/need to do. She can stay in the kitchen if she’s going nuts/getting in my way. Stop making excuses and get stuff done.
12. Tell Michael how I love, support, and cherish him every day. 

Goals - August 2013

July seemed to go by fast, and yet, it seems like forever ago. I can’t believe it was only 30 days ago that we were at the cabin for the 4th of July weekend!

Per usual, I did ok on my goals. Hey, there’s always room for improvement.

Professional Goals - July 2013

Finalize and send thank you card. Done.

Start working on all my end-of-fiscal-year reports. Started. There are so many.

Start website overhaul. Nope, not yet.

Send volunteer thank yous. Finalizing today. I’m done with my part but waiting on a volunteer.

Meet with graphic designer about next year’s projects. Done. We met with the writer today. But I will be shocked if these are mailed by our goal date (2nd week of October).

Move into my new office (supposed to be done by the end of the month – I’ll believe it when I see it). YES! I’m in it! I love it! 

Celebrate two years at my school. Michael and I gave each other a kiss, as our work anniversaries are the same day.

Take the last week of the month/first week of July off for a stay-cation :-) I did and it was SO nice!

Personal Goals - July 2013

Complete my first (and only?) triathlon! YES! Read my recap here.

Keep working out post-tri. Eh, I could be better about this. I’ve done a few runs and one swim, but no bike rides. I also want to get back into yoga.

Eat healthy lunches. I’m doing fairly well at this.

Menu plan each week using things from our garden – herbs and tomato recipes needed! We’ve been eating lots of bruchetta and finding creative uses for our jalepenos.

Enjoy our long-weekend at the cabin for the 4th of July. It was awesome (and seems like FOREVER ago).

Have a fun weekend with the S family. It was a blast because my sister Jessi and my parents made it too! Recap to come.

Have a fun weekend in Minot for my cousin’s wedding. It was also a good time!

Meet with financial planner. Done. Now the ball is in our court.

Lunch with Michelle. It ended up being a breakfast but it was great to see her.

Start puppy kindergarten for Winnie. Yes and she graduates tomorrow.

Go out on a date night. Nope, but we had several at home. July was just insanely busy for us, and August is shaping up to be even worse. I cannot wait until September.

Check off at least two things on my summer to-do list. I got a few done (but none of the ones I really wanted to do): Got Winnie groomed, deep cleaned the house, returned some shoes, and renewed my passport. Still on my list are my “B” cork project, selling some wedding stuff on Craig’s list (I know – I should have done this eons ago), and sorting through pictures and music on my phone and computer. 

Continue training Winnie – potty training, walking, no nipping, etc. She still has a few accidents but her nipping and walking have improved. But she recently learned how to jump on the dining room chairs, which I'm not enjoying very much.

Blog three times a week. Hahaha…

Professional Goals - August 2013

Finalize all my end-of-fiscal-year reports. 

Start website overhaul. 

Send volunteer thank yous. 

Get approval for our fall mailer and begin working on it with the writer.

Get art work and my diplomas up on the wall in my new office.

Send out a mailer that we have been wanting to do for two years.

Send stewardship mailer to class of 2013 parents.

Finalize AF chairs and division chairs.

Personal Goals - August 2013

Workout three days a week.

Yoga once a week.

Bring my lunch until school lunch starts. No more going out for lunch.

Have a great “couples weekend” at the cabin.

Labor Day weekend at the cabin.

Figure out our plan to redoing the basement - new drywall and new flooring (we're toying with the idea of a cork floor instead of carpet).

Have a puppy play date with our wedding officiant and her new puppy (and take pictures). We’ve rescheduled 3 times between us so let’s hope the 4th time is a charm.

Finalize financial things with our planner.

Goggle hangout with my besties after Kristen has her new daughter. I will propose times and dates so we can all “meet” her.

Take Winnie on at least one long walk (i.e., around a lake) every week.

Finish items on my summer to-do list: “B” cork project, selling some wedding stuff on Craig’s list, and sorting through pictures and music on my phone and computer. No more Fridays off so this could be challenging. 

Read two books.

Plan to NOT have anything in the evenings at least once during the work week.

Go to the State Fair and eat to my heart's desire. No wedding in 8 days this year!

Blog three times a week. Hahaha…

Tri Training - Week 3

It’s week 3 of training and so far, so good. We ended up taking last Saturday off (there was a thunderstorm when we planned to run, then we went to the cabin) so no days off this week. Next, we have our first brick (bike and then immediately run) – not looking forward to that…

Sunday – run 30 minutes (moved from Saturday to Sunday)
Monday – bike 40 minutes (moved from Sunday to Monday)
Tuesday – run 30 minutes
Wednesday – bike 45 minutes
Thursday – swim 100 yard warm up, 200 yards easy, 4x100 yards with 20 sec rest, 50 yard cool down
Friday – off (I plan to go to yoga before work)
Saturday – run 30 minutes
Sunday – off

We saw my parents this week and they commented on how skinny Michael looks. They made no comments about me – waa waa. I have seen little change in my weight, despite lots of workouts. So I’m going to work harder on my food choices – more veggies and healthy snacks, less bread (my favorite so this is hard) and sugar. I’m not doing this tri to lose weight, but it sure would be nice to see the scale go down a bit during the training process.

Sunshines and Creeps

Sunshine to good workouts this week, including yoga on Monday. That felt amazing!

Creep to constantly eating. That is likely related to the workouts but I need to do better with my snacking.

Sunshine to finding out about a practice session opportunity for our tri. It's a guided tour of the actual bike course, which will be so helpful for Michael and I since we've never done this before.

Sunshine to Michael making dinner for me last night. Even when I got home late from work and could help, he insisted on doing it himself (I couldn't cross "the line" in the kitchen). It was very sweet of him.

Sunshine to having lunch with a friend in my professional field. We used to be counterparts when I had my alumni job but she has a new job now too. It was really great to see her and catch up.

Sunshine to talking wedding stuff with that friend. I had sort of forgotten had much fun I had doing it all. But I do not miss the amount of time it took!

Creep to phone tag with Kristen this week. We will connect soon, I hope!

Sunshine to last night's series finale of The Office. I love that show and thought the finale was perfect.

Sunshine to all the yard and garden work we've done lately. We spent all of last weekend working outside and the yard looks so much better. We also planted our garden: tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, parsley, sage, basil, thyme, cilantro, peppers, and a bunch of flowers, including three dahlias this year. I LOVE dahlias!

Creep to the weather - rainy. We are supposed to go to the Twins game tonight.

Sunshine to going to the cabin tomorrow. We have lots to do - cleaning, yard work, etc. but once we get it done, we won't have to do much more this season. Woohoo!

Goals - May 2013

Goals time. I did ok in April, considering how many goal I had. Let's hope May is more feasible!

Purple = complete
Black = incomplete

Professional Goals - April 2013

Work on strategy for the rest of the fiscal year. – Done.

Work on alum giving pages on website. Half done.

Recruit reunion volunteers. Working on it.

Recruit golf and tennis hosts for August event. Will do this month.

Only work late one night per week. Done.

Update my profile on LinkedIn with new job information. Done.

Hire someone for my job! Nope. Will we ever?!?!?!

Personal Goals - April 2013

Begin triathlon training. – We officially began on April 30 (11 week training program).

Yoga once a week - I need this. I went three times so almost once a week!

Eat healthier lunches. Working on this. 

Make a little "care package" for Michael before his hand surgery (more on that in a later post). Did it.

Go to the cabin for a weekend. We never made it, but we are going this weekend.

Move into our new room at the cabin (the room currently has twin beds - we are putting in a queen). See previous post. We did order some really great bedding though! 

Organize the junk cabinet. Nope. That might have to wait until I have Fridays off this summer.

Get the yard/garden ready for planting (weather permitting). We started working on that last weekend. But we had several snow storms in April and now it’s supposed to snow 3-5” tonight so we didn’t do too much.

Go to a Twins game. Nope. Sometime this month though!

Have a date night. Yes.

Go on walks in the evenings. Yes.

Get the last wedding photo framed. Yes and they are up on the wall. I love the way they turned out. Sorry the pic is sideways!

Read three books. I read 2 and I’m halfway through 2 others (one being the 5th Harry Potter, which I’ve read 5 times already) so I’m counting it.

Enjoy our mystery vacation and turning 30 :-) Best birthday ever! Read about it here.

Also, this wasn’t a goal but I did finally get my wedding dress preserved :-)

Professional Goals - April 2013

Get the fiscal year end mailer out the door.

Take the “thank you” photo.

Finalize reunion volunteers and party locations.

Recruit golf and tennis hosts for August event. 

Only work late one night per week. 

Hire someone for my job!

Personal Goals - May 2013

Stick to triathlon training schedule.

Yoga once a week.

Eat healthier lunches. 

Try a new recipe.

Menu plan better each week.

Move into our new room at the cabin.

Plant garden/flowers.

Go to a Twins game. 

Go to my school’s spring musical (Hair Spray).

Have a date night with Michael.

Host Mother’s Day brunch.

Have a girls night.

Go on walks in the evenings. 

Read three books.

Blog three times a week.

Sunshines and Creeps

Sunshine to a short work week because I was serving as Michael's "responsible adult" after his surgery.

Creep to fainting when I saw Michael's hand out of the bandage for the first time. That's never happened to me before.

Sunshine to getting a temp in to help me do my old job. It's not ideal but at least I don't have to do it all myself anymore.

Creep to having to spend a lot of time teaching the temp what to do. And not catching a screw up she did today. Oh well...

Sunshine to dinner with Chad and Michelle tonight.

Sunshine to FINALLY having some nice weather. So excited to spend some time outside this weekend!!

Creep to my messy desk at work. I need to get organized.

Sunshine to yoga last Sunday. It was a really low-key class but it was so nice to just stretch and relax.

Sunshine to making the best buttermilk pancakes ever last weekend. SO AMAZING! We're making them again this weekend.

Goals - April 2013

It's the beginning of the month and that's means it's time for goals! With two weeks off, you'd think I'd get it all done. Not so much...

Purple = complete
Black = incomplete

Professional Goals - March 2013

Invitations out the door to DAA event. This is a must! Literally went out a month before the RSVP date. Not happy about this but at least they finally made it out the door.

Transition prep. Some is done but still have more to do.

Change that freaking calendar. I DID THIS! FINALLY!

Hire someone for my job so I can start my new one. Still haven't hired anyone. And was told that I have to do both now with no more help from my predecessor. Awesome.

Clean my desk. Yes, I just hope that I can keep it up.

Work only one day a week during Spring Break. Worked one day each week.

Enjoy time off the last two weeks of March. Yes I did :-)

Personal Goals - March 2013

Run/spin/swim three days a week. I did this 4-5 days a week. Now I need to get into the 6 days.

Yoga one day a week. Blarg.

Sign up for the triathlon. Yes! We are officially doing it! 

Try a new recipe. Tried a few - my favorite was our lemon-ricotta pancakes with berry compote.

Figure out what to do when Jessi visits. We had a great time :-) We shopped, cooked, went out for dinner with my parents (also in town) and played Settlers of Catan. It was great!

Do my March Madness bracket with Michael. This is our 4th year of it and we love it. Done and I sucked it right up (per usual).

Watch some March Madness games. Yes, have been able to watch lots of games. Even  the horrible injury heard 'round the world in yesterday's Louisville/Duke game. I'm still naseous thinking about it.

Enjoy Ski Trip 2013 with Jami and Chris. Yes, it was great. I still need to blog this.

Go to the cabin for a weekend. We went this past weekend and I did this.

Hang our wedding photos. Not yet. We are waiting for Michaels to have a sale on the frame we used so that we can get the last photo framed. It would like kind of dumb to hang the others with the missing photo.

Organize our junk cabinet. One of the few things on my to-do list that I didn't get to.

Enjoy two glorious weeks of Spring Break! I'd like two more :-)

Professional Goals - April 2013

Work on strategy for the rest of the fiscal year.

Work on alum giving pages on website.

Recruit reunion volunteers.

Recruit golf and tennis hosts for August event.

Only work late one night per week.

Update my profile on LinkedIn with new job information.

Hire someone for my job!

Personal Goals - April 2013

Begin triathlon training.

Yoga once a week - I need this.

Eat healthier lunches.

Make a little "care package" for Michael before his hand surgery (more on that in a later post).

Go to the cabin for a weekend.

Move into our new room at the cabin (the room currently has twin beds - we are putting in a queen).

Organize the junk cabinet.

Get the yard/garden ready for planting (weather permitting).

Go to a Twins game.

Have a date night.

Go on walks in the evenings.

Get the last wedding photo framed.

Read three books.

Enjoy our mystery vacation and turning 30 :-)

Goals – February 2013

I’ll say it again for the third year in a row – February is my least favorite month. Even though it’s the shortest month of the year, it is 28 LONG days! But despite my hate of February, I actually did ok on my personal goals this month. Professional goals, on the other hand, not so much.

Professional Goals - February 2013

Get through NYC event. Cancelled – I didn’t have to go. WOOHOO!

Invitations out the door to DAA event. Not done. It would take too long to explain why this is taking so long, but let me just say that it has nothing to do with me. I would have had them out the door three weeks ago if I could have. We need to get the invitations out the door so people come, especially since the event is April 19! I am waiting on approval from one more person and then I’m hoping our printer can finish and mail by early next week.

Send save the dates for Reunion Weekend. Done. I hate doing that. So glad I won’t have to next year.

Begin transition prep. Well, since we haven't hired anyone yet, I'm not in a hurry to do this.

Read one of the books I ordered. I did this! It was boring! :-)

Change that freaking calendar. GRR!

Hire someone for my job so I can start my new one. No. This was SOOOO frustrating. I will be lucky if we have someone in place by the middle of April.

Personal Goals – February 2013

Run/spin/swim three days a week. YES! More like 4-5, including swimming twice a week all month.

Yoga one day a week. This is where I’m slacking. I’m hoping to jump back on the bandwagon this month.

Sign up for the triathlon. Not yet. Must do this month before the price goes up.

Try a new restaurant. Yes – Café Lurcat.

Try a new recipe. Yes. Love our breakfast cookbook (3 recipes, all successful) and I made a new soup last week that was full of veggies and delicious.

Schedule couples dates with Lara and Jordan and Chad and Michelle. Not only did we schedule them, they even happened in the month of Feb.

Book plane tickets for Ski Trip 2013. Yes. We leave tomorrow!!!

Go to the cabin for a weekend. Yes and it was lovely. Will be going again this month.

Paint the kitchen and guest bathroom (or at least choose the colors). We painted the kitchen (twice) but not the bathroom yet. I might tackle that over spring break.

Select floor tile. This project has been put on hold. I haven’t found anything I like, and we’ve decided to go on a fun trip instead :-)

Order wedding photos. I finally did this! They are being framed right now so I hoping they are up on the wall in a few weeks.

Read two books. I read three. All were weird so I'm hoping for better luck this month.

Do our taxes. Done!

Professional Goals - March 2013

Invitations out the door to DAA event. This is a must!

Transition prep.

Change that freaking calendar.

Hire someone for my job so I can start my new one.

Clean my desk.

Work only one day a week during Spring Break.

Enjoy time off the last two weeks of March.

Personal Goals – March 2013

Run/spin/swim three days a week.

Yoga one day a week.

Sign up for the triathlon.

Try a new recipe.

Figure out what to do when Jessi visits.

Do my March Madness bracket with Michael. This is our 4th year of it and we love it.

Watch some March Madness games.

Enjoy Ski Trip 2013 with Jami and Chris.

Go to the cabin for a weekend.

Hang our wedding photos.

Organize our junk cabinet.

Enjoy two glorious weeks of Spring Break!

Goals: February 2013

Oh January – you were freaking freezing! And busy! And yet, I didn't do so hot on my goals, especially my work ones. What the heck did I do all month at work???

Purple Bold = complete
Black Bold = incomplete

Professional Goals - January 2013

Learn as much as I can at my conference this month. Done. I actually got some good takeaways.

Invitations out the door to NYC event. Yes. And RSVPs are low, which I knew they would be. I am so over this event.

Invitations out the door to DAA event. If we only had a date…

Send save the dates for Reunion Weekend. They are here but I haven’t sent them yet. Hopefully this month.

Begin transition prep. Trying to get started on it.

Read one of the books I ordered. I’ve read half of one.

Watch one of the webinars I ordered. Bahaha, maybe sometime this summer.

Change that freaking calendar. Nope. Why do I bother this???

Interview people for my job. We have interviews this week.

Personal Goals – January 2013

Run three days a week. Yes, but it was hard b/c I am so bored of a treadmill.

Yoga once a week. I went once. That’s a start.

Celebrate Michael’s birthday with special, fun surprises for him. It was a fun day!

Try at least two new recipes. Yes – I think we tried 6 this month, thanks to a new cookbook. YUM! I've made banana bread two weekends in a row.

Phone dates with Kristen, Steph, Jen, and Caitlin. I even SAW the first three but have failed to connect with Caitlin. 

Hang out with Chad and Michelle. Yes – finally!!!

Watch Miss America and talk with Kristie about it :-) Yes. The woman I wanted to win did not but oh well.

Figure out wedding stuff to sell and get on Craig's List. Nope. Spring Break goal.

Get my wedding dress preserved. Another spring break goal.

Paint the kitchen and guest bathroom. If we could only decide on paint colors. We have 3 1x1 squares in the bathroom and 2 in the kitchen.

Start planning our bathroom project. Not only are we planning, we’ve started! Paint = check! Now on to floor tile!

Take down outside Christmas lights. Done. We had to wait for a day when it wasn’t so cold or snowy so they were up until Jan 24 but we stopped turning them on on Michael’s birthday.

Start thinking about spring planting (yeah, I’m a nerd). Yes. Hydrangea, here I come!

Order wedding photos. Grr…

Read at least three books (I have a plane ride this month so I should be able to knock out one book on that). Yes! And I have so many more to read.

Professional Goals - February 2013

Get through NYC event. Yes. 

Invitations out the door to DAA event. 

Send save the dates for Reunion Weekend. 

Begin transition prep. 

Read one of the books I ordered..

Change that freaking calendar. 

Hire someone for my job so I can start my new one.

Personal Goals – February 2013

Run/spin/swim three days a week. 

Yoga one day a week.

Sign up for the triathlon.

Try a new restaurant.

Try a new recipe. 

Schedule couples dates with Lara and Jordan and Chad and Michelle.

Book plane tickets for Ski Trip 2013.

Go to the cabin for a weekend.

Paint the kitchen and guest bathroom (or at least choose the colors).

Select floor tile.

Order wedding photos. 

Read two books.

Do our taxes. Already done!

Goals: January 2013

Wow – it’s January 10 and I am finally back into blogging. So I should probably post my goals since we’re already 1/3 of the way through the month!

Purple Bold = complete
Black Bold = incomplete

Professional Goals – December 2012

Figure out the plan for the Distinguished Alumni/ae Award. We have a tentative plan with a date in two months. The problem is that the winners are 90 and 95 years old and they don’t have a sense of urgency when it comes to getting me their bio, invitation list, etc.

Finish planning regional events. I wish I was done with this!

Update my strategic plan. Done.

Finalize date for Reunion Weekend 2013. Done (and it’s my anniversary weekend – boo!)

Change my stupid calendar. I don’t even know why I bother writing this on here anymore. If I wait two more months, it will be accurate…

Personal Goals – December 2012

Run three days a week. Minus my time in ND, I achieved this so I'm giving it purple status.

Yoga once per week. Nope :-(

Make Michael’s parents an anniversary dinner. Did it and it was fun. Wow, that seems like a LONG time ago!

Try a new recipe. Nope – I just made a bunch of my usual Christmas cookies :-)

Figure out wedding stuff to sell and get on Craig's List. Nope (that seems to be my word of the month). I’ll tackle that some weekend this month.

Get my wedding dress preserved. Should have done that this month too but I did not.

Change my name with all my credit cards, subscriptions, etc. I have one more magazine to go.

Post about our Advent Calendar 2012 activities. I have one more post to write.

Phone dates with my friends. Ah –I am the worst friend ever.

Bake more Christmas cookies. I made a lot! I should bake less and talk on the phone more.

Work on my costume and character for my family’s murder mystery party (more on that later). Yes and it was fun.

Read like a crazy person so I can finish all my books before they are due. More like watched Parenthood like a crazy person. I did finish one book and I’m almost done with another. In full disclosure, I currently have 12 books checked out from the library.

Finish Christmas shopping. Done (obviously).

Professional Goals - January 2013

Learn as much as I can at my conference this month.

Invitations out the door to NYC event.

Invitations out the door to DAA event.

Send save the dates for Reunion Weekend.

Begin transition prep.

Read one of the books I ordered.

Watch one of the webinars I ordered.

Change that freaking calendar.

Interview people for my job.

Personal Goals – January 2013

Run three days a week.

Yoga once a week.

Celebrate Michael’s birthday with special, fun surprises for him.

Try at least two new recipes.

Phone dates with Kristen, Steph, Jen, and Caitlin.

Hang out with Chad and Michelle.

Watch Miss America and talk with Kristie about it :-)

Figure out wedding stuff to sell and get on Craig's List.

Get my wedding dress preserved.

Paint the kitchen and guest bathroom.

Start planning our bathroom project.

Take down outside Christmas lights.

Start thinking about spring planting (yeah, I’m a nerd).

Order wedding photos.

Read at least three books (I have a plane ride this month so I should be able to knock out one book on that).

Goals: November 2012

So November is already off to a busy start and I am behind on posting my goals. I have so many things I want to get done this month. Wish me luck!

I’ll post more about the honeymoon next week!

Purple Bold = complete
Black Bold = incomplete

Professional Goals – October 2012

Post surveys for Reunions. Done!

Follow up and thank volunteers. Done (before my boss even told me to do it).

Get Annual Fund fall info out the door. I stuffed the last of those buggers on Friday.

Update my calendar. Haha…it’s still March-June on that.

Update the strategic plan. Maybe I’ll get to that this month.

Personal Goals – October 2012

Weightlifting or yoga three times per week (not counting honeymoon week). How about once a week?

Cardio three times a week.  It’s hard to do when it’s so cold but we are going to keep going for now. Yes. We have kept up our running. But now it’s REALLY cold out so we are doing evening workouts. I do not like them nearly as much as our morning ones.

Write and send 75% of thank you cards. How about 100%?! Yay us!

Read at least three books.  Done. One was the worst book I’ve ever read. Do not read Big Girl Small.

Finish organizing the basement full of wedding gifts. Not only is this not done, but there are now several more things down there making it worst. What a disaster zone.

Start working on house plans and budget. We have the plans nearly done and are working on the budget.

Get pillows for the guest room shams. Done. I love the way our guest room looks now.

Finalize wedding albums. Done.

Finalize picture order and place it. This has been a total nightmare. I’ll blog about it someday.

Start thinking about where we are going for Ski Trip 2013. Not really yet.

Get my new Social Security Card and Drivers License. Done. Still waiting for my drivers license.

Try as many wines as possible on our honeymoon. I think I drank about 40+ wines. Some were just sips but like I’ve said, we drank a lot.

Try at least one brand-new food on our honeymoon. I tried lots of brand new things. The most notable was probably the scallop. I ate half of it and for someone who doesn’t eat any seafood, I think that’s pretty good.

Professional Goals – November 2012

Begin working on Distinguished Alumni/ae Award.

Begin planning for regional events.

Register for conference in DC in January.

Update my strategic plan.

Assist Alumni/ae Council with bylaws.

Work with volunteers on selecting date for Reunion Weekend 2013.

Personal Goals – November 2012

Run three days a week.

Yoga one morning per week.

Finalize picture order and place it.

Figure out wedding stuff to sell and get on Craig's List.

Meet with our mortgage lender.

Finalize house plans and timeline.

Change my name with all my credit cards, subscriptions, etc.

Get our Christmas tree. 

Decorate for Christmas (after Thanksgiving).

Work on Advent Calendar 2012 activities.

Make winter appointments - doctor, dentist, etc.

Get a facial. My skin is so dry right now :-(

Girls night with my used to live in Chicago-now live in Minneapolis friends.

Phone dates with my friends. I've hardly talked to anyone since the wedding. Bad Jenni!

Bake some Christmas cookies.

Organize our basement.

Start Christmas shopping.

Goals - October 2012

Sorry for the delay of posting my goals. It was a busy weekend and I just didn’t get around to it last week.

Also, today is our one month anniversary. Best month ever!

Purple Bold = complete
Black Bold = incomplete 

Professional Goals – September 2012

Get a "Look who's coming" page up on our website. – Done. It’s a pain in the butt to do everyday.

Meet with rental vendor and chef for Reception. Done. The event was last weekend.

Follow up with reunion volunteers once a week. It was daily by the end.

Update my calendar. Haha. It still shows March-June. I’ll get to it.

Update the strategic plan. Not yet.

Finalize AF volunteers. Done.

Finalize young alumni giving program. 75% done.

Personal Goals – September 2012

Weightlifting three times per week. I have done little since the wedding.

Cardio three times a week.  We are going to keep running at 5am. As much as I hate it, I also love it. We are still at 5-6 days a week.

One new recipe every week. Yes! This is fun.

Order thank you cards. I did this Oct 2 but it is done!

Start writing and sending thank you cards. I don’t have them yet but my goal is to get 75% done this month, and the rest the first week of November.

Read a book. Yay – I actually read two. Boo – they both sucked.

Have a "regular" weekend in Minneapolis. We FINALLY had one, the first since February!

Organize the basement full of wedding gifts. I’d say we are 60% organized.

Schedule day for apple picking. Done and we already went! 

Finalize plans for honeymoon. Done!

Have a date night as husband and wife. It was at home but it was still date night.

Make September 8, 2012 the best day of my life! It truly was!

Professional Goals – October 2012

Post surveys for Reunions.

Follow up and thank volunteers.

Get Annual Fund fall info out the door.

Update my calendar. 

Update the strategic plan.

Personal Goals – October 2012

Weightlifting or yoga three times per week (not counting honeymoon week).

Cardio three times a week.  It’s hard to do when it’s so cold but we are going to keep going for now.

Write and send 75% of thank you cards.

Read at least three books. 

Finish organizing the basement full of wedding gifts. 

Start working on house plans and budget.

Get pillows for the guest room shams.

Finalize wedding albums.

Finalize picture order and place it.

Start thinking about where we are going for Ski Trip 2013.

Get my new Social Security Card and Drivers License.

Try as many wines as possible on our honeymoon.

Try at least one brand-new food on our honeymoon. 

Sunshines and Creeps

Sunshine to having ABSOLUTELY NOTHING going on this weekend. We have not had a weekend like this since last winter.

Sunshine to all the changes we’ve made for décor in our house over the past two weeks: new bookshelves for the living room, organizing and displaying some wedding gifts, new bedding in both guest rooms, new rug in one guest room, new shower curtain in guest bathroom, and lots more. Our house isn’t much but I really love it.

Creep to my insomnia last night. I woke up at 2:37 and never went back to sleep. So no run for me today - sad face :-(

Creep to being SO close to my goal weight (yes, I’m still trying, even though the wedding is over). I’ve been stuck at this plateau since the wedding and I am only .4 lbs away. GRR!

Sunshine to my shopping spree yesterday. Thank you, Banana Republic!

Sunshine to getting Michael a new blazer (for $575 off – thank you Nordstrom Rack) and some cowboy boots this week. Yes, my husband owns (and now wears) cowboy boots and I totally love it. They look great on him :-)

Creep that. all of the sudden yesterday, one of the guys on my morning radio show is no longer on it. On Wednesday, everything seemed totally fine and he was on. Yesterday, he wasn't on. And then today, they announced he was gone for good. I know this is a dumb thing to be bummed about but I really am.

Sunshine to yoga this week with one of my coworkers. It's our new Tuesday ritual and I love it.

Sunshine to booking appointments at several wineries for our honeymoon. We leave three weeks from today and I cannot wait!

Creep to raking the yard. That is my least favorite chore.

Sunshine to some good book suggestions.

Creep to never sleeping in. When you wake up at 5am on the weekdays, you’re lucky if you can sleep until 7 on the weekends.

Sunshine to my biggest work event of the year almost being here. It’s next Fri-Sat and I really cannot wait for it to be over.

Sunshine to getting our marriage license in the mail this week. First stop – Social Security Office (and from what I have heard, it sucks going there, so Creep to that).

Sunshine to the beautiful fall weather. What a gorgeous weekend ahead of us!

Sunshines and Creeps

Sunshine to it FINALLY being Friday. Was this not the longest week ever???

Creep to a sucky work week. Everyone is crabby and stressed out, our database was down for two days, and I am not motivated at all.

Sunshine to keeping up our running schedule (and continuing to shed a few more pounds, even after the wedding).

Sunshine and good luck to my sister on her job interview today.

Creep to sucking at this whole name change thing. I guess after calling myself by the same name for 29 years, it’s going to take some time to call myself by a new name.

Sunshine to yoga this week with Michael. It felt good to sweat!

Creep to all of the things we want to do this weekend – I know we won’t be able to do them all.

Sunshine to my parents’ visiting this weekend.

Sunshine to my friends Lara and Jordan, who got engaged last weekend. Congrats!

Sunshine to apple picking on Sunday with friends.

Creep to the crappy book I just read. I skipped about 150 pages in the middle and skimmed the end, and it never got better. I need a recommendation!

Sunshine to an awesome dinner last night. If you ever want to make some authentic and delicious tacos, try these. SO GOOD!

Creep to not having our wedding pictures back yet. I know our photographer is crazy busy and I am trying to be patient, but I want to see them so badly!

Sunshine to some quality time with my hubby this week. I am one lucky woman.

July Goals

Well, June was equally as crazy as May was, but I felt like I was a lot more productive this month over last month. June 1 seems like eons ago and I’m looking forward to a slower July with less evening commitments.

Again, pretty much all my personal goals are mostly wedding-related. I’ll have time for other personal goals after the wedding (I hope).

Purple Bold = complete
Black Bold = incomplete

Professional Goals – June 2012

Finalize all class party locations. Done.

Block of time to work on big reunion events. Sort of done. Need to do this next week.

Get golf invitations out the door before June 30. They went out June 26!

Start working on design for reunion invitations. I met with the graphic designer last week.

  

Personal Goals – June 2012

Yoga Sculpt twice a week. Ugh, I sucked this up. Time to get back into the groove.

Cardio three times a week. THIS I ACTUALLY DID! Michael and I have been running 3-4 mornings each week and walking at night. I just can’t seem to drag myself out of bed to do Sculpt on the days I can “sleep in” until 5:45 instead of 5am.

Private dance lessons. These are super fun and I’m glad we are doing them.

Finish engagement counseling. Done.

Research wedding night transportation. Done and paid for.

Finalize ceremony with Jill. We finalized it together but need to meet with her about it.

Finalize floral order. Done! I’m glad to be done with this.

Finalize music for ceremony. Almost done.

Finalize menu for rehearsal dinner. Done over the weekend with our families.

Finalize rehearsal dinner guest list. Done – we have a LOT of family between us.

Book final flight for honeymoon. Done.

Start researching vineyards to visit in Sonoma. Started but nothing booked yet.

Book dinner reservations for Sonoma and AZ. Most places don’t book until two months out so I will have to put this on my August to do list.

Finalize bridemaids’ gifts. Done and halfway purchased.

Finalize groomsmen gifts. Done and halfway purchased.

Finalize parent gifts. Done with my parents. Not done with Michael’s parents.

Order cake. Working on that now.

Order Kynleigh’s tutu. Done.

Order my wedding band. Done.

Send invitations. DONE!

Check on my dress ship date. Done and I now have it in my possession.

Book night of transportation after reception. Done.

Follow up about hair and makeup trial. Done. I have it this week.

Start working on day of timeline. Started but nothing is finalized yet.

Schedule lunch with our day-of wedding coordinator. Done and happened. I love her!

Finalize centerpiece design. Almost done.

Buy centerpiece needs (vases, candle, candleholders). Note quite.

Start working on favors. Working on them and loving them.

Professional Goals – July 2012

Proposal for big reunion events. 

Check in with Golf event volunteers.

Finalize design and print reunion invitations.

  

Personal Goals – July 2012

Yoga Sculpt twice a week. 

Cardio three times a week. 

Deep clean the house.

Work on Michael’s wedding gift.

Private dance lessons. 

Finalize ceremony with Jill. 

Finalize music for ceremony. Almost done.

Send rehearsal dinner invitations.

Finalize vineyards to visit in Sonoma. 

Research dinner reservations for Sonoma and AZ. 

Finish purchasing bridemaids’ gifts. 

Finish purchasing groomsmen 

Finish purchasing parent gifts.

Order cake. 

Buy my jewelry.

Pick up bridesmaid dresses.

Hair and makeup trial. 

Keep working on day of timeline. 

Finalize centerpiece design. 

Buy centerpiece needs (vases, candle, candleholders). Note quite.

Finish favors.

Select music for pre-ceremony and cocktail hour.

Work on DJ form online

Work on caterer’s meal form

Finalize stationary with designer

Fittings for my dress

Meet with rental vendor to discuss more logistics

Book restrooms

Collect corks from family and friends

Determine if more corks are needed

Confirm travel plans for all out-of-town attendants. 

Utility site visit.

And just for fun, here are my goals from last July. Pretty different now :-)
Personal Goals – July 2011

Yoga once a week
Cardio three days a week
Finish my current book
Buy Michael’s new vehicle
Go to the lake for the weekend
Finalize details of Steph’s wedding shower
Pick out paint colors
Cook dinner once a week – I miss cooking!
“Michael and Jenni” time once a week – walk around the lake, dinner, something…
“Jenni” time once a week
Buy new bras – I know that sounds stupid but I really need some!
Post my August goals by August 1 (yeah, I made it a goal)

Sunshines and Creeps

Sunshine to taking today off as a mental health day. We’ve been so busy and gone every weekend so the first thing on my to-do list today is clean the house! Then I plan to catch up on life – i.e., wedding to-dos, work out, grocery store, and a little TV.

Sunshine to date night last night: dinner at Barrio and court-side seats at last night’s Lynx game. So much fun!

Sunshine to Carrie Underwood standing up for gay marriage and staying classy as she did so. Love is love.

Creep to another really busy week full of stuff in the evenings. Next week will be the same too.

Sunshine to starting to get RSVPs back already.  Creep to the drama that has come along with that already.

Creep to the gym and workout space at the School being closed until the end of July. So much for workouts over lunch :-(

Sunshine to running a few mornings this week, but creep to rain (and laziness) from preventing us from going every day.

Creep to not going to yoga sculpt this week. Need to get back on the bandwagon!

Sunshine to an awesome weekend at home last weekend with my fam and Father’s Day evening with Michael’s fam. We’re so lucky.

Sunshine to sneaking out of work early Monday to pick up my wedding dress. Needs some alterations but I love it.

Sunshine to the super cool App Michael bought that is helping us design the layout of all of the events for the wedding. Check out EventPlan (must have an iPad).

Sunshine to spending the weekend with my love at the cabin. We have work to do but I hope to relax a bit too.

Sunshines and Creeps

Sunshine to the long weekend. That extra day is SOOOOO needed for us.

Sunshine to several mornings of sculpt this week. I can see and feel a difference. Hope I can keep this up.

Creep to not running as much as I should be. It’s hard to get out of bed more than three days a week at 5:05am, and then we have so much after work that I haven’t run in 10 days.

Sunshine to getting our wedding invitations this week. LOVE THEM (and Garon for designing them) and cannot wait to send them out next month.

Sunshine to dropping off the invitation envelopes to Michael’s step-grandma, who is doing the calligraphy for us as a wedding gift. She said to me “I don’t do traditional calligraphy” and I said to her “I don’t care what you do. I know it will better than my handwriting.” And those of you who know me well know that is SO true.

Sunshine to getting all my shower dates on the calendar and guest lists sent off. I am so blessed to have such giving people in my life.

Creep to caffeine headaches. I am totally addicted.

Sunshine to heading to the cabin this weekend. The forecast is iffy but I just love being there.

Creep to hardly spending any one on one time with Michael over the past two weeks. We’ve both been so busy with work that we’ve hardly seen each other.

Sunshine to picking my niece’s flower girl dress with my sister. It’s so damn cute.

Creep to two really sad events happening in the past few weeks: a sorority sister lost her child during birth and a beloved teacher (I never had her but everyone who did loved her) from my high school in Minot passed away. Life is way too short.

Sunshine to getting married in 106 days. Almost double digits!

Sunshines and Creeps

Sunshine to another set of free tickets to tonight's Twins game. Yes, I know they suck but I'm not passing up seats right behind home plate in the Champion's Club. Leather seats, valet parking, free food - sounds good to me!

Creep to working tomorrow night. The School puts on a spring art party and somehow, my office gets roped into doing all the work. It's from 6 to midnight :-(

Sunshine to our site visit tomorrow morning with our rental vendor and caterer. So excited!

Sunshine to working out in the mornings for the past two weeks. Sculpt at 6am is tough (well, it's always tough) but I can already tell a difference.

Sunshine to catching up with Michelle last night and setting a date to get together. I miss her!

Sunshine to our dance lesson last night - we learned the Tango.

Creep to having to reschedule with my aunt for our lunch date to talk about the shower. At least we've established a date!

Sunshine to planting flowers and plants in our flower beds. Creep that some of them already look dead.

Creep to a super busy week and weekend. Dance lessons twice, engagement counseling session, running at the lake, Twins game tonight, trip to cabin and working tomorrow and Mother's Day on Sunday. Exhausting!

Sunshine to booking my plane ticket to go to ND for a weekend in June.

Sunshine to my coworkers for offering to throw me a shower.

Sunshines and Creeps

Woohoo - it's Friday!

Sunshine to going to Yoga Sculpt at 6am this morning. I forgot how much I love working out before work.

Sunshine to still being the first person my office this morning, even though I was 30 minutes later than usual.

Sunshine to leaving work early today.

Creep to not walking or running last night. Happy hour got in the way.

Creep sleeping really poorly Wed night, which prevented me from dragging my butt out of bed to work out.

Creep to missing my fam. Can't wait to see them next month!

Sunshine to going to the cabin this weekend. On the to-do list this weekend: build a retaining wall.

Sunshine to a lunch date with my aunt this Monday to talk about the bridal shower she's hosting for me.

Creep to going to Target and thinking I just needed a basket. What was I thinking?! I somehow crammed $70 worth of groceries in it, and it was not fun to carry around the store.

Creep to the busy-ness that is about to start consuming my life starting Monday.

Sunshine to my future hubby. He's just so awesome and I am so lucky.