2018 Goals Recap
Friday, January 4, 2019
Last year I shared my 2018 goals and did a monthly recap in an attempt to keep me accountable and I am so happy that I did so! While I didn't accomplish all of my goals, I did make an effort towards each of them and even checked off a few big ones off my list! Before I dig into my 2019 goals in my next post, here is a recap of how I did last year:
Daily Goals
- Drink 8 glasses of water a day:
- For the most part I was really good about drinking water. I think it helps that I really only drink water and coffee and once 2pm comes around I skip out on coffee.
- Journal everyday:
- I'd tried journaling before and always failed because I put too much pressure on myself to sit down and dig deep every single day. This time around I was easier on myself and considered a list of what I did for the day as a journal entry. There were days when I had a lot to say and I am glad that I had a forum for me to get my thoughts out on.
Weekly Goals
- Workout 4 days a week:
- 2018 was the year that I fell in love with working out. I am a much better person when I get exercise in regularly. Not only does it help me feel accomplished, it also helps keep my anxiety in check which is good all around. For a majority of the year I actually worked out six days a week. I alternated between 3 days of strength/HIIT training and 3 days of running. That was my favorite routine because I felt like I hit all the muscle groups and it also offered variety. One of the programs I completed this year was Kayla Itsine's Sweat 12 Week Challenge, you can read my review about it here. Towards the end of the year when marathon training got really intense I scaled back and only did what my training plan called for, which was a short run, mid distance run, and long run. I may have cut the number of days I was working out but the amount of time I spent running made up for it!
- Cook a new meal once a week:
- The first few months of 2018 were spent trying out tons of new recipes in anticipation of our first Whole30. During this time I was cooking something new two or three times a week. Once we started Whole30 we had our favorite recipes figured out. After Whole30 we continued to cook all our favorite recipes week after week. I tried new recipes here and there but it wasn't a new one every week.
- Work from a coffee shop 1 day a week:
- I set this goal because I didn't want to spend all my time working from home in my pajamas. I always feel and am a lot more productive when I've gotten dressed and ready for the day and have somewhere to go. I didn't make it out to a coffee shop even week, but I did make an effort to get out of my pj's and into real clothes on work from home days.
- No TV or Social Media 1 day a week:
- I utterly and completely failed at this. I honestly did not think it would be that difficult to go a day without TV or Social Media but it is. I think in the entire year I may have purposefully disconnected a total of two days.
Monthly Goals
- Read 2 books a month:
- I've always loved to read. Growing up I was mostly a well behaved child and I kid you not, I once got in trouble for staying up late reading. What can I say, once I started reading the Harry Potter series I couldn't put it down! My goal for 2018 was to read 24 books and I ended up reading 26 books!
- Try a new restaurant:
- I have an ever growing list of restaurants I want to try so this was not a problem to accomplish. While we cooked at home a lot in 2018 I also got to try a ton of new-to-me restaurants around the city and country.
- Plan a girls night:
- I think a night out or in with just the girls is a great way to reset and refresh and have a little fun. Steven and I do everything together and sometimes it is nice to spend some time apart doing things with our friends. While I didn't have a planned girls night every month I did make an effort to go out for coffee or dinner with a girlfriend here and there. I also got in a lot of girl time during my trips to NYC, California, and Mexico.
- Send birthday cards:
- I think there is nothing more special than receiving a hand written card. I always love getting letters in the mail and I wanted to share that feeling with my closest friends and family. While the birthday cards were sometimes a little late - oops! - I did get them out and hope they made my loved ones day a little more special.
Yearly Goals
- Run a 10k:
- When 2018 started running 3 miles was a challenge for me. As a long term goal for the year I decided that I wanted to run a half marathon, therefore I broke down the goal and set "run a 10k" as one of my stepping stone goals. I didn't want to wait to long to accomplish this so I signed up to run my first timed 10k race on February 24, 2018. Running that first race was exhilarating! I loved being surrounded by other people working towards the same goal. In 2018 I ended up completing many 10k runs!
- Run a Half Marathon:
- It's funny how the world works. Going into 2018 I set my sights on running a half marathon as my ultimate fitness goal. Just a few weeks into the year I was watching the Houston Marathon coverage on TV and was so inspired by what I saw that I decided to sign up for a full marathon there and then. Immediately running a half marathon became a stepping stone goal. I won't say running a half marathon is easy, because getting to the point where I could run 13.1 miles took a lot of consistent training and effort, but now that I am on the verge of running my first marathon, a half marathon looks like a walk in the park to me! I ran my first half marathon on July 15, 2018 and was so proud and oh so sore! Once official marathon training got started in September I ended up running a few more half marathon distances with 20 miles being my longest run. You read that right... 20 freaking miles. I am proud of all the training I did to get to the point where I could run (and walk a bit) for 20 miles. Now I am crossing my fingers that all that training pays off when I run my first marathon on January 20, 2019!
- Complete a Whole30:
- Steven and I prepped for Whole30 for two months. Once March came around we had a great understanding of the Whole30 guidelines and had a list of our favorite compliant recipes. Getting through Whole30 was not exactly easy, but was not as difficult as I'd anticipated. You can read more about my Whole30 experience here.
- Plan our 30th birthday party:
- Steven and I are both December babies and our birthdays are only three days apart. From the beginning of the year I had my heart set on going all out and throwing a big birthday bash to celebrate entering a new decade in our lives. As it turns out life had other plans for us. Just a couple of days before our birthday party I got a text message from my mom telling me about my grandmothers passing. Of course we immediately cancelled our party and headed off to my home town to be with my family. We ended up spending our birthday weekend surrounded by loved ones while mourning the loss of my grandmother. The weeks that followed were very bittersweet. On one had I was sad that grandma Maria was no longer with us and on the other I was excited about entering my thirties. It was a weird feeling to be both sad and happy at the same time. I guess that's just grief. We ended up rescheduling our party for New Years Eve and while it wasn't the all out bash we had originally planned for, it ended up being a perfect night.
Goal Check In: December 2018
Monday, December 31, 2018
DAILY
- Drink eight glasses of water a day
- Because of marathon training, I drank way more than eight glasses of water a day!
- Journal everyday
- This is still one of my favorite things to do! I can't wait to look back on my entries one day and see how much I've grown.
WEEKLY
- Workout four days a week
- Between getting sick and going out of town I didn't get all my workouts in. I did however complete my longest runs ever this month so I think the intensity of those workouts made up for it.
- Cook a new meal once a week
- Didn't try any new recipes this month.
- Work from a coffee shop one day a week
- I tried out a new coffee shop but didn't bring work with me.
- No TV or Social Media one day a week
- This is one goal I failed at this year... oops!
MONTHLY
- Read two books a month
- Try a new restaurant
- Houston
- Catalina Coffee: This is definitely a hipster coffee shop and I love it! When we went there was a long line of people waiting to order and a majority of the tables were full. Parking isn't the greatest either, but the coffee was good!
- Steamboat House: We had Christmas Eve dinner here and it was a cool spot! It's a restaurant but also a Texas History museum. The service was great and so was the food.
- Golden Bagels and Coffee: During my long training runs I always pass by this place and I'd been meaning it try it for a long time. We finally made it out there with Megan and Andrew. While I am not well versed on bagels, Megan is, and she said that the shmear to bagel ratio was off (insert shrugging emoji here). I on the other hand enjoyed my blueberry bagel covered in strawberry cream cheese!
- San Antonio
- Paula Deen's Family Kitchen: I was a little nervous to try this place because the reviews on it aren't the best. Our friends picked it out and we went to dinner with them. My immediate thoughts about his place were that it was like a slightly better Luby's and I was spot on. The food was fine and the service was good but there wasn't anything great about it.
- Plan a girls night
- Honestly the holiday season is a crazy time of year so I didn't get to plan anything.
- Send birthday cards
- Got the cards out this month!
THIS YEAR
- Run a 10k - Completed on February 24, 2018
- Finished my first timed 10k in 59:15.6 mins!
- Run a half marathon
- Ran my first half marathon on July 15! I completed 13.2 miles in 2 hours and 20 minutes!
- Ran another half marathon on November 7! I completed it in 2 hours and 11 minutes.
- Complete a Whole30 - Completed April 13, 2018
- We started Whole30 on March 5, 2018 and finished reintroduction on April 13, 2018. You can see my Whole30 review here.
- Plan our 30th birthday party
- The week of our party my beloved grandmother passed away. Of course we cancelled and made our way to Eagle Pass to be with family and to say goodbye to my grandma. What we had planned on being a day of fun turned out to be a day of sadness.
Goal Check In: November 2018
Friday, November 30, 2018
DAILY
- Drink eight glasses of water a day
- Honestly water is what I drink most. Coffee comes in a close second!
- Journal everyday
- I don't think I'll ever stop journaling. I like jotting down what I've done during the day and my thoughts.
WEEKLY
- Workout four days a week
- With marathon training in full swing I've had no problems keeping up with this!
- Cook a new meal once a week
- We are great about cooking and eating at home, but we haven't tried any new recipes.
- Work from a coffee shop one day a week
- Worked from Egg Haus one day this month!
- No TV or Social Media one day a week
- I need to get better about this.
MONTHLY
- Read two books a month
- I started a couple of books but I am not done yet.
- Try a new restaurant
- Houston
- Spicy Girl: I didn't like my noodles but Steven's spicy crispy chicken was delicious!
- EggHaus: This place is my new favorite neighborhood breakfast spot! We loved it so much we went two days in a row! Steven and I both had the "El Jefe" tacos and loved them! I am also a big fan of their Nutella latte and croissants.
- New Braunfels
- Krause's Biergarten & Cafe: Cute spot but the service was so slow. I think we waited an entire hour between ordering and when we got our food. I had a Bloody Mary and Ruben sandwich and both were just ok.
- Wicked Voodoo Espresso: The coffee at this little drive thru was delicious! I will definitely stop by whenever we are in New Braunfels.
- Franklin, Tennessee
- Puckett's Grocery: The BBQ Mac and cheese was delicious!
- O'Be Joyful: We stopped in for a drink while we were walking around downtown Franklin and both the service and drinks were good! We didn't eat anything but everything we saw coming out looked good.
- The Perch: This place was walking distance from our AirBnB which was convienent for our departure day breakfast. Steven ordered bacon and I saw them taking pre cooked bacon out of a container and reheating it in the microwave. That alone made me automatically made this place a no for me.
- Nashville, Tennessee
- Biscuit Love: We waited outside in the cold for about an hour for this place and it was so worth it! I had the "Lily" which is biscuit French toast and I am pretty sure I cleaned off the plate!
- Killbrew Coffee: While waiting in line for breakfast at Biscuit Love we left the guys to hold our spot and went in search of coffee. We popped into Killbrew coffee and grabbed a couple of vanilla lattes. Not only is the coffee shop beautiful, the customer service and coffee were great too!
- Hattie B's Hot Chicken: Spicy fried chicken is my jam! This was the perfect meal to end our day in Nashville.
- Plan a girls night
- Clearly I am terrible at this! Didn't plan a girls night this month.
- Send birthday cards
- Got the cards out this month!
THIS YEAR
- Run a 10k - Completed on February 24, 2018
- Finished my first timed 10k in 59:15.6 mins!
- Run a half marathon
- Ran my first half marathon on July 15! I completed 13.2 miles in 2 hours and 20 minutes!
- Ran another half marathon on November 7! I completed it in 2 hours and 11 minutes.
- Ran 15 miles on November 25 in 2 hours and 33 minutes! It's my longest run to date!
- Complete a Whole30 - Completed April 13, 2018
- We started Whole30 on March 5, 2018 and finished reintroduction on April 13, 2018. You can see my Whole30 review here.
- Plan our 30th birthday party
- Final plans are being put into place!
Tennessee
Monday, November 12, 2018
While visiting Venus and Rob in Dallas I mentioned that Steven and I wanted to plan a trip out to Nashville. Rob said he'd been and loved it and wanted to take Venus out there too. That conversation led to us planning a weekend couples trip! Everything came together quickly. We figured out a weekend that would work for everyone, booked an AirBn, and mapped out a few places we wanted to try!
Steven and I both took Friday off and arrived early in the day. Our first stop was our AirBnB in Franklin, Tennessee. Throughout the entire drive from the airport to our AirBnB I just kept saying "Wow, it's so beautiful here!". It was so nice to see some fall foliage - especially when everything is still greenish in Houston!
After dropping off our things at our adorable AirBnB, we called an Uber and headed to Downtown Franklin for Lunch at Puckett's Grocery and a little shopping!
Downtown Franklin is so cute! It was truly a quaint area lined with tons of local shops, bars, and restaurants. We lazily walking down the street popping into every little shop that caught our attention.
Saturday was our Nashville day! Venus and Rob arrived Friday night after Steven and I had already gone to sleep so it was nice to wake up and get to see them! We all got dressed and ready for a fun day of exploring. Our first stop of Biscuit Love in the Gulch. Our Uber driver warned us that Biscuit Love is very popular and we'd likely have a long wait time and he was right! We ended up waiting in line for about an hour but it was so worth it! Everything we ate was delicious!
After breakfast, we decided to walk over to the Country Music Hall of Fame. Honestly, I didn't know much about country music before our tour and I was so glad we went. Of course I had to get a pic of Taylor Swifts display because #TeamTayTay
After the museum we were ready for some live music and drinks! We headed out to the ever so popular Broadway and spent time listening to a ton of great musicians at places like The George Jones, Ole Red, Tootsies, and Nudies.
All of our friends who have been to Nashville told us we HAD TO get chicken at Hattie B's and they were RIGHT! It was the perfect ending to a wonderful day of exploring and a quick trip with the greatest friends!
Goal Check In: October 2018
Wednesday, October 31, 2018
DAILY
- Drink eight glasses of water a day
- I've gotten in the habit of chugging down a full bottle of water when I first wake up and that definitely helps keep me on track for the day!
- Journal everyday
- Most days my journal is just a list of what I have done during the day but every now and then when I have a lot on my mind I find comfort in knowing that I have a place to pour out my thoughts.
WEEKLY
- Workout four days a week
- With marathon training in full swing I've had no problems keeping up with this!
- Cook a new meal once a week
- While I didn't cook anything new, I did prepare a new appetizer and cocktail!
- Cranberry Orange Cheese Ball: This was so good! I made it for movie night with friends and we loved it! I am planning on making it again for Thanksgiving.
- Apple Cider Margaritas: When I say Katie's Instagram about this recipe I was intrigued. I'd been looking for a fall cocktail recipe and decided this was the one I was going to try. At first sip I wasn't sure if I liked the smokiness of the Mezcal but once I had a few more sips I really liked how the apple cider and mezcal blended together.
- Work from a coffee shop one day a week
- Didn't make it out this month!
- No TV or Social Media one day a week
- Failed at this again. Why must this be so difficult? haha
MONTHLY
- Read two books a month
- Try a new restaurant
- Houston
- Unos P'nches Tacos: We decided to try a new to us taco place and the verdict... it was ok. I had a fajita quesadilla and it was bland.
- Superica: When I heard there was a new Tex Mex restaurant down the street from my house I knew I had to try it. I met up with my friend for dinner and we both enjoyed our cocktails and food.
- Wanna Bao: We tried the spicy crispy chicken and a few other dishes and were not impressed. We'll stick to our go to spot in Chinatown for Szechuan food.
- Smoosh: Technically I've had Smoosh before, but it was from their food truck. I am so happy they put their first store front down the street from me. I love their ice cream sandwiches!
- Holman Draft Hall: We had fries and cocktails during our trip here and enjoyed both. I will definitely be back to try some more of their food!
- Spicy Girl: We met up with some friends for dinner after having a few snacks at the bar so I wasn't hungry enough for dinner. I opted for some noodles and they were ok. Everyone else though said that their food was delicious. I will be back to try some more of their dishes.
- East Hampton Sandwich Co: Met up with my friend for lunch and really enjoyed my sandwich and soup! Will be back for more!
- State Fare: So so good! A bunch of us went for brunch and everything we tried was delicious!
- Dallas
- STIRR: We went for brunch before the State Fair and decided to order a bunch of appetizers to share. Everything we tried was tasty!
- Moxie's: We actually have a Moxie's in Houston and I've been meaning to try it, so when Venus suggested it for dinner I was excited! While our cocktails were just ok, our food was delicious!
- HG Sply Co: We sat outside on the patio and enjoyed a delicious brunch. It was a laid back place with good food.
- Plan a girls night
- While I didn't have a single girls night, I did spend time with the girls at different times during the month!
- Send birthday cards
- Got the cards out this month!
THIS YEAR
- Run a 10k - Completed on February 24, 2018
- Finished my first timed 10k in 59:15.6 mins!
- Run a half marathon
- Finally ran my first half marathon on July 15! I completed 13.2 miles in 2 hours and 20 minutes!
- Complete a Whole30 - Completed April 13, 2018
- We started Whole30 on March 5, 2018 and finished reintroduction on April 13, 2018. You can see my Whole30 review here.
- Plan our 30th birthday party
- OMG I can not believe that my birthday is coming up. I finally started working on the party and I have a lot more to do!
State Fair of Texas
Saturday, October 13, 2018
Since Megan and I had never been to the Fair, we decided to spend some time going over the Fair website and Instagram page and mapped out all our top food picks. Fletcher's Corny Dogs were recommended to us by multiple people so that was at the top of our list followed by lots and lots of fried food. Not so healthy, but oh so good! Some of the food we tried is shown below.
The Frozen Hot Chocolate tasted like a chocolate milk shake. It was a nice cold treat and I am glad we were sharing it because it was way to sweet to drink myself.
The fried oranges were ok - not my favorite.
The Fair is more about food than it is about drinks. My fish bowl drink was super sweet and I was glad that it was a small serving.
The girls got frozen cocktails in pineapples!
This was our favorite! It was fried Arroz Con Leche and it was so delicious! Definitely worth the calories haha!
The longest line I stood in was for a Fletcher's Corny Dog and it was worth it! I got a single Corny Dog but most people were up there buying five or more - so crazy!
There were little photo ops spread out across the Fair grounds including this little pumpkin patch.
On our way out we noticed there was a rainbow over Big Tex!
Goal Check In: September 2018
Tuesday, October 2, 2018
September was a quick and super fun month! I started off the month with a cruise to Cozumel, took a weekend trip to San Antonio, started a new job, and ended the month with watching Taylor Swift on her Reputation Stadium Tour with the girls. With such an eventful month I didn't do as much reading as I would have liked, but thankfully I didn't let anything else slip. Here are my goal updates for the month:
DAILY
- Drink eight glasses of water a day
- Journal everyday
- Keeping up with both of these daily goals!
WEEKLY
- Workout four days a week
- Getting into a workout routine has been the best thing I've done. I workout out almost daily because it honestly makes me feel good, gives me more energy, and helps set a positive tone for my day.
- Cook a new meal once a week
- We still cook all our week day meals at home, but I haven't tried any new recipes.
- Work from a coffee shop one day a week
- While I haven't made it out once a week I have been better about this!
- No TV or Social Media one day a week
- This has been so hard to accomplish. Trying to disconnect for an entire day every week was a little ambitious. I am going to try to disconnect one day a month for the rest of the year.
MONTHLY
- Read two books a month
- Try a new restaurant
- Houston
- Night Heron: I'd been to Night Heron before for drinks but this trip I tried the food. I had a burger and it was delicious!
- Flower Child: I met up with Grecia for lunch after work one day and we had a yummy and healthy lunch. The line during lunch time was long but it went by quickly. The restaurant itself is bright, happy, and oh so cute.
- San Antonio
- Liberty Bar: We had brunch at Liberty Bar before heading the the UTSA game. Everything I drank and ate was delicious and it didn't hurt that the restaurant was in a cute pink building.
- New Braunfels
- The Downtowner: When we showed up they had a long wait list which led me to have high expectations. I ordered a steak omelet and it was tasteless. I ended up not liking my food but Steven loved his chicken fried steak.
- Plan a girls night
- Spent the first couple of days of the month on a bachelorette party cruise with all the best girlies.
- Had a girls night out at the Taylor Swift concert.
- Send birthday cards
- Got the cards out this month!
THIS YEAR
- Run a 10k - Completed on February 24, 2018
- Finished my first timed 10k in 59:15.6 mins!
- Run a half marathon
- Finally ran my first half marathon on July 15! I completed 13.2 miles in 2 hours and 20 minutes!
- Complete a Whole30 - Completed April 13, 2018
- We started Whole30 on March 5, 2018 and finished reintroduction on April 13, 2018. You can see my Whole30 review here.
- Plan our 30th birthday party
- Slowly but surely working on this! December will be here before I know it!
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