19 for 2019

After the moderate success of my 18 for 2018, I figured I’d go another round with 19 for 2019. I learned of this idea from Gretchen Rubin’s Happier podcast (which I highly recommend if you’re looking for something useful and uplifting). It’s fun to think about all the things I could do this year… so much possibility!

1. Post my 19 for 2019 more prominently

So this is kind of a freebie because I can already check it off the list. One issue with my 18 for 2018 was that it lived only in a blog post. I didn’t review it nearly often enough and so it wasn’t top-of-mind. This year, I’ve made it the first page in my planner, which is pretty much my lifeline. I’ll be looking at it frequently.

2. Plan monthly dates with my husband

Last year I wanted to plan a date with my husband that wasn’t dinner… and I somehow managed to NOT do it. Ugh. But here’s the thing: we really, truly enjoy eating. We like checking out new restaurants and trying new food. So why force us to do something else with the precious little time we spend together? If it happens great, but I think it’s more important to make the dates happen with regularity than to plan one that’s really unusual.

3. Plant a fruit and vegetable garden

My daughter and I are planning to grow some fruits and veggies this spring. We go through strawberries, tomatoes and zucchini quickly and spend a small fortune on them. This will be a fun project for us to work on together.

4. Read the Harry Potter series

Yeah, yeah, I was supposed to do this last year. I’m really going to give it a go this time.

5. Learn basic ASL

Same with this one. I made minimal progress (learned the alphabet and like 3 words) but want to do more.

6. Get decent at Photoshop

It would help at my 9-to-5 and here on MPP if I knew what the heck I was actually doing in Photoshop. I have it, just have to learn what to do with it.

7. Redesign master bedroom and bathroom

I’m not talking anything super major here. Our master bed and bath look about the same as they did when we first moved in: furniture, piles of stuff on top of the furniture, and a no shower curtain. (We have a shower liner!) Our son’s room is finished and our daughter’s is nearly done, so now it’s time to make our space feel less like a storage unit.

8. Re-learn two songs on the piano

I played the piano for eight years growing up. We have the piano in my house now, but aside from a few delightful concerts from my kids each day, it goes unused. That ends this year (I hope).

9. Figure out kids’ artwork display

Bean is super into creating right now, and Dude is not far behind. I love to display what they’ve worked on, but aside from putting it on the fridge, I don’t have anywhere designated for it. I’d like to find a nice spot to display it.

10. Go to AMI

It’s been nearly three years since my feet walked in the Gulf. Unacceptable.

11. Catch up on Shutterfly albums

I’m always timely with the grandparents’ annual photo albums of the kids, but have let our own family albums slide.

12. Paint the kitchen

My neutral-loving heart needs more Churchill Hotel Ecru.

13. More planned one-to-one time with each kiddo

We spend a bunch of time together, but I need to be more intentional about hanging out with each child individually.

14. Walk 1,000,000 steps

This wouldn’t qualify as a goal for plenty of people. But for someone who spends 40+ hours a week at a desk, if I can get to 1,000,000 steps this year, I’ll be happy.

15. “Get jacked”

I probably won’t get jacked, but I like when Kate Spencer says this on the Forever 35 podcast. I do want to make my health and physical fitness more of a priority this year though. I’m still trying to figure out what’s going to work for me. The eating plan and exercises that once kept me feeling healthy don’t seem to work anymore, post-pregnancies. Gotta figure that out.

16. Reconnect with old friends

I’ve got a few friends that I’ve fallen out of touch with over the last year or two, and I’d like to fix that.

17. Offer better support to my dad and grandma

Both of these people mean more to me than I can put into words, and both of these people are still grieving losses—some from this year, some from many years ago. There’s more I can be doing.

18. Try my own Happiness Project

I’ve been into this idea for a number of years and decided there’s no reason to wait to give it a try. I think I’ve been waiting until I can do it perfectly, but perfect is the enemy of the good, right?

(Gretchen Rubin is running a course on designing your own Happiness Project. There is a cost involved, but if you’re interested, details are here.)

19. Say yes

As Sarah Von Bargen says, yes is more fun than no. It’s easier to say no sometimes, but that doesn’t mean it’s the right answer. If I CAN say yes, why not?