October Goals

Sharing a few achievable goals on my blog each month has proven to be incredibly beneficial for me. I feel extra accountable to get things done when I know I will report back to my readers in this space. I don’t always get everything accomplished on my monthly list, but I’m usually able to knock out the majority of my goals, and I consider that a very good thing.

RECAP OF LAST MONTH:

Finish Zianne’s baby book… I got through six months. I did this while we were traveling in Washington {apparently bringing your child’s baby book and all the decor for her first birthday causes your luggage to weigh 54 pounds}, and I started to run out of supplies for the pages. I could have haphazardly finished the book for her birthday, but I want the whole thing to be high quality and I didn’t have the time or resources while traveling to make it so. Instead, Zianne’s first six months are well documented {and my baby showers and bump pictures during pregnancy}, and the book does include her monthly pictures through 12 months and a year’s worth of Dear Zianne letters. I will finish it up soon, but maybe not until December when I get a break from teaching.

Paint sign for the wall above Micah’s dresser… Didn’t do it. No time. I am moving this goal to October.

Open a savings account for Zianne… I visited our credit union in Seattle to get this figured out. I now have the proper paperwork to complete it, but I have to mail it in.

Roll over 403b… Same with this. Need to mail paperwork.

Make some updates to the blog… Obviously this still hasn’t happened, but I did a little behind the scenes work to set a blog makeover in motion.

Read one book… Technically, I’m not done with it yet and it’s now overdue at the library. I will be playing catch-up by trying to finish two books this month.

Write TWO letters of encouragement… Done!

Have a garage sale {and get rid of all remaining items immediately afterward}… The garage sale is set for October 10th and 11th. Our guest room is filled with junk to get rid of and I hope to add even more to the pile. The biggest challenge of this goal will be getting rid of any remaining items right after the sale so they don’t linger in the garage. I will probably give things away for free on the last day, and I plan to schedule a Goodwill pick up for the following Monday. We are in the midst of Operation Minimalism at the Russum household and I am pumped about it.

Paint sign... Dang sign for our bedroom wall. I will paint you this month!

Start job market documents… I will be looking for a teaching/professor job over the next year, so I want to start preparing my documents for the process. I will need to gather observations of my teaching and put together a writing sample, so any step to get this started will count as major progress in my opinion.

Get into a rhythm with dissertation writing… Since I can’t technically be a professor until my dissertation is finished, I need to get into the habit of working on it every day {except Sundays!}. I got into a good routine with studying for my exam this summer, but when I passed it {hallelujah!} I took a break from all things school for the month of September. Now I need to jump back in.

Be intentional with daily nutrition... Zianne and I are in the midst of the weaning process, and after almost two years of being pregnant or breastfeeding, I’m realizing that I haven’t made healthy, conscious decisions about my diet in a really long time {other than not to overeat while pregnant because it really hurts}. I am not a diet-obsessed person at all, and overall I’m very content with my body, but I am realizing that I got into a few bad habits while pregnant or during my early nursing days {sugary cereals, afternoon Italian sodas, two coffees a day, etc.} that I need to break. I don’t want to make any drastic changes; I just want to have boundaries with sugar, carbs, and caffeine and intentionally eat more fruits, veggies, and healthy proteins. But let’s be honest… I haven’t made thoughtful decisions about my diet since 2012 so maybe this will feel a little drastic to me.

Read two books for fun… Playing catch up this month!