Image Credit: Blissful Gal

Welcome to August! One of my all-time favorite months, because it’s my birthday month! Yay!!

Here are my goals for the month of August:

1. Make progress with cleaning the garage.
2. See Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again.
3. Celebrate my milestone birthday!
4. Start preparing for our greyhound’s arrival.
5. See Christopher Robin.
6. Get to 50,000 words with my 2012 WIP.
7. Participate in Laura Beth and Kristian’s Blockbuster Challenge!

Here’s the breakdown:

Make progress with cleaning the garage.

• We talked about it enough in July, so I’m convinced it will start happening this month!

See Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again.

• My mom is taking me to see it for my birthday!

Celebrate my milestone birthday!

• I turn 30! I’m excited to celebrate with Al, my family, and friends!

Start preparing for our greyhound’s arrival.

• Since we’re waiting for the call now, we’ll be buying things like dog bed(s), comfy fleece blankets, and other dog-related items!

See Christopher Robin.

• This is another movie that I’m excited to see!

Get to 50,000 words with my 2012 WIP.

• Bolstered by my success with Camp NaNoWriMo July 2018, I’m determined to finally reach 50,000 words!

Participate in Laura Beth and Kristian’s Blockbuster Challenge!

• It’s already started!
• Come back to our blogs every day in August to see our answers!

Do you have any goals for the month of August?

If so, I’d love to hear about them!

Until the next headline, Laura Beth 🙂

Image Credit: Success Magazine

July flew by! It’s crazy!

Here’s the link to my July Goals post:

• Getting Personal #129: July Goals

Ready?

Here we go!

1. See Ant-Man and the Wasp. — Accomplished!
2. Curb my spending. — Accomplished!
3. See Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again. — Did not accomplish.
4. Submit our adoption application to Old Dominion Greyhound Adoption. — Accomplished!
5. See Mission: Impossible – Fallout. — Accomplished!
6. Spend at least two hours cleaning the garage. — Did not accomplish.
7. Make sure the Household Bills Spreadsheet is updated before the end of the month. — Did not accomplish.
8. Spend at least three hours working within Evernote. — Did not accomplish.
9. Meal plan as much as possible for the month. — Accomplished!
10. Participate in Camp NaNoWriMo, July 2018. — Accomplished!
11. Update my TBR. — Accomplished!
12. Start another writing challenge. — Accomplished!
13. Plan a special challenge for the month of August! — Accomplished!

Here’s the breakdown:

See Ant-Man and the Wasp. — Accomplished!

• We loved this movie! It was almost better than the first one.

Curb my spending. — Accomplished!

• I’m so proud of myself!

See Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again. — Did not accomplish.

• This one is just delayed – My mom is taking me to see it on my birthday!

Submit our adoption application to Old Dominion Greyhound Adoption. — Accomplished!

• We mailed it off on a Monday, and got a call to set up the home visit on that Friday!
• The home visit happened on Saturday, July 25th. Now we just wait for the call that they have our dog!

See Mission: Impossible – Fallout. — Accomplished!

• We saw this with our good friend, Mike! What a thrill ride!!
• To me, it’s one of the best movies in the whole franchise.
• Tip: Make sure you go to the bathroom before the movie starts. You definitely don’t want to miss a minute of this movie!

Spend at least two hours cleaning the garage. — Did not accomplish.

• This was set with good intentions, but didn’t make time for it.

Make sure the Household Bills Spreadsheet is updated before the end of the month. — Did not accomplish.

• This didn’t happen. I may re-evaluate our strategy in August.

Spend at least three hours working within Evernote. — Did not accomplish.

• I didn’t make time to do this.

Meal plan as much as possible for the month. — Accomplished!

• This was successful!

Participate in Camp NaNoWriMo, July 2018. — Accomplished!

• Look for a Camp NaNoWriMo recap post later this week!

Update my TBR. — Accomplished!

• Here’s the link to my latest TBR post: Getting Personal #130: Seventh TBR Recap

Start another writing challenge. — Accomplished!

• See below for the links to my recent writing challenge posts. I’m loving it so far!
• Writing Prompt #115: The ABC Book Challenge (The Letter A)
• Writing Prompt #116: The ABC Book Challenge (The Letter B)
• Writing Prompt #117: The ABC Book Challenge (The Letter C)
• Writing Prompt #118: The ABC Book Challenge (The Letter D)
• Writing Prompt #119: The ABC Book Challenge (The Letter E)

Plan a special challenge for the month of August! — Accomplished!

• Check back in tomorrow for more details!

Final Thoughts

• I was able to put Accomplished next to nine out of 13 goals. This was awesome! I feel really good.
• The four goals I did not accomplish: This was all timing.

What about you? Did you have any goals for the month of July?

Come back tomorrow to see my August Goals!

Until the next headline, Laura Beth 🙂

Image Credit: BeautyBeyondBones

Hello, July!

Al recently reminded me that Christmas is less than six months away. It’s wild. Every year gets faster!

Here are my goals for the month of July:

1. See Ant-Man and the Wasp.
2. Curb my spending.
3. See Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again.
4. Submit our adoption application to Old Dominion Greyhound Adoption.
5. See Mission: Impossible – Fallout.
6. Spend at least two hours cleaning the garage.
7. Make sure the Household Bills Spreadsheet is updated before the end of the month.
8. Spend at least three hours working within Evernote.
9. Meal plan as much as possible for the month.
10. Participate in Camp NaNoWriMo, July 2018.
11. Update my TBR.
12. Start another writing challenge.
13. Plan a special challenge for the month of August!

Here’s the breakdown:

See Ant-Man and the Wasp.

• We can’t wait to see this! Hopefully next weekend.

Curb my spending.

• I went a bit overboard during the month of June, so I’m placing similar spending restrictions on myself like I did during the month of May. This will give me time to go through my closet again, my bookshelves, and our garage!
• Goals: (1) No more new clothes, (2) no more new books, and (3) no more American Girl items.

See Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again.

• I’m looking forward to taking my mom to see this one!

Submit our adoption application to Old Dominion Greyhound Adoption.

• Now that our HVAC work is complete, we’re ready to submit our application! We’re excited to add a furry member to our family.

See Mission: Impossible – Fallout.

• This is a tradition of ours – We’ve seen almost Mission: Impossible movie in the theaters since we’ve been dating.

Spend at least two hours cleaning the garage.

• There are still way too many boxes in our attached garage, mostly my stuff! It’s high time to go through as much of it as I can.

Make sure the Household Bills Spreadsheet is updated before the end of the month.

• I’m determined to keep up with this spreadsheet on a monthly basis.

Spend at least three hours working within Evernote.

• I really liked my introduction to Evernote last month, so I’m determined to spend more time with it and get more comfortable with it.

Meal plan as much as possible for the month.

• I have several recipes that I want to try this month!

Participate in Camp NaNoWriMo, July 2018.

• After my rousing success with my first Camp in April, I’m so excited to be participating in Camp again!
• Look for another Camp NaNoWriMo recap at the beginning of August!

Update my TBR.

• It’s that time again! Look for my updated TBR post very soon.

Start another writing challenge.

• I’m hoping to have the first post ready tomorrow!

Plan a special challenge for the month of August!

• I don’t want to give anything away, but I’m partnering with a special blogger friend to make a fun challenge for August!

Do you have any goals for the month of July?

If so, I’d love to hear about them!

Until the next headline, Laura Beth 🙂

Image Credit: BeautyBeyondBones

June was quite busy, but less hectic than some other months! The biggest news is we FINALLY have proper ductwork, and two new HVAC units! Perfect timing for the typical summer heat waves!!

Here’s the link to my June Goals post:

• Getting Personal #125: June Goals

Ready?

Here we go!

1. Attend P.E.O. State Convention. — Accomplished!
2. See Incredibles 2. — Accomplished!
3. See Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. — Accomplished!
4. Work on a goals list with Al for the remainder of 2018. — Did not accomplish.
5. Update the Household Bills spreadsheet. — Semi-Achieved.
6. Write at least 1,000 new words for my 2012 NaNoWriMo endeavor. — Accomplished!
7. Download Evernote. — Accomplished!
8. Host a “vacationing doll” from Ohio! — Accomplished!

Here’s the breakdown:

Attend P.E.O. State Convention. — Accomplished!

• I had so much at Convention this year – The theme was “Catch The Waves To Better Futures.”
• I also wrote my first-ever Adventure Time post recapping Convention!
• Here’s the link to that post: Adventure Time: Blacksburg, VA Edition (P.E.O. Virginia State Convention 2018)
• As delegates, Darcy and I also successfully reported on Convention to our chapter on Monday, June 11th.

See Incredibles 2. — Accomplished!

• Al and I went to see it on Saturday, June 15th.
• It wasn’t necessarily better than the original movie. However, it was worth the 14-year wait.
• If you’re a fan of the original movie, it’s worth seeing it in the theaters. We also liked the short that preceded the movie.

See Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. — Accomplished!

• We saw the movie on Sunday, June 24th with our friends Mike and Shana.
• Despite some of the criticism, I really like what they did with this movie. I shut my eyes a few times – Some of it was pretty scary!
• I personally recommend seeing it. I love the franchise!

Work on a goals list with Al for the remainder of 2018. — Did not accomplish.

• This didn’t happen. Oh well!

Update the Household Bills spreadsheet. — Semi-Achieved.

• I started playing catch-up last weekend, and will hopefully bring it to conclusion this weekend. Long overdue!

Write at least 1,000 new words for my 2012 NaNoWriMo endeavor. — Accomplished!

• Word count, as of May 2nd: 33,507
• June 16th: Added 623 words
• Word count, as of June 16th: 34,130
• June 23rd: Added 339 words
• Word count, as of June 23rd: 34,469
• June 29th: Added 250 words
• Word count, as of June 30th: 34,719
• Total words written: 1,212 words!

Download Evernote. — Accomplished!

• I signed up for the website during the weekend of June 15th. I didn’t download anything, for now. But, I really like it so far! I love the layout, and I can see myself using it as another helpful tool with my writing.
• Here’s the link to my latest Writing Adventures post: Writing Adventures #2: Discovering Evernote

Host a “vacationing doll” from Ohio! — Accomplished!

• We had so much fun hosting Emily during the week of May 29th-June 5th.
• Here’s the link to my Adventure Time post: Adventure Time: Portsmouth, VA Edition (The Visit From The Vacationing Doll)

Final Thoughts

• I was able to put Accomplished next to six out of eight goals. Awesome! I’m so excited, and proud of myself.
• The one goal that was Semi-Achieved: I made progress, and I’m happy with it!
• The one goal that I did not accomplish: This wasn’t a huge priority. I like the idea of it, but it may not happen for 2018. No worries!

What about you? Did you have any goals for the month of June?

Come back tomorrow to see my July Goals!

Until the next headline, Laura Beth 🙂