My 20 in 2020 List at 25% of the way through the year (Part 1)

Good Monday morning.

I usually really like Mondays. There is something about the fresh start, the new week, getting back into the routine after the weekend that I generally enjoy. I think this is more the case now that I work from home and don’t typically feel stressed by having to “go back to work” like in the past. I remember as a kid dreading Mondays on Sunday nights (even though I did like school, overall…) and I definitely remember dreading going back to work when I was deep in the inpatient nursing days when work was crazy.

Ready for a new week. Normally it is NOT such a blank slate! I haven’t done my weekly calendar update yet, but given the current situation, I only have a few things to even add.

Along the same line, another thing I absolutely LOVE is the whole vibe of the “New Year”. After Christmas wraps up and all of the excitement ends, I always turn my sights to New Year’s. I don’t really care that much about actually celebrating New Year’s Eve- I sometimes just get crabby that I have to stay up too late- but I love all of the buzz surrounding the new year, new goals, and fresh starts.

I also really enjoy unveiling the new year’s calendar! I love reading these first thing every morning when I sit down with my tea, and I write my gratitude entry on the back before I do anything else! I save them all in the box in my drawer.

This year I totally binged on podcasts and blogs and articles where people were sharing their goals for the upcoming year. I just find it fascinating to hear what other people are shooting for, changes people want to make, how they plan to implement the changes and why!

I have made new “goals” for the year every year for the last several- at least 5?- years (not exactly a New Years Resolution- more a list of several goals I want to accomplish over the next year). But this year a big trend floating around was the idea of making a “20 in 2020” list. Basically, the idea is you list out 20 things that you want to do over the next year! They can be big, small or anywhere in between, and can be personal, fitness, or family related…whatever you want.

I decided to jump aboard that train and back in December I made my own list. I have it here in my little notebook that contains all of my life planning stuff- my goals list, my habit tracker, lists of books I want to read, etc. Some day I may share more about this special notebook (for any other planner nerds that might like a peek at my system).

I like to check in on this list frequently (and I also try to transfer some items to my “monthly goals” list that I also make each month, to hopefully ensure some progress on these goals). I noticed the other day that we were about 25% of the way through 2020 already! (To be precise, we are 28.42% of the way through the year today.) Thank you to http://www.easysurf.cc/wdate7.htm for this information.

Since I didn’t have this blog back on January 1st, I thought I would document it here now, at the 1/4 mark of the year! I would say my progress has been meager at best, but given the current situation, I guess I have a pretty good excuse. These are listed in no particular order. Some are also totally random and may seem kind of weird!

20 in 2020 List!

1. Try 5 new restaurants.

Reason: We live in an area with many great restaurants, yet we tend to be pretty boring about where we go out to eat. I don’t generally care that much- we are not “foodies” really at all and I like the places we go- but I have often thought we should take advantage and at least try some of the cool places in our city!

Current Progress: 0/5

2. Read 5 books from different genres.

Reason: I tend to read a lot of non-fiction. I realized I haven’t been branching out into other genres lately and could be missing out, so I made this a goal for the year.

Current Progress: 2/5! So far I have checked off a Historical Fiction (The Ninth Hour) and a Science Fiction (A Beginning at the End).

3. Nail down a skin care regimen.

Reason: Until recently, I basically had no skincare regimen besides washing my face and putting some lotion on. (And I didn’t even consistently wash my face every night…just being real here!) As I am now only a few years from the big 4-0 (what?!?!), I decided my skin is not looking any younger here, and I needed to get a better routine down.

Current Progress: Mostly accomplished! I did a bunch of research, and actually had been trying various products since last year. I think I’ll do another post about more details on this sometime, but in general I have been pretty happy with some products from the Ole Henriksen line.

4. Get a facial.

Reason: Along the same vein as #3, but also because I have just never had one. I thought it might be nice to try.

Current Progress: Not done. I do have a place in mind to try scheduling one, when this pandemic eventually ends…

5. Get a massage.

Reason: Again, I really normally just don’t spend money on this kind of thing. I am not really a “girly girl” at all and don’t even know much about hair, nails, etc. I have gotten a few massages in the past and I feel like it could be really good to do now and then. Sitting at a desk every day makes my neck and shoulders tight, so I put this on the list.

Current Progress: Not done, although I did get a 20 minute massage from a lady on the beach in Acapulco. I may not count this though since it wasn’t exactly what I meant for this goal.

6. Overnight/ Weekend away with Ivan

Reason: We haven’t had a couples trip away since our big anniversary trip to Spain and Italy in 2017! I knew we weren’t likely to do a big trip this year alone since we had a long trip planned to Europe with the whole family, but I thought it would be nice to at least fit in a weekend away somewhere local, or even an overnight.

Current Progress: Not done. Haven’t even planned anything yet…at this point I don’t know if this will be possible!

7. Read about, plant and improve my garden.

Reason: I started a little raised bed garden 3 years ago. I really knew nothing about gardening, but the first year I had great success! Beginner’s luck, I guess. Then the following year I got too busy and never planted it. Weeds and grass grew very well, however. Last year I did give it another try, but the results were pretty poor for some reason. I want to learn a little more about gardening and get some tips under my belt and see if I can get a better crop again this summer.

Current Progress: Not done, but I have at least penciled in five 30 minute blocks of time to devote to reading about gardening as part of my second quarter goals. So, hopefully I will start moving in the right direction on this soon.

8. Clean out storage room.

Reason: This one is not too exciting. Since we remodeled our kitchen last summer, our storage room turned into an absolute disaster. I blocked some time back in January to work on getting it started and made some good progress in the center. Now I need to start going through all the shelves and reorganizing boxes, clearing things out, etc. I am a little hesitant to do TOO much right now though since I don’t think Good Will and other disposal places are open.

Current Progress: I would say I am about 1/3 of the way done with it. I have also blocked some time as part of my second quarter goals for this.

9. Buy 2 new pairs of jeans that I like and feel comfortable in. Also buy at least one new pair of dress pants.

Reason: Sort of random, but I have the worst time finding jeans that fit me well. I have been griping and moaning about my jeans for the last few years, so I resolved that this year I would take the time to actually find some that are comfortable! I also could use a new pair of dress pants. I don’t wear them often, but when I need them I don’t really have any that I like right now.

Current Progress: I did find a couple pair of jeans! I got going on this goal right away in January since we had spring break plans I wanted nice jeans for. I have not even attempted any dress pants yet though. Yuck. I really hate shopping for pants.

10. Try 2 new hikes in the area with the kids.

Reason: We were in Colorado and Utah last summer and the boys had so much fun hiking. We have done plenty of hikes on vacations, but for some reason we really RARELY go hiking around home! I realized I think part of the issue is that I don’t really know where to go. I know there are state parks around, but I’m not very familiar with the trails. I think this just turns me off to the idea, since it seems like work to figure out where to go. So, I resolved to do some research and get a running list of places we can try when the weather gets nicer.

Current Progress: 0/2. We did go on a “hike” (more like a walk) in a nature preserve near our house last week, but it wasn’t new to us. I do have the name of a place about 30 minutes from our house that someone shared with me recently that I want to try. I need to look it up though and figure out exactly where it is, and I still need to find at least 1 other good hiking spot!

I think I’m going to wrap this up for today since this post is getting really long! I will continue on with the other 10 from my 20 in 2020 list tomorrow!

Daily Gratitude:
I am grateful for the birds singing outside! This is one of my favorite parts about spring/ summer. Last night we had a cold, rainy and very windy night…but when I woke up at 5:15 a.m. and the house was silent, I could hear the birds singing away outside my window. I just LOVE that sound!! It makes me so happy. 🙂