September Goals Review

And just like that, another month is gone. Here's how I did with my goals in September. Overall, I did okay. It was a busy month, but I managed a few wins. Looking forward to October! Also, I tried a new recipe & it was amazing! I highly recommend this one pan chicken fajita rice. We served it with: sour cream, diced tomatoes, guacamole, & chips. Sam used the chips to create nachos (excellent!) & I think we'll serve the leftovers with tortillas, so people can make their own burritos. Loved this recipe, and both M & Sam also loved it. Winner, winner!

1) Financial - 

• Meet with a financial planner - I ended up having a work conflict, so I had to push this out. 
• Finalize investments & budget from post rental house sale - Yes! I may shift things around, but so far, so good. 
• Plan our 2018 budget - I think this is mostly done. 
• Plan our 2018 travel plans - Mostly. I need to sort my two girls trip still. But, overall priorities & budgeting is done. 
• Finalize list of house projects for our "new" house - we're on the fence about how much work we can/want to do. So far, we've identified two "must do" projects. Otherwise, many of the others are dependent upon each other, which is a challenge. 
• Find one alternative cost cutting option - Not really. I continue to look for ways to reduce & reuse where possible. 
• Sell another $100 of items on either eBay or my local Facebook swap site. If nothing sells, donate & get rid of the clutter. - Sold nothing. 

2) Family - Spend more time together as a family!

• Cook one meal with each kid, so they can start helping with the cooking. - the boys have been helping with fruit & veggie prep, but haven't yet started making their own meals. 
• Have a family game night. - Sam, M & I had a Monopoly battle when Nick was out of town. 
• Get the kids involved in prioritizing our 2018 travel. - Yes, the kids helped to prioritize and decided on skiing in Tahoe vs Hawaii. 
• More decluttering & organizing in our new house (would like to get the boys closet shelving installed, so they can put away/organize all of their games & toys) - We haven't made much progress here. Definitely more to do. 

3) Fitness/health - Lose 4 pounds in September - I lost 3 pounds! Woohoo!

• Stay on track on my business trip to London (complete at least 3 workouts) - I did two workouts, and more walking than usual. 
• Eat five servings of fruit & vegetables (combined) per day - I was on track, but failed on my trip with this. It's harder when traveling. I averaged 4/day.
• Complete 1000 minutes of cardio - September was my lowest month of the year - 595 minutes. Normally I have at least one two hour workout, to balance out the shorter ones. Not this month. :-( 
• Complete 6 strength workouts. - I had 7 strength workouts!
• Complete 6 stretching workouts - but only 2 stretching workouts.
• Find another event to train for, now that my relay is over - I'm looking at a half marathon with my sister & friend. 

4) Work/career - Improve my work life balance.

• Keep better perspective at work/reduce stress - international travel is a great reminder that I cannot/do not want to do this anymore. 
• Work from home 2x this month. - achieved. 
• Brainstorm how I would spend my time if I wasn't working. Really think creatively about what this would mean, what the challenges would be, etc. - Haven't started this yet. 

5) Personal/creative - Spend more time on myself/creative pursuits.

• Try a new recipe using my new crockpot - yes! I tried a potato soup recipe. I didn't love it, but I did try the crockpot out for the first time. 
• Do something social at least once per month. - Yes, I went to a painting/wine party that I won at the school auction. 
• Volunteer a minimum of 1x/month. - they've changed the volunteering event I primarily did (at the school, & have used technology to replace the parents). I need to find another volunteering event that fits with my schedule. 

What about you? How did you do with your goals in September? Any big wins, or goals you need to carryover to another month?