The 2017 Project

This page is here so that you can keep up with my monthly 2017 goals (The 2017 Project) if you're so inclined! Here's the backstory:

I did this for the first time in 2016 (results here) and loved the attainable mini resolutions. I felt like they were doable and even if it was hard I could get through it because it was only for a month. Well I liked it so much that I decided to go for round two in 2017! Here are this year's goals:

January: have weekly date nights. Mark and I obviously spend a lot of time together, but we don't usually have dedicated date nights to really get quality time in. They don't necessarily need to be fancy or even require going out, it could be making dinner at home together. I just want it to be time specifically set aside for us to talk and enjoy each other's company.

We were actually pretty good at this one! We didn't always go out or do anything fancy but we were good about devoting quality time together each week.

February: start a mini daily workout. I really want to set attainable goals, so I'm starting small with adding in a mini daily workout that I think I can stick to: 15 pushups, 30 crunches, and 40 calf raises. May not sound like much, but it's more than what I currently do!

Oh man, I was so bad in February. Going to Mexico coupled with our overnight marriage retreat really made it hard to stick with this one. I think I maybe did my mini workout 1 out of every 3 days. So bad!

March: start working out three times a week. I pretty consistently work out twice a week because I have volleyball on Tuesdays and a barre class on Wednesdays. I'm challenging myself to step it up and add one more day into the mix.

I did it! I am so proud to say that I nailed this one and am still at it into April. Gotta get #weddingready ;)

April: no drinking. I really only have a glass or two of wine maybe 3 nights a week, but those calories do add up, so a month of no booze will do me some good.

Okay so I was not great at this one. I went a full two weeks with no drinking but then I had three social events where I caved. I really didn't drink at home at all though and haven't the first week into May either. Hopefully this will form a habit where I really only drink when I'm out!

May: write down 3 things I'm grateful for every day for a week.

So this was one I ended up changing😬 It was originally no shopping but I forgot about it and didn't look until one week into May and I'd already shopped! No shopping requires some planning beforehand for me. I ended up going with writing down things I'm grateful for and was able to keep it up for the rest of May. It's really simple but a good practice to just make sure I'm not taking the wonderful things in my life for granted. 

June: save more money. I'm still trying to figure out what exactly this one will look like, but I think maybe I'll put $50 into savings the first week, $100 in the second, $150 the third, and $200 the fourth. Any ideas you have would be much appreciated though!

I did quite well for my June goal. I ended up starting with putting $50 in savings the first week and then adding an extra $50 every week. So I ended up saving over $1000. 

July: start working out four times a week. Building off of March here because I gotta get #WeddingReady. Don't hate me for saying that!

Yeah...did not do well at the whole four days thing. I can pretty consistently get 3 days a week of workouts but that fourth day is elusive for me. I walk the dog and such on the other days but I intended to do more. So I'm not necessarily being inactive. I just value my time and hate working out so much so it's hard to build into my routine.

August: no eating out. Another repeat from last year that ended up being good for our wallets so I'm adding it again. 

We did pretty well at this one. We did break the rule one day for happy hour after we'd both had particularly sh*tty days. But rules are made to be broken, no? ;)

September: have a water challenge with Mark to see who can drink more every day. I try to make a conscious effort to drink 3 water bottles a day, but I would definitely drink more if I had a little competitive motivation. 

We knew a whole month long competition wasn't realistic so we competed for a week and Mark won by a landslide. That's not to say I wasn't drinking a ton of water ( I averaged 110oz a day) but he could just drink wayyy more than I could! Let's hope the habit sticks.

October: try meditating for a week. This is an updated one that I feel like will be beneficial as we head into wedding month! I always hear how great meditation is and I might as well try it out for a week.

I did a ten day free trial of Headspace and stuck with it every day. I think meditation is great but it's not something that I've added to my life permanently. I had before this challenge and will continue to use meditation when I'm having trouble falling asleep. 

November: brush up on French with an app like Memrise or Duolingo that makes it easy and fun. I don't want the five years I spent studying the language to have totally gone to waste.

I downloaded the Memrise app and have been using it intermittently. I was really good about it in November and have fallen off the wagon a bit since. It's definitely making me want to plan a trip to a Francophone country though!

December: read before bed every night. I'm not typically on my phone before bed, but I am usually watching a show so I'd like to change up that habit and try to read before bed every night, even if I can only last five minutes before falling asleep.

I was not very good about December's challenge. I maybe read before bed every third night but it all went to hell when we were home for Christmas. It's something I really love to do to wind the night down but I'm usually too tired! I got a new Kindle for Christmas so hopefully I can be better in 2018. 

I want to cut myself a little slack and say that these are subject to change. I may think of something halfway through the year that I can't wait to try. Last year I moved a couple things around and it all still worked out. This is my initial goal list, but it may constantly evolve!

I will update this page monthly with the status of each goal. I hope you follow along!