January 2014 Goal Recap

One month is in the books, and I'm happy to report that I did pretty well in regards to my New Years Resolutions...

... but I'm not even sure if I like my goals anymore.

My wife and I have done some soul searching, looked at where we are in our lives, and what we want to do, and decided that we want to work abroad after we're through with grad school at the end of the summer 2015. We're juggling a bunch of ideas in the air like do we try to buy a house now then rent it out while we're abroad? Do we buy the house after we go abroad? What kind of work will we do? Are we willing to put some of our goals on hold indefinitely in order to do this? How long will we be gone? Where do we even want to go?! DOES SANTA EVEN GO TO OTHER COUNTRIES OR IS IT JUST AMERICA!? YOU HAVE TO TELL ME.

Anyway, my brain is going crazy. We're meeting with a loan officer today to see if we can even afford the houses were interested which will (hopefully) give us some much needed clarity. I'm also planning on meeting with some career advisors at George Mason University (my school) to see if they have any insight. We'll make a decision sometime in the next 10 years, so you have my permission to hold your breath.

Without further ado, here's how I did on the goals.

FINANCES: Save $3,000 cash for a vacation before September 2014. Save $24,000 cash for a house by January 2015.

I think I said that we needed to save about $2,350/month to hit this goal and we saved $4,018! BOOYAH! I get paid bi-weekly which normally means I only get paid twice a month. Every so often I get a third paycheck and we have a fun month. This was one of those months WHICH was very timely (and I didn't actually know it was gonna happen) as Whole 30 cost more than expected and we weren't going to hit the $2,350 target. Next month, we may get our tax refund back which would give us an even bigger cushion going forward into the summer months which are typically more expensive for us. (wedding season y'all)

FITNESS: Do 15 pull-ups in a row before next Christmas and complete a Tough Mudder by August.

Ummm. Can we skip going over this goal? I did 6 pull-ups last time I tried that out. I freaking hate them. FAIL. I haven't been to the gym very much in January as I was spending a lot of time cooking, being sick, and wrapping up some finals. Excuses, excuses. I'm going to aim for 9 pull-ups by the end of February.

Also, I haven't even registered for the Tough Mudder, but I haven't NOT done a Tough Mudder either. Let's call it a draw.

CREATIVITY: Average 2 blog posts a month by end of the year and complete at least 3 "projects" before next year.

I had 8 posts. At this rate, in two more months I can quit this whole blog thing. I also knocked out 2 projects, which I'll blog about later if my darling wife deems me worthy and takes some photos. Once I reach these goals, I'll set some new ones.

CAREER: Become a GS-13 by September.

Little bit of background, I am a federal government employee and I am on the General Schedule (GS) pay scale. I am currently a GS-12 (it's a little bit like a rank in the military) and I will be up for a promotion to a GS-13 in September. In order to get there, I have to pass a written test, write some essays, and get interviewed by a board of people I'm gonna have to charm the pants off. I can always become a GS-13 after September, but I can't be one before then because you have to have "time-in-grade". This means I have to be a GS-12 for at least a year before I am eligible for promotion. September is my anniversary date. Anyway, as I get closer to the date, I have to start scheduling the training to prepare for the tests and the interview. I'll probably sweat through my suit and tie when the day comes which, unfortunately, is not very flattering.

SPIRITUAL: Find a church by March and volunteer at Habitat for Humanity by the end of the year.

When I started this post, I was feeling pretty good about myself based on the fact I saved so much more money than expected. Now I feel awful. I didn't even GO to church once this past month. So no, I didn't find a church. I think I may have driven past a few on Sundays.

I did do some research into volunteering in DC with Habitat for Humanity. Definitely seems doable for me and something that would be rewarding.

WHOLE 30: Complete the Whole 30 Challenge

UMMMMMMM YEAH. I FRIGGIN' DID THAT. I plan on doing a wrap up post talking about it, but it was seriously life changing. I recommend it to everyone.