2012: The List, Check-In

With only about 3 months left in the year, I can’t believe I haven’t revisited the 2012 List sooner! Where has the year gone?! I revisited The List back in April and since then the time has just flown right by me. So very much has happened in the last 5 months, but I have to say I’m a little worried to revisit the list again…I feel like I haven’t even had time in my brain to think of my goals and how to work on them, let alone time to actually ‘do the work’ on them! Eeeek! But, without revisiting them I will never know if I am getting anywhere, so here we go!

2012: The List 

• Read more! For pleasure, for business, for growth. (Yes!!!! As of recently, I am finally getting back into this! And do you know what the ticket was? Reading via the Kindle app on my iPad! I know, I was always one of those people who touted, ‘Long live print!’ and hoarded magazines and books like it was my job, but I have found I just don’t have the time to pull out those books to read them. With the books loaded up on my iPad, I can dig into a new book whenever I have a spare few minutes between meetings or when I arrive 45minutes early for sessions, as I have a tendency to do. I am almost done reading 7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess and I have so many other goodies awaiting me on my iPad. Yay for getting back into reading!)
• Be more adventurous in cooking homemade meals. (Okay, I don’t know about adventerous, but I am definitely cooking more! And that is a huge accomplishment in my book…even if it is just taco and spaghetti nights! I did venture into making BBQ pulled pork for the Bears game a couple weekends ago and it was a huge success! The spouse loveddddd it, even if it did stink up the house.)
• Create a regular cleaning routine for the house. (Umm, no. Just plain no. Time and space are at a premium around here. So, that means piles of stuff are just adding up everywhere you look and I don’t have the time to manage it, gah! But that WILL change! A big purge is a-coming! Out with the tchotchkes, in with the baby stuff!) 
• Create a consistent blogging work flow. (Feeling accomplished here! I’m still rocking 5x/week! Granted, pregnancy exhaustion has taken a toll on my pre-blogging routine…I just can’t stay up past 9PM anymore! But, I’m still doing it and that is all that matters!)
• Maintain organized book keeping and records for the new year. (YES! Still rocking this!)
• Book my set goal amount of weddings for 2012. (Been there, done that! Let’t talk 2013 people! I’ve upped my goal since 2012 and I am oh-so-eager to reach it!) 
• Blog submissions. (Heck yes! I have been featured on Style Me Pretty Illinois and Style Me Pretty Destination, not to mention other amazing blogs! And more is coming!)
• Quiet time before bed. (Well…we haven’t found a way to get the iPads and iphones out of the bedroom just yet, BUT I am no longer working long hours into the night, with my laptop in bed. The preggo exhaustion just won’t allow it…and honestly, I’m thankful. We have been watching our favorite shows together instead and going to sleep crazy early…I’d say relaxation before bed is a major improvement over working till 3am every night.)
• Keep up and follow through with my health routine. (Well…pregnancy has kind of flipped my world upside down lately. I have a tendency to be a tad susperstitious, so I was afraid to work out during the first trimester, but now that we are into the second, I am ready to get back at it! And for the first time in my life, I am making sure I eat when I am hungry and or feel like I need to. A crazy concept, I know! And I am also staying obscenely hydrated. All in the name of taking in care of that little one growing in my belly. Yay!)
• Create a financial plan for our future. (Ooops! Okay, so we haven’t really created a financial plan, but we have been planning for our future in really important ways…like writing up our wills with a lawyer and getting life insurance! Talk about putting on your big girl pants, wow! I think this should give me some points in the future planning department, agreed? Agreed!)
• Set financial goals for the future. (Someone kick me in the butt, kay!?)
• Date nights! Regularly. (Not regular scheduled date nights, but since K has moved to a normal 9-5 type schedule, we do get to have way more impromptu date nights and I love it!)
• Document our life, more! (I’d give myself a 7 in this department. I should pull out the real camera more often, but Instagram makes it so much easier. And now I have lots of cute Stickygrams on the fridge!)
• Create and maintain a morning routine (and in turn, a sleep routine.) (Kind of? My new thing is waking up and very quietly pulling out my laptop to get the blog up for the day and tackle my inbox from bed, before the puppies realize I am awake and hound me for food. Then it’s up to start the day. So, it’s kind of a routine…)
• Make! Make things because I want to and I love it. (Does cooking more count? Cooking is making, right?)
• Collaborate! Work with friends and colleagues to be creative and create. (Yes, a very fun photoshoot is planned for October with some amazingggg people that I cannot wait to work with!)
• Connect! Make time to connect with others, from colleagues and friends to family and my own spouse. (The tiny break in weddings this fall has definitely helped and I am feeling far more connected to the people in my life than I previously had! Only 7 more weddings on the books this year and then I can’t wait to completely immerse myself in friends and family for the holiday season!)
• Push myself out of my comfort zone and towards great things. (Well…pregnancy is definitely not in my comfort zone. No double dirty chai’s, no wine, and no cute clothes that fit for 9 months. It’s safe to say I am officially out of my comfort zone, check that off the list! But…I do get a really wonderful thing in the end, so it will all be worth it.)
• Dream! Always. (I never stop!)

Wow, who knew that in the past few months of crazy nonstop wedding season, I was actually accomplishing things on my list?! I have to say that it is an awesome feeling to know that I have continued to work on these things over the past year. And it is definitely a kick in the butt to make some financial plans for next year before the rest of this year passes me by! (Someone help! Where to begin?!)

Hmmm…maybe I should make a mini-list for things to accomplish before 2013 hits! What is left to accomplish in the next 3 months? What can I get the ball rolling on? Well, that is a blog for another day, but until then, what is left on your list for 2012? You’ve still got some time, make the best of it!