the giraffe life

I think the only thing better than dreaming up goals is checking them off :) Finances Put at least $2000 toward mortgage prepayment  - Yes! We actually paid $2600 by September.  Save for daycare  - Change of plans! My employer doesn't provide paid maternity leave so I figured we'd kill two birds with one stone - practice paying for daycare and use the money to pay bills while I was home with a baby. Since we now know we'll need medical intervention to have a baby, this savings account will instead be the start of our fund for that. I'm super glad we have this moolah set aside!  Personal   Finish my degree  - Probably my proudest moment of the year! I turned in my final project in April and graduated in May :) Read 50 books  - Success! 73 books in all. I'll have a post about my favorites soon. Marriage Travel at least twice  - Yes! We traveled to California to celebrate our anniversary in June and to NYC for a day in November. Learn something ...

Hello September! Time for a goal check-in. Not much to report on this month, just the mortgage and what I've been reading. I was able to work a few extra hours this month and decided to put that toward the mortgage payment for September 1st. It's not money I normally have (or count on) so it won't be missed! My 2014 total is now $2600 - far more than I thought I'd have paid by this time in the year. August was a superb month for reading. I read 9 books, so I've officially passed my goal of 50 for the year! My secret? Get poison ivy on your face, take off from work, and hole up in your house, reading all day ;)   Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins - Anna is forced to spend her senior year of high school attending a boarding school in Paris, and she's not happy about it at first. But then she meets  Étienne St. Clair and things start looking up. All in all, a well done romance.  What We Found in the Sofa and How it Saved the World b...

June went fast, right? Can't believe the year is already half over! I'm still feeling good about all my goals though :) This month I was able to cross off two goals - traveling twice and learning something new. We visited Ocean City for a friend's birthday, and then spent 9 days in California. (I'll post my final recap on Monday.) We still plan to fit in a day trip to NYC in a few months. Learning something new was surfing  lessons! I've already met my mortgage goal for the year, but I've decided I'm going to continue to overpay. I'm in the habit of putting extra money toward it anyway, so why stop? $2,330 total - yay!  As of the end of June, I've read 35 books this year so I'm on track for 50. This month's reads: The best was Daughter of Smoke & Bone , hands down. Bread & Wine - Memoir mixed with favorite recipes. I loved that she advocates inviting people over for dinner even when your house is a mess - been ...

Oh, March. I called it in my end of February post - this month we had highs in the 60s (15° - 21° C) and several snowstorms. Such a tease! But for April, I'm hoping the weather cooperates with some more consistent (and pleasant) temperatures. :) Besides nicer weather, it's also time for some goal updates. First up is the mortgage: $1100! It looks awesome on paper, but in reality, it's just my tax refund and proceeds from selling my wedding dress. Yes, I sold my wedding dress! This is one of those decisions that seems to fire people up, but for me it came down to the simple fact that I don't plan to wear it again and it was taking up a ton of room in the closet. Plus the woman I sold it to was overjoyed, so I'm super happy with my decision. :) Books I read this month:   I was running a little short on time this month because I've been cramming in school stuff after work, but I still managed to fit in a little reading. I'd recommend: The Rosi...

For a month that's normally pretty laid back and slow moving (compared to December, anyway), this January's been lightning fast. I didn't set any month-long goals for January, so all these updates are for my 2014 goals , some of which I haven't begun to tackle so they aren't mentioned. First up is the extra $2k toward the mortgage. We're at $570 so far. Yay! Another goal I made progress on was reading 50 books this year (works out to about one per week). I actually read 8 books in January. What?!  I can thank the snow for this - there were several weekend days when I stayed home because of the weather (if I don't have to drive in it, I don't!). I also had a couple days off from work because of snow, plus Martin Luther King day off (he was a very influential leader and civil rights activist). Much of that time was spent reading. A cozy couch + warm blanket + good book = happiness! Out of these 8, I'd heartily recommend: These is my Words...