I wanted a place to easily access, edit and share my ’23 resolutions that was also more front and center than an occasional post. So I decided to create this page, and add it to the menu. I’m going to do my best all year, so please wish me luck!
The original blog post that this page references can be viewed here.
Underneath each goal I’ll update with current status or progress. If it is blank, it is probably too early in the year and no progress has occurred yet, so please give me a little time. 😊
🎈Get A Job 🎈
🏢 UPDATE 1: Started applying for jobs again on March 21st. 🎉 UPDATE 2: I start the new job on March 27th! 💀 UPDATE 3: CTS filed for bankruptcy, so I got laid off on June 24th. I decided to take a sabbatical until late September after the Alaska and Orlando trips.
🎈 Love My Toys Better 🎈
There isn’t an easy way to track this goal, so I’ll write tidbits here and there, and post photos of special time spent with my toys.
🧸 UPDATE 1: In mid-July, about half of my toys went into storage. This was done to clear space to remake my studio, but also to better enjoy the toys that are still out. Every six months or so, I plan to do a rotation.
🎈 Lose 20 Pounds 🎈
As of July 12th, 2023 I am sitting at 127 lbs, meaning I’ve lost 8 lbs since I started at 135 lbs. My current goal is to get to 115 lbs by October 1st, 2023.
Chart last updated on 7/12/2023
A fully detailed and up-to-date version of my weight loss chart is HERE.
🥕 UPDATE 1: In mid-July, I reset my goal, which I've really struggled with (though I did lose a little weight).
🎈 Finish 10 Video Games From My Backlog 🎈
| Name Of Game | Date Finished | |
|---|---|---|
| #1 | Pokémon Violet | 1/14/2023 |
| #2 | Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX | 1/28/2023 |
| #3 | Pokémon Legends: Arceus | 4/25/2023 |
| #4 | Grow: Song Of The Evertree | |
| #5 | ||
| #6 | ||
| #7 | ||
| #8 | ||
| #9 | ||
| #10 |
🎈 Build All The LEGO Sets In My Backlog 🎈
| Name Of Set | Date Finished | |
|---|---|---|
| #1 | LEGO Ideas 123 Sesame Street 21324 | 2/2/2023 |
| #2 | LEGO Pirate Adventure Ride 5007427 | 2/9/2023 |
| #3 | LEGO City Wildlife Rescue ATV 60300 | 3/15/2023 |
| #4 | LEGO City Chicken Henhouse 60344 | 3/15/2023 |
| #5 | LEGO Ray the Castaway 40566 | 3/20/2023 |
| #6 | LEGO Creator Panda Bear 30641 | 3/20/2023 |
| #7 | LEGO 41711 Friends Emma’s Art School | 4/13/2023 |
| #8 | LEGO 31120 Creator 3-in-1 Medieval Castle | 5/19/2023 |
| #9 | LEGO 30581 Tropical Parrot | 6/15/23 |
| #10 | LEGO 30582 Birthday Bear | 6/15/23 |
| #11 | LEGO 31132 Creator Viking Ship and the Midgard Serpent | 8/15/2023 (Approximate) |
| #12 | LEGO 21325 Ideas Medieval Blacksmith | Currently Building |
| #13 | LEGO 31109 Creator Pirate Ship | |
| #14 | LEGO 10305 ICONS Lion Knights’ Castle |
🎈 Complete 10 Puzzles 🎈
🌟 ONE as of 7/26/2023! 🌟
🎈 Read 24 Books 🎈
📚 UPDATE 1: This goal has been thoroughly smashed as of 7/13, but I keep reading!
| Name Of Book | Date Finished | |
|---|---|---|
| #1 | The Mouse And His Child by Russell Hoban | 1/1/2023 |
| #2 | Kaya’s Story Collection by Janet Beeler Shaw | 1/5/2023 |
| #3 | Jurassic Park/The Lost World (Barnes & Noble Collectible Editions) by Michael Crichton * Most of this book was read in 2022, but as it is a very large book (two volumes in one) a good amount of pages made it into 2023. | 1/5/2023 |
| #4 | Raggedy Andy Stories: Introducing the Little Rag Brother of Raggedy Ann by Johnny Gruelle | 1/7/2023 |
| #5 | Corazón: Diario De Un Niño by Edmondo De Amicis | 1/16/2023 |
| #6 | Stephen King’s It | 2/26/2023 |
| #7 | Muppet Babies Omnibus by Marie Severin, Dean Yeagle, Jeff Butler,S tan Kay, Laura Hitchcock, Bill Prady, and Angel Decesare | 3/9/2023 |
| #8 | The Last Days of the Dinosaurs by Riley Black | 3/15/2023 |
| #9 | Cretaceous by Tadd Galusha | 3/15/2023 |
| #10 | Jurassic by Ted Rechlin | 4/2/2023 |
| #11 | 50 Dinosaur Tales by Sabrina Ricci | 4/3/2023 |
| #12 | Raptor Red by Robert T. Bakker | 4/14/2023 |
| #13 | Down a Sunny Dirt Road: An Autobiography by Jan Berenstain and Stan Berenstain | 4/19/2023 |
| #14 | The Berenstain Bears’ Story Time Collection (Random House, 2020) | 4/21/2023 |
| #15 | My Real Family By Emily Arnold McCully | 4/22/2023 |
| #16 | The Do-Something Day By Joe Lasker | 4/23/2023 |
| #17 | Little Chick’s Friend Duckling by Mary DeBall Kwitz and Bruce Degen | 4/24/2023 |
| #18 | The Enchanted World: Wizards And Witches by Brendan Lehane | 5/18/23 |
| #19 | Birds Do The Strangest Things by Leonora Hornblow | 5/26/23 |
| #20 | 3 Minute Bedtime Stories by World Books | 5/26/23 |
| #21 | All About Madeline – The Complete Tales by Ludwig Bemelmans | 5/30/23 |
| #22 | Animals Do The Strangest Things by Leonora and Arthur Hornblow | 6/2/2023 |
| #23 | The Adventures Of Snail At School by John Stadler | 6/2/2023 |
| #24 | Winter Hut by Cynthia Jameson | 6/4/2023 |
| #25 | Thomas The Tank Engine Story Collection by the Reverend Wilbert Awdry | 7/6/2023 |
| #26 | A Forest World By Felix Salten | 7/7/2023 |
| #27 | Mrs. Peter Rabbit by Thornton W. Burgess | 7/10/2023 |
| #28 | The Smurfs And The Howlibird by Peyo and Gos | 7/11/2023 |
| #29 | Buster Bear’s Twins by Thornton W. Burgess | 7/13/2023 |
| #30 | Smile by Raina Telgemeier | 7/15/2023 |
| #31 | Sisters by Raina Telgemeier | 7/15/2023 |
| #32 | Masterpiece Comics by Robert Sikoryak | 7/16/2023 |
| #33 | Maus I: A Survivor’s Tale: My Father Bleeds History by Art Spiegelman | 7/16/2023 |
| #34 | Maus II: A Survivor’s Tale: And Here My Troubles Began by Art Spiegelman | 7/18/2023 |
| #35 | Guts by Raina Telgemeier | 7/19/2023 |
| #36 | Bamboo Kingdom #1: Creatures of the Flood by Erin Hunter | 7/26/2023 |
| #37 | Bamboo Kingdom #2: River of Secrets by Erin Hunter | 8/8/2023 |
| #38 | Bamboo Kingdom #3: Journey to the Dragon Mountain by Erin Hunter | 8/13/2023 |
| #39 | Bravelands #1: Broken Pride by Erin Hunter | 8/16/2023 |
| #40 | Bravelands #2: Code Of Honor by Erin Hunter | 8/20/2023 |
| #41 | Bravelands #3: Blood And Bone by Erin Hunter | 8/25/2023 |
| #42 | Bravelands #4: Shifting Shadows by Erin Hunter | 8/25/23 |
| #43 | Bravelands #5: The Spirit-Eaters by Erin Hunter | 8/27/2023 |
| #44 | Bravelands #6: Oathkeeper by Erin Hunter | 8/30/2023 |
| #45 | Child of the Wolves by Elizabeth Hall | 9/1/2023 |
| #46 | All-of-a-Kind Family by Sydney Taylor | 9/3/2023 |
| #47 | Red Dove, Listen to the Wind by Sonia Antaki | 9/20/2023 |
| #48 | Irish Folk & Fairy Tales (Edited by J.K. Jackson) | Currently Reading |
| #49 | Bravelands: Curse of the Sandtongue #1: Shadows On The Mountain by Erin Hunter | 9/28/2023 |
🎈 Create 24 New Scrapbook Pages 🎈
🌟 ten as of 7/20/2023! 🌟
🎈 Color 12 Coloring Pages 🎈
🎈 Write 500 Words A Day (Or 3,500 / Week) 🎈
📓 UPDATE 1: Getting a job put a hard stop to this goal. Shortly after I was laid off, on 7/13, I began writing in earnest again.
| 📅 Week | 📓 Words Written |
|---|---|
| 1 | 3,701 🌟 |
| 2 | 3,921 🌟 |
| 3 | 1,973 ❌ |
| 4 | 3,611 🌟 |
| 5 | 3,587 🌟 |
| 6 | 2,455 ❌ |
| 7 | 1,300 ❌ |
| 8 | 2,202 ❌ |
| 9 | 1,500 ❌ |
| 10 | 2,174 ❌ |
| 11 | 0 ❌ |
| 12 | 0 ❌ |
| 13 | 553 ❌ |
| 14 | 0 ❌ |
| 15 | 196 ❌ |
| 16 | 0 ❌ |
| 17 | 0 ❌ |
| 18 | 0 ❌ |
| 19 | 0 ❌ |
| 20 | 0 ❌ |
| 21 | 0 ❌ |
| 22 | 0 ❌ |
| 23 | 0 ❌ |
| 24 | 0 ❌ |
| 25 | 0 ❌ |
| 26 | 0 ❌ |
| 27 | 0 ❌ |
| 28 | Writing happened this week, but wasn’t tracked. |
| 29 | 0 ❌ |
| 30 | 0 ❌ |
| 31 | 0 ❌ |
| 32 | 0 ❌ |
| 33 | 0 ❌ |
| 34 | 0 ❌ |
| 35 | 0 ❌ |
| 36 | 0 ❌ |
| 37 | 0 ❌ |
| 38 | 0 ❌ |
| 39 | |
| 40 | |
| 41 | |
| 42 | |
| 43 | |
| 44 | |
| 45 | |
| 46 | |
| 47 | |
| 48 | |
| 49 | |
| 50 | |
| 51 | |
| 52 |
📼 Watch All The VHS Tapes In My Backlog 📼
📼 UPDATE 1: On 7/13, this goal was revised. Rather than "a tape a month" the goal became to watch all that I have on my backlog.
| 📺 Title | Date Watched | |
|---|---|---|
| #1 | The Little Polar Bear | |
| #2 | Ewoks: The Haunted Village | |
| #3 | Britt Allcroft’s Magic Adventures of Mumfie: The Movie | |
| #4 | The Berenstain Bears And The Wild Wild Honey (TV Teddy Collection) | |
| #5 | The Berenstain Bears In Giant Bat Cave (TV Teddy Collection) | |
| #6 | The Berenstain Bears: Not-So-Buried Treasure (TV Teddy Collection) | |
| #7 | Cricket In Times Square (TV Teddy Collection) | |
| #8 | Yankee Doodle Cricket (TV Teddy Collection) | |
| #9 | The Railway Dragon (TV Teddy Collection) | |
| #10 | The Tale Of Peter Rabbit (TV Teddy Collection) | |
| #11 | Stanley, The Ugly Duckling (TV Teddy Collection) | |
| #12 | Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Four Musketurtles (TV Teddy Collection) | |
| #13 | Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Return Of The Turtleoid (TV Teddy Collection) |
🧙♂️ Play These Board Games At Least Once 🧙♂️
| 🏰 Name Of Game | 📅 Date First Played | 🌈 Easy? | 🌟 Fun? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bamboozled: The Bluffing Dice Game | |||
| Raptor | |||
| Munchkin Wonderland | |||
| Munchkin Ducktales | |||
| Takenoko | |||
| Betrayal at House on the Hill | |||
| Dragomino | |||
| Kingdomino | |||
| Pop Funkoverse Jurassic Park 101 | |||
| Lion in My Way | |||
| Carcassonne | |||
| Choose Your Own Adventure: House of Danger |
🎈 Limit YouTube 🎈
For the time being, I’ve removed the YouTube app from my phone and blocked YouTube so that it is only available to me on weekends.
📺 UPDATE 1: As of January 7th, thanks to removing YouTube from my daily routine, I have been watching documentaries, listening to more podcasts, reading more, and gaming more. My brain overall feels like it's functioning better!
📺 UPDATE 2: As of February 5th, I've actually started watching YouTube on weekends (even though I had it available, I'd been doing other things.) I found it more enjoyable than before, and also much easier to simply let it go at the end of the weekend and move on to less vapid content. 😁
📺 UPDATE 3: When I became employed, I decided to close commissions permanently. This meant I needed a way to turn off my brain as I worked through my queue of almost 40 pieces. So back to YouTube it was. The block was reinstated on 7/13, with a daily time limit of 30 minutes to allow for blog-and-research related stuff.
