21 Before 21

Happy Hugh Year!

In September I set 21 goals that I wanted to accomplish before 2021. Here's how I did:

Goal #1: No soda for the rest of the year.

I made it! My last soda was a Dr. Pepper on Labor Day. I haven't had any since. 

I did allow myself some Martinelli's on New Year's Eve. Some may consider that "soda." Though it is carbonated, I'm not counting it as soda. That is the only carbonation I've had since Labor Day, and since I don’t intend to make a daily habit of Martinelli’s, I decided it was okay.

Goal #2: Finish reading the book Jesus the Christ by James E. Talmage.

I finished on December 28th. 

I really enjoyed chapters 1-6 and 31-37. I had to fight through the rest. The book is 747 pages and 42 chapters long. It was written in 1908, and there are so many big words. I looked up about a hundred words and added definitions in my notes. Now, I love learning new words, but I have to say... when I die and join the spirit world, I'm going to march up to James E. Talmage and say, "Alright, pal, tell me... did people actually use those words in 1908, or were you just showing off?"

Goal #3: Try ten new recipes.

These are the ones I tried (and I’ve tried at least ten more since):

1. Pressure Cooker Mac & Cheese 

2. Gluten-Free Fried Zucchini* 

3. Pumpkin Baked Oatmeal*

4. Thai Mango Curry

5. Slow Cooker Creamy Lemon Chicken*

6. Company Pork Roast*

7. Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins*

8. Sweet Citrus Chicken Salad 

9. Southwest Chicken Cobb Salad

10. Smashed Potato Salad

*ones I liked enough to make again

Goal #4: Get a Haircut.

I did. But now I'm waaaay overdue for another one. 

Goal #5: Don't Eat Out for a Month.

We did this as a family in October. We even took a road trip without stopping anywhere for food. 

Goal #6: Finish the Closet Doors in the Basement.

I'm so glad I set this goal because we'd probably still not have them done if I hadn't. 

The first set of doors (see #21 for the second set)

Goal #7: Get the Door Hung on the Storage Room.

We just got this done on Tuesday. It only took us five years to put the door on. The problem is... now I’m confused every time I try to go in the storage room.

Goal #8: Hang the Doors on the Kids' Closets.

Again, it took five years. Our kids don't even know how to function with doors on their closets. This is a big adjustment for them.

Now we need to get the knobs put on them, but I wanted to give the paint a few days of drying time first.

Goal #9: Weigh Less on December 31st than I Weighed on September 29th. 

Here's the thing... I don't weigh myself very often. I am much better off in my relationship with my body if I don't use weight as a measurement of success. I find that if I've been doing something that's good for me for a while, and then I weigh myself, I immediately derail - even if weight loss wasn't my goal. I can't tell you how many times I've ended a good routine or habit simply because I shifted my focus toward weight. 

So I never should have set this goal. I know better. 

Here's the other thing... since I don't weigh myself very often, I don't remember what I weighed on September 29th. I should have written it down. So I don't know if I met this goal or not. And if I did lose weight, it obviously wasn't by any large number, or I'd notice. So I'm probably just hanging out in the same 5 lb range that I was on September 29th. 

And the final thing... because of everything I’ve written above, I’m not going to weigh myself to assess this goal. I’m not going into 2021 thinking about weight.

So maybe I failed this goal. But I don’t feel bad about it.

Goal #10: Walk 250 Miles.

I didn't make it. And I realized early on that I probably wasn't going to. My total was 210.5 miles.

Goal #11: Do 2,000 Push-Ups. 

Yes! I did it!

On NYE I did my 2,000th push-up while Eva was screaming her head off for her daily hour-long tantrum - a perfect homage to my life’s chaos.

Goal #12: Do a DI Run.

(In other words, do a thrift store donation). 

I did two.

Goal #13: Clean Out the Garden.

I accomplished this one early in the game, and I'm glad I got it done. I pulled out all the plant carcasses and cleaned out our composter and gave it to our neighbor. 

Goal #14: Try Something New.

I tried using an acupressure mat. 

Goal #15: Finish 9 Books. 

Done.

Actually, I finished 18.

Goal #16: Clean Out the Box of Junk That's Been Sitting on the Window Seat of my Bedroom Since July.

Done.

It was full of stuff I had no idea what to do with. Hence the procrastination. It would still be there if I hadn’t set this goal.

Goal #17: Go to the Doctor.

I went twice. Some of my medical concerns have been resolved. Some haven't. 

Goal #18; Complete a Study of Temple Symbols.

For this goal, I read 175 Temple Symbols and Their Meanings by Donald Parry and then listened to a podcast with the author. Honestly, I didn't love the book (other than the introduction, which I really enjoyed), and the podcast was just a lot of stuff from the book, so it was repetitive. 

I also listened to Understanding the Sacred Symbolism of Temple Clothing by Kim Gibbs. I had listened to it before and wanted to listen to it again, especially since some changes had been made to the temple clothing since the first time I listened. 

Goal #19: Buy a Dishwasher Participate in the Light the World Initiative in December. 

I changed this goal because the dishwasher I wanted was never in stock, and it’s not a financial priority.

As for the updated goal... I did it! And it honestly made Christmas so great. I made sure to stay ahead with planning so I knew what I was doing each day. Some of the things we did were:

• Put together food and hygiene kits for students in need
• Donated meals to families in our community
• Decorated neighbors doors (but we got credit for far more doors than we actually decorated, so I'm just going to throw this out there for some of my neighbors who kindly thought it was me... it was Shirley)
• Took treats to friends
• Shopped at some local businesses
• Took cards to the nursing home
• Made a video of us and our friends reading Luke 2

Goal #20: Finish a Self-Reliance Class.

I started taking the Church's new Emotional Resilience class in September and finished in November. 

Goal #21: Hang the Sign Over the Washer and Dryer That's Been Sitting on the Floor for Two Months. 

Done. 

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I really want to set some goals for the new year, but 2020 has messed up my relationship with the future. I don’t want to look at 2021 as a whole. - it’s too scary. I feel like I have to approach one week at a time. So with that in mind, I’ve been thinking about how to best incorporate some goals now that this list is complete. Before that, though, I’ve got a birthday to celebrate! Here’s to 2021 (eek!) and being 37 (eek!)