Tag: goals

Maternity Leave Goals

I am so behind on so much – I need to post my decade wrap up, my 30th birthday, my 30 before 30 review, but with 2021 nearly over (HOW, I still think it’s early 2020), I want to make sure I’m focused on accomplishing specific things before my year of mat leave ends.

Living in the UK means I get a year off for maternity leave. This is a HUGE opportunity, and one I never expected to have growing up in the US. However I do feel a bit nervous about taking a year away from my career, so there are things I want to accomplish while I’m out of the office and be able to return with an improved CV, and then a few other things I want to do to improve my quality of life.

  • Finish my MPH. Somehow I’m in my last year! When I first started, the idea of it taking four years to complete felt never ending. And now here we are! I have three courses left, and I’m really excited about two of them. Last year I took a Public Health focused class on infectious diseases (so interesting in times of COVID) and I loved it. So this year I’m taking an epidemiology focused infectious disease class, much more challenging but I figured I should follow my interests while I still have the chance. I’m also taking one on medical anthropology which I’m also super excited to learn more about. And then I can return to work with my masters!
  • Get conversational (or stretch goal/dream, to a professional level) in Spanish. Something mega exciting that I’ve been planning way, way before we even conceived, is to spend a few months in Spain during the mat leave taking intensive Spanish classes. I was shocked by how quickly I picked up some basic French after just two weeks of intensive lessons in Montpellier, so hopefully after a few months of them in Spain I’ll be much better at Español! We’ve already booked our accommodation, more details on this exciting move coming soon! 
  • Become a trustee at a charity. There are a few charities I really admire and think I could offer my experience to their board. This is a bit intimidating as a young, mid-level woman instead of an older, high level white man, but I have submitted my first application (to a charity I’m very passionate about and that truly feels like a perfect fit) and I got an interview. Them being interested enough to interview me is a great confidence boost and will definitely help inspire me to keep applying until I’m successful.
  • Get my driving license! I am SO desperate for this one! I have driven since I was 16, but not since I moved to the UK. And wow do I miss the freedom of having my own car. I’ve had to rely on Gareth for so much, and I am sooo excited to have a bit more independence. I’m going to book a week of intensive lessons to get comfortable driving on this side of the road (and to get used to the much smaller lanes) hopefully while my mom is here in December to watch Iris.
  • Become a UK citizen! Next June I’ll have lived here for 5 years and be eligible for citizenship. I don’t love not being a citizen of the country where my daughter was born and will live for the foreseeable, especially post-Brexit. I have pre-settled status at the moment which means I can leave for 2 years and still return, but any longer than that and I’d have to get a visa.
  • Volunteer more. It’s so hard to volunteer working full time, especially doing a part time masters, but I hopefully I’ll be able to fit in a bit more during this year.
  • Do the Strong as a Mother course. Gareth’s gym has a postpartum programme that I want to complete to help me get back to normal. Pregnancy and birth was really hard on my body and I’ve been really weak and out of shape for nearly a year now. I’ve had a lot of postpartum complications and I just want to feel healthy and healed and capable again.

I have no idea if I’m being way too ambitious for a year with a new baby, but we’ll see what I can get done!

 

Sainte Luce, Madagascar

JANUARY 2019 GOALS

I’m trying a new thing where instead of plotting out large yearly goals, I break them down into bite-sized monthly goals. Especially in Mada, where life is just a bit harder, it will hopefully make everything feel more manageable. And considering Gareth left yesterday and I’m feeling quite sad and far from home, it’ll give me a tangible list of things to focus on instead of the 6,000 miles between us.

JANUARY GOALS

MPH

  • Finish the project for my Social Research class.
  • Finish the book for Issues in Public Health.

FRENCH

  • Get to lesson 16 in Pimsleur French 1. I used Pimsleur to learn Spanish before moving to Spain and it was hugely helpful. It’s a bit different this time, though. I studied Spanish from grade 8-11 in school, and though it had been nearly 10 years (!), a lot stuck with me. French is literally starting from scratch, I have to google how to spell oui, etc. I get through lessons a lot slower but the plan is to just stick with it and by the end of Jan be over halfway through level 1.
  • Work on the 1000 most common French words in Memrise (100 words).
  • Read first five chapters of Madrigal’s Magic Key to French.
  • Arrange for a tutor to begin biweekly lessons in February (waiting until I have SOME background).

HEALTH AND FITNESS

  • Stick with Kayla Itsines workouts three to four times a week for the full month. While I’m not crazy about the branding (every body is a bikini body, etc ), these are really effective and easy to do without equipment.
  • Try to figure out why I’m sick ALL. THE. TIME. The indicator for this is if I haven’t improved by mid-January to go back to the doctor.

So we’ll see how this goes. If I come close to accomplishing any of this, I’ll update and make a new one for February. If not, it’s safe to assume I failed on nearly all counts. :p

Talinjoo, Fort Dauphin, Madagascar

2019 GOALS

HAPPY 2019!!

I can’t believe it’s here! I can’t believe 2018 is over! Sometimes I think back to 1999/2000 New Year and remember how scared I was of Y2K. I was at my Aunty Gail’s house with my two best friends and moving into the 2000s seemed insane. Now it just seems crazy that was 19 years ago. Wow, wow, wow.

Anyway, looking back on my goals for 2018, I was semi-successful. I failed at refocusing on Spanish, I did not learn to drive a standard, and while I got back into Pilates for a while, the move to Mada really undid most/all of that effort.

I’m not totally caught up on this blog — one day I’ll write about Croatia, Poland, Finland, Sweden, Norway, and Mzansi in Cape Town. BUT I kept up with it relatively well and got through a backlog of other things. So I’m going to mark this one down as a win.

Feeling content is a work in progress but I’m definitely doing better than I was this time last year, so again, a win.

A theme is that I suck at accomplishing any of my resolutions, which is well documented on this blog. So this year I’m setting “intentions.” Let’s see if that helps any.

2019 INTENTIONS

  • French. Would be SUCH a career boost if I could speak French, and I’m living in a country where French is commonly spoken and would hugely assist my ability to get by. I’m going to look into lessons and try to leave Mada with a solid grasp of the basics — something off of which I can continue to build. I think often with languages the hardest part is just getting started.
  • My masters. I want to take (and pass) the finals of at least three of my classes.
  • Surfing. Fort Dauphin is great for surfing and there are tons of people offering lessons. Learning to surf used to be on my 30 before 30 before I decided my fear of the ocean was stronger than my desire to surf. But when in Rome…

Very few intentions this year, and zero travel related! It’s not cheap getting to/from Mada, so I expect I’ll be here most of the year. When my contract is up, depending on finances, I could see myself moving to France for a bit and taking a month or two of intensive French lessons. We shall see.

The most important things left on my 30 before 30 are: masters, learn French, live in France, B2 level of Spanish, Bali, and Buenos Aires. I might be able to get the first three started, but the last three will be a bit of a push. We shall see! If I turned 30 tomorrow I’d be over the moon excited about how much I managed to do in the past five years. Anything further is just a bonus, really!

monterosso cinque terre

2018 GOALS

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So I didn’t accomplish most of my 2017 goals, but I’m giving myself a pass on self improvement and instead feeling proud I got through the year at all!

That said, I have some big goals for 2018, and a lot of them are the same as before.

SPANISH. I am SO upset that I lived in Spain for nearly a year and didn’t leave with a higher level of Spanish. I’ve signed up for three courses here in London, the first was far too easy, though I took their placement test, and the other two have been canceled last minute due to insufficient enrolment. Why doesn’t anyone else care about Spanish?! I’m talking a placement exam with Instituto Cervantes, the official Spanish program, in a little over a week, and am definitely finding a class for January. I have two goals, one easy and one a bit harder. I want to pass the B1 exam that is being given in May. That should be easy as I don’t think I’m far off now. The harder one is that I want to pass the B2 exam that will be given in November.

I want to be physically strong again. I’ve barely worked out in the last six months and have eaten everything and anything unhealthy. I’ve definitely had my mom’s cookies at Christmas, but overall I’ve been eating better and I want to keep it up in January–maybe add in some pilates as well.

Learn to drive a standard. Living in the outskirts of London and not being able to drive is not great! Not being able to drive in Cornwall is worse. Most European cars are manual, and I need to get on it and give myself back the freedom of the open road!
Catch up on this blog. I have travel that I need to write about dating back over a year! I want to get it all down, as looking back through old posts makes me so happy–it’s a great record to have of everything I’ve done.

Get content. Like I said before, I’m having a hard time feeling at home in London. I think it’s a mixture of a few things–we don’t live in a very lively area at all, I commute about three hours round trip a day, and I feel like the future I’d been planning is disappearing. But feeling this way is only making me resent London, which isn’t helping anything at all. So I need to figure out how to either be content living here, or come up with a different plan, because unhappiness isn’t a good look on anyone! There are so many options–moving closer to central London, traveling more, taking classes I’m interested in (Spanish and I’ve also signed up for a pottery class!)–or something more drastic like going back to Spain, or France, and taking language lessons, or going to grad school, or backpacking SE Asia. The possibilities are endless, and I think maybe even just remembering that could give me the boost I need to cheer up a bit.

30 before 30 State of the Union

Well, it’s been a minute since I’ve had an update to the 30 before 30 list. This year I didn’t accomplish as much as I had hoped, but I did get a major one out of the way—I am officially a recognized Italian citizen! And I’ve visited Italy not once, but twice, going to Florence, Venice, Pisa, Vernasca, and Cinque Terre!

As we’re past the midpoint to thirty (how on EARTH is time moving so quickly?!), I figure a little check in is in order. The remaining items on the list are:

6. Visit Buenos Aires
7. Visit Costa Rica
9. Visit South Africa
10. Visit Greece
11. Visit Egypt
12. Work in the field in Africa or Asia
13. Stay in Shakespeare & Co Bookstore
15. Fix my tooth
17. Be able to cook 5 meals very well
18. Do a pull up
20. Live in France
21. Learn French
22. Reach a B2 level in Spanish
23. Get my masters
24. Get published
25. Read 10 books every year
30. Go to a Patriots game

So! We have 17 items left and just over two years to go. Because this list is about focusing on what’s important to me, rather than doing something just because 25-year-old Kristen thought it sounded nice, this list is ever evolving. As a result, some of these things just aren’t that important to me anymore. For example, items 15, 17, and 18. I don’t much care about fixing my tooth, and Gareth cooks for me so I’m eating just fine without any culinary skills to call my own. Also I just don’t care enough to put in the work needed to be able to do a pull up. Oh well.

Gareth and I recently booked tickets for two weeks in South Africa, with a day layover in Cairo! I’m so excited, it’s definitely the most adventurous trip I’ve ever planned. I can’t wait until the end of March!

We’re also planning on spending a week in Greece this summer, so that’s three of the final five travel related ones done already!

My New Year’s resolution is to pass the B2 DELE Spanish exam, so that should hopefully happen this year, and I’m organizing French lessons through my work. I’d like to be at an A2 level of French by the end of the year as well.

I’ve easily read 10 books a year. That one I wrote back when I was crazy busy working on Marco Polo, and hadn’t read a book in what felt like years. I got the 10 in each year while living in LA and have read many times that each year since I left.

As for getting published, to be honest I write less now. However, last year I worked for a travel magazine for a few months, and had a few articles put on their website, so in theory this one is finished—but now I’m being selfish and want it in print. I ended my time there when Gareth’s mom got sick, but still keep in touch and think it would be quite easy to get something published in their print magazine. That’s something I’ll try to do this year.

So, those are the ones for which I have a plan. Others have a much less defined plan, like living in France and the masters. Not to say I’m not working towards them, more that they are less in my control.

The rest, I’m less sure about. I have no idea when I’ll go to Buenos Aires or Costa Rica (except, mom, maybe next Christmas?!). Staying in Shakespeare & Co will tie into the next time I’m in France (see above), and volunteering is something I still quite want to do, but finding the time is proving difficult. Over the summer I applied and was accepted to lead a group of volunteers for three months in Tanzania from January-March of 2018, but had to turn it down for a variety of reasons.

I think that leaves just the Patriots game, which is becoming more urgent as I am desperate to see Tom Brady play before he retires. I might try to go this Christmas Eve, but if not it’ll have to wait to next year (though I’ll be in Boston for 10 days in the fall of 2018 for weddings, so it could be then barring serious injury/knock on wood/Go Pats!/etc).

2017 GOALS

I super belatedly posted my 2016 wrap up, so now it’s time for the obligatory goals and resolutions post. How boring, right? Um, maybe to you guys! As I think is clear by now, lists and goals are my happiness bread and butter. This is basically my favorite time of year.

  • I start this year much like the last. One of the main things I want to refocus on is my health. I was successful last year mostly, but the move to Spain really threw me off. The food here! It’s delicious, but man is it unhealthy. It’s all fried and meat and cheese. And it all comes with basically free wine. I haven’t been able to find a pilates class, and it’s too cold/wet to exercise outside. This has led to a lot of inactivity and a lot of unhealthy eating. It’s time to make a change!
  • I want to keep working on my Spanish. It has improved massively from when I first arrived, but I’ve never been more than a high beginner, and the weeks away in December have really set me back.
  • I want to write as much as possible and recommit to this blog. So no more weeks/months between posts–I want to be able to look back on this time and have a complete idea of what I was thinking and doing.
  • I want to see more new places. So far this year I have the following trips either booked or planned. Obviously things change, so this is tentative, but so far I have:
      • January – Belgium. I actually just returned from here yesterday! I went to Bruges and Brussels, and there is a full post coming soon!
      • February – I’m not totally sure what February will be. I know Gareth is coming here for my birthday/THE SUPER BOWL (!!!), but I’m not sure if we’ll try to plan anything else.
      • March – I’ll be going back to London in March, and my friend from LA will be in Europe, so I’ll be meeting up with her somewhere!
      • April – Spring break! I’ll be spending most of it in Italy and Slovenia, but I might try to add a trip to Budapest and into transylvania in Romania to the end of the trip.
      • May – Again, nothing is really planned here yet. I’ll have to go to my new city to do my renewal forms so I don’t lose my visa, so (hopefully) a trip to Andalucia, and maybe Portugal or Palma?
      • June – This will be another big travel month. Hopefully I’ll spend a few weeks in Lebanon volunteering with refugees. Then I’ll go back to the states, and road trip from the north down the west coast ending in LA, and seeing my friends there! (AND GETTING MY ITALIAN PASSPORT!?!?)
      • July/August – These months are super unclear. If I’m Italian, I’ll move in with Gareth and work in London. If not, I have a few options. Au pair, work in summer camps, move home, or do a work visa for a few months in Australia?? Not sure, but I could really wind up anywhere.
      • September – I’ll return to Spain and find a place to live/get a new life set up. And hopefully take a few weeks to do a cheap overland trip from Zagreb down through Croatia all the way to Greece!
      • From there I have no plans, but I’ll be teaching again starting in October and will probably fit in a few more trips as well. Definitely to the southern Spanish cities, and hopefully to Portugal and/or Palma if I haven’t made it there yet.
  • And lastly, there are a few 30 before 30 goals I think/hope I could accomplish this year.
      • Become Italian! (It has to be this year, right?!)
      • Go to Italy
      • Go to Greece
      • Stay in Shakespeare and Co bookstore
      • Learn to cook 5 meals very well
      • Run a 10k (or maybe a 12k Spartan race? I’d count it 🙂
      • Learn Spanish. I hope to make that my main focus this year, and by January of next year, feel confident saying I speak the language.

So, I’ve got some plans and things to focus on. Maybe a few too many things to focus on, but hopefully I’ll accomplish at least a few of them!

ANYONE UP FOR A TRIP TO ALASKA?

Two of the states I’m the most excited to visit are Alaska and Hawaii. I’m not sure if it’s because they feel so different from the continental US, or if I’m just intrigued by their distance the and perceived challenge of getting to them. I say perceived, because my personal travel philosophy is that you can get anywhere without spending much money if you’re determined enough.

And the trip to Alaska is becoming a real thing! Last week Katie and I applied for this credit card. After spending 2,000, you get 40,000 Alaska Airline miles. Which is more than enough miles for a RT flight from Los Angeles to Anchorage!

Our cards arrived last night and once we spend the minimum the miles should post to our accounts in 2-3 weeks. As of right now we’re aiming for a March trip, because that’s when the Northern lights are the easiest to see from Alaska, and man do we want to see the Northern lights.

I’m a little sad to go while it’s still predominantly dark, especially looking back on how cool the constant light in Iceland was this summer, but if the exchange is the Aurora Borealis, I am so down. Plus I love snow!

Also itching to see the Northern Lights? A big fan of The Proposal? Get the card and Alaska is well within reach for you too!

(source for feature photo)

NEW YEAR, NEW GOALS

I think by now it’s well documented how much I love to do lists and the setting of goals, and while I’m not really one for new years resolutions, any excuse to indulge, I’ll take.

  1. Focus more on my health. Over Christmas I was constantly sick. First I got a cold, then a UTI (my THIRD this year, kill me), and then was told there was a serious chance I had cervical cancer. Luckily, I went in for a biopsy and everything came back normal (though it went on just long enough to SERIOUSLY freak me out), but my first goal of 2016 is to try to take better care of myself and my terrible, terrible immune system. I’ve always hated taking a lot of pills, but I’ve forced myself to let go of that dislike and jump on the vitamin/probiotic train. So I’m now taking a women’s multivitamin, fish oil, cranberry capsules (which are meant to help with the UTIs), Align, and the prescription for an ulcer I’ve been ignoring because I hate prescription medication. In addition I haven’t smoked since September 2nd, and feel literally no desire to do so ever again. I’ve lasted through two visits with my boyfriend, who is pretty much the person I want to smoke with the most, but the true test will be when I go back to London. That’s where I started and where I’ve never been able to quit. Without really realizing it, I’ve been doing sober January–my interest in alcohol has plummeted since I turned 25–hangovers are just not worth it. The only days I really foresee myself drinking this month are the Patriots playoff game and the weekend of my birthday. I’m trying to drink around 96 ounces of water a day, eat cleanly, and exercise 3-4 times a week. I’m also going to bed REALLY early (like 9:30 pm), so I can be up around 5:30 to Skype Gareth before I have to leave for work (yeah, 5:30 AM). Last May I had been eating really well and going to pilates and running about 5-6 times a week, and I was in the best shape/strongest I’ve ever been. I’d love to get back to that–I had the beginnings of a six pack!
  2. Repair my finances. By living like I was completely broke, I managed to somehow avoid SERIOUS damage to my bank account. I was about a week away from taking all the money out of my investments though, and have definitely had to tap into my savings way more than I’d like. I’ve also racked up some hefty credit card debt. So my goals are to first pay off all my credit cards. I’m thinking this can be done by mid-February, as long as I can spend the next few weeks on the same budget I’ve been on for the past few months. This should’t be too hard, as it’s really hard to remember I don’t have to be constantly panicked about money. Once the debt is paid off, I want to immediately replenish all the money I took out of my savings. I hated having to spend any of it, even though I know the reason I had savings in the first place was for times like these. But I’d like to undo that damage as soon as possible. Then I’d like to get my checking account back to a healthy number, and start a separate savings account for the planned RTW trip G and I want to take.
  3. Continue crafting. December was Gareth’s birthday, our anniversary, and Christmas. Considering I was extremely broke, I had to get really creative with my presents, and it led me to discover a creative side I never knew I had! I’ve started cross stitching, which I am LOVING. I’ll post some of the stuff I’ve done recently sometime soon. I also am thinking of joining this knit along. I haven’t knitted since I was in elementary school, but I practiced a bit and think I have the basics down. Lastly, I want to start this project. It looks so cool, and I think I’d have SUCH a good time figuring out all the fabrics and such.
  4. Writing. I’m halfway through so many things, and done with none. I need to get back in the habit, and I’m hoping I can make it part of my weekly schedule in a way where it just becomes natural.

Those are my immediate goals. We’ll see how well I do keeping them, but as of now I feel excited to take on the challenge!

Santa Barbara, California

NO SPEND NOVEMBER

For whatever reason, November seems to be the month for challenges, like Movember, National Novel Writing Month, etc. I’m not sure why November–maybe as the year winds down, people feel a last urge to accomplish something big before ringing in the new year. I get that, and I’m going to try my own version.

While this year has been full of adventure and amazing personal, professional, and romantic experiences, I’m not leaving it in the best financial shape. And while I had been content to put off digging out of the proverbial hole until I got a job, it’s taking too long and there’s something big I want to start saving for (more on this later). I realize I just did a post about how I had 10+ credit cards and such a great credit score because I paid them off every month, but I willingly went into debt on a few things this year (LASIK, plane tickets I didn’t want to use miles on, living abroad), and now have a small amount of debt to pay off before I start building my savings back up.

This month, instead of using money I would generally spend on unnecessary food, drinks, or activities, I’m going to pay my rent, utilities, any other essential items, and the rest of my budget will go towards the debt. I need to feel proactive and it’ll be nice to completely buckle down.

I’m going to track my spending and post updates–today wasn’t the best start as I had to take my cat to the vet for the first time ever (he has worms and it’s all so gross I want to vomit and die at the same time). I did find a well respected vet that offered free first visits, but the medications were about $90. Not ideal, but taking care of my cat is definitely something I’d list as essential.

Wish me luck!