We’ve officially made it to the middle part of the year, so it’s time for a little accountability update on how we’re doing with our goals for 2014.

To see our initial post about our plans for this year, read this post. You can see our first quarter update, here.

1. The kitchen/flooring/stairway project. You’ve only heard us talking nonstop about this for 2 months now. I’ll quickly move on…

Starting to Mud Drywall in Kitchen

2. Finish refinishing the chairs. This got pushed back until after the kitchen is done…as there’s no way we’re stopping on that to work on chairs.

3. Replace the kitchen light fixtures. I’m starting to think about it. So far on the list to find is a pendant for over the sink, a chandelier for the table, and something for the entryway. Yikes.

Kitchen Light Fixture

4. Family recipe Fridays. So far, I have made

  • Pumpkin Roll
  • Broccoli rice casserole
  • Deviled Eggs
  • Strawberry Shortcake

I am behind on the recipe for May because well, I have no kitchen. I hope to do two in June to make up for it, though. We’ll see.

5. Expand the garden and preserve more of our own produce. The garden is growing. Although we’ve already lost our tomato plants for some mysterious reason and the zukes are under constant monitoring to watch for the dreaded squash vine borers. Ugh.

Planted Garden Beds 2014

6. Kansas City appreciation date nights.

We had a great time for June’s #KansasCityDateNight (actually, we’ve had 2 so far this month, and both were KC baseball games!)

Tbones Game Pic

  • January: Saints  Pub and Patio (Eh…)
  • February: KCI (on our way to Florida)
  • March: Sporting KC game. (We’d done this before, but still, a very KC night.)
  • April: We officially declared ourselves loyal to a new local Mexican restaurant. YUM.
  • May: Cool Crest Mini-Golf

(and the Just For Her Expo (where we won free tickets to our June night–thanks, Erin!). Plus, leaving on a roadtrip made us thankful to live so near I-70 as a way to travel anywhere fast!)

  • June: TBones Game and Royals Game

7. Write five things that are not work or blog related. …..

8. Turn the basement into usable living space. Nope, all energy has gone to the kitchen recently.

9. Read/listen to 15 books, at least half of which were already on the bookshelf. I believe I’m now at 6 so far.

  • Mary Poppins – Pl.L. Travers
  • The Prince and the Pauper -Twain
  • Pudd’nhead Wilson – Twain
  • A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court – Twain
  • The Cat Who Ate Danish Modern – Lilian Jackson Braun
  • Jane Austen’s Little Advice Book – Cathryn Michon and Pamela Norris

Four others in progress (yes, I read multiple books at once.)

10. Buy/Make/Refinish a new TV stand/dresser/shelving unit. Still no progress here yet…

Old Cheap TV Stand

11. Host a holiday dinner or event at our house. Not having a kitchen put this one on hold.

12. Maintain the habit of always going to bed with a clean(er) kitchen. Uh, if not having a kitchen means the kitchen is clean, we’re doing fabulous. Otherwise, nope…

13. Vacuum/Sweep/Mop at least one room at least once a week. I currently sweep the kitchen a lot, and vacuum the living room because of all the stuff that gets tracked in there from the kitchen when I don’t sweep often enough.

Sweeping Dirty Kitchen Floor During Messy Remodel

14. Make some wall art. Nothing new recently. I did make a wreath though, and doors are kind of like walls, right?

Spring Wreath On Front Door 2

15. Take advantage of our awesome outdoor space. We’ve grilled a lot lately. Probably because there’s no kitchen space….

Eash, not doing super well on these, but working on it. I have hopes of crossing a lot more of these off the list. Plus, we’re also now working on our Summer Bucket List, too. (But most of those are totally fun and silly and random, so much less “to-do” focused.

How are you doing so far? I’m still shocked it’s already June. Where did all the time I thought I had to accomplish these go? Yikes!

6 Thoughts on “Resolutions 2014 – Halfway Point Progress”

  • I also want to read Conn. Yankee. Read excerpt with students this spring and want to read it all. But there are so many others I already own that I need to read, too! I’ve already read 5 books since May 23, and I’d like to get 10-12 done this summer …. but I’ve got class and planning for next year to do, so I’m not sure I should spend so much time on other books when I should be doing that stuff. Sigh.

  • Hey! You went to a Royals game? So did I! My family just took a long weekend (Fri- home Tues) vacation there! We went to the Royals vs Yankees game on June 7th. Were we even at the same game? Crazy stuff!!

    • Yes! That’s the game we were at! So funny! (Our group actually won tailgate of the game…you might have seen us on the big screen!)

  • I really like the idea of doing a progress update – I think it’s a great way to keep you on track and thinking about your goals! I’m like most people in the sense that I no longer even really remember what my new years goals/resolutions were…oops. Totally going to have to steal this idea from you for next year! P.S. I think you’re making great progress!! Especially with the whole kitchen dealio you’re dealing with right now!

    • Glad you are inspired to do your own updates…I’ve found it’s really, really helpful in keeping on track. Nothing like knowing I’m going to have to update all our readers about how much progress we’re NOT making to keep us going all year long!

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