July Goal Setting: Break!

It's been nearly a week since I last posted! Well, the busy weekends and the busy workweeks are catching up to me, and I have been exhausted. I look forward to next week when I have absolutely no plans at all.

Also--Happy July! Which means it's another day of reviewing how well I accomplished June's goals and setting goals for this month.

1. Raise at least $250 for DeterimiNation.
   I raised $55? Which is still $55 more than what I had before. I didn't really get on this as hard as I could have and should have, but I have a fundraising project in mind that I will implement in August. I just need to pull the final pieces together this month.
2. Watch a Best Picture movie.
   This did not happen. Oh, well. This month, I'll go for it!
3. Read at least two books.
   Done! This month I read In Defense of Food and The Girl Who Fell From the Sky. Reviews to come.
4. Work on writing project.
   I did some work on this, yes. Hopefully by the end of the weekend I can finish it.
5. Attempt 3 new recipes.
   Made it in barely under the deadline! I made dinnertime quinoa (recipe to come in a later post), Couscous Salad, and last night I made Blueberry Greek Yogurt Banana Bread from Daily Garnish.
6. Swim at least once a week.
   Yes, this definitely happened! And man, I really do love swimming, even if (especially because?) it is really hard.
7. Continue with Japanese lessons.
   Ehhhh... sort of? I've been trying to speak it more often in my daily language instead of dropping in the random European words and phrases I usually do. (Fun fact: I often say "si" or "hai" instead of "yes", "nein" instead of "no", "grazie" or "danke" instead of "thank you", "scusi" instead of "excuse me", etc.)

I'm honestly quite okay with the turnout! But now, I'm thinking that maybe I should take it easy for July as far as goals go. This isn't to induce laziness, but to help me relax this month, which is something I desperately need. I will also limit my goals to five.

1. Raise $500 for DetermiNation. I will be sending out emails to organizations I was a part of in college, relatives, friends, and posting on Facebook.

2. Get my apartment clean. It has turned into a bit of a disaster-zone with my severe lack of weekends to work on this. This will not be a simple "straighten up the apartment" goal. This is going to be an all-out adventure.

3. Clean out my car. Uh. Yeah. It hasn't been clean for nearly a year now, since I moved out of the college house. And there is still broken glass from when my car was broken into last September, too.

4. Read three books. Simple.

5. Limited Junk Food Challenge Month! Because I've been eating... not so well the past month, I am starting LJFC for myself. I will explain more later. Basically, no candy or potato chips, dessert only when I'm out with friends, no more than 300 calories worth of cookies a week, and if I feel peckish, eat fruits and vegetables.

I'll pick up my normal goals again in August. I just need a break. I will continue to study Japanese and Italian, aim for watching a Best Picture movie, attempt more recipes, among other things, but they won't be strict goals. They'll be more as I feel like it than anything else. I'll assess how I did in a month!