I’ve written about this a little (and linked to the post I wrote about it on my other wordpress blog) but I think I need to do monthly check-ins to remind myself it exists. I did this with my 30 before 30, and I still like to look back on those!

Since this is my first check-in since I first posted about it I will address everything whether I have made progress on it or not, and it will be a long post, but after this I will just talk about what I have worked on in the past month!

1. Buy A House ✅

One year ago February we viewed and put our offer in on the house we ended up buying! We have been here for a year in April.

2. Take a Train Trip ✅

Union Station, Washington DC Watching the world go by from our sleeper car

We caught a train to DC, to Chicago, and on to Colorado in September 2023, in October, we came back on same route, but starting in New Mexico. This was a once in a lifetime trip, for sure. We rode in the sleeper car, it was such a cool experience and we are so grateful to Shaun’s parents.

3. Go to DC

The train station doesn’t count!

4. Visit the Southwest ✅

Cape Royal, North Rim, Grand Canyon, Arizona Petrified Forest, Arizona Bryce Canyon, Utah

Shaun’s parents picked us up in their RV at the train station in Colorado at the end of September and we traveled around Utah, Arizona and New Mexico where we caught the train back home. This was such a great way to see the sights, we visited so many cool national parks, and we got to camp out a few nights.

5. Do a 365 day photo project. 📷

1/365, January 1, 2024 59/365, February 28, 2024

Originally I had labelled this to start on my 39th birthday and run until my 40th birthday, but I got overly excited on January 1st and started it then, oops! This is why I need to be doing these check-in posts!

6. Go to New York

Now that we have some familiarity with trains, I’m hoping we can take a train, it’s not even that far away!

7. Tackle a Bigger home DIY

Not exactly BIG but I put up a wall of wallpaper in the half-bathroom this month. I guess if I “finished” the bathroom I would consider this one done.

In addition to the wallpaper, I got these beautiful lampshades for Christmas! I want to get rid of that towel rail (it hangs right over the air vent, which is all rusty from water dripping here!) I’m going to paint the walls and ceiling dark and the cabinet. I want to put in new floor.

I really want to paint a lot of rooms and I really really really want to tear up all the carpet, especially on the stairs, but we need to be in the position to replace it all with something else! I want to do stair runners! I want to rent a sander and redo the wood floors on the main floor. I want to sand and stain all the wood darker. I would be super happy to get any one of these things done in the next couple of years, it is going to be decades before we can do it all!

8. Start a Garden

I bought a shovel last week!

9. Visit Oklahoma once a year

My Fam! November 2023 Shaun’s Fam! November 2023

We were there in November 2023 and it’s looking like we will be there in November again this year.

10. Go to Disney World

I feel like this is actually unlikely to happen BEFORE my 40th birthday, but maybe the fall after my birthday? Trying to save towards that.

11. Digitize Home Movies

I need to buy new capture equipment to do this, my old device doesn’t work with anything newer than Windows 7, haha.

12. Scan Family Photos

I need to work this into my routine. Since I don’t have an active ancestry account right now, it took a backseat, but honestly that’s no excuse! It is a very good project to work on when I DON’T have the subscription, because then I can’t distracted from it by following research threads!

13. Send film off for development

I have rolls in 5 or 6 cameras I’m slowly working on and then I need to bite the bullet and do it. I just get so bummed that we don’t have a local lab, I miss Tulsa so much.

14. Collect weird art from thrift stores

We have lived in Virginia since 2021 and I have STILL never stepped foot in a local thrift store. Ridiculous!

15. Cook 40 new Instant Pot recipes

Haven’t even cooked one! Need to think about this when I’m plotting grocery trips.

16. Do NaNoWriMo again

Won’t get to do this if we go to Oklahoma in November again, but its fine, I’ve done it over a dozen times.

17. Do Yoga every week

Yoga with Adriene’s Flow, January 2024 I even kept it up when we were out of town!

Obviously I haven’t done it every week, but I did 30 days in January and it was GREAT! Then February just kicked me in the head mentally. The main point of this goal is just to have it be somewhat routine again by my birthday, and I’m not giving up on that at all!

18. Do a monthly Tarot Reading

I forgot all about this!

19. Monthly Date Night

Indian from Himalayan Heritage Hiking at Shenandoah River State Park

I think we do SOMETHING every month that feels like a date, but I definitely haven’t always documented it. This month was Shaun’s birthday and we got takeout from a new Indian place so I would say that definitely counts! Camping also felt like a date!

20. Saturday Movie Nights

Fell off this a bit, but in February we watched Barbie and The Holdovers and I got a Letterboxd premium account so now I’m invested, right?

21. Regularly go to the Farmer’s Market

I missed last season and the next season hasn’t started yet, but we shall see!

22. Video every day in December

My actual December videos are vlog-type letters to family, but it means I got enough to do a full One Second Everyday video as well!

Just one more December to check it as Done!

23. Figure out how to like my hair again

The filtered showerhead has helped A LOT. I’ve also been doing a hair mask once a month, and might switch to every two weeks.

24. Do More Cardio

lol

25. Try 40 new Salad recipes

Still only done 1/40. This is exactly the sort of thing monthly check ins really help with!

26. Make 5 new sweets

Shaun’s birthday cake

Oh! I made a new cake recipe for Shaun’s birthday! So that is 1/5 done haha. This is the recipe I used: https://www.noracooks.com/vegan-chocolate-cake/

27. Go camping as much as we can

Mesa Verde, Colorado, September 2023 Shenandoah River State Park, February 2024

Well, we went once in February! In addition to the camping we did in the Southwest in September and October, I would say it has been “as much as we can” so far!

28. Rent a cabin in a state park

We talk about this a fair bit, I think we will get to it this year.

29. Visit as many State Parks as we can

Still only done Caledon and Shenandoah River State Park, though we were back there this month. I want to go to Westmoreland after the season starts in March, and some of the non-camping ones near us for hikes!

30. Make at least one video every month

I have done this. Most months I have done at least two, though I’m shifting to one for a bit as I have been burnt out. These are vlog letter videos to family.

31. Finish at least one crafty project every three months

Paper Lanterns from my Advent Calendar Book Nook in progress

I’m not sure if I have managed this, I haven’t tracked it at all, but I had a crafty advent calendar in December though so I did a bunch of stuff for that. I have also started a book nook but it isn’t finished yet, and hopefully it won’t take 3 whole months to finish!

32. Read 40 library books

I’ve been doing really well with this one, I have read 13/40 so far.

33. Build a Dollhouse

I feel like the book nook is a good precursor to this one. I hope I at least get to START building one before I’m 40, anyway!

34. Chronicle the Video Games I play

Animal Crossing Dreamlight Valley Baldur’s Gate 3

I try to write notes and take screencaps of everything. It’s like a journal and scrapbook of another life, video game memories!

35. Achieve my Pathfinder Character’s goals

I still feel like I’m getting to know my halfling bard, but Shaun and I have had some good talks about how he might want to start a traveling bar wagon.

36. Finish fixing bathrooms

This isn’t about the cosmetic stuff! Oof, so I had a part ordered and it got lost in the mail and so I got refunded and then I we were gonna leave on the trip so I never reordered it and I have felt so overwhelmed by the whole thing. It’s the biggest bummer thing about our house that only one of the showers works, even though that is actually all we need and we are very lucky to be here!

37. Paint Upstairs rooms

The bedrooms and bathrooms upstairs hadn’t been as recently painted as the main floor so the walls are all marked up and I really want to paint our bedroom a warm and cozy orange at some point, something Terracotta-ish.

38. Wallpaper something ✅

OH HEY I did this one, haha!

39. Read more gothics

A modern day gothic, Madam by Phoebe Wynne A classic from my collection, Sinister Isle of Love by Ellen Morley

I’ve been really into hanging out on my gothicinthebath instagram account so that is a step in the right direction, haha. Also I have been trying out more contemporary gothics from the library! Since I started this project I have read 3 gothics from the library, and started a 4th from my own collection.

40. Shoot a Day in Pictures on my 40th Birthday

This one is great because it is very easy but I don’t get to do it until the whole project is over, haha.

Here is the video I made when I started the project!

Thanks for reading if you made it this far! When I did my 30 before 30 project, I really looked forward to making my monthly update and felt like it helped keep me on task.

Current Mood: exhausted 🥱
Currently Listening:

https://rachelakelso.wordpress.com/2024/03/07/40-before-40-february-2024-update/

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