Checking in on New Year's Resolutions

It's almost June. How that happened is beyond me.

I wanted to revisit  where I am with my New Year's goals.

Personal:

Knit at least two patterns from books I already own using yarn I've already purchased.

• Halfway there. Knit one pattern from a books I already own with yarn I specifically bought.
• I am probably going to try and knit a linen top I bought a pattern and yarn for last year over the summer. I feel much more confident in my knitting and fixing skills to actually knit the liaison tee or $5 in Paris.

Lose weight and maintain that weight at 159 pounds or less by next year.

• hahahhahahahahahaaa. No. Not happening. The best I got down to was 165 and now I'm back up to 175. I'm trying. And failing.

Exercise at least two days per week.

• I skipped yoga for a few weeks over finals. I'm averaging about 5,000 steps a day on my Fitbit, which isn't great, but isn't terrible. No, I am not even close to meeting this goal.

Decide whether or not to pursue a technical writing certificate concurrently with my MFA.

• This got put completely on the back burner while I am sorting out my personal and professional life. I'll have an answer by late June about this. I'll have to apply for the spring rather than the fall, but that's okay.

Submit to at least three literary journals by the end of the spring semester.

• NAILED IT. I applied to Rattle, Georgia Review, Gigantic Sequins, and the Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry fellowship.
• I plan on continuing to submit and will be submitting a short story to Asimov's by the end of the summer. It needs more work, but I think I have a solid start on what will be an interesting tale.

Plan a trip around the world.

• Also on the back burner while I deal with personal issues. I wish I could go into more detail, but I'll have answers about my personal life by mid-June and will be able to either move forward in my relationship or move forward as an individual.

Professional:

1. Continue improving my editing skills and knowledge of AP Style. - Check.
2. Improve workflow processes. - Working on this.
3. Find more opportunities for professional development. - Actively working on this.
4. Be the best mentor I can be. - Check. I absolutely nailed this goal with Project IMPACT. It was incredibly rewarding on a personal and professional level and I can't wait to continue my mentoring relationship with my current mentee and to mentor a new student next year.
5. Trip around the world/keeping job - On the back burner until I figure out my personal life.

Academic:

1. Apply for graduate school scholarships in January. - Failed. Wasn't sure if I qualified as staff with my tuition discount, so I didn't pursue anything.
2. Apply for the staff scholarship in August. - Pending personal life resolving itself.
3. Maintain a 3.5 GPA - So far so good, still waiting on final grades from spring, but I know two classes are A's, so ... can't be that bad in the other two.
4. Staff tuition discounts/travel - On hold because of my personal life.

So, some goals are going better than others. This is the first year I've really thought about what I wanted to accomplish in 12 months. I'm proud I'm continuing to blog weekly (sorry this is a later Sunday post than usual) and I'm proud that I'm improving my digital footprint by generating content for Blogger and Twitter.

All in all, my personal goals are going better than my professional ones, but once I have some answers in June, I'll be able to move forward with my life.