2021 dietitian holiday wish list

It’s time for another wish list! I’ve got a variety of items on my 2021 dietitian holiday wish list, from clothes to books to cookie scoops!

The holidays are here yet again! I’m trying to wrap my head around the fact that it’s November. I’m still in October for some reason. Anyway, there’s still time for pumpkin spice lattes and caramel apples, but go ahead and enjoy those while we get some shopping done.

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2021 second quarter goal recap

How are we already halfway into 2021? Read on for the 2021 second quarter goal recap.

I know I say this every year, but how is it already July? The year always seems to fly by, so it’s good to have quarterly updates as a reminder that I have managed to accomplish something in that time.

2021 goal update

Clean out clutter

We’ve actually made some really good headway as far as cleaning out clutter. We have been storing some stuff in our garage for family, and in May they came and cleaned out about half of it. There has also been a lot of bulky trash piling up in the garage, and after a few weeks of putting out an extra trash can for pickup we are almost rid of it all.

I’m still doing well with the mail. It only takes a few minutes to go through it if I keep on top of it, which is way easier than sitting down to a big pile of junk mail and bills.

Some decluttering and organizing projects I’ve been especially excited about are the laundry room and the refrigerator. I’ve taken more of the Marie Kondo approach in these areas.

Instead of trying to fit everything in a space in a more organized way, I ask the more important question of “what actually deserves to take up room in this space?” Last week we narrowed down our main freezer to the things we really want in there: fruit, vegetables, meat/veggie meat, beans, and ice.

New roof

We have a new roof! The person who we were originally talking to about our roof wasn’t able to do it, but he referred us to someone who did a fabulous job.

While the price tag made us a little sick (we were not mentally prepared to shell out ~$15,000 for a new roof) we are so glad to have it done. The supplies came in quickly and the crew had the whole roof done within the week. The process also taught us that our toddler can nap through the noise of piles of shingles being dropped on the roof!

Basement and garage organized

I mentioned the garage earlier. We’ve gotten the recycling more or less caught up. We donated the bottles with a collectible deposit to the local 4H group. Now we need to take our giveaways to the thrift shop. Their hours are super restrictive, so that has proven to be a challenge.

The basement is way better, thanks to my husband’s efforts. I was caught up on having everything be perfect, so I never got around to even making it better. He was okay with less than perfect, and as a result our basement looks 100x better than it did before.

Take a $15,000 bite out of debt

The roofing project was a bit of a setback (gulp), but we are still plodding ahead with our goal. So far this year we have paid off a total of $14,800 in debt. By the end of August we should have the car paid off, which is just one month beyond our original goal of July 2021.

Savings

Thanks to an arrangement we made with family, we didn’t have to demolish our savings in order to pay for our roof. We will be paying them back over the next 16 months (hopefully sooner), and I would rather pay them than the bank.

The roofing project also motivated us to set our savings goal even higher next year so that major home repairs don’t knock us off our feet. We were very fortunate to have the help of family, but we don’t want to depend on it.

Family

The last few months have seen even more staffing challenges at work. This is by far my biggest barrier to prioritizing family. But even in the middle of all this, I haven’t worked loads of extra hours or had to forgo meals with my family.

Healthy habits and meal planning

We’re still doing pretty good at meal planning. Our little girl is no longer intolerant to dairy, which has opened up new meal possibilities. Unfortunately, some of those options are not the healthiest of choices. Kraft mac and cheese, anyone?

Given that it is summer, we are trying to keep the house cool by eating a lot of salads and veggie wraps instead of mac and cheese, which is also helping us frontload the more nutrient-dense foods. Snacks include things like sliced apple and peanut butter, or a hummus wrap made with these tortillas. We enjoy a fruit smoothie every morning during the week, and sometimes one in the evening too.

Alright, bring it on, third quarter!

Read the original goals post here and the first quarter recap here.

2020 updates + 2021 goals

Now that we’re over halfway into January, are you ready for some 2021 goals?


Hi.

You might notice that we are missing two quarterly updates on my goals from last year. Once we were well into October I decided to bundle the last two updates into this post.

I think it’s safe to say 2020 wasn’t normal for anyone, and so far 2021 is only normal in that it’s a lot like 2020.

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