Goals For My 40s

I am equal parts feeling very nonchalant about being 40 {I think turning 39 was harder??} and shocked that I'm 4-0. I'm pretty darn happy with my life, so that might be why I wasn't too upset for this milestone birthday??? Thinking about the last decade has made me think about what I want to do with my next decade, and I thought I'd jot down a few goals.

As a disclaimer, this list is completely about things I want to do for myself. I OF COURSE want to continue in a happy marriage and raise kind humans and be a good citizen and vote and learn and be a good friend/daughter/sister, etc. This is everything else. {grin}

1. TRAVEL!!!! I've always wanted to travel, ALWAYS. Yet somehow I have made other things a priority over the years - buying a house, having a kid, having another kid, making a job switch that made less money, having another kid, ha. My 30s largely revolved around children - having them, paying for them, etc. Well, that chapter has closed, and I really want to make travel a priority again. That might not happen on a large scale until Paige is out of preschool. I REALLY want to go to the United Kingdom, that is my #1. I am really open to traveling anywhere and anytime. I could probably make a list specifically related to travel and maybe I should!

2. Run a 10K I used to run a lot pre-kids. It was my main form of exercise. After having kids, it took me YEARS to find my groove with exercise, and it didn't involve running. Since being home in quaratine, I have run once a week every week and for about the last 2 months that has included my neighbor/high school track partner {who is in WAY better shape than I am}. The most I've run in a race was 5 miles, and the last time I ran in a race was in 2008. I was pregnant with Trent, and I knew after that 5 miles, I needed to hang up the running in pregnancy - my body was DEAD for days after that race. But I'm getting back into it and can run 4 miles now. So I'd like to run a 10K and keep up some sort of running in my exercise routine. 

3. Up Our Retirement I want to max out my 401K contribution in the next few  years. I need to increase my contributions by about 4% so I plan to increase by 1% each year. I want to retire RICH!!!

4. Hit My Goal Weight Even with a little bit of slippage over the summer, I am really proud of my gains in 2020 with weight loss. I'm about halfway to my goal and will HOPEFULLY hit my goal in 2021. But I don't want to lose this momentum and start to slack off. I'm sure at 50 I won't weigh exactly what I hope to in the next few months, but I'd like to maintain a healthy weight!

5. Gain New Hobbies I have said for probably 20 years that I'd like to learn to play the guitar. And I want to learn to knit with Drew. And finally use my sewing machine. And...and...and... So I don't know what the next 10 years will bring in terms of hobbies, but I'd like to be able to say more than just 'read and exercise'.

6. Start Volunteering I'd like to really give back. And preferably find an organization the kids can volunteer with too. I have had a very fortunate life, and it's time to give back.

7. Buy Something Frivolous I want to buy a Louis Vuitton purse or something equally frivolous. To save for it and splurge and treat myself!

8. Treat My Parents I want to do something really amazing for my parents - send them on a vacation or to a spa day or something fun. They spoil me and take care of so much for me and have always made me feel special and loved, and I'd like to find some way to give back to them.

I'm sure I'll think of new things along the way or adjust these, but I think this is a good set of goals for the next decade! What else should I aim for??

August 2020 Book Review

 

I read 8 books this month, and I don't have a single one I wouldn't recommend. Some were definitely meatier than others, and I feel like I have a contender for favorite of the year!

Book of Longings by Sue Monk Kidd - Y'all...this book was AMAZING. I loved every minute of it, didn't want it to end, and was emotionally wrung out when it was over. Whew. It is a historical fiction {obviously fiction once you hear the rest of the statement} account of Jesus' wife, Anna. Anna is the main character, and it is so well-researched and written covering the time period at the start of A.D. time and being a woman. Gosh, I loved Anna, I loved meeting Jesus in this way {seeing him as a man}, I loved everything about this book. PLEASE READ IT! 5 stars! Amazing! Wonderful!

Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell - I have told you guys so many times that I keep reading thrillers and can't decide if I like them or not, ha. Well, I think I found an author I can say I like her thrillers. I read 2 books by Lisa Jewell this month and really enjoyed both. [Trigger warning in this one for child abuse but the child is a teenager if that helps.] This story jumps timelines and narrators as we follow a family whose teenage daughter went missing a decade ago. I don't want to say anything more, but I really enjoyed this book! 

Oona Out of Order by Margarita Montimore - This story was really unique and I liked it! Every year on January 1 {Oona's birthday}, she jumps to a different year. So in 1982 she is turning 19 but wakes up in her 50s in 2015. Every year she has a letter from herself from the previous year to help her navigate the year, but it isn't always helpful. I feel like 2015 was slow, but the book picked up as she jumped around, and I really loved how, as each year started, I was confused with Oona as to what was going on and how she should handle the situation she was in. I thought the way it unfolded was really neat and I loved how it all wrapped up.

A Woman is No Man by Etaf Rum - Another out of the park winner! This follows 3 generations of Palestinian Muslim women as they navigate life in America in a traditional Muslim family. It was very HARD to read because it touched on so many troubling issues - abuse, rape, racism, negative family relationships. I read this so fast because I couldn't put it down and thought it was amazing.

Chokehold by Paul Butler - Paul Butler is a black man who is a former prosecutor. This book was CHOCK FULL of information about the justice system and the ways it work and especially how it designed to trap black men. It was so educational, and I'm so glad I read it. This plus American Prison and The New Jim Crow have really opened my eyes and changed the way I think about our justice system. It is SO broken, I hope not beyond repair. We need more books like this and more people reading these books if we are ever going to improve!

The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell - This is the other thriller I read this month and it was also SO good. I couldn't put it down and read half of it in one night! It also has alternating timelines and narrators but follows a woman who inherits a house that she was found in at 10 months old with her parents dead in another room from an apparent suicide {think Jim Jones and drinking the kool-aid}. As the story unfolds we learn from her POV and 2 other POVs what happened all those years ago. It was really good and a bit creepy! So far her books have had good endings that wrapped everything up, but this one did have a little bit of a twist that was interesting. I will definitely keep reading her books.

I've Still Got It by Jenna McCarthy - A friend gave this to me for my birthday, and it was a fun read. Jenna is about 10 years older than me and writes little essays about getting older. I had several moments where I chuckled {I wouldn't say full LOL} and found her writing engaging and witty. Definitely not the best book I've read by any stretch of the imagination but it was light and fun!

Cilka's Journey by Heather Morris - This is a sort of follow-up story after The Tattooist of Auschwitz which I read last year. To be honest, I didn't really enjoy the writing style in Tattooist and wouldn't have given this a try if not for Natasha's recommendation. I would agree that this one is much better, but I still think the author's writing style is a little dry. I don't know how to describe it exactly, it's just a more textbook style of writing than descriptive?  Cilka survived Auschwitz only to be sent to a prison in the Soviet Union and sentenced to 15 years. What she survives, endures and triumphs over is nothing short of unbelievable, especially when you know it's true. If you liked Tattooist or merely tolerated the writing to read a great story, I think you'll find this one much more enjoyable!

Now onto my reading with the kids!

Trent and I are still making our way through Stamped because we have lost our hardback copy. No clue where it is, so after weeks of not being able to find it, I checked an ebook out from the library ha. We will finish this shortly! For independent reading, Trent also read the entire Hunger Games trilogy in August and just started The Maze Runner yesterday.

I have a cousin who is an Usborne book consultant. I bought this Extraordinary Life of Rosa Parks from her, and Drew and I are both liking it. It's got pictures and isn't a complicated read, but it's really well done. She is reading Magic Bunny by herself and thinks it's a great story!

Not surprisingly, my favorite book of the month is The Book of Longings. This book was a Grade A, prime, wonderful, amazing book!!!! I will be curious to see if anything can top it.

I'm at 66 books for the year and am right on track for hitting my goal of 100. This month was tough to stay on-track. I felt like I was reading a lot but barely finished my last 2 books this month. I really like how August turned out though and think I had a really interesting month! Can't wait to see how September unfolds. I have a book I reserved in January that will probably get checked out to me this month plus I'm super excited to read a fantasy series Erika recommended!