36 for 36 {06.06.25}

 

Hello and happy Monday friends! I hope your week is off to a great start and you had a lovely Mother's Day yesterday (if you celebrate). If you were around the blog on Friday, then you saw my recap of my 35 for 35 and how those goals went for the last year. I really enjoyed doing the goals even even I didn't complete them all and thought it would be fun to do it again this year for my 36th birthday. So starting today, I will be working on these 36 goals for the next year!

MY GOALS

1. Run a 5k. My friend and I have signed up to run a 5k in August so I am adding this to my goals for the year. I haven't run in almost 9 years so I think it's about time I add a 5k back on my list of things that I'd like to do. I really enjoyed running when I did it years ago so it's time I add it back to my routine.

2. Pay off my student loans. As of today, I only owe $760.83.  I think it's reasonable of a goal to pay off that much in one year which is about $64 a month.  If I DoorDash or do other side jobs, I think it would be so easy to get this done. 

3. Inventory my library. I recently moved all my books into one room in our house and have been slowly putting my library together. My goal is to get all of my books on the shelves and make a listing of the books I own, what I've read and what I still need to read. 

4. Finish ONE crochet or knit project for myself. This one is going to carry over from last year, but I really do want to finish at least one project that I started for myself. I've got a few options so I will be focusing on one of them and finishing them.  I'll be sure to share once I get it done!

5. Purge my closet. Over the last few years I have been slowly getting more and more clothing (which is 100% okay) but it's time I make deliberate time to go through said clothing and do a purge. I'd really like to get my closet down to a more functional closed where I don't have a bunch of clothes that I never wear. I'd also like to get a routine of putting away winter clothes so the closet doesn't feel so full.

6. Grow my Facebook deals group. I currently have 359 members in my Facebook Group and I would really like to hit 500 between now and my next birthday. I have been averaging about 100 new members a year which is great and I'm so thankful for them all, but I'd like to hit 500 so I can sign up for other affiliate programs. If you'd like to join the group, check out: https://www.facebook.com/groups/shopwithmejackabee. 

7. Post 3-4 videos on YouTube a month. I verrrryyyy recently started my YouTube channel where I focus on all things books. My plan right now is to post one video a week for the next year. I am also planning to host weekly reading and productivity sprints too to help me focus on reading or whatever else I need to get done. As of today, I have videos planned through July and can start filming whenever. I'm excited! Check out Read with Me Jackabee: https://www.youtube.com/@ReadwithMeJackabee

8. Read 52 books. This goal will be a simpler goal for me, but I am adding reading books to my list in the off chance that I fall off the reading bandwagon I would like to add reading a book a week for the next year to my list. I'm also participating in the 25 in 25 reading challenge hosted by Bri at Four Paws and a Book. 

9. Make the quilt from Justin. I am re-adding this to the list because the quilt was such a wonderful gift from Justin. And given that I actually have a space where the quilt will be very useful (it's a book themed quilt) it seems only appropriate I finally make it.

10. Use the paddle board at least one time this summer. I got a paddle board from Justin a few Christmases ago and I only was able to use it one time last year. My goal is to get it out at least one time this summer and go for a quick spin around a local lake with my friend. 

11. Take a tile glazing class at Pewabic Pottery. If you don't know what Pewabic is - it's a local tile making company that has tiles all around the metro Detroit area.  The tile are all hand made and are so beautiful so I'd love to take a glazing class and make a tile of my own to have in our home.

12. Work on my flexibility.  One thing I have been noticing as I am aging is that my back is often sore. Partly because I sit a lot for my job, but also because I do not do things to actively move/stretch my body. I would like to be very deliberate in working on my flexibility. One way I plan do do this is to dedicate 15 minutes a day for an entire month to stretching my body. Right now the plan is to do this for the month of July, but if I miss a day, I have to start over.  So no matter what, I am doing 15 minutes of flexibility/yoga a day for 31 days in a row. I may even try a 30 day challenge from Yoga with Adrienne.

13. Establish a nightly "shut down" routine. One are that I struggle with a lot is the day-to-day maintenance of our house. So I'd like to create and follow a nightly shut down routine for the house to help alleviate some of the stresses that come with not tidying up after ourselves on a regular basis. I'm hoping Justin will help me with this too to create something we can both easily do. 

14. Start reading all of Agatha Christie's books. Growing up, I really loved reading Agatha Christie's books and I'd really like to re-read them all again. My goal for this year will be to read all of her Hercule Poirot books.  From what I can tell, there are a total of 38 of those books so I would like to read all of them before my next birthday.

15. Plan another trip just mom and I

My mom is retiring this year and I'd like to do a little getaway for her and I to celebrate her bit accomplishment. We do have some budgetary restrictions, but I am planning to do a little something for her and I.

16. Finish the 90% done projects in the house

This is a repeat from last year, but I wanted to add it back to the list because it's something that I need to do. Do you have projects in your house that are 90% done? I think we all do.  My goal is to tackle those over the next year.  So far, I've only captured three but I'm sure I'm missing more: 

1. Patch hole in pantry room ceiling 
2. Paint arch in mudroom white - this is the only beige thing in our house and it's still driving me insane.
3. Hang lights on deck and plant flowers in planters.       

17. Do a big hair cut/change to my hair. For the last year and a half, I have been growing out my natural hair because I had no idea what color my hair actually was. Turns out, it's a pretty grey/brown combo and I'm to the point where I am debating cutting off all the rest of the dyed parts of my hair and going super short. Below is some inspiration I have in mind for a hair cut - though I do not want bangs one bit. 

19.  Finally use my sourdough starter. I have had a sourdough starter for a few years and have not done anything but maintain it. This will be the year that I finally make something with said starter. 

20. Monthly date nights with Justin. Lately it feels like we both have just been so busy that I would really like to be intentional with time together. Whether that's just watching a movie at home or going out to try something new/fun, I would like to be deliberate in dating my hubby.{May 2025 - saw Lilo & Stitch in theatres}

21. Create a BookTube Book Club. I saw this awesome idea where a fellow BookTuber created a book club where she has people on her channel once a month to do sprints and other fun activities while also focusing on a book. I would really like to start something like this and I am hoping that she would be okay with me creating something similar to her - of course, I would give her the credit if I did.

22. Create a TBR Jar or something similar. As I mentioned above, I'd really like to organize and catalog all of my books. As part of that process, I would really like to create a TBR jar so that when I am trying to pick a new book to read I can just randomly pick from the jar. I'll be sure to share what I come up with once I do it. 

23. Give 5 "just because" gifts. I have been seeing this trend around and I think it's so fun. Instead of waiting to give someone a gift on a special occasion, I'd like to get people things and give to them just because I thought of them when I saw it. My goal will be to do that 5 times this year. 

24. Schedule family photos with both our families. We're hitting the point that it's becoming important to have family photos regularly. I would like to schedule two sessions for photos with both my family and Justin's family so that we can have some more up-to-date photos together.

25. Convert our wedding video to digital. When we got married in 2011, there wasn't a whole lot of options in regards to videography so we had the church record our wedding on a VHS - yes you read that right, VHS. My goal is to have that converted to a digital file so we can actually watch our wedding ceremony. 

26. Read 3-5 classic or banned books (some fall under both). A lot of the reading I do is of newly-published books so I would like to make it a point to read 3-5 classics or banned books. I think it's important to keep an eye on history and I would like prioritize reading those books.

27. Organize the basement to make it a living space. Justin really wants to move his office down to the basement because his office tends to get very warm in the summertime (his office is the furthest from our furnace). We started last week working on reorganizing the basement so that he could start migrating down there but it will take us some time to get there. 

28. Send 10 handwritten notes. I really love sending mail to people, so I would like to make it a point to send 10 handwritten notes to people just because I can - this will not include birthday cards, Christmas cards or thank you cards. 

29. Collaborate with another BookTube creator. I see a lot of creators on YouTube work together on all kinds of fun things and I think it would be so fun to collaborate with another YouTuber on something. I'm thinking a readathon or something like that, but I haven't decided yet. My goal is to finalize that by end of July 2025.

30. Save up one full months salary. After Justin was laid of late last year, we realized that we need to get serious about our finances. While it would not be enough to sustain us long-term, I would like to save up one full month of my salary so at the very least if something happened to my job, I would be able to get myself through the next month. Ideally, I'd like this to be cash so I just have it on me in case of emergency.

31. Start planning our next big vacation. Financially, we are not in the position to take a big vacation this year, but I would really like to get something in the works for us to go somewhere (whether it's a new location or one we've been before). 

32. Plan and blog every day for one month. I really do enjoy writing blog posts, so I'd like to dedicate one month to blog posts (including weekends). I have a few ideas I'm playing with for July so maybe I'll be able to finish it then.

33. Leave 100% tip at a restaurant. I have been seeing this a lot as I am going through ideas for my goals list and I think this is so cool. To be able to go to a restaurant (or even order food to be delivered) and tip someone exactly the same as what I paid for my food would be so fun. 

34. Complete the 25 in 25 reading challenge / complete all Goodreads challenges.  I am participating in the 25 in 25 reading challenge from Four Paws and a Book and would like to complete that goal for 2025.  I also am trying to finish all challenges from the Goodreads challenges.

35. Handmake one gift for each friend/family member this year. Whether that's a birthday gift or Christmas gift, I'd like to make a gift for everyone. I'm thinking I may even be able to utilize my recent pottery classes to make little gifts for everyone. 

36. Wake up one hour earlier every day for one month and use that time for me. My sleep schedule has been all over the place and I feel like I could really benefit from building a better sleep routine. My goal is to spend one month getting up one hour earlier every day to do something that is just for me - whether that's journaling, reading, exercising or just enjoying a cup of coffee in peace. 

Okay, so that is my 36 goals for my 36th year of life. I have to say, I had a hard time coming up with 36 this time around because I was trying to not repeat things from last year. Some of them are repeats, and that is okay. I just want to focus on ways to improve my life. 

Right now the plan is to do a quarterly check-in and then do a final check-in after my next birthday. At this rate, that means that I am looking at September 2025, December 2025, February 2026 and May 2026. 

If you have any goals you're working towards, let me know! I'd love to be an accountability partner or even just have a friend to talk with while we do our goals. 

Have a wonderful day,
Jackie
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