18 in 18 - Final Roundup

18 in 18 – Annual roundup.

Here is a summary of how I did with my 18 in 18 challenge. 

1     Bake once per month (bread/cake/biscuits).        

Ø  This was a miserable fail.  I have done very little baking this year.  More cooking but not baking as I defined it above. 

Ø  Going forward this is staying on my list but without being so specific.  It will be just be a general aim.

2     Plant new flower bed and child proof garden. 

Ø  Well one bed is planted but it’s not childproof yet.  Fortunately Nathan hasn’t been here enough to make it a priority but now he’s running around and Noah and Rory won’t be long behind him it will be more important to get this done. 

Ø  Going forward it’s going to be a general aim to do more gardening and that will incorporate making it safe for the Grandchildren.

3     Sort out magazines

Ø  This was a total and utter fail!  I still have piles of magazines in the house

Ø  Going forward it won’t be on my 19 in 19 list but hopefully they will be gone by the end of 2019! (Even if I end up dumping them in my recycling bin.)

4     Plan a lunch date/date night with Nick once a month (theatre/cinema/meal)

Ø  We didn’t always achieve this but we did do more than previously

Ø  This will be on my 19 in 19 list and hopefully we’ll plan better next year

5     Eat at 4 new-to-me restaurants

Ø  This was achieved, even if some of the restaurants were at holiday locations so unlikely to be revisited

Ø  Going forward I’m upping the # to 6.  This will also help with the previous target!

6     Complete the A – Z  blogging challenge

Ø  Finally a complete success!

Ø  Definitely going on next year’s list.

7     Plan a family weekend away for next year

Ø  This was probably too far in advance for me so nothing done as yet.

Ø  Going on the new list – this is for my (big) birthday so it WILL happen

8     Walk at least 3 times per week

Ø  I did do more walking in general but I wasn’t always very disciplined about it

Ø  Staying on the list – will try to do better!

9     Visit my brother

Ø  Failed

Ø  Staying on the list – maybe 2019 will be the year we reconnect.

10  Visit my cousin

Ø  Another fail, we’re both too busy

Ø  I probably won’t put this on the list as although I might not get up to see her, we have already got a holiday booked for September so we will be getting together next year.

11  Visit the beach

Ø  A success.

Ø  Will be on the new list!

12  Complete my reading challenge (52 books for the year)

Ø  Another success!

Ø  Will be on the new list.  I actually got past 60 books but I think aiming for 1 book per week is a good target so I will keep it at that.

13  Keep my bullet journal updated

Ø  Well my bullet journal is a bit of a hybrid thing and it hasn’t been consistent throughout the year.

Ø  Going forward I’m making the intention of keeping a journal.  The shape and form will probably be (extremely) flexible and fluid!

14  Blog at least once per week (plus regular memes)

Ø  Apart from November when we were away for over a couple of weeks I definitely upped my blogging output.  (234 posts for 2018 at the time of writing compared to 168 for 2017.)  January, April and October were good months­­ thanks to various challenges but there were still not enough original posts in the rest of the year.

Ø  This will feature on my new list but not sure how specific I’ll be yet.

15  Take more photos

Ø  Definitely doing better

Ø  Could do more!

16  Update my wardrobe

Ø  Achieved

Ø  Needs to be an ongoing task – I have a lot of new summer clothes which I must make an effort to wear but I could now do with adding to my winter wardrobe.

17  Do more crafting – update on blog

Ø  Didn’t do well on this.

Ø  2019 is the year my sewing machine will get moved and used!

18  Try out a new recipe each week

Ø  I didn’t achieve this every week but I certainly tried out quite a lot of new recipes this year.  Towards the end of the year we signed up to Hello Fresh, a meal delivery scheme, and that has definitely had me trying new things which was part of my aim.

Ø  I think I will keep this on my list to motivate me.  I need to improve on my planning though.

As you can see, some things went better than others, some things probably shouldn’t have been on the list!  Was it helpful?  Yes, although it did become a bit of a chore at times.  Will I be doing it again?  Yes, but I will be trying to make it easier and perhaps less target driven, especially as there needs to be an extra item on the list! 

One excuse I could give for not achieving more is spending time with these 3 little ones.  I think it's a pretty good excuse!  I might have to settle for Nana for now as Nathan can say that but not Nanny.  He also loves his Granga 😂