Another month down, and it went by like a blink of an eye! :/

1. Buy a house – completed 6/15/12

2. Get my body in shape
We didn’t get our health insurance cards until about a week ago, so I have yet to choose a new doctor out here and schedule an appointment. My knee feels much better; I’m not compensating nearly as much. Should still be regular about my PT exercises though. Found a couple of potential gyms and I’m contemplating joining one of them. My aunt offered to get me a bicycle, which was so generous.

For August, I’ll be looking at bikes and getting myself a helmet finally! Still working on taking my vitamins regularly and doing my physical therapy exercises. I’d also like to get a book on preparing for pregnancy I saw when book browsing at Barnes and Noble. Rather than purchase it, I think I should be able to get it through interlibrary loan.

3. Get a job
July went by really quickly and still involved a lot of “settling in” and not much more. I have been speaking openly to people I meet about job-hunting and have gotten some good leads. Now it’s just gathering the gumption to start applying.

4. Apply to graduate programs for 2013
Silly, silly. Still haven’t signed up for the GRE and need to. Like today. Have been speaking openly to people about programs I’m looking at, and learned that someone knows a recent graduate of the program I’m most excited about. She’s trying to help me make that connection so I can ask more questions and get a handle of what to expect. Cool, cool, cool.

5. Write four letters a month – completed for July
I wrote a couple of letters to my best friend, I wrote to a friend J, I wrote to my sister, and I feel like there’s might be one or two more but I can’t remember. :/ Either way, it’s still four. I don’t believe I sent any packages this month, but I have a whole stack of things I need to box up and can send at any time.

6. Gather creative courage – completed for July
My sister visited mid-month and helped me get everything unpacked in my crafting room. We got all my supplies put away neatly in drawers, she set up my sewing machine and we worked on a quilting project together, we worked on my Charge album for One Little Word, and my sister set up an inspiration shelf of all my favorite items that would encourage me to play and create. I worked on my niece’s quilt, I took a sewing class making a zippered pouch at a nearby store, and I feel really good about my progress in July.

For August, I’d like to keep working on my niece’s quilt (and finish the top quilt if I can attach myself to that vision), get fully caught up on One Little Word (which requires ordering photo prints), make a felt luggage tag like I keep imagining with ideas gathered from Pinterest, attempt another zippered pouch, and make some cards. If I can get a few items finished, I’ll be closer to opening my Etsy shop. In the meantime, I can research more about what’s involved in listing items. I think I have some supplies I still need to order as well.

7. Integrate options into my investing strategy – completed 5/10/12

8. Read two books a month – completed for July
Using my Kindle, I finished Mockingjay and read The Help. For August, I’d like to learn how to use my library card to get Kindle books. I’d also like to be even more in the habit of reading every single night.

9. Travel somewhere each month – completed for July
I flew to MN for a family reunion and just got back. It was great to see extended family, see third cousins (all babies) meet each other, and be part of the elaborate process that is our family reunion. It was also great, as always, to visit with my niece some more and hear her shout “Auntie” all the time. She’s only 14 months, I’m impressed!

For August, J and I have been toying with the idea of visiting my aunt and uncle on Nantucket. And I think this might be the month when we could sneak up to Montreal for a weekend.

10. Learn one song on the guitar
While J was at work one day, I pulled out his guitar on my own and just strummed and picked and tried to figure out how the thing works. I’d never really done that before, so I thought that was an excellent first step: on my own terms get familiar with the strings. I think it might take a long time even to learn one simple song, but that’s ok. It’s nice to do something musical again. It was also nice to hear J play his guitar in the dark during a power outage we had. I forgot how good he is, and I have to remember he is fully self-taught, which makes this goal completely doable.