They say the best way to meet your goals is by telling people about them in order to be accountable, so here is our list of goals…both long and short term. We’re not officially calling it our 30 by 30 list, but we’ll try to get as many of them done in the next 2 years as possible!

Bungie Improvements

  1. Rehab the fireplace/mantle * Completed 10/28/11 *
  2. Install new vanity in Emily’s bathroom.
  3. Paint/Re-tile Daniel’s bathroom. * Completed 10/16/11 *
  4. New tile in Emily’s bathroom.
  5. New tile in the kitchen.
  6. Install a rain barrel.
  7. Make our yard beautiful. (Re-seed the lawn. Get rid of weeds. Get rid of random bottles, chunks of cement, and glass buried in our lawn.
  8. Grow a larger garden. (have something edible grow besides tomatoes)
  9. Build shelves for the dining room. * Completed 12/30/10 *
  10. Paint dining room table white. * Completed 2/15/11 *
  11. Paint Emily’s bathroom. * Completed 6/29/11 *
  12. Get new living room furniture that goes with the “beach vibe” we’re aiming for.
  13. Get a new fridge!
  14. Add more cabinet and counter top space in the kitchen.
  15. Organize the garage.
  16. Paint the front door. * Completed 5/31/11 *

Life Improvements

  1. Foster a dog. * Started on 7/9/11 *
  2. Begin volunteering on a regular basis.  (Emily) * Started on 6/5/11 *
  3. Make an important items binder including serial numbers for all big ticket items we own. (thanks for the idea, Kate!)
  4. Get a will and health care directive.
  5. Get a master’s degree. (Emily) * Completed on 5/4/12 *
  6. Listen to 5 new books on CD during commute to school (Emily). (So far… The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Bossypants, Council of Dads, Water for Elephants, The Hunger Games, Catching Fire) * Finished on 3/28/12 *
  7. Start practicing my french language skills again. (Emily)
  8. Take a refresher photography class. (Daniel and Emily)
  9. Take a cooking class. (Daniel and Emily)
  10. Sing a song at a karaoke bar. (Emily)
  11. Learn to drive a stick shift. (Emily)
  12. Be a contestant on a game show (preferably Jeopardy). (Emily)
  13. Send a postcard to PostSecret. (Emily)
  14. Go one week without watching television. (Daniel and Emily)
  15. Get jobs that we both love.

Bungie Finances

  1. Finish paying off our consumer debt. * Completed 1/22/11 *
  2. Finish paying off Daniel’s student loan debt. * Completed 3/4/11 *
  3. Finish paying off Emily’s student loan debt.
  4. Have 3 months of expenses in an emergency fund.
  5. Have 6 months of expenses in an emergency fund.
  6. Have 9 months of expenses in an emergency fund.
  7. Have 1 year of expenses in an emergency fund.
  8. Pay cash for a car.
  9. Start regularly contributing to our Roth IRAs.
  10. Give a $100 tip to a server for exceptional service – even on a small tab.
  11. Write a $1,000.00 check to charity.
  12. Pay for someone’s meal behind us at a drive-thru window.
  13. Pay cash for a house.

Bungie Health

  1. Do Couch to 5k program.
  2. Run a 5k
  3. Run a 5k in another state.
  4. Hit goal weight. (Daniel and Emily)
  5. Get on a walking schedule with the dogs.
  6. Quit drinking soda for good. (Emily)
  7. Quit biting nails. (Emily)
  8. Try acupuncture. (Emily)

Travel

  1. Couch surf for an entire vacation.
  2. Road trip through the Pacific Northwest. * Completed 5/11-5/17… see here, here, here, here, here, and here *
  3. Road trip through the Northeast.
  4. Road trip along the Gulf Coast.
  5. Drive Highway 1 from San Diego to the Canada border.
  6. Visit at least 5 countries we haven’t been to: Croatia, Portugal, Spain, Netherlands, Austria, Ireland.
  7. Go camping.
  8. Fly first class.
  9. Go to a college bowl game (preferably a Nebraska bowl game).
  10. Spend Christmas in a foreign country.
  11. Rent a beach house for a week with friends.
  12. Rent a house on the slopes and go skiing for a week.
  13. Go sailing.
  14. Take the classic American road trip on Route 66.
  15. See a show on Broadway.
  16. Take a vacation at an immersion resort to jump start my French speaking skills (Emily)
  17. Do a California winery tour by bicycle.
  18. Go on a spontaneous vacation.

Blog

  1. Do a guest blog post * Completed 6/24/11 and again on 7/11/11 *
  2. Have someone guest post on our blog. * Completed 7/11/11 *
  3. Build up a cache of blog posts so I don’t feel so pressured all the time.
  4. Build our website from scratch (not a wordpress template)
  5. Get our House Tour page finished!
  6. Update blog roll. * Completed 12/10/11 *
  7. Blog every day for one week (aka the work week – 5 days). * Completed Aug 15, 16, 17, 18, 19 *
  8. Blog Monday-Friday for one month. * Completed – all of January 2012 *
  9. Attend a blogging conference.
  10. Meet 10 blog friends in person (So far, Emily has met Crystal from Wayward Dogs, Helen from Black & White, A & E from Two Pitties in the City, Scott & Kim from Yellow Brick Home, Katharine from Two Kitties One Pittie, and Claudia from A Franklin a Day)