2010 Goals: July Progress

I set specific 2010 goals so here's an update on my July progress.

Read/Write/Blog
1. I read 7 books this month, raising my yearly total to 55. I'm almost done listening to another. I am confident that I will meet my goals of reading 100 books this year!

2. My writing group scheduled a meeting in September. I wrote an essay for Real Simple's contest and one of the writing group members is critiquing it for me, then I will revise and submit to Real Simple.

3. Submit... I had no idea that this would be as cumbersome a chore as it is. Well, I'm setting a goal: submit at least one piece one place in August. A little something is better than a whole lot of nothing!

4. This is my 119th post of the year, so I will easily post 200 times this year.

Healthy
5. I will be run/walking a half marathon! This is a really ambitious goal and I have been training, my longest run so far has been 9 miles. My weekly training consists of two short runs (for speed) and one long run (for distance). The last few weekends have been so very hot that I haven't been able to go for my long run. On those days I swim laps or do a variety of indoor cardio machines, like treadmill, bike, and elliptical. I'm also setting a workout goal for August: 31 workouts! Run/walk, swim, elliptical, yoga, walking - I'm planning on having an active month.

6. I exceeded my goal of eating vegetarian meals 90% of the time by eating veggie 96% of the time. I found out that replacing lean meats with dairy is not very healthy, which is what I have been doing, eating lots of cheese, yogurt (you know I love Fage), and milk. So now I'm reevaluating my kibosh on eating meat regularly and trying to figure out how I can be healthier. A hippie store near me sells clean meat, including organic, grass-fed beef and pastured poultry. Yes, it's expensive, it's also meat I can feel okay about eating.

Fun & Friends
7. The new thing I did this month was go to a charming town on the seashore for my cousin's wedding with my mom and My Heart's Desire. It was nice to get away and celebrate love.

8. Seeing friends. I saw lots of friends and family at our fourth annual Fourth of July cookout. I love this tradition! We host a fun, low-stress event every year with yummy food, great people, and celebrate America's birthday. Some people even brought patriotic desserts, which everyone got a kick out of. What could be better? I also went to a farewell brunch, had dinner with a friend at a hippie restaurant, had a friend over for dinner with my mom and me, went to a brunch with lots of wonderful girls, and took my honorary grandmother to see The Kids Are All Right, which I liked and she loved.

9. My Heart's Desire and I had a lot of fun this month. We both enjoyed the 4th of July cookout and the weekend away. We also went to a movie.

10. Photo taken of My Heart's Desire and I? Nope.

11. Bonus! It's All Relative. My mom came to town and I took a day off from work. We went shopping (and by that I obviously mean thrift), went out to lunch and to the movies, browsed for books, and had frozen yogurt. I also hung out with my aunt and uncle, cousins, and met my cousin's adorable sons.