2025 Goals
- 2025 Describe yourself in 3 words: Fatigued, Thankful, Driven
- 2024 Describe what you want more of in 3 words: Calm, Centered, Wise
- Theme for 2024: Body
- 2024 Describe yourself in 3 words: Maximal, Goal-Oriented, Partner
- 2024 Describe what you want more of in 3 words: Growth, Decluttering, Minimize
- Theme for 2024: Organization
- 2023 Describe yourself in 3 words: Impatient, Forgetful, Loving
- 2023 Describe what you want more of in 3 words: Saving, Friendship, Experiences
- Theme for 2023: Settling in
- Goals list of 2023
- 2022 Describe yourself in 3 words: Self, Partner, New
- 2022 Describe what you want more of in 3 words: Success, Happy Moments, Learning
- Theme for 2022: Realize
- Goals list of 2022
- 2021 Describe yourself in 3 words: Driven, Busy, Challenged
- 2021 Describe what you want more of in 3 words: Vacation, Attentive, Patience
- Theme for 2021: Plan
- Goals list of 2021
- 2020 Describe yourself in 3 words: Anxious, Quick, Analytic
- 2020 Describe what you want more of in 3 words: Patience, Deliberate, Calm
- Theme for 202: Hygge
- Goals list of 2020
- 2019 Describe yourself in 3 words: Driven, Efficient, Restless
- 2019 Describe what you want more of in 3 words: Calm, Accomplished, Considerate
- Theme for 2019: Minimize
- Goals list of 2019
- Goals list of 2018
- Goals list of 2017
- Goals list of 2016
- Goals list of 2015
2024’s vision board reflection goes like this…
The birthday of my dreams in three parts: I signed up to volunteer at SXSW, my partner surprised (actually surprised) me with a half-day spa day, and we went for dinner and drinks at a rooftop bar. A rooftop bar is my go-to when visiting new cities. I also managed to snag quite a few birthday freebies around town.
I somehow managed to get a nail in my tire biking a mile from my house. I say ‘somehow’ but Austin has some of the least swept streets and car detritus accumulates easily in the bike paths. It is not only safer to bike on the sidewalk, it is also cleaner.
I like to participate in studies, and I was able to participate in one that involved a live brain MRI! I also took a pole doubles class and a ropes class. So many firsts this year!
I volunteered for the After Dark Feburary showcase with Lache and later the Death and the Day Star showcase with Lache. I got to draw the sign for After Dark – can you tell? They also let me setup and handle lights and even work the front desk and cash donation basket!
I love to volunteer. My lifetime estimate is just under 800 hours. I’ve added 74.5 hours to my lifetime volunteer hours this year in large part due to SXSW. What an experience! Such a large event! I wrote all about my time as a volunteer with SXSW earlier on my blog.
On Sundays, I worked part-time as a front desk associate at The Jungle Movement Academy in Round Rock from March through October. This family-friendly gym has all sorts of cool things, including a unique space and many coaches from various movement arts. Bonus points if you can spot me in a picture on their website! I had an employee membership for that time where I could take unlimited classes and they trained me to be a Lyra level 1 coach.
Jon took me to my first live basketball game on a trip to Houston where we went on the Houston Space Center NASA VIP tour. I also wrote about it on my blog earlier this year.
Jon and I ate the most expensive meal of my life as part of our anniversary celebration. It was an Omakase meal at Endo Sushi.
Jon’s mom joined us in the spring and we camped out for some of the best BBQ in Texas – Goldee’s BBQ in Fort Worth. We also camped out later in the year for what turned out to be the worst BBQ in Texas – Snow’s BBQ in Lexington.
I took a really cool Pentagram workshop where the aerial apparatus was taller than me! It was soooooo heavy. I also took a roller pole class while on a work trip in Littleton, CO. I made sure to wear my special matching donut outfit for both.
Austin was in the path of totality of a total solar eclipse. We were able to experience the event from our backyard. We also experienced hail the size of golf balls in Austin that same month! The size of the ones in our backyard was closer to the size of a quarter.
I fell off my bike… I was also bumped into by a truck later in the year and fell again. Always wear your helmet kids! And replace it when needed (ie when it saves your noggin).
I continue to level up in Pokemon Go and managed to get to level 48 on 5/15 (caught 6765; won 96 raids; visited 2667 pokestops). Jon and I typically participate in Raid Day on Wednesdays and Community Days throughout the year.
Jon and I managed to spend 4 days at Six Flags (6/8, 6/9 in Arlington, 11/2 in Arlington, 11/23 in San Antonio to get good value out of our yearly membership.
I went on 2 work trips to Littleton, CO and one trip for work to Covington, GA. The trip to GA resulted in an issue with VRBO we had to work through where our reservation was double booked and we were “stranded.” After early morning flights and a full work day we get to the VRBO and see a driveway full of cars! I always to try get some waffles when I’m staying at hotels and one of them had a mini (4 in one pan) waffle maker!
After some thought that I should try to ‘specialize’ in some way with my aerial hobby, I decided to get a mini lyra! I signed up for my first mini lyra performance at the upcoming Jungle Movement February showcase.
Austin might not have had Taylor Swift coming to town but there were some awesome live events we got tickets for, including Cirque du Soleil Crystal, an Austin FC game, Sarah Sherman & Chloe Fineman at the Paramount, Lindsay Stirling with opener Walk Off the Earth, Hans Zimmer Candelilight quartet, Galactic Empire Come and Take it Live, Ice & Field at the Crossover (ice skating show), the Gold Over America Tour, and Peter Pan the Musical. Other live shows I saw were Hans Zimmer (Dallas), Christmas with the Crawfods (my sister’s show in Fort Myers!), and Piccadilly (Fort Myers).
Jon and I found a house sit in DC with Ragdolls! Though our plane was 4 hours delayed and we didn’t get in until 2AM we had a blast in DC. We took a day trip to Philly. That was my first trip to DC and Philly and you can read my standalone blog about the trip. We essentially ate our way around town and lazed about with the cats.
Jon traded in his GTI for a BMW so now we’re known as the people who don’t use their blinker (we do in fact use the blinker but that’s the BMW stereotype).
My brother won 2nd place in the New Yorker cartoon caption contest. I think that’s cooler than my coolest win (a boot toss).
I met Lenore Zann (the voice of Rogue in X-Men) when I was volunteering for the Greater Austin Comic Con. She shook my hand. Weird Al was there but I didn’t meet him. I got to do line control for him though which was cool because they only let trusted volunteers work anywhere near the Celebrities. And by trusted I mean people who are actually doing things while volunteering and not just standing around (a lot of volunteering is actually standing around but being observant while doing so).
I forgot to send in the form to vote via mail so we voted – early – and in person! They only had Spanish “I voted” stickers.
I reprised my Waldo outfit for Halloween and got my hair colored as part of my future cosplay efforts.
We went to the Video Game Museum in Dallas and Cosm – a unique film screening experience where they screen live sports events but we watched a taped version of “O” by Cirque du Soleil. I was very excited to watch this one because of the documentary Without a Net. We also tried out yet another highly rated BBQ place nearby – Panther City BBQ which has the best burger and a very good BBQ selection (and almost no line both times we went).
Jon took me to a cool nighttime woodland trail experience filled with magical creatures and wizarding wonders from the Harry Potter™ and Fantastic Beasts™ films.
We moved to a new house 15 minutes away from our previous house – in Austin proper now! I promptly stubbed my toe so hard on the fireplace feature that I think I bruised the bone. This was my final and fifth minor injury of the year. 1. February – tendonitis in my left wrist from too much handstand conditioning 2. April – right hamstrung overextended during a silks split 3. July – excessive flexion of left ankle after jumping onto a soft mat at the gym 4. October – knocked off my bike by a truck on my way home from a dance class and twisted my right knee 5. November – jammed my right pinky toe. Guess how much I paid for doctor visits in 2024? Almost nothing because I used my Zoom doc each time… and followed RICE (rest, ice, compression, elevation) and they all got better over time.
We did another house sit with two Frenchies. And we were able to cuddle goats!
We went to see Skeleton Crew at a pre-screening event and I dressed up in my Sabine Wren cosplay that I’m putting together for next year.
I took a Choux baking class with Sur La Table. It actually rose! The trick is a stand mixer go figure. I wore my custom Donut Rachel apron and everyone loved it!
For my final trick of the year I visited family in Florida for the Holidays! I even got to see my Cousins, Aunt, and Uncle. We met up at Disney because my older cousin works there. How cool is that! I wore my casual Sabine outfit to Hollywood Studios. My younger cousin also Disney bounded – can you guess who she is dressed as? My sister found us a Wicked sing-along to go to during the week. We tried out some new foods. My mom and I went to a salt therapy session. My sister and some of her partner’s family took us to a fancy and totally awesome tea party. I got to cuddle with my mom’s and sister’s cats. We played Jenga (I lost). We played Scrabble (I lost). We played Jeopardy (I lost). We played Heads Up (we all won playing this game). We opened presents. We made dip cakes (I critiqued and ate but didn’t help cook other than to help misplace the yeast). We took walks. We saw an alligator. I didn’t wear my sweater everywhere. We drove around St. Armands. We drove around Sarasota. We drove from Fort Myers to Orlando and back.
2024 specific goals:
- Take Japanese language classes all year
- I mean…. We did take an actual language class with JASGA here in Austin (online weekly sessions) for the first part of the year. Then I did some Duolingo. Then I kind of stopped.
- Learn the Japanese alphabet
- The Japanese language has several alphabets and I started learning one of them. I should get back into that one this year.
- Make a Japan trip plan and start prep
- I love trip planning and am trying out a new travel planning site along with my Notes and spreadsheets. Wanderlog already saved me a couple hundred when it flagged one of the hotels that had dropped in price!
- House sit for either a pig, Ragdoll, Frenchie, or Shiba Inu
- Nailed this one! We sat for both Ragdolls and Frenchies!
- Create the best and most fitting Star Wars costume
- I’m still working on my Sabine Wren outfit with two versions – the more casual and easier to walk around in and the one with more accessories.
- Take a choux pastry-making class
- Done! I hemmed and hawed over the price but when it dropped with a discount for end-of-year savings I booked it.
- clean out/organize: Phone, Watch, Photos, Videos, OneNote, Gmails, Outlook, LastPass, Egnyte folders, Death Binder, Maps, Google Drive, Closets
- Every year digitally I need to clean out and re-organize but I did make significant improvements with my Photos, Videos, OneNote, Gmails, Lastpass, Egnyte, Maps, and Closets. It’s not finished but it’s an ongoing effort.
- Get to 365 Yelp reviews
- I wrote 205 reviews in 2024 and had 67 prior so am a little shy of this number
2025 specific goals:
- Review every new restaurant/business that I go to on Yelp
- Practice cake baking and decorating – learn one new related skill
- Maximize the use of my 2025 health benefits
- Go to at least 5 classes/month at Orange Theory Fitness while I have the membership
- Have an epic Japan trip and do not panic while using public transit or when trying to find things in the train stations
- Get to level 49 in Pokemon Go
Rachel Author Barnard 