This post may contain affiliate links, meaning if you buy or book through one of these links, I may earn a small commission .
At the beginning of 2023, I wrote this list of eight goals for my blog and every day life. At the end of each year, I like to take a peek back at how things went before I make a whole new list for the next year. It’s my time to pause and reflect on how things are going and what I might like to adjust.
All in all, this was a fun year in travel. Aaron and I made a few more trips to Boston, MA, explored Barcelona and Paris together, and spent time at both beloved and all new spots in the Caribbean. We also tried some new mental and physical challenges, such as going ziplining and climbing the Beehive at Acadia National Park.
Blogging, on the other hand, was full of ups and downs this year, mostly due to changes and updates outside of my control. For example, AI is having impacts on the publishing industry as a whole and there’s no telling how it will continue to progress. Additionally, ad revenue started out depressingly low at the beginning 2023, which had me nervous at times.
While this year kept me on my toes, it would be a lie to say things were not interesting. Join me as I briefly reflect on my goals for the past year vs. what I actually managed to accomplish.
My New Year’s Goals for 2023
1. Visit One New Country – Done!
New countries I visited in 2023 include:
- Netherlands
- Belgium
- Puerto Rico
2. Visit One New State
I am a bit disappointed that I did not manage to visit a new state in 2023. However, I did revisit some awesome states, including South Carolina, Georgia, Massachusetts, California, and Maine.
Additionally, I visited new islands in the Caribbean: San Juan and Vieques, Puerto Rico. Maybe those should count too?
3. Paint Our Upstairs Hallway
Still not done as of December 2023! I shall continue on with the tradition of re-adding this goal to next year’s list.
4. Bake French Pastries – Done!
I’ve been trying to teach myself the art of French pastry ever since my husband bought me this highly technical French baking book for Christmas a couple years back. It’s hard to teach yourself complicated recipes, but it can definitely be done! It just takes A LOT of patience.
This year I’ve improved the following skills:
- Baking macarons
- Tried baking croissants for the first time
- Learned to blind-bake a pie crust
- Made several successful tarts
I’d still like to do more with pâte à choux. Who knows – maybe I will make a croquembouche before the year is out.
5. Continue Studying French – Done!
This year, I progressed to new heights in French thanks to doing the Lingoda Super Sprint challenge. I’ve also continued to maintain a streak on Duolingo and Aaron and I even visited France this past year!
6. Complete Blog Post Experiment
Earlier this year, as an effort to be more productive, I wanted to attempt a challenge of posting a new blog post every day for 30 days. Well…this did not prove to be a realistic goal for me.
Maybe I could do it if I put literally everything else in my life down for a month. The issue is, I sort of left a public accounting job to avoid this very thing. I’ll have to come up with a better blog posting goal for next year.
7. Take at Least One Solo Trip – Done!
Why take one when you can take three? This past year, I traveled solo to the following places:
8. Snuggle My Dog – Ongoing
Because no day should ever go by without snuggling my yorkie, Bennie.
• • •
That does it for 2023 and I plan to take it easy for the rest of the year. The past twelve months were fun and I’m overall really happy with what I was able to accomplish. Just gotta try harder to squeeze in a visit to a new state next year!
