This is the best I've ever done on one of these lists! For 19 in 2019 I got a 72% and a whopping 25% on 18 in 2018 (to be clear, that year we also adopted a surprise baby which pretty much negated that whole list). This year (drum roll please)...I got a 85.75% which is a pretty solid grade. The quarterly check-ins really help me stay motivated as well as keeping a manageable list (my 18 in 2018 list was WAY over reaching, even without a new baby). It feels good to get projects crossed off, no matter how small, and too see all the things we got done in a year, especially a year like 2020.
We also tackled two long overdue projects: I painted inside our final kitchen cabinet (I never put it on one of these lists because I didn't actually want to have to do it!) AND dealt with our compost that was long overdue needing to be dealt with! And we repainted the whole (outside) back of our house (when we were supposed to be on vacation) AND did some other outside painting projects. Feels like a pretty productive year, which is good since we were home more than ever!
Original 20 in 2020 List
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1) Figure out over the dining table (100%)
DONE. Last update the light had been delivered but not the light bulbs but in October we got the light bulbs and Matt got it hung. Turns out...15 light bulbs are VERY bright. So we got a dimmer switch. SO GLAD we finally got this done! (And an in-progress picture of a #20!)
2) Replace end table (5%)
This is lingering at 5% because we agreed on a design but it hasn't been built yet. How many lists should I put this on before I finally get it done?
3) Replace night stands (100%)
DONE. SO HAPPY with these!
4) Replace nightstand lamps (100%)
DONE! Well, we bought zero but we have a situation we are happy with so this is done. I kept my blue shaded light that we registered and got for our wedding. Matt has a lamp that he "gave" me (we picked out together) for the Valentine's Day right after we closed on our house 15 years ago. It's bounced around between my office and the boys' bedroom (where it hadn't been plugged in in over a year) and now it's on Matt's nightstand. He has a green lamp shade and we both like the zero cost solution to his many years broken lamp!
5) Replace bedframe (100%)
DONE! Thus, bringing to an end our multi-year project of redoing our room (I painted it almost a year before we got Sam...). We still "need" some art in one corner but I am in no hurry.
6) Put in raised garden beds (100%)
This was originally "put in sandbox for the boys" that I changed to "put in raised garden beds" because we spent a lot of time on that project and it was all part of a big dirt moving project that should end with the sandbox. The beds are done and will just need some dirt topping off in the spring but were mostly filled with our old compost bin WHICH also knocks off an item from 19 in 2019, I feel like I should get extra credit for that!
DONE and one of the best projects we did this year. Not a lot of work beyond the shopping and brought a lot of joy to our 2020!
8) Organize Luke's Legos (100%)
DONE although keeping them cleaned up to Diana standard is another project BUT we have a system and they are (mostly) all off the ground!
Nagging Tasks
9) Clean converse sneakers (100%)
DONE. Did this in the spring, probably need to redo at least once every year. Especially because I've worn them more in 2020 than any other year.
10) Figure out how to use Fitbit (100%)
Well, I did this and wore it for a few months before the dying battery made it too frustrating to deal with. It did help me get in more steps in our first lockdown which was very appreciated and made it worth it.
DONE and we got the new ones right before Christmas! We had been putting this off for years and were finally motivated before Matt's was 5 years expired this spring and it would cost more to renew. We have no plans to travel internationally anytime soon (even without a pandemic) but feels good to have them current.
12) Shorten our blind (100%)
DONE, this was an easy one to check off in the spring! Part of helping our room feel more finished!
13) Use face things (50%)
My skin issues were a huge source of frustration this year, dealing with the allergy check and then my psoriasis diagnosis. My face has taken the worst of it and I just never seemed to have it all balanced enough to try another new thing. Eventually, if I can get the psoriasis under control.
14) Meet our neighbors (50%)
Well, we've officially met one of them. To be fair, we lived next door to our other neighbor for ~5 years before we really spoke sooo...I don't feel horrible about this, also, pandemic.
Fun(ish)
15) Replace my standard cross-body bag (100%)
DONE. Matt got me one for Easter that I use constantly now!
DONE. Maybe one of the items on here I am most proud of (and there are many I am proud of). The most dates we've had in a single year since becoming parents AND we did it in a pandemic (A LOT of picking up food eating outside). We did 4 of our 6 between August and December and it become the (nearly) once a month we could talk without kids interrupting or us being exhausted once they are in bed. It's been wonderful.
17) order 5 photobooks (100%)
Only ordered 4 but calling it done since the 5th was for the vacation COVID stole. So all caught up!
18) Start allowance with Luke (100%)
DONE! We still aren't in a routine of paying him regularly but we do catch up eventually. Partially because we rarely have the right cash on hand. I need to stock up on $1s (he gets more than $1 a week but less than $5) at the bank every quarter-ish so we can stay current on this.
19) Travel map (10%)
I, naively, thought I'd get to this in December. HAH. Nope. I do know where it will go though AND I have an idea in my head of what I want so I gave myself a tiny bit of credit. Still deciding if I want to mark all the places I went with my family before Matt & I were married. I like it documenting all the places we've been as a family (or a couple, in our pre-kid days) but my parents also took my sisters and I a lot of cool places as kids. So...I'm open to opinions!
DONE! After thinking about this for YEARS Matt helped me knock it out, mostly in 45 minutes, while we had on some Friends Christmas episodes. Then I was delighted to add the glitter (and send a picture to my sisters to show all their glitter-adverse husbands). We even have a place to store it so it can go back up next year! It was the last Christmas decoration to come down just last week!
I am finalizing my 21 in 2021 list and that should be up on Thursday! It's exciting planning things that we'd like to happen this year and then roughly slotting them into the calendar. These list have really helped us knock some long nagging tasks off the to-do and also just some things I'd personally like to get done. It's motivating to think of all we can accomplish in a year!
If you do any sort of 21 in 2021 list, I'd love to see it! Let's motivate each other!
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