Kimberlee K.

While I wouldn’t say this whole year went by “in a blink”, parts of it did! And as always, it’s a little jarring to be looking at the goals I seemingly just set to see where they took me this year.

I loved my goals this year, they might by my favorite set so far.

So let’s see how I did:

1) Take a ceramics class

Check! I actually took two and have plans to take more next year. I loved then liked then hated then loved the journey and wrote about it at length in this post, and I’m excited to see what I make in the new year.

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2) Do my writing capstone

Check! I was so excited to get this one checked off because it meant I finished my Creative Writing Certificate at UCLA Extension, which I started back in 2020. It was a big commitment, but a fun one and something that really let me celebrate my writing while also learning ways to make it better. I’d recommend it to anyone!

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3) Go to an aquarium

Check! I told one of my best friends about this goal at the beginning of the year and she helped me cross it off in the spring. While I was prepared to be amazed by all the fun sea creatures on display, it was extra special to see her kids experience it, and watch their eyes light up—especially when they got to pet the sting rays!

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4) Do a new Bible study

Check! I worked through a couple of devotionals, Bible studies and reading plans this year and found something good in all of them! I started the year with this one, and am currently working through this one.

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5) Have longer mornings

Check! The key to this one was going to bed early enough so I could then wake up early enough to allow myself to move slower. Even on the weekends, I liked waking up earlier than I used to and reading a chapter or two of a book on the couch, still in my robe, my hair still crazy. I liked getting to just *sit* for a while and plan my day rather than waking up in a rush. And I think I’ll continue this moving forward—for as long as I have the opportunity, at least.

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6) Try strength training

Check! Early in the year I found the Ladder app and have been evangelizing about it ever since. It’s introduced me to an entirely new (to me) kind of exercise and I’ve really been loving it! It’s so fun to feel stronger!

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7) Read a book in a day

Check! I put this book on hold at the library and it came through on a Friday, so picked it up and then spent my Saturday morning reading it in one sitting! I had intentionally picked this book for this goal because it was shorter and, in my opinion, more realistic to complete, but then a few months later I read about 90% of this book in one day simply because my day was open and I was loving it, so—you never know!

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8) Watch all of Nora Ephron’s movies

Check! When Harry Met Sally… is in my top five movies of all time, so I went into this goal very excited. And while there were movies in this bunch that I really enjoyed, especially those I’d had on my watchlist for a long time (like You’ve Got Mail and Julia & Julia), I felt very neutral on the rest. There’s no question that Nora Ephron was an incredible writer and creator, but not all of her movies are for me—and that’s okay!

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9) Get a facial once a season

Check! If you need any proof that I loved getting facials this year, find it in the fact that I now have a favorite facialist, whose schedule I let dictate when I make the occasional appointment. There’s nothing quite like that clean feeling after a facial and I always walk out expecting anyone I pass by to gasp at how good my skin looks. (They don’t, but I pretend they’re just trying to keep their cool.)  

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10) Stop reading the comments

Check-ish! I wrote about this in my first ever Goal Review. And while it’s a hard habit to break, I learned this year how much better I feel when I either don’t read or read less of the comments.

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11) Fill in old journals

Check! I was really proud of myself for this one. It’s so easy to—SQUIRREL—whenever a pretty new journal comes out. But I stood firm and didn’t buy any journals all year, and actually found a lot of value in going back and finishing out the prompts of those I already had. It reminded me why I bought them in the first place.

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12) Read Ann Patchett’s Books

This was such a fun goal. I’ve never read so much of the same author’s work so close together and it was cool to see her voice come through in such vastly different stories. She is such an incredible writer, and I feel like I’ve benefited so much from reading her work. I’m currently reading Commonwealth which is only one left on my list and I fully intend to finish it before the end of the year, so I’m counting this goal as complete.

And in case you’re curious, my favorite book of hers is The Dutch House, and it will take a lot for it to be dethroned in the future.

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13) Do Monthly Reflections

Check! I really liked these. More than anything I feel like they helped me notice when one month changed into another, rather than having everything blur together. So I am definitely going to keep doing them, and I think going forward I might try and incorporate them into my journaling routine. 

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14) Take a writer’s retreat

No check! This was just something I never got to. I did a lot of writing this year, but also spent a lot of fun time with my family and friends, so I just never got around to this mini getaway. I have some time off of work in the next week, so who knows if I might be able to squeeze something in there, but otherwise I’m fine with it being one I can try for in the future.

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15) Make the rules

Check! This is another one I wrote about in a Goal Review. It was a great goal for me and one that I think I’ll have to keep setting going forward.

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16) Figure out my favorite kind of apple

Check! The hilarious part of this one is that I tried eleven different kinds of apples, all for me to determine that my original favorite stands. Granted, there are still tons of varieties of apples out there for me to try, so I’m going to keep my spreadsheet open and active to track whenever I come into contact with one, but for now, Pink Ladies reign supreme.

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17) Go on a “color walk” for every color

Check! This turned into one of my favorite things that I did this year! I went through all the colors of a standard rainbow, and then I started doing themes, like water droplets, tree bark, or shadows, anything that helped me tune into the nature around me. It was so fun!

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This was easily one of my most successful years of goal setting, and I’m hopeful I can carry that energy into 2026. It’s fun to find and set goals that make you excited to complete them, and I always love seeing the kinds of doors the goals open for me—often those I don’t expect.

Next Monday, I’ll share my goals for next year, so until then, Merry Christmas!