An Overview of May
May was the longest month of the year yet it still managed to escape me. I don’t know where the time goes but if I could somehow pocket just a little extra bit of it, then let my pockets rip at the seams with carrying the stuff. Luckily, I do practice bit of daily journaling with my Unbound planner so that I may look back at the forgotten memories buried within my fickle mind and recall what it was that I did with my precious time. It’s good practice, too, as it forces me to set aside a few hours at the end and beginning of each month to review not only progress, but the good and important stuff that we sometimes miss – that which is the essence of life.
It turns out, there were many accomplishments in May that, when taken separately, seem random, but when read in the context of our big picture plans, actually move us closer to our dream life.
- We refinanced our home a second time, making it a cash flow positive rental option in the future. This sets us up nicely since our dream was to travel the world. It allows us to gain equity plus enough extra income to cover maintenance costs without having us live here anymore.
- We drafted a living trust on our own after we were quoted $2.5K to have one written up by a lawyer. We wanted to put all our assets in a trust but did not want to pay the lawyer fees so with the help of Legal Zoom (the same company that I built an SCORP with, and no I do not get a commission for this, I just really want to talk about them), we were able to draft our own living trust for less than $400.
- Mike’s job officially offered him the option of fully remote work in the future which sets us up nicely for our dream to travel the world and live in different places. I am actually most excited about this fact in congruence with the refinance since it allows us to try our nomad life sooner than we thought! Our housemate is leaving at the end of summer, and our plan is to rent our home out for a year and nix the permanent address. Also falling in line with all of this is our HOA’s recent approval to allow year-long rentals in our community (starting tomorrow!). And the world is slowly opening up to leisure travel. The timing couldn’t be any better!
Aside from the accomplishments, May was also spent with friends and family. We stayed with friends in NorCal, visiting Healdsburg for a weekend and working remote in their dining room. My brother was home from Arizona for three out of the five weeks in May, celebrating Mother’s Day as well as Memorial Day with the fam. We stayed with friends in their newly purchased San Diego home for an entire weekend, then hosted friends in our space over Memorial Day weekend. I may not have worked as much, but my lack of productivity at work was offset by being with people I haven’t seen in months (or for some, over a year!), which is fine by me. In fact, I was so busy with life that my blog earned $0 this month.
Looking Forward to June
June is my birthday month, as well as the halfway point of the year. I tend to approach June with gusto and an intent to live life to the fullest, as it serves a reminder of both the passing of time and the gift of being placed on Planet Blue with a beating heart and a working mind. Also scribbled on our calendars are Father’s Day, plus a wedding we’ve been waiting over a year for – so celebrations abound!
Then we jetset off to Iceland in early July, where we will meet my sister and begin our traveling life. With the liberties Mike’s new way of work-life gifts us, I tell myself I will start approaching the rest of 2021 with the same exuberance I felt when I tackled the challenge of adding baking to my career repertoire – that is, with reckless abandon, shutting my eyes tight and taking leaps of faith that could land us somewhere far away from here, or alternatively, right on our arses. Cheers to mid-life crises or whatever you call it, that which I experience every other year or so it seems. 🙂
June Goals Include:
- Notarize the living trust, because we must continue to do practical things.
- Plan our nomad life, because I shan’t forget to dream.
- Declutter garage, email, and phone, as a symbol of starting anew at thirty-two.
- Organize digital photos, especially if travel will start to accelerate the collection.
- Finish 2 books, including the current read.
- Increase Rye Goods wholesale by 10%, growing my version of remote work-life.
- Pursue blog income stream steadily, in an effort to replace dental income shall I leave this place.
- Master 3 new piano songs, and continue the daily practice.
- Resume my boxing routine, as they re-open next month at a new location.
- Get two interviews on the calendar, to spread the word to new-grads entering the industry post pandemic.
- Apply to 20 affiliates to help the blog revenue along.
- Take 5 SEO courses, to continue adding to my skill set.
- Finish 5 dental CE courses online, to revive my love for the art.
- Bake 2 new recipes – I’m looking at Chiffon cakes at the moment…
- Consider starting a weekly baking IG LIVE tutorial, because those Lunch-And-Learns were so fun!
- Learn geography of all 195 countries – a bit of R&D never hurt anyone.
- Run 4 miles in 40 minutes, as if boxing wasn’t enough.
- Yoga and meditate each day, for the mental aspect as well as the physical.
- Finish 1 coloring page from A Secret Garden – something I’ve been saying for months but have yet to accomplish.
I probably will fail to accomplish half of these things, but half is good enough for me!
