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Quintile 2 Overview & Goals


This is the first year I’m trying to set seasonal goals. Since I have kids, I’m using the quintile system from Best Laid Plans, which lines up with the school yearl calendar. It’s been a helpful way to prioritize what matters and plan ahead.

Yearly Goal Progress:

*100 strength training workouts. 29/100. Ahead of schedule!

*Experiment with the Read Harder Challenge. I've read one book from the challenge, but I'm abandoning this goal since it doesn't feel fun anymore.

*Post 52 times or more on my blog. 15/52. On track!

*Make a playlist of favorite new songs released this year. I created the playlist, but don't have too much on it. Hoping to find some new music I love soon!

*Complete monthly planning and reflection pages in my planner. I've been very consistent with this, and I love it.

Marriage:

*Find a babysitter. Check! The kids really like our new babysitter, and that has been great.

*Go on 12 dates this year. 4/12. It's been fun to try new restaurants near us, and we have some concerts scheduled over the summer too!

*Do a short trip to celebrate our 10 year anniversary this year. I'd like to schedule this in the next month or so.

*Read War and Peace together. We are in progress on this. We got sort of off track with Joel's travel for work, but we are back in the routine and it's more fun when we are reading regularly.

Family & Home

*Do 12 hikes with the 4 of us. 3/12. My favorite so far was our hike in Philly!

*Experiment with the 1 Second a Day App. Check! I like it, and I'm still using this.

*Go on one family camping trip (or more). We have 2 trips scheuled for this quintile!

*Make a list of spaces in the house to declutter and work my way through them this year. So far I've decluttered our entryways, dining room, and living room. There is still a lot to do, but progress is progress.

*Do a 1-on-1 outing with my six-year-old once a quarter. Yes! We went to build a bear, and we also went to a bookstore and cafe date.

Community & Friends:

*Host a neighbor gathering. We had an impromptu splash pad gathering, but it would be nice to do something more intentional.

*Attend a Shabbat family service at our new synagogue & sign kids up for religious education. Not yet.

*Visit other friends in LA and meet my friend’s new baby! Yes! This was super fun!

Big Events in Quintile 2:
*Passover and Easter, which already happened.
*Family hang at my parents
*Girl Scouts Meeting & Bridging Event to Brownies for A
*Overnight Camping Trip
*M and Joel's birthdays (May 10 & 11)
*Mother's Day
*My cousin's wedding!
*Memorial Day Weekend Camping Trip
*End of School Year & End of Year Performance

Goals:
*16 Caroline Girvan strength sessions. (15 min+)
*Create playlist of favorite songs and add new favorites.
*Complete reflection pages for April and May.
*Make 2 new recipes from the cookbooks we have out from the library.
*Play a board game with Joel.
*Go on 2 dates.
*Make a photobook.
*Plan and go on 2 camping trips.
*Declutter clothing.
*Declutter books.
*Celebrate Joel and M's birthdays.
*Book swim lessons.
*Book a friend trip for the summer.
*Celebrate the end of the schoool year.
*Schedule eye appointment & get new glasses/sunglasses.

What are you looking forward to in the next few months? Do you set goals, or is it not really your thing?
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Comments

  1. NicoleApril 16, 2026 at 4:40 AM

    War and Peace! I salute you.
    You are doing great on your goals! So many "checks" and "in progress!" I have a big big trip coming up at the end of May and I am so excited about it! Also we have friends coming for a few days and I have to gear myself up to road trip to see my parents. It's been a while since I've visited, but they have had SO much snow in the mountains and it's avalanche city right now, so I don't know when this will happen.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. SamApril 17, 2026 at 12:59 PM

      I'm excited to hear all about your trip! You have had such an incredible travel year so far--I'm enjoy living vicariously through your posts.

      Delete
  2. Lisa's YarnsApril 16, 2026 at 6:13 AM

    Well done! You are doing so great! I like that you set a goal to "try" the Reader Harder Challenge versus setting a goal to complete it. I used to do that challenge several years ago but also found it wasn't very fun and my reading seemed to suffer. My favorite part was researching titles to read for each category but then the reading itself was a bit "meh". I still read diversely, I just don't force myself to read certain title to fulfill my goal of reading diversely.

    Finding a great babysitting is such a relief. We have a great one, too. I need to book her for May for our upcoming anniversary. We are just a year behind you and will celebrate 9. I'd like to do a bigger trip next year for our 10th anniversary. Ideally we'd do some hiking, maybe at the Utah National Parks, or go to Yosemite or something. I need to brain storm to figure that out and see what Phil would be open to. We've done 2 other couples trips since having kids but both were to Mexico. They were fun but I'd like to get back to a more active, hiking-focused trip like we used to do pre-kids!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. SamApril 17, 2026 at 12:58 PM

      I love your ideas for your anniversary trip--that sounds so fun! We also like really active trips. I've been to Canyonlands and Arches, which was super fun. I'd love to check out Zion and Bryce.

      I think we will likely do just a long weekend away not far from my parents house, but it should be really fun! We haven't left our 2 kids with family before, so it seems like a good idea to start with a shorter stint.

      Delete
  3. KaelynApril 18, 2026 at 4:22 AM

    You are doing awesome! I like that you abandoned a goal. I have a couple that I'm feeling the same way about. In general I feel like I've had a tough time getting "rebooted" post-vacation. Ugh! Had been feeling really strong about everything in general but it's felt like a bit of a slog now after a bunch of time away from structure and routines. I'm hanging in there but am not super thrilled - need to get back on the horse. haha.

    ReplyDelete

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