In case you’re curious, or plain ‘ol nosy, here are snippets of our lives in the past couple of months:

1. 5K Run – Urban Project Simplify May challenge was to commit ourselves to a regular exercise regime to prepare for a 5K run. Thanks to a reader, we started Focus T25, a 25 minute high-intensity workout that- though leave me gasping for air in less than five minutes- was easy enough to slip into a busy day. During days where a workout wasn’t feasible I’d go for a 4K walk or hop on my bike for a short ride.

And, at the end of May, I completed my first 5K (ever)!

2, Working, Working, Working – Both Daniel and I took on new projects at work. It’s been challenging, stressful, frustrating but good for our careers. That said, I am debating the value of my career choices; some weeks, it is rewarding (financially, at the very least), but come month end (like right now), I just want to crawl into a hole and cry.

3. Travel – All the travelling started back in late-March when Daniel took on a couple new projects at work that require extensive travelling. So he’s being living a semi-nomadic life, leaving home every other week or so since late-March. In May, I went to Vegas for bachelorette. In June, we spent a couple weeks in Brazil. Earlier this month, we both traveled for work. We like the travelling, but it is hard being apart, especially when the little one is left behind. Fortunately for us, we have lots of family nearby fighting to take the little one in and lavish him with love and attention.

4. Other projects – Toronto has an upcoming municipal election and we’re volunteering for a mayoral candidate’s campaign, attending events, canvassing neighborhoods, and spamming people’s emails. We also started growing our own food in a community garden. I find my mind constantly preoccupied by the well-being of our little garden. Are the vegetables growing okay? When should I harvest the basil? How do I make my own organic fertilizer? Did I water enough? Over water? Sometimes I visit the garden just to look at it. I am learning gardening through trial and error. So far, the daily harvest of zucchinis has been rewarding.

5. Family time – Time outside work and travel is limited and it is important to spend each second of it together. Between 4:30 (when the little returns home from daycare) and 7:30 PM (the little’s bedtime) each week day (excluding travel days), it’s family time. The laptops are turned off, all other electronic devices are put away, and we play. Most days we take our bikes for a ride or visit the garden before eating dinner. Sometimes we mix in a little campaign volunteering and canvass the neighbourhood or attend an event. The little one likes to hand out flyers and wear his mayoral candidate pin.

So we’ve been kinda preoccupied this summer with other commitments, leaving Urban Departures in a bit of a lurch. It stressed me out, at first- the lack of posting on the blog. We had set out to post 3 times a week this year and clearly, that wasn’t happening. However, re-reading our goals for the year reminded me of Urban Departures’ vision for simplicity and a resolution to live more clutter free- clutter which includes stress and anxiety. The reminder was liberating: If certain goals is causing a slip in my big goal, then to hell with those goals!

Kinda.

Goals should be re-visited and updated as you and your circumstances change. Our circumstances and priorities have shifted over the last few months and with that, so should our goals.

2014 Goals, Edited Version

Financial

• Automate savings and investment accounts – Completed
• Save 25% of gross income (including company contributions to RRSPs); max out the 2014 contribution room in our TFSAs – In progress. A great thing about our new work arrangement is the increase in pay. We have been exceeding the saving goals; however, we are considering on using the “extra savings” for home renos and more travel. And, we maxed out both of our 2014 TFSA contribution rooms in the spring!
• Learn about dividend investing within 6 months by reading 3 books and assess the practicality of evolving our portfolio – Not happening
• {Revised goal} Learn about dividend investing in last quarter of 2014 by reading 1 book

Blog

• Set posting schedule with 3 posts/week; write 90% of posts at least a week ahead – Not happening
• {Revised goal} Post once a week from now to end of October; revisit posting schedule during last quarter of 2014
• Set guest post schedule; guest post quarterly – Not happening

Personal

• Wake up between 6:30 and 7AM and be in bed by 10:30PM weekdays; do not watch TV in bed past 11PM – Working on it.
• Purge unused items from the wardrobe, kitchen and basement storage locker – Completed, though we find that we accumulate items really quickly and require a quarterly mini-purge.
• Do 2 family activities (biking and hiking) at least 3 times/month each during the warmer months – Biking regularly, but haven’t hiked yet
• Take two family vacations, one of which being a cottage week or weekend – Washington trip planned for spring has been postponed till winter due to Daniel’s business travel schedule. Cottage trip planned for end of August. Might try to squeeze in a family trip to San Fran in the fall.
• Travel to a country or city (outside of Canada) we’ve never been before – Completed. Brazil!

Last Word

We promise there won’t be such long silence between posts! But if you do miss us in between posts, follow us on Instagram to see what we’re up to!

P.S. Daniel also writes for HowtoSaveMoney.ca. Need some tips on what and how to price match?