Checking Back In

I haven't written anything here in the past four or five months.  Every now and then I keep trying to push myself to get back into writing, but the motivation has been nonexistent.  At the very least, I thought I could check back in with the goals I made for myself at the beginning of the year and see how I'm fairing (not well):

1. Create and follow a budget. - Haven't created any kind of formal budget yet.  Just trying to keep unnecessary spending down.  We are tracking our spending on Mint.com, but we need to do more to keep our finances in order.
2. Continue exercising regularly -I'm doing a little better with this one.  I typically do some combination of yoga and bodyweight exercises (pushups, pullups, situps on the Bosu) three to four times a week, and cardio at least once a week.  I played some outdoor soccer in the spring and will be doing so again in the fall.  I would like to get the cardio to at least twice a week consistently.
3. Learn to cook more healthy recipes -Most of my cooking either involves the same few recipes repeatedly, or Jess giving me a recipe to cook.  I'd like to find more recipes on my own.
4. Write regularly - Nope.  Obviously.
5. Meditate at least once a week regularly - Not at all.
6. Get surgery on my gums and schedule a routine annual physical with a doctor - Finally had the gum surgery done in June and am making visits with the doctor.  It's about time.
7. Read at least 40 books - Not on target with this goal so far.  I've only finished fourteen books so far, although I am currently reading three or four different books at the moment.  Still, I need to step up the pace if I'm going to make this goal.
8. Visit Hawaii or the Pacific Northwest -There will be no Hawaii this year, but we are going to Oregon and Washington in the fall.  We also have bonus trips planned for Chicago and New England.
9. Pay off my student loan -I've been dragging my feet on this one and need to get moving.
10. Use my camera regularly -I've only done slightly better with this than I have with my goal of writing regularly.  I got a nice macro lens for my birthday that I haven't used much.  Jess did buy me a nice external flash for our anniversary that I have started using.  Took some great photos of our nephew last night.

 I hope that this will jump-start me into writing updates regularly again.  We'll see how it goes.