September 2016 Goals

September is upon us, y'all, which means my schedule is about to ramp right back up at work. (Who am I kidding - it already has!) While I do have some goals that I would like to accomplish, I want to give myself a bit of wiggle room this month just in case "me" time becomes a bit sparse, which it often does in September. Let's hop right into the goals, shall we?

Reach the 18-20 mile mark in my marathon training - We're coming into the final stages of training which means it is time to put some serious mileage down. I've reached the 15 mile mark and have felt pretty great about my training thus far, so I'm hoping to make another really solid push this month so I can feel great come race day in October!

Read 7 Books - I have quite a few books picked out for this month! Although it is going to be fairly busy month for me, I do think that this goal is possible. I've been really in the reading groove lately and have been connecting so well with the online reading community which has encouraged me to read even more! I am currently in a readathon which will help boost my numbers and encourage me to set aside time for reading, and I'm also buddy reading with my pal Shannon for one of these titles! All of which make me think that I'll be able to reach my goal. Here are the books I'm hoping to read in September (PopSugar Reading Challenge prompts are in italics):

The Night Guest by Fiona McFarlane

The first book you see in a book store

She's Come Undone by Wally Lamb

A book that was an Oprah's Book Club selection

A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness

A book that is being made into a movie in 2016

Illuminae by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff

A science fiction novel

Challenger Deep by Neal Shusterman

A National Book Award winner

Mr. Smith Goes to Prison by Jeff Smith

A political memoir

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

A book recommended by a family member

And that's all I'm going to put on myself this month. I think these are totally attainable in one of the busiest months of the year for me, as long as I stay diligent and consistent! I'll be updating you come October. (And I honestly can't believe that we're a month away from it being freakin' October. WHAT.)

What are your goals for September?

Click 'Read More' to see my update on my August Goals!

I had 5 goals for the month of August and I managed to complete about 3 and a half of them - not too bad!

Read four books (DONE) - I read all of the books that I had intended on reading plus 8 extra! This was mainly because I participated in Bout of Books #17 while I was on vacation, but I am seriously so proud of myself. 12 books is pretty unprecedented for me! Ratings for these titles will come later in September when I do a reading challenges update!

Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen

The Elephant Keeper by Christopher Nicholson

Kalopsia by Andrea Michelle

Sick in the Head by Judd Apatow

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

Nomina by Noelle Stevenson

Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Wolf by Wolf by Ryan Graudin

This One Summer by Mariko Tamaki & Jillian Tamaki

Galapagos by Kurt Vonnegut

George by Alex Gino

Summer Days & Summer Nights edited by Stephanie Perkins

Register for the Green Mountain Marathon (DONE) - I literally just registered today. It's officially happening, people!

Get special events for first two months of the semester ready to go (Half done?) - I definitely have everything ready to go for September, but the second month of the semester still needs some work. I'm sure I'll be buckling down on October events in September!

Complete a painting (Not done) - I was far too focused on Bout of Books to do anything else but read and walk the pups during my vacation. I'm not that mad about it, though! :P 

WATCH AS MANY OLYMPIC EVENTS AS HUMANLY POSSIBLE (DONE) - If you followed me at all on social media you would have seen me tweeting up a storm during SO MANY events. I tweeted so much about Team USA that TD Ameritrade noticed and sent me a little gift for cheering them on - so cool! I loved watching the Olympics this year (as I always do)!