We’re half-way into 2011 now (wow, just realized how close election year really is!) and I thought I’d take this chance to look back on everything that’s happened so far.

Work

Snow outside our client's offices in Boston

I made it through my first busy season at work, and now I’m only 3 months away from being able to apply for my CPA certificate! Things are a bit slower now, but I’m excited about my next busy season, when I’ll know a little bit more about what I’m doing!

Sunrise - during busy season I had to get up to walk the dog so early, that this was the closest I could get to seeing any sunshine. Beautiful.

Student Loans

My student loans were $17,600 at the end of 2010, and today they are at $14,500. My goal for 2011, as laid out in my “2011 Goal Setting’” post, is to get the principal balance under $10,000. I will need to step up my payments from $500/month to a little over $750 per month to do that by the end of 2011. I may have to relax on this goal - while it would be nice to get them to under $10,000, I think that my emergency fund and saving to go to our little family reunion in Spain next year are a little more immediate.

My best drive from our golf charity event. My first round of golf ever!

Blogging

I set all kinds of blogging goals, like sticking to 3 posts per week, which didn’t happen at all! This is why I don’t have my heart set on making it as a professional blogger - I don’t want to have to blog when I’m not inspired to say something. I have enough required work to get through from my job!

However, when I compare June’s stats to December’s stats, things are looking good! My visits during June were 1,639 (up 73% from 949 in December.) My page views were 5,268 (up 105% from 2,567 in December.)

My Alexa rank, which was well under 1,000,000 when I first put up my Alexa widget, is now back over 1,000,000. I believe this is because I’m not targeting only Alexa users right now, but have a lot of CA and CPA (and aspiring CAs and CPAs) who are regular visitors. The Yakezie challenge is going to take a lot longer to beat, but I think that this way is really for the best!

Sunset in Hilton Head - first vacation of 2011 was great

Art

Over the past 6 months, I have done almost no art. In between work and my dog, it’s hard to find time to let myself get lost in a new project. In the past few weeks, I have picked up the pencil/charcoal/carving tools quite a bit more, and it feels good to be back!

Your Turn

How is 2011 going for you? Have you accomplished your goals? Have you decided that some of your goals aren’t so important? Are you happy with how far you’ve come?