SEPTEMBER GOALS

It's time to share my goals for the month.  Here's what's on my plate:

1 / Finish the rainbow quilt I started in June.  I hit a couple snags on this just as I started sewing the squares together.  I set it aside for awhile, but I'm ready to pick it back up and get it done.  

2 / Clean out and organize the boys' closet.  

3 / Clean out and organize my dresser.

4 / Organize my sewing supplies.  It's pretty much a hot mess.  I know I would find sewing much more enjoyable and do it more often if my things were in proper homes.  

5 / Clean up the front flower bed.  I planted a bunch of perennials in the spring of 2010, when we moved in.  I basically haven't touched it since.  It still looks okay, but I would like to move one of my peonies, cut back the sedum and replace some of the lilies with something new. 

6 / Sort through our tub of "school stuff."  We have a laundry basket sized tub full of things like flash cards, alphabet magnets, card games, puzzles and dry erase books.  This seems like an ideal time to sort through it as a little reminder of what is actually in there will help me put it all to better use.  

- - - -

It seems that there is a theme to my goals and that's all good with me.  I cleaned out the closet in our basement guest room yesterday and that has put me in "sort and organize" mode.  The results have me raring to go on the rest of these projects.  

Also good?  No painting!  We still have so much painting to do, but I'm happy to take a month off.  

AUGUST GOALS RECAP

1 / Give Maggie's room a refresh.  Yep.  The change isn't dramatic, but that's okay with me because I was pretty happy with the starting point.  I finished up the painting just this morning.  (Hugs to Rachel for taking over playdate parenting duties so I could get that last bit done!)  Maggie's pretty(!) bed is now up and she has a fresh gallery wall.  Plus - her closet is more organized.  It's a win all around.  

I will share photos on Instagram in the next couple days! 

2 / Track grocery spending for the month of August.  Done and the total was more than I would have anticipated.  We are ending the month at $603.67.  I'm guessing this is pretty typical - I just hadn't calculated it for a long time.

This included things like vitamins, sandwich bags and diapers.  It did not include our restaurant meals, Sam's lunches at school or a couple small ($10ish) trips to Whole Foods that Brian paid for with his fun money.

I don't think the amount we spent is crazy, exactly - there are five of us to feed.  Still, it was more than I expected.

Of course, months that we spend more in restaurants will lead to fewer grocery expenses and vice versa.  Our restaurant expenses for the month were $129.22 - (again, excluding any restaurant food purchased with fun money).  This brings the total food expenses for our family to $732.89.

I'm going to keep tracking this and see if I can do better in future months.

3 / Finalize a "40 before 40" list.  Yes and I'm still pumped about it.  Here is the full list. 

4 / Documenting catch up (Project Life family pages and also kid book pages).  Done.  Finishing the pages of the kids' stuff was pretty quick.  The family PL pages took longer - because I do two spreads per week and because I had almost twenty weeks to do.  But, I got it done and now I can document in real time again. It feels pretty great to be be caught up.

5 / Digital clean up.  This ended up as a sort of half-win.   I did unsubscribe from a lot of the emails and deleted A LOT of photos. So there was progress,  I just still have a ways to go.  The image above shows what I would like my entire camera roll to look like.  I would love to "keep" all of the images that show important moments, are "pretty" or have otherwise been used in our family scrapbook.  I would like everything else to be deleted.  Oh, but it's a process.  I deleted about 5,000 photos, but still have several months to sort through. 

40 THINGS BEFORE I TURN 40

I feel like these kinds of lists are cliche and cheese-y, but I've decided to embrace this cheese.  Cliche or not, goal lists motivate me and bring me a sense of joy. 

In April of 2020, I will turn 40.  Starting this list now means that I will have a year and three quarters to get these things done. 

1 / Resort vacation with Brian

2 / 40th birthday celebration trip with friends

3 / Overnight away with Brian

4/ Stay in a pretty and modern airbnb rental or a boutique hotel

5 / Start scheduling and planning regular monthly dates with Brian

6 / Sponsor a child through Compassion International

7 / Donate blood five times

 8 / Secret gift project #1

 9 / Secret gift project #2

10 / Secret gift project #3

11 / Secret gift project #4

12 / Secret gift project #5

13 / Go tubing down a river

14 / Do an escape room

15 / Attend Jazz in June

16 / Attend a Killigans St. Patty's show

17 / Take a class or workshop to learn something crafty (maybe with a friend)

18 /  Get my ears pierced - again

19 / Watch a meteor shower

20 / Go to a movie by myself

21 / Consistently work on crossword puzzles - again

22 / Reread Jane Austen's six major novels

23 / Reread the New Testament

24 / Complete a third round of The 100 Day Project

25 / Apply for the Project Life Creative Team - again

26 / Sew a piece of clothing for myself

27 / Sew a piece of clothing for Maggie

28 / Go to the dentist every three months

29 / Redo the flowerbed in the front of our house

30 / Finish painting the upstairs interior

31 / Get estimates for new flooring and kitchen remodel

32 / Have a good chunk of money saved for house remodeling projects

33 / Makeover Maggie's room

34 / Makeover Sam and Eli's room

35 / Own the "Like Forever" poster that I've wanted for like forever

36 / Write a book

37 / Own the Knotten standing desk from IKEA

38 / 75 hours of work and writing time (summer 2019)

39 / Go on an overnight writing retreat

40 / Decide how I want to spend my actual 40th birthday

With a list like this, I feel like life is going to be good and fun in the time between now and 40.

And about number 36... it is the one thing that feels scary to include, but I'm doing it.  And I have plans to write a separate post with more thoughts on writing a book. 

Here we go! 

AUGUST GOALS

Whew!  It's been a big month.

There's still a week left in July, but now that we are home from vacation, I feel like it's time for a fresh start.  It seems to be a recurring theme that I come home from vacation with renewed energy and a strong desire to get back to the good and wholesome routines of life.

So, I'm pretending this is August first and I'm ready to get back in the swing of "regular life."  

These are the things I hope to accomplish in the next five-ish weeks:

1 / Give Maggie's room a refresh.  Her room was first Eli's nursery and then was a shared room for her and Eli.  The boys now share a room and Maggie sleeps alone.  Everything is relatively functional, but it could just use a bit of a face lift.  I want to put on a fresh coat of paint, set up her bed (she currently sleeps on a twin mattress on the floor), rearrange, clean out her closet (which is currently full of a lot of random things) and figure out a better storage systems for her clothing. 

2 / Track grocery spending for the month of August.  I track our budget pretty closely.  I could tell you exactly how much we spent on gasoline or fast food or entertainment in any given month.  But the grocery spending is a bit trickier to track.  While we sometimes shop at dedicated grocery stores (Aldi) we also spend a good chunk of our grocery budget at big box stores like Target and Walmart.  The big box stores - and the variety of things we buy in a single shopping trip - make it hard to fully track our grocery spending.  It is much easier to deduct the lump sum (including the random tshirt I buy for the boys, dog food and camping equipment) than to divide things out and keep track of spending by category.

My goal for August is to do more careful accounting in the grocery category.  I would just like this number for a baseline and because it seems weird to me to have no idea how much we are spending on groceries.

3 / Finalize a "40 before 40" list.  I am so excited about this one - and I'm also open to any ideas you have to share.  With nothing yet set in stone, I currently have 26 things on my list.  It's been really fun to think on and I'm looking forward to getting started in September.

4 / Documenting catch up (Project Life family pages and also kid book pages).  I got overwhelmed with my Week In The Life project in May and let everything fall behind.  Then, I got sucked into my 100 Day Project and lacked motivation to scrapbook.  I started playing the catch up game yesterday and I am optimistic about my ability to get these projects done this month.

5 / Digital clean up.  My phone is overloaded with photos and videos.  On a daily basis, my email inbox is inundated with store sales and newsletters that I don't need or want.  I have some random apps on my phone that I never use.  I follow some people on Instagram that I don't really need to follow.  It's time to push the unfollow and unsubscribe buttons.  It's time to delete, delete, delete.

Okay. Ready, set, here I go.  

JUNE 2018: GOAL RECAP

June has been good to me.  Here are the goals I set out for this month and my progress, thus far.  

1 / Buy bikes for the boys.

Done!  And we even managed to find one bike / helmet set new, but secondhand.  $60 for a bike and helmet?  Sold!

2 / Another month of my 100 Day Project

Woohoo!  Getting so close to a break from daily rainbows.  It's been good, but I'm ready to be done.  ...and my sister had the genius idea of trading projects for a week, when we do this next year.  This makes me already look forward to next year's project - whatever that may be.  

3 / Take our first camping trip and put more trips on the summer calendar.

We've been twice and have a campsite reserved for a third trip.  Becoming "campers" is my favorite thing we've done this year.  I think we're hooked.  

4 / Finish pages for the kids' scrapbooks for the second semester of the school year. 

Nope.  I need to find some motivation to get all of my scrapbooking / memory keeping projects up and going again.  I've taken an unplanned hiatus and just haven't been excited about working on any of these projects, lately.  ...maybe after the 100 day project is done?

5 / Finish the 40 Days of Prayer sermon series. 

I finished listening to two more sermons and am currently midway through the final one of the series.  When I started this sermon series, I was watching them on YouTube.  This month, I switched to listening through my podcast app and I'm really enjoying that route - as it allows me to more easily listen as I drive or exercise, etc.  
6 / Register for my 20 Year Class Reunion school tour and dinner.  

Yep! ...just a few weeks away!

Another month in the books.  

GOALS: JUNE 2018

I really like to get these posted in the first couple days of the month, but it's been kind of crazy around here.  Good crazy, but not enough time at home.  That's pretty much going to be the story of summer, I think.  Nonetheless, there arle things I want to accompish and I like to have my own (not ALL about the kids) projects to keep my brain occupied.  So here we go with the June goals...

1 / Buy bikes for the boys.

This is a carry over from last month.  We really need to get this done. 

2 / Another month of the 100 Day Project

At the end of June I will be alllllmost done with rainbows.  I have been feeling a tiny bit less motivated about my project in this past week or so, but I have a few ideas that I am really looking forward to executing.  Motivation or not, it will get done. 

3 / Take our first camping trip and put more trips on the summer calendar.

I wrote this out last week and now that first camping trip is in the books.  It was a ton of fun and I would really, really like to get at least two more overnight trips in before Sam and Brian go back to school.  So, getting those on the calendar is part of this month's goal.

Also, the image at the top of this post was taken out the car window as we were driving to our campsite.  It's not a great photo, but the scenery was beautiful.  Brian and I were pretending we were in Ireland or New Zealand. 

4 / Finish pages for the kids' scrapbooks for the second semester of the school year. 

5 / Finish the 40 Days of Prayer sermon series. 

6 / Register for my 20 Year Class Reunion school tour and dinner.  

Eek.  I have mixed feelings about attending this event.  I'm not super excited about it, but I also know I wouldn't want to miss it.  So, we will go and just plan on having fun. 

That, plus regular life, should keep me busy for the rest of the month.  Cheers!

MAY GOALS RECAP

1 / Buy the boys new bikes.  

This was a fail...and needs to get done.  The main reason it didn't happen was because our fridge broke (first the defrosting element quit and then the water dispenser quit dispensing) and cost a pretty penny to fix.  I was determined to pay for it out of our monthly budget - rather than dip into savings.  So, the bikes will be added to the June to do list.

2 / Celebrate Maggie. 

Yes!  She turned two and we celebrated.

3 / Start and finish a "Week in the Life" project.

I took a ton of photos, I wrote a lot of words.  I shared Monday through Saturday here, but was totally burned our on the process by Sunday.  I started putting everything together in an album (digitally with the Project Life app) by the middle of the next week.  Again, I got all but Sunday done in a few hour-long sessions.  And then I procrastinated....and here we are.  Not done, but so close. 

4 / Finish the quilt I am sewing and mail it.

Done!  The quilt was for my mom and was a gift for Mother's Day. 

5 / Finish 40 Days of Prayer - and then keep going.

I'm still going strong on this and loving it.

6 / Finish six books.  

I did indeed finish six books in May and have two more in progress as I type this.  My goal is to read 52 by the end of the year and I have currently finished 30.

7 / Another month of my rainbow project.

Accomplished and still going fairly strong.  I feel like I have lost a little bit of steam these past few weeks.  I think that will pick  up again this month as I start planning a rainbow party to be held in early July and get to work on a rainbow quilt - two things I'm really excited about. 

And that was May, my friends.  

GOALS: MAY 2018

Happy May Day, friends!  Our "baskets" are made and ready to drop off for neighbor friends this afternoon and I have some excited kids.

As for the rest of May, here are my goals:

1 / Buy the boys new bikes.

2 / Celebrate Maggie. 

She turns two this month and I've been a little slow in getting gifts and such figured out for her birthday.

3 / Start and finish a "Week in the Life" project.

The plan is to do a fairly in-depth scrapbook that covers what a typical week looks like in our family's life.  (If you are unfamiliar with this project, you can read more here.)  This is a really big and very time-intensive project and I'm feeling somewhat intimidated about it.

But I REALLY want to do it, so that's my plan.

4 / Finish the quilt I am sewing and mail it.

This is a gift and a surprise and the deadline is looming.

5 / Finish 40 Days of Prayer - and then keep going.

I started this with my small group from church and it is fabulous.  We are listening to the sermon series on our own time (available for free here, if you are interested) and then discussing at our bi-weekly meetups.  The main goals are to learn more about prayer and then to get into a real and regular habit of praying.  I am currently on day 23, so I will finish up my 40 days this month and then plan to just keep on praying.  Good, good stuff from my good, good God.

6 / Finish six books.  

I am currently a bit ahead of schedule for meeting my 52 book goal by the end of the year.  BUT, I haven't had a book that really sucked me in and kept me reading for two or three weeks - which means the current reading pace is really slow.  I have two in progress right now.  By the end of May, I would like to have finished those two plus four more.

7 / Another month of my rainbow project.

It's kind of amazing to me that this is number seven on my goal list.  I just added it after re-reading my April goals and realizing that completing another month is - of course - something I plan to accomplish this month.  I love how naturally this project is fitting in with my life, this year.  It feels more like a "thing I do" than something to cross off my to do list.  Win. 

Whew!  That's quite a list, but I think I can do it. 

APRIL GOALS RECAP

It's the end of the month.  I've always lumped my goals posts together (goals met with goals set), but it bothers me every month.  So I've decided to split things up into two posts.  Below are the goals I set for April and I will write a separate post for my May goals and share that tomorrow.   

1 / Schedule a doctor appointment for myself.  

It took me all month to get this done, but I finally did.  I've been putting this off for months and it feels good to have it on the calendar. 

I don't have any major medical concerns, but have several "little" things that I would like to discuss with a doctor.  Also, it's been a couple years since I've had basic lab work done, so it will be good to have a general physical and check up.

2 / First month of The 100 Day Project for 2018.  

Yes and it's going well.  If I think ahead, I get a little panicked.  How am I going to come up with ONE HUNDRED ways to share the same thing?!  But as long as I just look at each day as it comes, it all works out.  The daily practice is good for my mental and emotional well being, but I think the "one day at a time" lesson is valuable to me on a life level and that's even better.

Plus - it's both fun and rewarding.  I mean, I spent ten minutes yesterday playing with Cheerios and setting up a photo.  Perhaps not for everyone, but I think that's fun.  And seeing my project build into something real just by putting a bit of work into it each day is pretty great.   

3 / Secret Sewing Project started and finished.  

I will make it a little less secret and say that it is a quilt.  I pieced the top quickly and made it to the store for everything I needed to finish it (batting as well as backing and binding fabric).  And then I started quilting and sort of got stuck.  While I hoped to have it finished by now, the "real" deadline is still a week away.  So it's time to get to work and get it done.

4 / Do a "Wake Up Before The Kids" 30 day challenge.  

Yes!  I technically started this on April 3, so I'm not quite to 30 days.  But it's been a huge success and I have confidence that I will finish up these last few days and keep on going.  

I haven't been perfect, but so far I've only missed three days.  Two of those days were because a kid or two woke up right around 5 (I've been getting out of bed between 5 and 5:10 most days) and one day I forgot to set my alarm so didn't wake up until 5:30 when Sam came in our room.  

I don't have a set goal for my early morning time, but usually use the time to pray, get my first 1,000 steps for the day, read and/or make a basic plan for my day.

I feel like my days have - in general - been better since I started this challenge.  I have more energy, I've made my 10,000 step step-goal on all but three or four days and I just feel more like myself (as in the part of me that is just me and not always focused on the kids).  

5 / Write 5 blog posts.  

Done - and then some.  Woot!  I really enjoyed taking time to write more this month.  

6 / Try Stitch Fix.

Yes!  I have a separate post half written and will share sometime in May.  My holdup on getting it finished is the photos.  I feel weird sharing a bunch of photos of myself, but it also seems like it would be strange to share a post without such photos.  So, I'm still thinking on this a bit.  

LIFE CHECK IN: JAN-MAR 2018

For the past several years, I've chosen a guiding word to lead me through the year and give myself a lens through which to filter decisions.  I decided to take a break from this method in 2018.  Instead, I  made a fairly ambitious list of goals to work on throughout the year.  I've also kept myself accountable for reviewing those goals and my progress on a weekly basis. 

I'd say it's likely that I will move back toward choosing a word in future years.  I think it is a worthy method and there have been years when it has really shaped my actions and changed the way I've thought about my life.  It has also added a sort of emotional layer to my goals - a reason why specific goals are chosen and why they are worth my time. 

But for now, I feel pretty steady where I stand.  I know that staying true to myself and my values is important for my emotional well being - and I feel like I have a pretty good handle on all that.  Plus, a single word still hasn't jumped out at me.  So, I'm good with my beginning-of-the-year decision to skip the guiding word. 

With all that said, let's take a peek and see where things stand at the end of the first quarter of the year. 

Goals / 

As far as goals go, I'm happy with my progress thus far and I feel like the goals I've chosen to continue working on are still deserving of my time.

As of today, I have:

• read 20 books. (Annual goal: 52) 
• two of those books were spiritual. (Annual goal: 4)
• finished one sewing project, started a second sewing project and have plans for a third. (Annual goal: 5)
• completed 14 Project Life weekly layouts.  (Annual goal: 52)
• created and printed several pages for the kids' scrapboooks, set up a system for photographing their artwork, papers and projects (Goal: buy an album for each kiddo and update regularly)
• made plans to complete a Week In The Life album using the Project Life App in May (Goal: start and complete the album and print multiple copies so the kids can each have one.)

Life / 

Things are okay in my world.  These first three months of the year have been a mix of good days and days when I feel like I'm just reacting to what's in front of me. 

I've been getting more sleep and more consistent sleep (fewer middle of the night wake ups) than I've had in many years.  It's been really quite wonderful. 

I created and started using a "Rule of Six" to help keep our family life in line with our values.  I think it very well may be the best thing I've done as a parent.  It is amazingly rewarding to know that the small things we are doing on a daily and weekly basis are aligned with our long term goals and hopes.  (I promise to write a post about this in the near future.)

On the other hand, I've done very, very little exercise.  Bleh.  After another good stretch of feeling accountable to my Fitbit, I've fallen back off that bandwagon and haven't even been meeting my step goal.  And to go along with the lack of exercise, I've spent a lot of evenings sleeping on the couch.  As the evening winds down, I think I'm going to accomplish a project or two after the kids are in bed.  Then we get them to bed and I just fall onto the couch and stay there until Brian wakes me up to go to bed. 

And my big emotional weight of the moment is not knowing what's ahead for Eli and school.  There is a big homeschool or public school debate going on in my head and heart with a lot of factors that need to be considered.  We still have a year before we have to make a decision, but I find myself worrying about this all the time.  And I know that I just need to give this worrying up and pray, but I keep not doing that.  

So.  I'll take all this in from the glass-half-full point of few and recognize that I need to make a few changes and get to work implementing them.  

Cheers, friends.  I hope that life is good in your neck of the woods. 

Image: I created a vision board of sorts using Canva and printed it as an 8x10 photo print.    

GOALS: MARCH AND APRIL

It's April!  Woohoo!  It's my birthday month and my sister (who shares my birthday with me) is named April.  So, it always feels like a special month.  I think it's going to be a good one.  First up a look at my March goals and how they turned out.  Then, I will share the goals I am setting for this month.  

March goals: 

1 / Order fishing licenses.  

Done and we could even just print out the paperwork on our home printer / save the PDFs to our phones.  I was expecting some tedium with this process and was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was.  

2 / Figure out clothing and have the kids' portraits taken.

Between items already in the kids' closets and a trip to Target, I got this figured out.  But Maggie had a 103 fever on the day we were supposed to get photos taken, so we had to reschedule for April.  

And, since I have a bit more time, I'm going to keep my eyes open for a different shirt for Eli.  I have something that will work, but don't love it.

3 / Prepare for and enjoy a trip to Illinois.

Done!  The travel days (seven hours of drive time each way) were not super fun, but we made it through with no major issues and really they weren't so bad.   We greatly enjoyed our time with my mom, step-dad and sister.

4 / Sew a tank top.  

Nope.  I've made exactly zero progress on this project.  

5 / Create a 20 book "to read" list.

Yes!  You can check it out here.  

6 / Clean out the flower beds.

Done.  And green things are now visible, making me excited for spring and summer flowers.  

7 / A daily writing practice.  

Fail. I gave up on this pretty quickly.  

April goals:

1 / Try Stitch Fix.  Finally.  

2 / Schedule a doctor appointment for myself.  

3 / First month of The 100 Day Project for 2018.  

4 / Secret Sewing Project started and finished.

5 / Do a "Wake Up Before The Kids" 30 day challenge.

6 / Write 5 blog posts.  (Including this one).

This list is perhaps a bit ambitious as the 100 Day Project and the sewing project are going to require a lot of time.  But maybe those extra minutes of awake time before the kids are up in the morning will help.  Also, I am anticipating some warmer weather (please?) and know that I usually feel more energetic when that comes our way.  

GOALS: FEB AND MARCH 2018

First, a look back at my February goals and progress:

1 / Buy myself jeans, a cardigan (or two) and a new chambray shirt.

Done.  These were the things that needed replaced and / or updated in my closet.  I think I should now be set - clothing wise - until summer weather makes its way to Nebraska.  


2 / Finish that quilt I started.

Whew!  It's done, but I just finished it yesterday.  This is one of those cases where setting a self-imposed deadline got me moving and I'm thankful for that.  I will share more once I get some photos taken.

3 / Host a "friends" birthday party for Sam.

Done and the kids seemed to enjoy it!  I'm glad to have that first time under our belt.  Also, I'm thankful we don't have to do this every weekend.  We pretty much just followed the advice in this blog post from The Lazy Genius and it worked.    

4 / Buy paint. 

Nope.  And I've now resolved to NOT buy paint until Maggie stops drawing on ALL the walls ALL the time.  The boys have both done this here and there, but Maggie is just out of control.  Every time she finds a writing utensil, she heads for a wall.  


So, the whole painting walls idea is on hold until this stops.  Because it would be silly to put in all the time and effort only to have it immediately destroyed.  Right?

5 / Finish the furnace room organization project.  

Done!  And it makes me so happy every time I need to go in there.

Side note: I call this room "furnace room" or "store room" interchangeably, but the kids don't have a name for it and are always like "where?!?" as if they haven't even noticed that it is a room in our house.  The other day, Eli finally asked, "Do you mean the room where we get cinnamon rolls?"  This room houses our deep freeze - and, often, a stash of cinnamon rolls.  So, perhaps, this will now be called the "cinnamon roll room" to prevent further confusion.  

_ _ _ _ _

Moving on to the March goals.  There are a lot of them, but I think they are manageable. 

1 / Order fishing licenses.  

My dad and step-mom gave the boys fishing poles for Christmas and also gifted Brian and I money to buy licenses, so we can take them.  I do not see us turning into avid fisher people, but I do think this will be a fun new thing to try this spring and summer.  

2 / Figure out clothing and have the kids' portraits taken.

I scheduled a photo shoot and now need to figure out what they will wear.  

3 / Prepare for and enjoy a trip to Illinois.

I am taking the kids to visit my mom and step-dad over Sam's spring break and Brian is staying home because his school does not have a spring break.  My sister will be visiting at the same time.  Woot!  I have no doubt, that fun will be had while we are there, but I'm a tad anxious about two long travel days alone with the kids.  The trip is 7 hours of driving time and I'm sure that will be extended by an hour or two with bathroom and food breaks, etc. so....yep.  

My big goals are really just to go into it with a good attitude and to feel well prepared with snacks and entertainment ...and a plan when they suddenly need to go to the restroom.

4 / Sew a tank top.  

I purchased fabric and a pattern.  I need to buy some coordinating thread and then just be brave and give this a go.  

5 / Create a 20 book "to read" list.

It's been a while since I've had a nice long lists of books I want to read.  Instead, I find myself searching shelves (real or digital) haphazardly and grabbing whatever catches my eye.  The results have been mixed - some good, some not - but the part I really dislike is all the time I feel like this method wastes.  

6 / Clean out the flower beds.

I like to leave the dead foliage on the ground through the winter to help protect new growth at the beginning of spring.  But our trash service starts charging to pick up yard waste on April first.  So, the plan is to get the beds cleaned up before that deadline.  

7 / A daily writing practice.  

Although I didn't choose a guiding word for the year, I've been loosely following along with Ali Edwards' One Little Word workshop.  The March prompt for the workshop is to choose a daily practice for the month of March.  

I am going to write.  I don't want to put a lot of pressure on myself as far as word count or topic.  I just want to get into the practice of writing on a regular basis and a month seems like a good initial goal.    

GOAL REVIEW AND NEW GOALS FOR FEBRUARY

 

Okay friends, let's start with looking back at last month's goals.

1 / Assess the sewing situation.  

Done and then some!  Oh, this is such a good hobby and I'm excited to dive deeper into it this year.

As soon as I got my sewing machine out of it's box, I was all in.  I have already started on one quilt and also sewn the binding on another that had been hanging out in the almost-finished phase for a very long time.  Woot!  And then I went a little crazy (excited by this post by Elise Cripe) and bought a pattern and some fabric to make myself a tank top.  So, yep.  This goal was definitely met.

2 / Get my Etsy shops up and running again.  

Done.  I planned to reopen both shops, but reassessed and decided just to do the one for now.  If you're in the market for an easy, modern cross stitch project, a goals workbook or journaling prompts, I'm the lady for you.

Getting this done only took 15 minutes and I've already made a sale.  It's a win! 

3 / Solid start to my collage project.  

Yep.  I am happy to report that I'm off to a good start...

And that I think I'm already done.  (Womp womp.) 

I successfully posted a collage the first 28 or 29 days of the month and managed to get things organized in such a way that actually doing the art wasn't taking a crazy amount of time.

It was fun, but was taking more of my time and mental space than I wanted and I've felt a disproportionate amount of relief after taking a break for these past few days.  So... we'll see if I pick it up again or not. 

4 / Buy interior house paint.  

Eek.  Nope.  It was on my weekly to-do list for a few weeks, but I kept putting it off.  Then, I finally went and was totally overwhelmed with the options.  I left without any paint.  ...need to just do this! 

5 / Complete 15 days of Biblical devotions. 

Done!  And I had a few good break-throughs that have made my life happier / more peaceful in the past few weeks.  I'm always greatly rewarded when I make time for this.

- - - - -

And onto the goals for this month.

1 / Buy myself jeans, a cardigan (or two) and a new chambray shirt.

Well, this is a fun goal.  I feel like I've finally found a wardrobe groove that is easy, comfortable and that makes me feel good about my body.  And these are the things that need replaced / updated as soon as possible, in order to keep me thus clothed.

2 / Finish that quilt I started.

My biggest hurdle, at this point, is finding some concentrated time to put into the cutting.  I cut most of the fabric, but then changed my mind about one color and mis-measured something with one of the original colors.  So, ick.  This is the part about quilting that I don't like.  I am not a details person and this is all details.

But, happily, I know that if I just put in this time up front, I will enjoy the rest of the process of piecing the top and quilting! 

3 / Host a "friends" birthday party for Sam.

This will be a new endeavor for our family.  I am feeling anxious about it because we invited four of his classmates, but I don't know any of them / their families.  I feel like it is going to be a rather awkward social gathering if the parents decide to stay and I am also afraid that no one will show up and Sam will be upset. 

But (assuming someone shows up), I know that in the long run, this awkward social get together will be for the good.  I would love to get to know some of his classmates and their parents.

4 / Buy paint. 

Okay.  I'm adding this to the list again.  My game plan, this time around, is to do more research BEFORE going to the home improvement store and to bring Brian with me - as I know he won't let me leave empty handed.  He's also really good at asking for help - while I am not. 

5 / Finish the furnace room organization project.  

I got this allllllmost done in January, but need to put in another hour or so to just get 'er done. 

DECEMBER GOALS UPDATE AND JANUARY GOALS

It's the beginning of the month again - time to look back at last month's goals and set a few new ones for January.  

An update on my December goals: 

1 / Improve my eating and exercise.  

Meh.  I didn't move backward, but didn't do great either.  We'll call it a wash.

2 / Hang photos in the living room.

Done.  And I love the result.

3 / Watch and take notes on one workshop from the Read Aloud Revival membership site by 12/15 and then cancel my membership.  

Yep.  I completed an excellent workshop titled "Focus and Align" by Sarah Mackenzie.  It was focused on helping families find and prioritize the things that are most important to them.  It was a nice mix of "big thinking" and practical ways of making the big ideas part of regular routines.  

4 / Post two more blog posts.  

Done. 

5 / Finish my goal planning for 2018, so I can start the new year off  on the right foot.  

Yep.  

So, woot!  December goals were (almost all) a win and I'm content with where I stand.

- - - - - 

And onto goals for this month:

1 / Assess the sewing situation.  

I plan to complete (a minimum of) 5 sewing projects this year.  I purchased a new sewing machine in December, but have yet to even take it out of the box.  I have a stash of fabric in my basement, but at this point don't really remember what's all in there.  And, I have a few ideas of projects I want to complete, but no concrete plan for what I want to do first. 

So, my goal is to remedy these things this month.  I would love to go into February with a solid plan for a sewing project and at least a basic understanding of my new machine. 

2 / Get my Etsy shops up and running again.  

I have two Etsy shops that I have allowed to completely lapse.  While I'm not currently interested in spending my time promoting the products, the income is almost all passive and - therefore - easy.  I don't know how much time it will take to get my shops back up, but I'm guessing it will be less than two hours.  It seems silly to not just put in that time to get them back up and running. 

3 / Solid start to my collage project.  

As I shared previously, I am doing a 365 Day Project / Year of Creative Habits Project that involves creating, photographing, writing about and sharing a collage each day this year.  I am super excited about this project, but it isn't all just going to happen magically.  I would love to put in some extra legwork this month, to make the process all a bit smoother as I continue through the year. 

4 / Buy interior house paint.  

I received a nice gift card to Lowes for Christmas and the first step to getting anything in our house painted, is to buy the paint.

5 / Complete 15 days of Biblical devotions. 

This is also part of a bigger goal - completing 4 or more devotion books in 2018.

- - - - -

And thus concludes my January goals.  I do have a few blog posts that I am itching to write, but with all these other goals to work on, I'm not sure if they will get written in January.  So, I decided to leave blogging off the goal list for this month. 

Cheers to you and I hope the new year is off to a great start!

2018 GOALS & PROJECTS & PLANS

Okay friends.  Here's what I've got lined up for this coming year and I'm so, so excited to get started on each of these things.

Goals //

Complete a "Year of Creative Habits" project.  I had so much fun with my 100 day project this year, that I'm planning to extend it in 2018.  I will be a bit less stringent about the rules than I was for the 100 day project, because a year is a long time and I will inevitably be met with unexpected time constraints or other variables.  The collages themselves will also be slightly different from those I shared this year.  My goal is to post a collage to Instagram each day of the year, but I'm not going to be strict about making each collage on the day it is posted.  I imagine there will be some days when I complete two or three collages and others where I just spend a bit of time working on the project. 

Complete 5 sewing projects.  I have hopes that once I get going, I will enjoy it and complete many more than 5. But 5 feels like a nice solid goal.

Read 52 books.  This feels like just the right number for 2018.  More than I've read this year, but not a ton more.  A book a week.  A challenge for sure, but still doable as long as I just keep reading.

Complete weekly Project Life layouts for our family PL album.  This has been pretty well on autopilot for the last few years, but I'm switching things up in 2018 by planning to use the Project Life App (versus physical paper and photos).  I'm crossing my fingers that it will be a fairly seamless transition.

Complete 4 devotion "books."  I had (and met) this same goal in 2016, but didn't make a similar goal in 2017 and I need the accountability.  Books is in quotations because I like to vary my Bible studying a lot.  Sometimes I complete actual devotion boos  and other times I just like to take notes about a bible passage I've read or sermon I've heard.  In those cases, I write out my thoughts on one of my devotional notepads and count the completion of a notepad (50 sheets) as a "book."

Review annual goals weekly and monthly.  Yep.  I made a goal about goals.  For the past several years, I have used my membership to One Little Word and the monthly email / prompt as my reminder to review my goals.  I feel like this reminder is hugely helpful in keeping my momentum and remembering to keep the important things ahead of the urgent.  I am not doing One Little Word this year (so will not have have that monthly reminder) and also want to experiment with reviewing my goals more frequently.  So, my goal is to do a brief review weekly and a more thorough review once a month.  I've added these reviews to my to-do lists in my planner, to help keep me on track.                                                                                                                                                                         
And a few other projects and plans for the year:

Travel Plans //

• Spring break trip to Illinois (just the kids and me, as Brian doesn't get a spring break)
• Estes Park trip with my sister and brother-in-law (and maybe my mom and step-dad)
• Camping x3 - this will be a brand new adventure for our family
• Small trip with Brian - somewhere close, and just two or three nights away

My goals for these trips are to put in time beforehand to make them enjoyable, to not "miss" any major highlights or opportunities and to have money saved and set aside before the trips begin so everything can be done with money we already have in the bank.  

House Plans and Projects //

Paint most of the rooms and most of the trim, upstairs.  Seven and a half years and three kids later, our "new" house is looking pretty rough around the edges.  I don't really know how or when I will get this done - without the kids just making bigger messes with the paint - but somehow, it will get done.

Reorganize the store room.  When I did this in the early months of 2016, I somehow thought I would then be "done" with this project.  Ha!  The mess is back with a vengeance.

Set up a legit tornado shelter and create a new emergency backpack.  The tornado shelter has been on Brian's wish list for a long time, but we've never made it happen.  We had an emergency kit, but everything expired and we need to start anew.

Make the house feel "happier."  This is my overarching house goal for the year.  I tend toward "happy" furnishings and decor items, but there is a lot of room for improvement.  I have hopes that all the painting will make a big impact on the happiness meter.  I don't have specific ways to measure this goal in mind, but I think when I reach the end of the year, I will know if I've met it or not.

And //

Make seasonal family activity lists for January through April, May through August and September through December and stick to them.  These lists are how we plan most of our weekends and help us ensure that we are keeping up with family traditions and also exposing the kids to new experiences and new places.  You can read more about these lists here. 

There are two more big projects that I'm not quite ready to share, but that I would love to at least make progress on this year.  I've written them on my private goal list and hope that all those weekly and monthly reviews will push me to be brave and get to work.

All that plus, you know, life, should keep me more than busy for the next twelve months!

GOAL SETTING FOR NEXT YEAR

For the last several years, I've chosen a word to direct and focus my annual goals and intentions.  I've then applied the word, as it fit, to various areas of my life and made plans accordingly.  It's always been sort of a mix of finding a word that fits with my goals and finding goals that fit with my word.

For 2018, (I think) I've decided to leave out the word and just set goals.  I'm still considering choosing a focusing word for the year, but a word hasn't yet found me and I'm kind of liking the idea of leaving it out. 

My goal planning process, this fall, was not a lot different from what it's been in the past, but I recently read this blog post from The Simple Dollar and decided to add one of the suggested process tips to my own.  The key suggestion that I took away was to make a plan and then sit on it for a few weeks.  The hope is that the rest period will give room for ideas and plans to percolate and improve.

So, a couple weeks ago, I spent a few hours doing something of a review of the various areas of my life.  I chose to focus on:

Marriage
Parenting/Family
Spiritual/Faith
Body/Health
Money
Career/Job
Hobbies
Friends/Extended Family

One of my favorite takeaways from doing reviews of this sort is realizing just how much these varying topics relate to one another and overlap.  It looks like a list of defined topics, but they are all a part of life and life is definitely not compartmentalized like this.  When I start writing about our marriage and realize how much our kids and careers and financial situation play into our marriage, it really highlights how important each area is to the others. 

My process looked like this:

I filled up a notebook with a quick assessment of each area - giving it a rating of good, bad or ok - and then followed up with more details on what was going well in each area and what was not going well.  I then went back through and made a list of goals, projects and other fairly specific things I could do to improve each area and move me closer to where I want to be in the future.

I'm currently playing the waiting game.  I'm taking the advice of The Simple Dollar post and just letting thoughts work their way through my head and heart for a few weeks.

I want to have things finalized a week or two before the new year.  So, I've put a reminder in my calendar for the week of 12/18.  At that time, my plan is to re-read what I wrote, add new thoughts, insights and plans and then come up with a finalized goal list for 2018.

And about the waiting period - I'm already seeing it's value.  New ideas have come to mind.  I've had time to talk with Brian about a few of the specific projects, to ask for his input and to verify that the goals we have for our marriage and family are in alignment.  I've been able to think out more specific ways of working toward end goals and had time to reconsider what is most important in this phase of life.

Good stuff.  I'm already excited about new plans and goals to come and will share more in a couple weeks. 

NOVEMBER GOALS UPDATE AND DECEMBER GOALS

It's time to look back on November goals and set a few new ones for December.  

First up, an update on my 6 goals from last month: 

1 / Improve my exercise and eating. (Partial success.)

My goal was to improve upon my numbers from October.  Number of days I hit 10,000 steps and total number of steps for the month were both losses.  Not terrible numbers, but less than I did in October.  Amount of time exercising was also a fail.  I wasn't too far off, but I didn't quite make it.  I did succeed in improving the number of days I "ate well."  And overall, I feel like my exercise and eating were okay - just not as good as I would have liked.    

2 / Complete Christmas shopping.  (I think so???)  

My list looks good.  Brian and I are planning a wrapping night (while we watch Christmas Vacation) for this weekend.  So, that will be the true tell.  Right now, everything is tucked away in our closet and I'm not 100% sure what's in there.  

3 / Order Christmas cards.  (Done.) 

They arrived in the mail on Wednesday and I have about half of them addressed.  I also had the forethought to buy stamps while we were visiting Brian's parents over Thanksgiving.  I was pretty proud of myself for that, as getting stamps at their house consists of a two block walk while getting stamps at home always seems like a huge hassle.   

4 / Post three more blog posts. (Yep.)  

5 / Watch and take notes on one workshop from the Read Aloud Revival membership site. (Done.)  

I completed a workshop called Poetry Teatime.  

6 / Finish my 2017 reading goal.  (Yes!)  

This one makes me so happy.  When I set the goal at 40 books, I imagined that I would be reading like crazy the last couple weeks of the year to get 'er done.  Instead, it looks like I'll end the year between 45 and 50.  

- - - - - 

And onto December goals:  

1 / Improve my eating and exercise.  

It's going to be another month of crazy schedules, so I will be happy if I can meet or beat my November numbers.  

2 / Hang photos in the living room.

I recently purchased three big photo frames with the intention of hanging family photos above the couch.  It's been a few weeks and I've made no progress on getting the prints ordered.  Hopefully, making this goal public, will push me to accomplish this.  

3 / Watch and take notes on one workshop from the Read Aloud Revival membership site by 12/15 and then cancel my membership.  

There is one more workshop that I really want to watch, but I feel like the bulk of the value that comes with membership is aimed toward families with slightly older children or who are currently home schooling.  I definitely plan to join again in the future, but want to cancel my current membership before my next monthly payment is due.  

4 / Post two more blog posts.  

5 / Finish my goal planning for 2018, so I can start the new year off  on the right foot.  

NOVEMBER GOALS

Here's what I hope to accomplish this month. 

1 / Improve my exercise and eating.  In October I kept fairly detailed stats and my goal for November is to improve upon the numbers from last month.  I kept track of the number of days I hit 10,000 steps, my total number of steps for the month, my time exercising (I've been using MuTu System exercises) and the number of days I ate "well."  This last one is subjective, but I still think it is helpful to me to mark yes or no at the end of each day - and progress seems easier when I see several yes's in a row. 

2 / Complete Christmas shopping.  For the last several years, I have tried to have my shopping done by December 1st - and I've largely been successful.  I feel like this has made a huge difference in my ability to actually enjoy the month of December, so I'm going for it again. 

3 / Order Christmas cards.  Much like Christmas shopping, I experience a sense of relief when this task is accomplished.  Many years, I have them not only ordered but also printed and ready to mail by Thanksgiving.  I'm putting the bar a little low on this, this year, because having photos to put on the card is somewhat out of my control as we are still waiting on photographers from both my sister's wedding and family portraits with Brian's family. 

4 / Post three more blog posts. 

5 / Watch and take notes on one workshop from the Read Aloud Revival membership site.  I have much more to write about this (new to me) membership site and plan to do so in one of those blog posts mentioned above.

6 / Finish my 2017 reading goal.  My goal is 40 books. I'm at 36 or 37 right now.  I can't remember which off the top of my head.  Either way, finishing this month should be no problem. 

And I think that will do.  We actually have a fairly busy month planned with three family filled weekends, one weekend that I will be out of town with friends and a lot of nights without Brian home until after the kids are in bed due to his coaching schedule.  So, yep.  I better not go crazy on my goal setting. 

Happy November friends!

READING IN 2017

I've heard, repeatedly, how doing the things you enjoyed as a child can make you happier.  Well, if there was one thing I enjoyed as a kid, it was reading.

I let my love of reading slowly dissipate over the last few years.  I never completely stopped reading, but I had turned into a sort of passive reader rather than an active one.  I was no longer seeking out books or making weekly trips to the library.  Basically, I had just decided that I didn't have enough time to be an avid reader and so I wasn't.

Thank goodness for a renewed desire to read, a goal and a plan.

I shifted my mindset and decided I do have enough time to read.   And with that, I was off.  And, oh what a joy it has been  - and is.  When I am between books (finished one and haven't yet started another), I sometimes still have to remind myself that I have time.  But once I get caught up in a story, it's not hard to make reading my choice over surfing the internet or checking Instagram or what have you.

Spending so many hours reading feels luxurious and nurturing.  It makes me feel more like the pre-mom version of myself.  I am learning more and my brain is hopping with new ideas and new stories.  Basically, it's fabulous.

So, let's get down to the details:

My reading goals for 2017 were to read 40 books, read the majority of them in book (not Kindle) form and to work from a book list.   

I have finished 20 books thus far, this year.  (Half way there and now hoping to end with more than 40.)  Three of those 20 were read via the Kindle App on my phone and the rest were book-books.  11 have been from my list.

In the order I read them:

After I Do by Taylor Jenkins Reid

*Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead

Miller’s Valley by Anna Quindlen

Notes from a Blue Bike by Tsh Oxenrider

*The Nightingale by Kristen Hannah

French Milk by Lucy Knisley

*Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee

Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon

In This House We Will Giggle by Courtney DeFeo

Loving My Actual Life by Alexandra Kuykendall

The Mothers by Brit Bennett

*The Pursuit of God by A.W. Tozer

The Girls’ Guide to Hunting and Fishing by Melissa Bank

*The Patron Saint of Liars by Ann Patchett

Today Will Be Different by Marie Semple

*A Million Miles in a Thousand Years by Donald Miller

All Grown Up by Jami Attenberg

100 Days of Happiness by Fausto Brizzi

*Secret Daughter by Shilpi Somaya Gowda

*The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri

I have also started (and given up on) seven additional books.

Astonish Me, Hillbilly Elegy, The Fran Lebowitz Reader, Organized Simplicity, Here I Am, Traveling Mercies and Something New.  (And I think there may have been one or two more.)

I read one of these past the halfway point.  The rest, I abandoned within the first 50 or so, pages.  I don't think my abandonment rate is usually quite so high, so I'm not sure what's up.  But, I have really loved some of the books that I finished, so perhaps that makes up for it.  Plus, I am thankful to not be wasting my time with books that don't feel engaging for whatever reason.

Recommendations:

As I've shared before, I really don't care to write summaries or reviews about most things I read.  Still, there are some books that I would happily encourage others to read and others that I would say are not particularly worth reading - a basic "thumbs up" or "thumbs down" type of review, I guess.  So, the starred books above are the ones I would definitely recommend.

Overall, I am just so thrilled to be reading again and don't plan to stop anytime soon.