2018 Goals

Last year I got a planner by Ink and Volt and I loved it.  (You can see last year's post HERE.)  Usually with planners I can't find them about 8 months into the year.  I still had and used this one in December so I decided to order another one.  I felt like it really helped me stay focused and motivated. Whatever it takes, right?!  I didn't list all my specific goals in that post (probably because I was scared of failure.)  I didn't complete all my goals last year, in fact I probably didn't even really get started on some of them.  Last year my "theme" for the year was ME.  I wanted to start taking better care of myself so that I could better care for my people.  I can say without a doubt I achieved this.  I started eating for fuel and taking care of myself.  I started working out and building muscles.  I started reading books again.  I feel like overall, I really started learning to love myself.  Not just my physical body but also who I am as a person.  I want to be someone my family is proud of and for them to be proud of me, I first needed to be proud of myself.  I finally feel like I can say that I'm proud of Me.

This year, the last Thursday of 2017, Brittany and I sat down together and evaluated the year, did some self evaluation and brainstormed what we wanted 2018 to look like.  (If you're into goals and you've never done some sort of self-evaluation, I highly encourage it.)  I felt like it was very eye-opening as to how I actually spend my time versus how I should spend my time to achieve my goals.  Also what takes up time that adds to your life versus what drains you.  Finally, I looked at the things I wanted to start, change and achieve in 2018 and set specific, measurable goals.  I separated them into daily, weekly and monthly goals.

This year the planner included a page to "bring your year into focus".  It asked three simple questions to help define what you'd like 2018 to look like.  I really loved this feature this year.  It like having a little self-reflection right with you all the time, if you need some reassurance.

The first question is, "What do you want to leave behind this year?" My answer, Bad Habits.  Bad habits with food, social media, attitude (my reactions), money (overspending), selfishness, wasting time, procrastination.  The second question is, What are the things you want to learn this year? My answer, Health.  Mental health, choosing joy, not playing the comparison game, reading more.  Physical health, continue working out, cooking healthy meals for my family (that they will eat).  Spiritual health, start daily quiet time, read through the one year bible.  This was a goal last year that I didn't achieve. I really want to make this happen this year.  The last question is, "What would it look like if this year went perfectly? What would you have/be/do?  I said Peace!  At peace with my body, both mentally and physically.  At peace with our home, start some updating, get it decluttered and organized.  Get rid of crap we don't need or use.  At peace with work, I want to grow our little sign company but I've always been too scared of failure.  I want to step out and try to offer new products and really grow.

Using those three questions and answers  I came up with my overall theme for 2018.

DISCIPLINE

:Train to obey rules or a code of behavior.

I'm training myself to obey these rules and adapt a new code of behavior for my life.  (This sounds dreadful, but I'm really excited)  Through discipline I want to make good choices, wake up early and choose joy, everyday.

Now for my goals.  Some are serious, some silly.  But they all mean something to me. 

Read 12 books (one per month)

Send birthday cards in the mail.

Add $50 to my savings account per month. (I know this should be higher but baby steps)

Workout 3-4 times a week.  (3 weeks in and going strong)

Lose last 20lbs. (preferably before April)

Family physical activity-Monthly (hike, swim, walk, etc)

Date Night- Monthly (even if it's dinner and a movie at home)

Daily quiet time (I'm 20 days in and craving this time each morning)

Do one Random Act of Kindness-Weekly

Wear a bikini-Confidently!

Meet with Lisa monthly (Body Fat Analysis)

Establish phone free areas and times

Organize house room by room

Cook 4 nights a week

Drink water everyday

Monthly Budget meetings

10th Anniversary vacation!!!

Those are my goals this year!  So far so good.  I'm proud of the progress so far.  (I know we're only 3 weeks in) Most people have given up on their resolutions by week three.  I'm still hanging in there.  I'm shocked by how much I enjoy getting up early to read my bible and quiet time.  I'm still loving working out and making my body strong.  I'm learning to love cooking.  I've almost finished my first book of the year.  I'm excited for all 2018 has in store.  (I'm almost nervous to admit the joy I feel about this year for fear that something tragic is looming around the corner. But I can't let myself worry about what I don't know.  I can only celebrate what I do know). 

I want to get back to posting my monthly goals here.  I enjoyed having that record and accountability. 

Blur Week (The last week of the year)

We were both off the 26th.  I cleaned out the pantry.  We mostly stayed in our pjs all day and it was glorious to not have to go anywhere.

I let Barrett stay out of school this week too since he was still coughing.  So we all went to work each day.  It was super laid back. We just had some cleaning and organizing to do.  They drove me absolutely bonkers.  It was a long 3 days.

On Friday, Barrett was playing with the cardboard tube that the vinyl comes on (after I told him not to) and somehow fell and busted his chin open.  After several texts to different people (some medical, some not) I decided he needed to at least be looked at to make sure it didn't need a stitch.  Plus he still had a terrible cough so I thought if nothing else we should probably get that checked out.  He didn't need any stitches, they put some steri strips on it and gave him some cough syrup and sent us on our way.

Brittany and I had our first annual Goals planning meeting.  We both have worked so hard to reach our goals and we've been great accountability for each other so it just made since to work on our 2018 goals together.  I'm not sure what she expected but I showed up with worksheets and we were both pretty excited about the whole thing.  After our meeting I sat down with my new planner and filled in all that I want for 2018.   I ordered another planner from Ink+Volt this year because I loved last years so much.

Barrett was playing with the light up car and got it stuck in Barbie's hair.  I posted this to Instagram with the caption "at least it was just Barbie". No sooner than I hit "post" Barrett was back over by me...

With it stuck in his hair. Luckily neither of them required a haircut.

This was a fun week where we didn't really know what say it was but we all survived.

New Year, New You?

I love a new year, a fresh start.  I really like to have my house clean and put together going into the new year but this year I'll just have to settle for a clean refrigerator (all thanks to Patrick).  I don't usually set big New Year's goals, this year I did.  They aren't huge goals but I did jot down some things to keep me accountable and give me some things to work towards in 2017. 

I'm a pencil and paper planner girl.  I've tried to use the electronic one and it just isn't for me.  I like to write things down and mark them off.  I saw this planner on someone's Instagram feed and I loved it.  It's by Ink and Volt and I feel like it was made for me.

It has places to list your goals!!!  I'm in love.  At the very beginning you outline your overall theme for the year.  (Mine is ME, not in a selfish way but in a take care of myself so I can better care for others way).

Then there's a monthly goal list.  The page on the right is to make one commitment for 30 days and you can mark the days off at the bottom.  I love this.

Then you can list your weekly goals.  I can't tell you how much this list maker loves this.  I have goals for my goals!

You also have the month at a glance

And finally each week is sectioned off into days and morning, afternoon and night for each day.

So hopefully this will keep my to do lists in check and keep me from feeling completely overwhelmed!

Like I said my overall theme for this year is ME.  I want to eat better to fuel my body, not just because it tastes good, I want to get moving.  In another 30 years I'll wish I hadn't taken for granted what I could do.  I want to be better organized (que the planner) and finally I plan to read through the entire Bible. 

I got the one year Bible (it's not the chronological one like I thought, I guess I read that one next year).  I also got the abundant life devotional out that my sister in law gave me a couple of years ago right after I had my miscarriage.  I wanted to read it coming from a place of thanksgiving instead of grieving.  I feel like I can learn even more from it now.

Another random thing I'm trying to do, for the last two years I've posted a picture a day on Instagram, this year instead of doing that I've decided to write a little something about the day in a journal.  Lame? Maybe but I think it'll be neat.

These are all such cliché goals but they're my goals this year and if that's what it takes to light a fire under my behind then so be it. 

December Goals

I did okay on my November goals.  

1) Finish Christmas Shopping.  I didn't even come close to finishing.  Oh well, it'll get done.  I'm not sweating it.  2)  Plan Barrett's birthday playdate.  I've got everything planned.  It's going to be super low key and relaxed.  I'm excited about it!  3) Have Family Pictures made.  We did this and I'm so in love with how they turned out!  As soon as I get our Christmas cards ordered and in the mail I'll share them with you.  They are beautiful!  4) Order Christmas Cards.  I haven't done this yet.  I've designed them, just have to order them!  5) Decorate for Christmas & 6) Make Advent Calendar, I'm combining these because I finished them both tonight.  I finally decorated our tree and added the cards to the advent calendar.  We are ready for the season!

I didn't write out my December goals because I just want to enjoy the season.  I really want to soak it up.  Barrett is really noticing everything this year and it makes me so excited. I have a few things that I want to do, Go see Santa, buy a gift for the angel tree at our church, drive around and look at lights are just a few of them.  I know the years of having small kids is only a short season and I want to soak up every single moment.  

November Goals

I can't believe October is over.  It seems like I was just writing these goals. I did pretty good with my October goals.  I kind of feel like I cheated because I made my goals things I already had planned but they were the main things I wanted to get accomplished this month.  1) Pumpkin Patch.  We finally squeezed that in on the 30th.  2)  Take a Girls Trip.  This had been on the calendar since May and I was so excited to finally go!  We had a blast.  3) Start Christmas Shopping.  I didn't get as much done as I was hoping but I did put a little dent in it.  I also got some things marked off my to do list for Barrett's birthday playdate.  4) Host 2nd Annual Trick or Treating.  We had a blast last night!  5)  Exercise!  I just don't think this is going to happen.  I just haven't made time for it and I don't see it happening any time soon. Finish Christmas Shopping.  I don't think this we happen but I really hope to knock a big chunk of it out this month.  I don't want to spend all of  December shopping. Plan Barrett's Birthday Playdate. I've almost got all of it planned.  I need to find invitations and get them ordered and in the mail this month.  I also need to start getting the supplies. Have Family Pictures Made.  I'm so excited about this.  We're scheduled to do this Tuesday afternoon and I can't wait.  I hope everything goes well! Order Christmas Cards. I've been browsing cards a bit and I can't pick a favorite just yet.  I've got a few marked and then I'll decide when we choose a photo. Decorate For Christmas. I usually do this either the weekend before Thanksgiving or the week after.  I'm anxious to see what Barrett is going to think of everything this year. Make Advent Calendar Cards for this year. I loved our activity advent calendar last year.  I'm looking forward to it this year too.  I need to sit down and plan when we want to do things.  I'm hoping we can do a few fun things this year like the Zoolight Safari but we'll see.  Barrett loves lights so I can't wait to see him with Christmas lights!

October Goals

I can't believe it's October.  It's always a fun month and this year will be no different.  I've got a few October goals. First lets review my September goals...1) Make a budget, I did sit down and write out my budget for the month.  I've struggled to stick to it though.  I don't know why it is so hard for me but it is.  2)  Cook 5 nights a week.  This did not happen but we did eat out less that the previous month.  I tried to cook things that we could eat more than one night and that worked for us.  3) Go to the gym.  This did not happen.  I wonder if it will ever happen again.  4)  Start planning for the Holidays.  I did get my Christmas shopping list made out.  I got most of Barrett's birthday playdate planned.  I worked on the menu for our Halloween party.  I'm pleased with this goal.  5)  Clean out guest room.  I'm proud to say I got this mostly done.  I've still got a few things in there that don't belong in there.  But overall it's a thousand times better.  6)  Decorate for FALL!!! I finally got this done this week.  I added a few pictures but it doesn't look much different than every other year.  I feel like I usually have more but this was all I could find.

These pictures are terrible.  I put some pumpkins on the mantle in my glass jars.  Added some fall flowers and my scarecrows.  I also added a picture of Barrett from Halloween in the little frame. I just added a fall candle and some pictures from last Fall in the frames. My wittle baby from the pumpkin patch last year.  
Now on to October's goals.  I purposely made these a little easier and fun for the season! 1) Go to the Pumpkin Patch! I loved taking Barrett (and Patrick) to the pumpkin patch last year.  I can't wait to go this year because I know Barrett is going to enjoy it so much. 2) Take a Girls Trip! I kinda cheated on this one because I've been planning this girls trip for months.  I'm so excited! 3) Start Christmas Shopping. I've already bought a few things but I'd like to be done by the end of November.   4)  Host 2nd Annual Trick or Treating at our house.  Last year we had a few friends over to eat chili and trick or treat and we had so much fun.  We're planning on doing it again this year.   5)  Exercise!!! Clearly I'm not getting to the gym as much as I'd like to so I'd be happy to just get out and walk the neighborhood.  We get out most nights but I don't move as much as I should.

September Goals

I did ok with my August goals.  I'm going to be honest and admit that August was pretty much a blur.  1)  I got our main "command center" in the kitchen somewhat organized.  I have a place for everything and we've done a decent job at keeping it organized.  I still need to further organize a few places.  2)  Meal Plan.  I've done a pretty good job at planning the meals, it's the follow through where I've struggled. Ha.  3)  I went to the gym exactly 3 times. so this was a fail, big time.  4)  I never got around to cleaning out the guest room.  I'm moving it to my September goals.  5)  I got the pantry and laundry room cleaned out and it is so nice to not cringe every time I open those doors.

Here are my September goals... 1)  Make a budget and stick to it.  We've got a couple fun things coming up this fall and I need to be more conscious about where I'm spending money so we have a little wiggle room.   2)  Cook five nights a week.  Like I said earlier I did pretty good planning my meals but didn't cook enough.  I feel like we only ate fast food during the week a couple of times and it was mainly the week Barrett was sick but I just need to get in the habit of cooking every night.  Not my favorite thing but I'm going to try to learn to love it. 3)  GO TO THE GYM.  So far we're two days in and I haven't been at all.  Even if I don't get to the gym I need to a least get out and jog.  I want to be a runner.  I just haven't devoted the time to it.  I also need to get some decent running shoes but I haven't wanted to spend the money.  It's something I need to invest in. So many people around me are running and training for races and I want to too.  But even if running doesn't happen this month, the gym has to. 4)  Start planning for the holidays.  We're having a Halloween get together like we did last year.  But I also need to start planning for Barrett's birthday as well as Christmas.  Setting budgets and making lists (my favorite part) needs to start happening. 5) Clean out guest room.  This is a carry over from last month.  It needs to happen ASAP. 6)  Might be my favorite item on the list.  Decorate for Fall.  I usually put everything out Labor Day weekend but it didn't happen.  Hopefully over the next couple of weeks I'll start dragging it all out. 
So there you have it.  My goals for the month of September! 

Weekend Review

We had a slow, lazy week and a rather productive weekend.  Barrett was sick all week.  We went to the office on Tuesday but I could tell he still didn't feel well.

He started running a fever Tuesday too. So Wednesday we were headed to the doctors office.  It was just a virus of some sort but he felt pretty crummy all week.
Thursday was more of the same.  He wanted to be held all week long.  Which I did, all week long.  He was finally fever free on Friday so we went to work.  I needed to get some things done.  We were so sad that he had to miss the first week of Mother's Day Out. Saturday John and Hope came to my parents house to visit.  Barrett and I went to see them.  He still wasn't 100%.  He wouldn't let anyone hold him and he wouldn't eat a zebra cake.  Champ (my sister's dog) was staying with my parents while they were on vacation.  He had a little accident Saturday morning.  He busted through the dining room window chasing a cat and he cut his leg pretty good so they had to take him to vet. He came home while we were there.  It was pitiful.   Hanging out in Uncle John's truck after lunch. Before                           After I marked one thing off my August goal list.  I got the pantry cleaned out and organized and now we have a place to keep our bags.  Also I should probably buy some groceries.  After I finished the pantry, I cleaned out the laundry room and a cabinet.  I felt so productive!
Sunday I went to Mass and then to Kristen's Grammy's house to layout and swim.  It was so nice.  I was glad we were able to hang out and catch up.   Today was Barrett's first day of school.  I've got a whole post coming...it was rough.

August Goals

I'm looking forward to August.  I usually have mixed feelings at the end of summer but this year I'm ready for it to be over.  The weather here has been teasing fall like temps and it has been wonderful.  I've been hearing the band practicing and I'm just excited for everything fall brings.  That being said I want to be more intentional with my time this month and get some things done.  I feel like we've just been surviving these last two months.  I'm ready for more structure and routine to our days. 1).  Get Organized I got a paper planner for the first time in years and I need to get back in the habit of using it.  I write everything down but I only check it when I need to verify something.  When I was in college I lived by my planner.  I put my "to do" lists in it each day and I feel like it made me be more productive.  I want to get in the habit of sitting down each night and mapping out a plan of attack for the next day.  I also need to get more organized paying bills and managing paperwork that comes into the house.  I know it's only going to get worse once Barrett is in "school".  I also need to be more organized to get him to school on time, with everything he needs.
2.)  Meal Plan I am going to plan two weeks at a time and cook 5 nights a week.  I also need to plan for lunches to either take to work with us or send to school the two days Barrett will be going.  I love eating dinner as a family but have fallen out of the habit of cooking.  I'm not talking about anything fancy but I need to start cooking more.
3.) Gym Time I haven't been to the gym in at least two months.  I have several excuses but they are just that, excuses.  I could have gotten there if I really wanted to.  Well I'm about 10 weeks away from a girls trip to Mexico and I'd like to hit the gym a lot before we go.  My goal is at least 3 times each week, but I'd really like to go 5 times each week.  I plan to mix it up and do 3 BODYPUMP classes and 2 cardio classes either BODYATTACK or BODYCOMBAT each week.
4.)  Clean up the Guest Room It has once again become the catch all.  This happens every year.  But it's really bad right now.  I need to get it picked up and organized so that all the things that always find their way here have a place.  I'm not looking forward to it.
5.) Clean out the Pantry & Laundry Room
This is another place that just collects stuff.  Its where the random crap gets tossed when we need to "straighten up" quickly.  I need a better organization system in both places but especially the pantry.  I need to make it more functional so I won't dread cooking and putting away groceries.  There you have it, my goals for the month of August.  I plan to keep you updated when something gets accomplished!  I'm excited to get to work!!!

28

Today I turned 28 years old.  Really? 28?  I don't feel old enough to be 28.  I think in my mind I will perpetually be 24.  I don't know why but 24 is the number that always comes to mind when someone asks me my age.  This has been a big year for me.  I've done things that I knew I wanted to do but wasn't sure I was strong enough.  In some ways I feel like life really began this year with the birth of Barrett.  It's so true that a baby changes everything.  I've had a really great weekend.  My boss and I share a birthday week so we had ice cream cake Friday to celebrate.  Then at book club we had more ice cream cake. 

Those girls were so sweet to remember my birthday!  (Which, I've been a book club slacker.  I've not read the last two books and I really wanted too, I just didn't.  It's my goal to catch up before we take a break for the holidays)  Today Patrick, Barrett and I went to Tuscaloosa for the day {separate post coming}. 

If you've been around here a while you know that I try to set goals on my birthday each year (kinda like a New Year resolution but for my birthday year.)

You can read last years goals here.  I kept it simple last year because I really didn't know how life would change. 

This years goals.

• Let go a little.  I've been so worried about meeting other peoples expectations that I spread myself to thin sometimes and it puts a strain on me and my little family.  I don't want them to suffer because I'm afraid to disappoint someone.  It's okay to miss a tea or book club if I need to be with my family and recharge.  It's also okay if Barrett and I don't have an outfit to match every holiday. 
• I also want to do little things for others.  (which kinda contradicts the first statement but hear men out.)  Simple things like sending a birthday card in the mail.
• I want to soak up every little moment with my baby boy.  By my next birthday he'll be 18 months old. (and I'll be 29 ouch)
• Spend weekly quality time with Patrick.  In the new chaos of like he's kinda been pushed to the back burner.  I want to make him feel special too.  Even if it's just letting him run the remote sometimes and not complaining about what he chooses.  (which is really hard for me)
• Get on a good cleaning schedule so I don't feel like my house is always dirty and I'm always cleaning.  

Hopefully I can work on these things and simplify and enjoy life.  Even if it is chaos most of the time.