2017 Goals, and a recap of 2016

I love making goals! The only thing I look forward to at new years time is goal setting. I'm a bit of a dork.

Let's first look back at my 2016 goals:

Reading: I failed spectacularly at this one depending on how you look at it. I wanted to read around 50 books, but the real goal was to get my to-read list to dwindle down. That did not happen. To-Read count is close to 90 now.  That's not really a problem though. My Goodreads profile if you want to follow along.

Food: Last year I wanted to up my breakfast game. Eh, I did okay. I started trying more breakfast casseroles for a little while. This was nice, especially since I would try to make them for Saturday morning. But I sort of fell off the bandwagon. Charlie's breakfasts are pathetic.

Marriage: I wanted to do 12 date nights during the year. I didn't keep a close watch on this, but I'm pretty sure I succeeded. Keeping this one the same.

Exercise: I didn't have a plan for the year, other than do more and participate in a 30 day yoga challenge in January. I did really well at the beginning of the month, but by the middle I got hit with a bad cold and then a sinus infection and had to take some time off.  I am proud to say that I've been doing better at exercising regularly. I try to do a walk/run or yoga two to three times a week, with the goal of exercising in some form four to five times a week. I'm not perfect and this week has been a total lapse as I'm struggling with another cold.

For 2017:

Reading: Setting my Goodreads challenge at 52 again. Not working about to-read counts. I've come across several great reading challenges, but I don't think I'm going to commit to one. If I get stuck in a rut they will be my fall back. I do love the idea of challenging yourself to read broader and smartly. (If you are looking for a reading challenge: Modern Mrs. Darcy Challenge, a Christian Reading Challenge)

Food: I've really enjoyed reading and cooking through cookbooks. So this year I'd like to cook through at least 6 cookbooks. Trying at least 10 recipes from each book. I'll report back here.

Marriage: 12 Date nights, at least once a month.

Exercise: Continue on trying to exercise in some capacity 4-5 times a week. Yoga with Adriene is doing another 30 day challenge that I might take.

House: With the new house there is so much I want to do. For the first part of the year I've got several goals:

• Master bathroom phase 1: paint the room and replace avocado green fixtures (toilet roll holder, tooth brush holder, and sink dish). 
• Paint guest bedroom, install crown molding
• Make and install two raised beds in the backyard
• Make and install a countertop for the laundry area.

Religious: our Sunday school is reading through the whole Bible this year and Bryan and I will be participating again. I'm looking forward to what the Lord is going to show us this year. 

So there you go. It's out there in the world now. 

I hope you have a very happy New Year! 

2016 Goals

It wouldn't be a new year without new goals! I'm not really into resolutions, I'm into goals. I might be the most task and goal oriented person I've ever met. If it's not on my to-do list, it is not getting done.

Since Charlie was being born in early 2015 I didn't really set many goals for myself last year. Survive. That was my goal. We succeeded!

This year I have just a few, here they go:

1) Reading Goal: My to-read list in Goodreads is ridiculous. My goal is for my "read" list to be longer than my "to-read" list by the end of the year. I'm setting my reading challenge number at 52. My "to-read" list at the end of the year needs to be a smaller number than 52. We'll see what happens.

2) Food Goal: Up my breakfast game. Since I'm now responsible for feeding another human being and fostering good eating habits I've been struggling with breakfast. Charlie has been getting a mashed banana mixed with oatmeal most mornings and he's tired of it. Bryan and I will sometimes have a piece of toast later in the morning. I really want to be better about providing more nutritious and varied breakfasts this year for all of us.

3) Marriage Goal: 12 dates nights. Date nights are important to me. We need to make this happen. I think once a month is totally do-able.

4) Exercise Goal: I don't have a full year plan yet, other than exercise regularly. I'd like to get back into running regularly. Possibly even do a race. But I'll be honest, this has been a goal for the last how many years now?  Instead, I'll be taking it little at a time. First up, 30 days of yoga in January. My best friend and I completed a 30 day squat challenge in November and December and I'm ready to tackle something bigger now that I know I can actually complete something for 30 days. This will be a much bigger time commitment and that makes me nervous.

That's all I've got so far, but I think I've got some real challenges ahead of me. What are your goals for 2016?

2015 Goals

New year, new goals! If you are just starting to follow along, I'm a goal oriented person. Some years I'll do seasonal goals and some years I just go for the whole year.  With Charlie arriving soon I tried not to overwhelm myself as I'm sure learning to take care of a wee one will be the biggest undertaking yet. But I can't let a year go by without a few goals, so here we go:

- A healthy baby. Duh.

- Experiment with making cheese. I've seen lots of easy looking recipes for ricotta and mozzarella. I think I'll give it a go this year.

- Bake more. I'm not a baker, but I'd love to try to break out of my flour-phobic comfort zone. I'm even making a pound cake today! (Notice, lose weight or eat healthy are not on this list.)

- Exercise regularly (at least 2-3 times a week). This will have to happen after Charlie for obvious reasons. During most of this pregnancy I was taking a weekly pre-natal yoga class that I absolutely loved. After Charlie I intend to take a post-natal yoga class and then ease into a weekly yoga class at the same studio. I'd also like to take up my walk/run routine again once the weather is nice and I'm given the okay. Getting some fresh air will be key, I think, to avoid mommy burn out.

- Finish my preservation class. I started this months ago, but haven't been able to devote any time to it the last two months. I'd also like to do more preservation next spring/summer, but I'm not willing to write down any hard goals in this area at this time. I'm wary of how much energy I'll have to devote to the garden this year.

- Read the Bible in a year. Bryan and I are doing this together with our Sunday School class. You can follow along here if you'd like to do it too.

So that's the plan. What are your goals? Are these realistic for a first time mom?

Review: 30 Before 30

Last year I set 30 goals for myself before I turned 30. Here's the list:


Cooking/Creating
Bake a cake... with frosting and everything.
Make a photo book of my college years.
Finish landscaping the backyard, making it more edible.
Stop buying meat and fish from regular grocery stores. Farmers market only... Whole Foods if you must.
Get a garden gnome.

Doing
See at least 5 live music acts.
Party at Raiford's!
Run a 5k
Go on a boat ride... any kind of boat... okay so casino boats do not count as they do not actually go anywhere.
Go fishing.
Give oysters another chance.
Try mussels.
Buy all gifts for the next year at locally owned stores.
Crossstich a sassy saying .... make it into a pillow or framed piece.
Commission custom abstract work for the bathroom... that space to the right of the sink.
Have a family picture taken with Bryan, me, Roux and Motley
Finish reading camera manual and feel confident shooting in manual mode.
Listen to new music each week
Learn a new hair do
Get a new passport

Seeing
Take a tour in New Orleans ... architectural, cemetery or Ghost
Visit Allyn in New York

Memphis
Take a picture with Grizz or a big name Grizzly.
Visit Sun Studios
Visit Stax
Eat donuts at an unusual hour at Gibson's

Eating Out
Second Line
City Grocery and/or Snackbar in Oxford
Peche in New Orleans
Sit at a chef's table... I'm not too picky where... just at a restaurant that knows what a chef's tasting is.

I didn't get around to doing 10, which means I completed 2/3rds of my goals. I'm okay with that. The pregnancy really threw a wrench in some of those plans (5k, Raifords) and that's alright. 

30 before 30

I meant to post a few days ago new goals for the new (birthday) year. I didn't because - well honestly I hadn't made them yet. The only thing I had so far was to take a picture with Grizz and the idea that I wanted to spend more time with music in the next year. But then I remembered that next year I'm turning 30 and I've seen others do 30 before 30 and thought this was my chance. So here's goes...

Cooking/Creating
Bake a cake... with frosting and everything.
Make a photo book of my college years.
Finish landscaping the backyard, making it more edible.
Stop buying meat and fish from regular grocery stores. Farmers market only... Whole Foods if you must.
Get a garden gnome.

Doing
See at least 5 live music acts.
Party at Raiford's!
Run a 5k
Go on a boat ride... any kind of boat... okay so casino boats do not count as they do not actually go anywhere.
Go fishing.
Give oysters another chance.
Try mussels.
Buy all gifts for the next year at locally owned stores.
Crossstich a sassy saying .... make it into a pillow or framed piece.
Commission custom abstract work for the bathroom... that space to the right of the sink.
Have a family picture taken with Bryan, me, Roux and Motley
Finish reading camera manual and feel confident shooting in manual mode.
Listen to new music each week
Learn a new hair do
Get a new passport

Seeing
Take a tour in New Orleans ... architectural, cemetery or Ghost
Visit Allyn in New York

Memphis
Take a picture with Grizz or a big name Grizzly.
Visit Sun Studios
Visit Stax
Eat donuts at an unusual hour at Gibson's

Eating Out
Second Line
City Grocery and/or Snackbar in Oxford
Peche in New Orleans
Sit at a chef's table... I'm not too picky where... just at a restaurant that knows what a chef's tasting is.

Looking back: 28 Goals

Last year on my birthday I listed some goals for myself for the year in this post.  As my 28th year is wrapping up I thought it would be a good time to look back the year and see how I did. So here goes...

- Drink more champagne. I started off strong, but have not been as diligent the last few months. Before the year sparkling wines were totally off my radar, now they are now. Here's to more sparkly beverages! 

- Host 12 gatherings. Done! We had family gatherings, holidays, and dinner parties. It was a fun year and I'm so glad I challenged myself to host. 

- Wear sequins. Fail. Didn't happen. 

- Stop listening to other people's advise. I'm not sure about this one. I am living a pretty abnormal life right now, so maybe that worked. It certainly contributed to my last employment not working out!  Which is kinda funny now that I think about it. So maybe I did a good job at the goal... we're just not sure if it's a positive step. 

- Listen to music LOUD! Fail. Music is going to be a bigger goal for next year. 

- Visit 5 breweries or distilleries. We took care of this one with our Asheville trip. 

- Read 15 books (3 of which need to be non-fiction). Done! I've actually completed 51 books this year! I can't believe it. There have been some really amazing books I've read this past year. I'm thinking about doing a post on just books alone soon. If I don't get around to it, just ask me and I'll be happy to share a few of my favorites. 

- Raise hell. Meh. Not sure how I did on this one since it's kind of ambiguous, but I tried to think out of the box and out of my comfort zone more than normal this year. 

1/2 Way There - checking in on fall goals

Ya'll, did you know that it's October 15th and I consider that about halfway through fall! I don't consider December "fall" because that's the start of Christmas/Holiday season. So I thought I'd check in this morning on how I'm doing with my fall goals so far.  I'll have a 31 Day Challenge post up this afternoon.

- Find, buy, and read a book on prayer. I bought A Praying Life and have read about 100 pages. It has been great so far and I'm excited to work my way through it. 

- Finish the bible study book my mom gave me last fall. I've done one or two chapters. Definitely a week or so behind now. Will try to make time for it this afternoon if possible. 

- Don't buy anything new for myself - unless it's skinny jeans. Failed already. I bought a skirt from J. Crew and a cookbook. Given our new budget cuts, this shan't be happening again! 

- Buy/make/hang curtains in the dining room. Last week I met my mom and we bought curtain rods! We are almost there! Now just have to figure out fabric, make and hang them. Halfway there! 

- Finish reading my camera manual. No progress... whoops!

- Make a major dent in December gift shopping. Doing pretty good so far... Not done, but probably nearly halfway. 

- Work up to completing 1 1/2 hours of yoga per week. The last week or two has not been good. But I did do an hour and a half one of the first weeks. 

- Write somewhere (whether here or a journal or even a post it note) something to be thankful for each day in November. I feel like the 31 Day Challenge is setting me up for this one. After reorganizing most of the house, writing something I'm thankful for should be a piece of cake! 

- Food goal: No theme but I do want to make the following:
Banana bread - check! 
vegetable lasagna
one last sangria
chili - Check!

How are you doing with your goals? 

Fall Goals 2013

On the way back from Asheville the other day I had some time to think about my fall goals. For the next three months before the holiday season sets in what do I want to accomplish? Here's what I came up with:

- Find, buy, and read a book on prayer. Last week our pastor mentioned several books on prayer and I want to purchase at least one of them and read it. He mentioned that we'll be focusing on prayer within the next year and I'd like to get a jumpstart. Also, Bryan mentioned wanting to better our prayer life a week or so ago. So we agreed that I'd read the book and report back with my findings.

- Finish the bible study book my mom gave me last fall. Whoops.

- Don't buy anything new for myself - unless it's skinny jeans. It's really time I find some... if I make time to go shopping. And I can't make promises like that.

- Buy/make/hang curtains in the dining room. Seriously. I need to get on that. My goal is to have them done before Thanksgiving. Because I can just picture us having the perfect Thanksgiving meal in our dining room and if  I don't have the most perfect curtains it won't be the most perfect Thanksgiving. Obviously.

- Finish reading my camera manual. This was a goal for the year and the year is rapidly ending. Time to get on it.

- Make a major dent in December gift shopping. So far I have one present. Ideally I like to have all my December gifts purchased before December. It makes the month so much less stressful without having the pressure of finding the perfect gift hanging over my head.

- Work up to completing 1 1/2 hours of yoga per week. Currently I'm doing about 45 minutes and I know I need to do better.

- Write somewhere (whether here or a journal or even a post it note) something to be thankful for each day in November. I kinda tried to do this the last year or two, but only half-assed it.

- Food goal: No theme but I do want to make the following:
Banana bread
vegetable lasanga
one last sangria
chili (I'm craving it today, along with cold weather)
 

Out of the comfort zone

This past weekend we both stepped out of our comfort zones. 

I signed up for an open instruction sewing lesson. This sort of this is totally out of my element, but since I recently resolved to learn to sew I figured this was the best way. It was a little shakey at first, but after a few hours I managed to put a pillow together. So far its still in one piece. 

I was so insanely proud of my success it was ridiculous. 

Bryan also stepped out of his element and baked some rugaleh on Sunday. Since I'm not much of a baker I suggested he take it up. He did. 

I sort of forgot to take a picture of the finished product. It was delicious. 

Summer 2013 Goals

You know I love goals! What's a summer if it doesn't include some weird goals I've set for myself?!

Here are some past goals:
2012
2011

Without further ado, here are 2013 summer goals:
- Throw a big ass party. This one's already done! Booya! Our Memorial Day weekend party was the biggest party we've ever thrown just for us. (Showers and engagement parties for others don't count.) We had so much fun seeing and hanging out with some friends.

- Sangria! I bookmark so many sangria recipes that I decided it was high time to try some! I've already made one recipe and I plan to try a new one every week or two throughout the summer.

- Pickles! I made a few pickles last summer, but this summer I really want to embrace it and try different things.

- Start learning to sew. I don't expect to become an expert by the end of the summer, but I do hope that I can motivate myself to start playing with the newly restored machine and learn a few basics.

- Window treatments. I sworn the last few years that that year was the year of window treatments and it has yet to happen. (Although to give myself a little credit I did make a sad looking valance for the bathroom.) This year is the year. I have the fabric, I have a working machine. No more excuses! By the end of the summer I'd like to have at least one treatment done. Doesn't even matter what it is. Just something.

New Year Routines

We are well into the first month of the new year. It's resolution breaking time. If we were the type of people to make resolution. (I make birthday year goals, it's totally different!)

But since the start of the new year we have implemented a few changes around here that I'm really really liking. They were not discussed prior to the initial suggestion, but I'm glad we implemented them just the same.

1) Bryan and I have started reading a Bible passage and praying together before work each morning. We started this week reading Romans. We're reading through his new ESV Study Bible that my parents gave him for Christmas. We will read a page and then jot down prayer requests and praises that are on our hearts. If we have time we pray together before I leave for work. This is such a better use of time than watching the Today Show and gripping about our days ahead of us.

2) Eating dinner at the table together. When we first got married and moved into the house we ate at the table more regularly. This last year it has felt like we only ate at the table if we have company, and sometimes not even then. I've enjoyed sitting undistracted and having a nice meal and conversation with my man.

I guess I could update everyone on my Birthday Goals as well.

So far we've hosted 3 events. We are 1/4th of the way through our goal. I've sworn off hosting anything for the month of January so in February we might pick this back up.

I'm also nearly finished with my fourth book of the year, nearly 1/3rd the way complete with this goal. Yikes. Maybe I should have set more ambitious goals for myself. Honestly though, part of the reason I'm able to complete this goal so fast is in my current employment status. I'm not complaining. I love ample reading time.

I've been enjoying champagne and sparkling wine a good bit as well. I decided to work my way up from the bottom shelf at the liquor stores. So far Andre Spumante is my favorite. For New Year's I ventured up to the second shelf and got Cupcake Proseco. Not a favorite. I tend to prefer sweeter wines to dryer ones.

Entertaining

So last week I posted about my goals as a 28 year old. I'm happy to report that I'm doing really well at achieve them!

In the last week we've entertained twice. I didn't take pictures at either event, but I thought I'd do a quick recap.

First I had my Skyline girls over for Champagne (two birds, one stone!). We had a fun evening catching up and talking.

Secondly we had a bunch of friends over to celebrate Bryan turning 30. I fixed man dip, had a cheese plate, and a bowl of hummus for snacks. For the main course we did chili. I wanted to keep it simple and casual. We had a great time hanging out with friends that we don't normally get to hang out with.

On the champagne note, I've been striving to do my best in this area as well. On Wednesday after my birthday Jenna and I sampled some Andre Spumante and Brut with our queso. Don't judge.



I ordered a champagne cocktail out a few nights later.




Currently we have two bottles in the fridge. As part of this year of Champagne I'm going to try to taste a whole bunch of different types. I'm starting on the lowest shelf and working my way up. I have another Spumante and a cherry champgne waiting to be enjoyed.

Fall Goals

Fall is in the air. I've started or discussed a few projects I'd like to complete and I'm hoping if I write it down then maybe I'll stick to them.

Here are few things I'd like to complete by November 15th, right in time for the holidays:

- Make Bryan's office/work space more functional. (We're toying with the idea of moving our living room to the real living room and the office into the front spare room we've been using as a living room since we moved in.)

- Make curtains or have someone make curtains. OR use the roll of fabric that is currently resideing in the corner of the dining room.

- Reupholster my new front porch rocking chair. I picked up this lovely rocker off the side of the road. It is perfect for our front porch, but needs some new fabric and foam for the seat.

- Lose weight. I don't have a scale and have been avoiding them for a couple of years now. So instead of putting a number to it, my goal is to fit into my Joe's jeans that I bought new last year and haven't quite been able to squeeze into.

- Dinner parties. Have them. Every week.

- Laundry room re-do. I started priming the walls. I need to prime the ceiling, paint the walls and ceiling and prime and paint the cabinets. Maybe two and a half months will give me enough time to finish a 8 x 6 room. Maybe.

This summer I focused on mostly food goals, all of which I was successful in, but this season I want to focus on the house. I've been slacking on making some progress in the house so now its time I turn my focus to it and really get some things done.