Time for goals setting 2016

 

The last couple of years, I've intended  (I think I came through at least twice...) to update my goal progress at the end of each quarter.  I like sharing my goals with you (whoever is reading these posts) and I hope that you are encouraged to make your own goals for the year.  I feel spurred on to make more of an effort towards achieving my goals when I tell others about what I'm doing.

Our family has gone through so many changes the last couple of years; I never would have imagined being where we are. God has been teaching me more and more how trustworthy He is and that I need to fully depend on Him.  He is faithful and just, and cares about us so deeply.  I want my 2016 to be glorifying to Him, to be yielded to His plans and not my own.

Over the past several months, I have read several personal development books because I believe in always improving and working to learn new skills.  I've learned some things about myself, my work habits and attitudes that I never really understood previously.  For a long time, I have felt stifled and stuck in a box in my jobs and have had dreams and ideas of becoming an entrepreneur but I could not quite pin down my best idea, so I kept working my jobs.  I've been doing some brainstorming lately and reading a ton and I feel like I have narrowed it down but it's not ready to be shared just yet.

So, my first goal for 2016 is....Start a small business.   Do much more reading and research on the subject.  Test out some ideas on friends and family.  Drive down to a more specific niche and market.  Meet set financial goals for business.

Second goal....Read two non-fiction books per month, one of which should be either a biography or about a time in history.  This is not an ambitious goal for most of you, but I need to start somewhere.  I don't tend to make reading a priority, mostly because of the normally-crazy pace that we keep with careers and running after three kids.  I feel this goal is attainable and I don't want to set a crazy high bar for myself that I know I won't meet.

Third goal...Pay off last debt in Baby Step 2, our minivan.  We have been on this journey of paying off our debt since 2009, way longer than I thought it would be, but we have made a lot of progress with varying incomes over the years and this is our last one finally!

Fourth goal...Spiritual growth in discipline.  This one is not as measurable, obviously, but I have been praying over and working on my discipline for the past few months.  More specifically, with food choices and money spent on bad food choices.  Mostly fast food and eating out with my family.  Since I have been at home for the past three weeks, I have had a few temptations of impulse but have not given in!! That alone is a victory in itself.  Because I know that we won't be going out to eat much this year, I've allowed myself to buy treats at the grocery store that I never bought before.  I feel like it's still a better option to buy some less-than-superfood food from the store in lieu of fast food any day.

That's it for now.  I feel pretty good about these goals.  They're measurable, short-term, and attainable, yet still challenging, so I could use some accountability here, friends!  Please share your goals with me, too!

Happy New Year!

Back to it

First day back to work after 16 days off.  It felt like a month; I think that's a good thing.  I'm excited to get back into my routine so I can be more productive on a daily basis.  However, I feel like I made good progress on certain areas in my home over the past couple of weeks. (I'll post pics later).  I realized that  I organize spaces that are normally unseen - like closets and cabinets.  But the areas that are out in the open are just sort of a free-for-all.  Not sure why that is.  Maybe because I feel like I can control the clutter in these smaller, hidden spaces whereas the kids (and dad) just fly through the open areas and set things down wherever they are.  I got a new storage cube bookshelf with six cubes.  Three of them are just open and the other three have fabric drawers.  I will have to actually fit things in them to know for sure but here are my ideas of what to put in/on them:

1. Fabric drawer of winter accessories such as scarves, hats, and gloves.
2. Shelf of extra soap and laundry detergent-type items
3. Fabric drawer of extra batteries and candles. Maybe I'll put flashlights in there and the crank radio to make a mini-emergency bucket.
4. Shelf of games and binders
5. Fabric drawer of bubbles and other small outdoor-type items
6. Shelf of scrapbook paper with a bucket of tape, scissors, etc...
On top: 1. caddy of cleaning supplies and 2. Hubs' smaller toolbag and new hardware keeper.

We also got new garbage cans over the weekend and they all have lids.  I'm excited about the prospect of the lids and the fact that they all match because it'll look more put-together and you also won't be able to see trash everywhere in our house.  PLUS, it won't enable us to overflow the garbage every week.  Just take it out already, would ya?!  Hopefully that will prevent splatter as well.  I'm reading all these org. blogs and just came across one talking about 31 days to staging your home.  We need to do this for the short sale.  But we need to call the realtor first.  However, Hubs and I discussed living more simply in 2013 as one of our goals, so we are purging (trash or donate) anything we know we don't need as well as anything that hasn't been used in a year.  Once we have the extra clutter out of the way, we'll be able to better identify some areas that need work.  We already know we'll have to repaint certain rooms and repair the two small drywall holes and fix the spiggot.  The only other item I know will have to be addressed is trim.  Replacing and installing trim in a few areas.  Then we can focus on cleaning and staging.  It's really difficult to do all this when you're still living in the home and especially with doing a short sale (prayerfully) and not knowing the timing.  Also, we don't know where we will live which is another stress that I've just put in my rearview for now.  Impressively enough, I have forced myself not to obsess or even think about that for the last week or so.  God has a plan for us and we need to just be still and watch for direction.

Tonight, I have plans to clean out the chemical closet and move it to the garage (or the curb, if I can convince Hubs) and put the new shelf unit in its place.  Since I already have purposes in mind for each shelf/drawer, it should be a pretty seamless process. I'll take before and after pics and post them tomorrow.  Super excited to purge/de-clutter and organize this home and especially excited that my husband is on board and at least semi-dedicated to keep it that way once it's all done.  2013, you are going to change us as a family, I just know it.

 

Year in Review

I remember gladly welcoming 2012 to come in about a year ago.  I don't remember why 2011 seemed to be so awful but I was ready to move on.  Well, 2012 was a year of ups and downs.  Hubs battled IDES, Sears, and the Treasure Chest over lost wages, our beautiful girl was born in May, we missed our first mortgage payment because I was on maternity leave, I got to spend my whole summer with my family doing lots of fun activities, we decided to short sale the house, and most significantly, Hubs lost his dad on 12/11 due to a heart attack.

2013 is already proving to be interesting - Calah is on her third day of a nursing strike and it is painstaking for me.  I hate pumping and I certainly don't want to do it while I'm at home!!  I am trying to be patient with her and figure it out together.  LORD help me!  Jo was tested for allergies last week and we discovered he is mildly allergic to dogs and that's it.  Encouraging for sure - he's on Singulair every day now indefinitely and seems to be doing better but I think he may have caught Calah's cold from last week.  He has dived into the terrible twos head first as of last week and he is very volatile. Benji was never this bad.  I could at least get him to take deep breaths and calm him down.  I feel like Jo doesn't understand what I say to him sometimes, so I just have to be patient and consistent.  We are not sure where we will be living once the house sells but we are putting it in GOD's hands and trying to be smart in the meantime and save up as much as possible.

Tomorrow will be another home day (I think that makes two home days since I've been home on vacation) and is sure to have plenty of things for me to do in the house.  I have been going through the house purging and reorganizing like crazy lately.  You'd think I was pregnant, lol. However, we still have a major clutter and mess problem at the moment.  Hubs started tackling the garage clutter yesterday and I have been going through boxes and boxes of clothes from the garage so we know where everything is and what we need to keep.  Then he can put them back in a good spot in the garage.  I have been getting some great ideas for home organization from some blogs that I've found and am really excited and optimistic about my ability to do it and keep it up.  Even in this small house.  I thought it wouldn't be possible because we have no space for anything but I have been finding ways to use the space more efficiently.

I need to get to bed.  It's 11:33PM and I'm planning to get up early and get to the gym.  I have our final weigh-in on Tuesday when I get back to work and I have probably gained five pounds over the past week.  So, I will need to lose about 15 pounds in the next week and with Calah not nursing, I'm not burning as many calories, so I'm a little pessimistic about this goal.  But, it's not the end of my journey.  I still have the rest of my life to work on this and I will get to 150 in 2013.

2013, bring it on!



I guess it's time to set goals for 2013.  I did fairly well with my goals for 2012.  I had a healthy baby girl in May and have lost more weight than I could've imagined.  I still have about 15 pounds to go at this point and one more size.  Our income didn't live up to what we originally thought it would be so we didn't meet our financial goals but I am putting a little bit back into my 401k now and since we are short selling the house, the money is going to debt and savings for when we move.  I started a blog and continued with it throughout the year.  And so now it's time to think about this next year.

GOALS FOR 2013

1. Get Hubs to 70% of budget

2. Pay off credit card and NE - Ggy

3. Lose the last 15 pounds and maintain. Workout twice per week.

4. Meal-plan for the month ahead of time.

5. Get the house short sold and move to a bigger place to rent

6. Live simpler.  Purge items, organize.  Work on one room at a time.

7. Build family emergency kits by 2/1/13

These are attainable and I will have to figure out how to get specific enough to ensure these get accomplished.

Most importantly, we are continuing into a season of full-time ministry and are super excited about what God has for us this year.  We are looking to Him to grow and bless the ministry already going on in this community and to determine where we fit in.  To Him be all the glory in everything we do! "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." - Phil 4:13.