1.07.2016

A New Year + A New List


I'm not sure how you ladies feel about January but January and I have a love-hate sort of relationship. I love January in that it's a time to start over; a time to re-evaluate. A time to set new goals and new priorities. A time to start fresh. But at the same time, I hate January. It's cold and boring. There's nowhere to go; nowhere to be after the hustle and bustle that November and December brings. The decorations from the previous season are gone which leaves our homes feeling lifeless and colorless. Anyone else feel the same way or is it just me?

But instead of focusing on the downside of the month, lets talk about the upside. New goals. I'm a list maker without a doubt. However, when it comes to New Year's resolutions, my list is pretty short because let's be real, I struggle to keep my head above water three-fourths of the year so tackling a long list of resolutions doesn't work for this girl. Over the last few years I've tried to stick to a just a handful of goals and so far that's worked well for me and my little family. 

This past year, I set three major goals for the year. (You can read more about them here)
  1. Be present with my friends and family 
  2. Clean out, weed out, and organize our home
  3. Tackle home projects- focusing on our living room and master bedroom 
In looking back over this list, I realize I seriously need to try harder with the first goal. However, I did make major progress on cleaning out, weeding out, and organizing our home despite that the job isn't quite done yet. But we did at least complete our living room and master bedroom makeovers by the fall. I shared our living room updates but as I wrote this post, I realized I never got around to sharing the master bedroom. Oops. I'll try to do that before our room is taken over with baby things :P No promises though! 

With all that said, let's talk this year's list of goals and to-do's. 

Be Present
Since I still need to work on being present instead of on my phone or on my computer while I'm at home with my family or out spending time with my friends, this is my top priority this year. With our family expanding this year, I definitely don't want to look back on the year and realize I missed so many milestones and memories because I was looking at a computer screen. No facebook, instagram, or blog post is more important than making memories with the ones I hold closest to my heart. 

Spend Time with my Husband
This year is going to be a big year for our family with the addition of our little guy. As I've been told by many people, going from a family of two to three isn't near as hard as going from a family of three to four.With this in mind, I know Kevin and my time is going to be spread thin and finding time for each other is going to be few and far between. With this in mind, I gifted Kevin twelve pre-planned and prepaid dates for Christmas this year. It's my intention that we find at least one day each month for each other. A day we can go out, loosen up, have some fun, and reminsce what it was like to be just Kevin and Sara... not just Mom and Dad. 

Continue to Clean Out, Weed Out, and Organize
This was a huge task last year and despite that didn't get done, I am so happy with the progress I made. You have no idea how much junk we needed to clear out. My goal is to finish cleaning out everything we don't need, want, or use anymore this year. Once that's accomplished, I vow to work hard to keep it all organized and in it's rightful place so that this doesn't have to go back on next year's list!

Tackle a Few More Home Projects
Since moving into our house five years ago, we've done quite a bit to make our house our home. This year there are just a few things I'd like to do. With Kevin planning on purchasing a new vehicle this year, I'd love to expand our driveway and add lights to our garage. Once that project is complete, if we have a little extra money left over, I'd love to have our kitchen cabinets painted a creamy shade of white; as well as add a six person table to our kitchen.

Draw Closer to Him 
This year I felt like I was more distant from God than I've ever been in my life. I allowed the hustle and bustle of being a wife, mother, teacher, and business owner get in the way of my time with God each day and without realizing it, I grew further and further away. This year, it's my hope and plan to start each day with a devotional and prayer so I can draw closer to Him. It's my earnest prayer that in starting my day with God it'll better reflect in my attitude and actions each day in an effort to lead others to Him. 


post signature

15 comments:

  1. Great List! I love that you gifted him the 12 pre planned date nights and are putting a focus on the two of you - we've always said when we have little ones we want to make sure time for the two of us is a priority too!

    ReplyDelete
  2. These are awesome goals, Sara! I really need to focus on being present, as well and spending time with my husband. Hopefully since these goals are things that we will actually like to do, it will be easier to complete them! :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. This is a great list of goals! It's good to see where you went wrong in the past, in order to be successful in the future. Good luck with accomplishing these goals in 2016!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Your list sounds incredible! I love the grow closer to him, I think thats a beautiful idea. Good luck on all these this year!

    Nicole // Chronicling Home

    ReplyDelete
  5. Congrats on the baby!!!! I bet you guys are so excited!!! Omg and isn't January dreary, cold and boring. I agree with you on that one. I also love that this year you are making a commitment to draw closer to God. In the past year I felt like my relationship with God really slipped. This year once I move I plan on finding a new church and reestablishing my relationship with God. I also love the Christmas Gift you gave your husband. So thoughtful and romantic. It's so important to remember to spend time with your significant other even though life might be crazy busy.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Such incredible goals. I'm hoping to be more present in the new year as well. xx Merisa | Monogrammed Magnolias

    ReplyDelete
  7. I love the being present one. I struggled with that a LOT in the beginning of 2015. After REALLY working on it towards the end of 2015 I noticed a huge change. It's definitely a better feeling being present!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Being present is one of my main goals as well. Happy 2016!

    http://thealwaysblog.com

    ReplyDelete
  9. Being present is such a great goal. It's one of mine for this year too!

    ReplyDelete
  10. These are seriously great goals. My favorite is being present. I also adore that you went into detail about detail about all of them. Very inspiring!

    xo Ashley

    ReplyDelete
  11. A very good list. I agree with bring present. It is so easy to get lost in all that is going on and before you know it you have missed out.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Being Present is such a good goal! I am constantly having my mind wander to other things, and its so important to pay attention to friends and family!

    XoLindsay
    Sugar & Something

    ReplyDelete
  13. Being present is definitely a goal of mine this year too!
    It's so easy to get caught up in the moment and I don't want to do that anymore.

    xoxo, Jenny

    ReplyDelete
  14. Being present is such a great one and has definitely become increasingly more difficult with time and technology. So excited that this is something you are making a priority.

    xo,
    Sara Kate Styling

    ReplyDelete
  15. I love the goal of "being present" It's so hard to do sometimes, but something that needs to be done!

    ReplyDelete

Hearing from you ladies always make my day, so please let me know you stopped by!