Happy February, friends! It’s going to be a great month :) I have actually been feeling that I would like a little more specificity in my focal areas for the year (which is pretty unlike me!), so I’ll be digging into that over the next few weeks. In the meantime, I’m grateful for the chance to write these monthly posts and the push they give me to keep moving forward little by little, even if I don’t yet have a perfect picture in mind of the finish line. I know everything I’ve listed below matters to me, and that’s a great place to start!!

What I read in January:
— All Joy and No Fun (Guys, I recommend this book for every single one of you!! It is SO fascinating! Read it, then come discuss it with me :))
— The Opposite of Spoiled (This book was a gem, too! Lots of practical tips I’m squirreling away for later!)

Revisiting my goals for January:
Set a date for our spring camping trip (planning dinner date moved to February!)
File all paperwork in our blue room (halfway completed – made good progress!)
Make our “areas to be purged” list (not yet!)
Tackle two areas I already know need help: our closet shelf and pantry (YES!! So happy about this! The pantry organization in particular has been huge, and so easy to maintain.)
Walk our home with John and make a list of needs and wants, then rank them (purging needs to come first, I think)
Browse through The Lifegiving Home online resources
Write June a note on her second birthday
Set up my Life List (post here!)
Order our 2017 photos from Social Print Studio
Confirm my EFM posting plans for January
Order my Fruit of the Spirit canvas

February goals:
— Set a date for our spring camping trip
— Make our “areas to be purged” list
— A neighborhood walk. Every day. (Hoping it warms up soon so this is more pleasant!)
— Decorate our house and kitchen table for Valentine’s Day!
— Ruthlessly edit the loft ruthlessly (did I mention ruthlessly?)
— Make a list of monthly dates for the year, inspired by Lisa
— Find a new toy storage solution for our family room (leaning toward a trio of Brimnes cabinets, inspired by Rhi)
— Choose and commit to a photo back-up service
— Enjoy our trip to Florida!

If you use a photo back-up service (Dropbox, Amazon Prime, etc.) that you love, I’d love to hear from you in the comments! If you have a favorite date idea to share, I’ll take that, too :)

Happy New Year, friends! Isn’t it marvelous that we’re all here for another year? :) Another year to learn and grow and move closer to the people we want to be.

Can I tell you a secret? Sometimes I worry that my goals aren’t big enough or different enough or important enough. Sometimes I worry that I never change, that I’m always just working on variations of the same things.

And you know what? There’s some truth in that. One of the greatest blessings of my life is that I have known who I am and what I want from a young age. I have great confidence in what matters to me and what does not.

You know how I’ve known my spirit age is 36 from the time of about 16? That understanding has given me the freedom to unapologetically craft the life I’ve been envisioning all along. So no, I generally don’t set goals like running a marathon, founding a charity, or selling my possessions and traveling the world at the beginning of the year. I’m not against “big” goals by any means, and if one becomes meaningful to me in the future, I will gladly take it on.

It’s just that in my life, the big things are the little things. I know who I want to be at 40 and 60 and 80. I might not know all the specifics (who knew I’d end up a Southerner??), but I have the general outline — enough to continue filling it in, little by little.

So here we go! Another year of adding color and dimension to this marvelous life. With that, I’m so happy to share my four 2018 focal areas…

Yes, focal areas, not goals! These are my areas of focus for this year, and I’ll flesh them out with specific, smaller projects and goals each month as I work through my PowerSheets.

1. Hear and do the Word. See and respond to needs. Observe the Sabbath. Listen to God. Be at home at church. Teach my daughter about God’s love.
Why? 2017 was a year of soaking in wisdom, and now I’m ready to put what I’ve learned into action, because that is what He desires for me. James 1:22-25 is my verse here.
How I will feel at the end of this year having made progress on this goal: Proud I spent time on what matters most. Likely humbled.
How I will celebrate making progress on this goal: I will record the highlights in my Life List as a record of His faithfulness.

2. Refine our home. Evolve our color scheme. Carve out distinct areas. Find new solutions for our changing needs.
Why? Our home is the arena for learning, growth, and unconditional love, and nothing matters more than love. If we can make it better, we should.
How I will feel at the end of this year having made progress on this goal: We will feel more at home in our home, content, and reminded of what matters most.
How I will celebrate making progress on this goal: A new home tour on Em for Marvelous!! :)

3. Fuel my body. Revolutionize meal planning. A fruit or veg with every meal. Less sugar. More water.
Why? I only get one and I want it to be capable of doing everything I ask it to.
How I will feel at the end of this year having made progress on this goal: Proud of myself for doing hard things and for strengthening my good choices muscle!
How I will celebrate making progress on this goal: I’ll treat myself to fruit along the way and we’ll celebrate with a delicious feast on NYE.

4. Build our legacy. Strengthen or set habits and rhythms. Record memories. Equip others. Invest in my people.
Why? I am blessed to be a blessing. I have been given much, and it is mine to be given away. I want to spend time on things that last longer than me.
How I will feel at the end of this year having made progress on this goal: Like things are on the right track but there is still more to do!
How I will celebrate making progress on this goal: Maybe a new piece of artwork for our home?

That last one’s a little vague, but you know what? The important thing is that it works for me :) And I look forward to fleshing out all of these more over the coming weeks and months!

And with that, here are my goals for January:
— Set a date for our spring camping trip
— File all paperwork in our blue room
— Make our “areas to be purged” list
— Tackle two areas I already know need help: our closet shelf and pantry
— Walk our home with John and make a list of needs and wants, then rank them
— Browse through The Lifegiving Home online resources (now that I’ve finished the book – so good!!)
— Write June a note on her second birthday (continuing a tradition)
— Set up my Life List
— Order our 2017 photos from Social Print Studio
— Confirm my EFM posting plans for January
— Order my Fruit of the Spirit canvas

There are few things I love more than reading about other’s goals! (Second only to reading other people’s Christmas cards, haha!) If you’ve posted your goals somewhere, I’d love to see – or just drop them in the comments! I can’t wait to take a peek and cheer you on.

Vision board sources, clockwise from top left: little girl, beautiful home, fruit, sailboat, kitchen table, soup, back steps, PB&J, fruits of the spirit

Affiliate links are used in this post!

Well, I knocked my hardest goal from November — abstaining from dessert — out of the park. YEAH! Other than that, though, my progress was pretty dismal… two weeks of sickness plus two different family visits plus Thanksgiving will do that to a girl!

Instead of rolling over the goals I didn’t finish to the next month as I usually do, I’m tabling most of them until January. I want my schedule to be as free as possible to focus on my most important goal for December: loving people well in the name of the tiny baby who came to love all of us two thousand years ago, the one who taught us to love others. Amen!

P.S. On the subject of goals, I love using the PowerSheets to track my professional goals (and sometimes personal ones, too). You’ll be hearing a lot about them on my Instagram next week as I begin to go through the prep work, and I’m planning to post here with some progress, as well!

My brother-in-law’s book!!!

What I read in November:
— Prayer (By the one and only Tim Keller. Loving it so far!)
— Books I’m reading throughout the year: The Power of a Praying Wife and The Lifegiving Home

Revisiting my goals for November:
Vote!
Organize our pantry (No… moving to January!)
Cozy up our guest bedrooms and upstairs bathroom in prep for Christmas visitors
Sort through all the “to be framed/hung” pieces in the loft and DO SOMETHING WITH THEM (Half check – sorted!)
Find general practitioners for John and myself and make appointments (Half check – found them, haven’t made appointments)
Post gift guides before Black Friday
File all paperwork in blue room (This actually will get done in December in prep for our guests!)
Abstain from dessert
Start a life list book (Bought the book on Black Friday and waiting for it to arrive!)

December goals:
— Finalize Christmas decor and execute (I haven’t done ANYTHING yet! Yikes!)
— Plan my family’s early Christmas visit (including a surprise mini birthday party for my niece!)
— Set our 2018 budget
— Go out to dinner with John for our 2017 review and celebration
— File all paperwork in blue room
— Finalize and print our Christmas newsletter and send out our Christmas cards with love (and personal notes!)
— Decide on a plan for June’s second birthday
— Love on our trash and recycling guys, our vet, and June’s teachers
— Give away as much as we spend on Christmas gifts in our church’s Christmas Eve offering

I’d love to hear, friends: What are your goals for this month? What are you most looking forward to?

Affiliate links are used in this post!

If you’ve spent any amount of time around here, you know that one of my life mottos is “everything in moderation” (thanks, Dad!). In general, I think it’s healthier, more sustainable, and more enjoyable to stick to a middle road than lurch to an extreme.

But sometimes, if you’ve been indulging more than usual, keeping everything in moderation necessitates a brief period of fasting. On that note, you’ll see that one of my November goals is to abstain from dessert (except on two special days!). I’m feeling in need of a little reset, and hoping this will do the trick! Everything else I have planned should be a breeze compared to that :)

P.S. I love using the PowerSheets to track my professional goals (and sometimes personal ones, too). The new collection went on sale last week and it is awesome! The one year goal planners will likely sell out before the new year, so scoot over and get yours soon if you’d like one for 2018.

What I read in October:
— Red Rising (Re-read this one in preparation for reading the third book in the trilogy — it’s been a few years, and I wanted a character and plot refresh before diving in!)
— The Secret Keeper (Valerie’s recommendation – so good!)
— Books I’m reading throughout the year: The Power of a Praying Wife and The Lifegiving Home

Revisiting my goals for October:
Start my work-from-home days with Bill Hybel’s prayer journaling practice (So I actually only did this once… yikes. The weird thing is, though, it was notably moving and impactful that one day I did it! Definitely something I want to continue incorporating whenever I can.)
Have a magic eraser party all over our house (Yes! They really are magic!)
Re-color code book shelf (Yes! You can see a little peek here, but basically, instead of going in normal rainbow order I started with white on top, then blues and greens, then yellows and oranges, then reds, then blacks, to lighten the overall look up a little.)
Spruce up our bedroom dresser (Yes! Nothing really worth showing, but I streamlined it as much as possible and added a silver frame with a snap from our last session with Nancy.)
Organize our pantry (Going on the November list!)
Host the fifth annual pumpkins and soup party in our backyard (Yes! Post here.)
Come up with something fun for June’s Halloween costume! (See the shining light!)

November goals:
— Vote!
— Organize our pantry
— Cozy up our guest bedrooms and upstairs bathroom in prep for Christmas visitors
— Sort through all the “to be framed/hung” pieces in the loft and DO SOMETHING WITH THEM
— Find general practitioners for John and myself and make appointments
— Post gift guides before Black Friday (this is earlier than I usually do them, but if I’m recommending you front load your shopping on Black Friday, I figure I should give you my picks before then!)
— File all paperwork in blue room (I pretty much just dump any paperwork we need to keep on our guest room desk throughout the year — this will be my once-a-year filing session :))
— Abstain from dessert (except for the launch party and Thanksgiving)
— Start a life list book (something I’ve wanted to do for awhile – I love this idea so much! I’ll probably write about ours more once I get it started!)

Friends, I’d love to hear: What would you like to see in my gift guides? Who do you need suggestions for? What price point is most helpful? Right now I’m thinking of doing one for boys, one for girls, one for ladies, one for men, and a surprise category, plus my own personal wish list, but I’m open to suggestions! Maybe one for grandparents??

Affiliate links are used in this post!