Well this is something different! I’ve never written a post checking in on my yearly goals midway through the year, but I did an Instagram story yesterday sharing some of the progress I’ve made, and thought it might make a good blog post, too! To recap, I set four focal areas for 2017 with the help of my PowerSheets. I’ve chipped away at them with specific, smaller goals each month, many of which I’ve shared with you in my monthly goal updates! Much of this should sound familiar to frequent visitors :) Focal area no. 1: Become a woman of prayer Progress I’ve made: The biggest and best change we’ve made is to offer impromptu prayer at dinner and other meals instead of a standard blessing. John and I switch off days. For two people who did not grow up praying out loud, this has been a great way to get more comfortable with the practice and warm up to teaching June more about prayer as she gets older. I’ve also read several books about prayer, bought a prayer journal (though I haven’t used it yet), and bought a new Bible that I love. What I hope to accomplish in the next six months: I would really like to try out a new devotional (I have heard great things about Streams in the Desert), establish a morning rhythm of prayer, give Bill Hybels’ prayer journaling practice a try, fill out my prayer journal, and begin praying with June before bed. Focal area no. 2: Love my loved ones well Progress I’ve made: The best thing I’ve done for this goal is to institute monthly prep days. When I thought about what had stopped me in the past from doing kind and fun things for the people I love, it wasn’t

Happy 2017, friends! The company I work for is a big fan of the phrase “there is nothing magical about January 1.” And while I wholeheartedly believe that, I also think there IS something special, invigorating, and exciting about turning the page on a new year. Some of the best things in my life have come out of looking back, looking forward, and making intentional decisions about how I’ll use my time, focus, and resources. In that spirit, I’m excited to share my 2017 goals with you today! But first, let’s briefly revisit 2016 (again). For 2016, the year I knew we’d be welcoming our first daughter, I decided to set guideposts. From last January’s post: I love the idea of having something to measure myself against throughout the next twelve months – a touchstone to refer back to in this year that has the potential to be tumultuous. Because you know, the one thing people love to tell you about kids is that they will change your life in ways you could never imagine. And while I welcome that, I also don’t want to start at zero on January 15. I want to protect and preserve the best parts of the life John and I have built together over the last ten years while welcoming the changes that will inevitably come. So, knowing that this Big Change has the potential to throw us off track and derail the progress we’ve made, I want to establish guideposts that I can look to to remind myself of what matters most to us as we integrate our girl into our life over the next year. This worked out SO well. I referred back to that post each time I set my monthly goals, and it was the perfect encouragement to keep me