February Goals Update

At the beginning of the year I started a 2014 goals list.  Instead of doing monthly goals, I decided to have an open-ended list that I can work on and add to throughout the year.  I'm planning on doing updates at the beginning of each month to hold myself accountable!  

2014 Goals

{one} Read 15 books.
As of February I have completed 2 books and I'm working on my third (and fourth).  Does anyone else read two books at a time?  It's confusing but I find it SO hard to give up on a book.  Here are the books I finished (click on pic to get more info):

{two} Attend at least 1 organized activity per week with Carson before Mason's arrival!
-I signed Carson up for a super fun gymnastics class at our local community center.  The first class was canceled due to weather.  We went to the second class and he had SO much fun.  Then the third class was canceled because of electrical problems in the gym.  THEN the fourth class was canceled again due to weather.  I was so bummed!  At that point the director called me to say they were offering refunds or a spot in their March session.  Since we're moving I decided to just get a refund.  Luckily I found another class closer to our new house that starts in late February - I can't wait!
-Carson started swim lessons this week and I'm so happy!  He took them last winter and it was a lot of fun to get in the water during these cold months so I'm excited to do it again.
-We've also been regularly attending library story times and we went to one book store story time.  
-We also attended a "Mommy and Me" movie at one of our local theaters.  I was shocked at how well Carson did!  He rarely is interested in TV at home and we've never attempted a movie.  I decided to try it out because for 2 tickets, a child sized popcorn and a child sized drink, our total was $4.50!  I figured I wouldn't be wasting much money if we had to leave early.  We saw Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2 and Carson made it through the whole movie!  (And the whole box of popcorn that we shared!) 

{three} Strengthen my relationship with the Lord.
I've been reading a book by Beth Moore that has a daily devotional with a short prayer and scripture reading.  I really like that it's a quick read each day and gives me time to think about the scripture.  I also like that it's scheduled out for me so it's something easy I can do every day!



{four} Send more snail mail!  (At least one per month.)
I sent my Christmas thank you notes, but I'm not sure that would count!  :)  I also sent a card and a few small gifts to some of my friends.  I love getting fun mail so I'm sure others do too!

{five} Go on one date per month (on average) with the hubster.  
No luck so far.  My mom is coming to babysit this weekend so we can go out to dinner with a group of friends.  I'm still craving that husband-wife only date, though!  We've just been busy with house stuff and when we have to get a sitter for that, I feel guilty getting a sitter again for a date (even though the sitters are always Carson's grandmas and they LOVE it)! 

Goals

I decided I'm going to do my 2014 goals a little differently.  Before I explain, here's a look at how I did with my December goals:

1. Read 2 books.  Success!  I read Bake, Battle, & Roll as well as Sparkly Green Earrings.  Don't judge my choices, I wanted some light reads since I knew the holidays would be busy!  Sparkly Green Earrings had been suggested to me multiple times and I finally got around to reading it.  It was really cute and easy to relate to!  {Click the pictures for purchasing links!}

2. Finalize a name for Baby2.  Success!  We finalized our name in time to even get it printed on our Christmas cards.  I was going to just put "Baby P" or something but I figured we should just choose a name and make it official.  If you missed my post, you can find it here.  Baby2 will now officially be known as Mason!

3. Go on a date with my hubby!  Success!  Our first date night attempt was on 12/27 and we were going to go to an Ohio State basketball game.  Unfortunately we got rear-ended on the way there and didn't make it to the game.  I'll talk more about it in my next weekly pregnancy update but luckily everyone is fine!  Our second date night was for New Year's Eve.  My mom offered to babysit so we went to a friend's house for a small get together.  It was really fun and low key.  We played some games, drank some (virgin) beverages, and just had a good time!  I'm still craving a one-on-one hubby date though!

4. Finish my Christmas shopping before December 20.  Success!  I feel like December 20th was a little late to be finishing up, but I did it.  Well, I did buy one gift card on the 22nd but that's okay, right?  I even got my wrapping done by the 23rd.  Haha, I should not be proud of this procrastination at all!  

5. Create and Execute a Holiday Bucket List.  Success!  If you missed it, you can find my holiday bucket list here!  Check out this post to see how we did with our bucket list!

2014 Goals

This year I'm going to do my goals posts a little differently.  In 2013 I started monthly goal posts and I always made 5 goals.  As silly as it sounds, sometimes it was hard to think of 5 goals for a month!  This year I'm still going to do monthly goals posts but I'm going to keep the same list going.  Some months I'll cross items off, some months I'll add goals.  Some months I'll do both!  I haven't thought a ton about what I want to accomplish this year so my list is starting out fairly small....

{one} Read 15 books.

{two} Attend at least 1 organized activity per week with Carson before Mason's arrival!

{three} Strengthen my relationship with the Lord.

{four} Send more snail mail!  (At least one per month.)

{five} Go on one date per month (on average) with the hubster.  

1. Last year I had a goal of reading 25 books.  I only made it to 17.  I'm dropping my number by 10 because I'm adding another baby to the mix!  I'm trying to be realistic.  :)

2. As far as organized activities, I'm thinking story times at the library, special events, classes, etc.  I already have Carson signed up for one class so that's a good start!  One of the things about having 2 (under 2!) that makes me nervous is that I won't be able to get out of the house as much with Carson.  I don't want him to miss out on anything so I want to get as much in before Mason arrives since we'll be home for at least the first few weeks!

3. I haven't quite figured out how I'm going to strengthen my relationship with God yet, but I know I want to.  I already pray quite a bit but I need to do more.  I'm not sure if that means trying harder go to to church each week or maybe starting a bible study again.  Any ideas are welcome!  :)

4. Everyone loves getting mail, especially when it's a personalized note or card.  In 2014 I'm going to try to send more notes, cards, letters, etc. to the people I care about!

5. I said "on average" so if we miss a month we can try to make up for it the following month!  I know it will get much harder to get out on dates once Mason arrives but I want to make a point in trying to get some husband-wife time because I feel that it's very important!

A Look Back at December

Earlier this month I posted about our holiday bucket list.  I printed this out and hung it on our fridge and it was a fun reminder of things we could do over the month!   Let's see how we did on our Family Holiday Bucket List for the "12 Days of Christmas".  In case you forgot, here is a copy of the bucket list I made:

I'm happy to say we did ALL of this!  Here are some highlights:

1. We made holiday ornaments:

2. We went to the zoo lights!

3. We watched holiday movies!  Carson wasn't super into this activity (at all), but I turned some on during play time anyway.  I also watched one with the hubster.  Here is some of what we watched:

4. We sent out a ton of holiday cards and got a ton back, too!  Here's our card from this year:

5. I used one of my favorite recipes for peanut butter fudge to take to a cookie exchange!  Unfortunately my fudge didn't turn out right this time.  I think I boiled it too long in the beginning.  It's the thought that counts though, right?  :)

6. We decorated our tree very plain this year.  Lights and probably only 20-30 ornaments!  All of our ornaments are homemade or have some sentimental reason behind them except for some snowflake ornaments from Target.  My goal this year was no hooks since Carson was really into exploring the tree and ornaments!

7. We were able to get out and play in the snow a few times!  I'm not a huge fan of the cold but it's so much fun to see Carson exploring something new.  I think he prefers the beach like his Momma! :)

8. We read TONS of Christmas stories!  I keep a stash of "holiday/seasonal" books in Carson's room that I get out at different times throughout the year.  (Can you tell I'm a teacher at heart?!)  I was so excited to get out his stash of Christmas/winter books this year and we also got some from the library!  Here are some of his favorites (click on the picture to find where to purchase):
 

9. I definitely baked a lot of cookies this month!  I made hot cocoa cookies, M&M bars, and peanut butter meltaways. I also made peanut butter fudge and candy buckeyes!  (Click links for recipes!)  The recipes for the two pictured below are coming SOON!

10. We visited Santa and Carson just loved it (insert sarcasm font).

11. We "built" a fire by flipping the switch on our gas fireplace.  I know some people think that's lame but I LOVE it.  It's so convenient and I can turn it on/off whenever I need to!  We never need to worry about having wood and we don't have to worry about letting the fire burn out (I remember that from when I was little).

12. Obviously I wrapped our gifts!  I didn't do the best job this year because I usually wrapped during Carson's nap time so I was a bit rushed.  Next year I want to use some cute paper and add more ribbons and bows!

November/December Goals

Here's a look at how I did with my November goals:

1. Read 1.5 books.  Success plus some more!  I completed The Husband's Secret which was really good!  I had never heard of this book until some of the girls in my mommy group recommended it.  It wasn't something I'd typically pick but it was actually really interesting!  There is great character development even though there are a lot of characters to get to know in the beginning!  I also completed Burned.  I chose this book because it was only a dollar or two on my Nook and had really good ratings.  It was an interesting read since it's all written in poetry.  I really liked the story and the poetry made it a quick read.  I started another book which I will [hopefully] finish in December!

2. Start pinning ideas for Carson's big boy room.  FAIL!  I want to get excited about this but it's hard since I don't know if I'll be doing a big boy room for Carson at our current house or a new house.  Since our house is on the market all planning is really kind of up in the air.  Bummer but that's reality!

3. Go on a date with my hubby!  Fail. :(  We thought about going on a date quite a few times but never actually made it happen.  We did go out with some friends to a basketball game but I can't consider that a date because the boys sat in one section and the girls sat in a total different section!  

4. Save more money with coupons.  Success!  I organized all of my coupons and started clipping again!  I make my list according to weekly specials and coupons and I saved a ton last month!  I'm nowhere near an extreme couponer but I'm pretty proud of myself anyway!  I also have been using the Target Cartwheel app and I've saved over $40 with that!  

5. Visit somewhere new with Carson.  Super Success!  The weather got pretty chilly but we still squeezed in one new park last month.  Carson loved it and since it was a bit chilly we were the only ones there!  We also went to a special event at a library other than our "normal" library for Halloween.  Carson had a ton of fun and I'm glad the activities were geared for all ages so he could participate.  We also went to another new (to us) library for a story time!  It was fun but I prefer some of the other libraries we've visited because this one had a TINY story space so there was no room for Carson to move around at all!  We also went to a mall that was recently updated and added an indoor playground.  Carson had a lot of fun exploring and getting some of his energy out!

Now onto new goals!

December Goals

1. Read 2 books.  If I am successful with this goal it will put me at 17 books for 2013.  My goal was 25 and obviously I'm nowhere near that but 17 isn't awful!

2. Finalize a name for Baby2.  I can't say this enough - naming a child is SO HARD!  We had a hard time with Carson but with a second child, there are so many other things to consider!  The number one "issue" for us is how names sound with Carson.  You know, the "sibset".  I know it doesn't really matter, but I know I'll be saying "Carson and ____" a lot so I want it to sound nice together!  We also had some "C" names on our list but then we wonder if people think we're going to try to be that family with all "C" kids.  This baby WILL be named before 2013 is over!

3. Go on a date with my hubby!  Even though December is a super crazy month for us with a vacation and all of the holiday hoopla, I really want to try to squeeze a date in!  Maybe we could do a day date with some Christmas shopping and a matinee movie.  (We may be 80 years old...)

4. Finish my Christmas shopping before December 20.  I'm usually pretty good with getting my shopping done early but this year December snuck up on me!  I'm pretty much done with Carson (he's way too fun to buy for), but I still have a LOT of other people to buy for.  I'm hoping to have it done by the 20th so I can have some time to wrap and organize since we have to tote presents to 598793284 different places around town.  :)  We're on vacation one week during that time so that gives me about 2 weeks to get my shopping done.  I think I can do that!  

5. Create and Execute a Holiday Bucket List.  I've seen these all over Pinterest and I just think they are SO cute!  I want to make one with fun family activities and try to check off all of the items!

What are your December goals?

October/November Goals

Here's a look at how I did with my October goals:

1. Read 1.5 books.  Semi-success.  I completed one book and started another but I'm not really halfway through yet.  The book I finished, Defending Jacob, was really good and even had a twist at the end.  The one thing I didn't like about it is that was WAY longer than it needed to be!  The author went on and on about little details that were meaningless to the plot (in my opinion).  I still consider it a good book, though!

2. Go Green at the grocery!  Semi-success again.  I go to the grocery store about once every week which means four times a month.  In October I remembered to use my reusable grocery bags 2/4 times.  Initially I was keeping them in the house and I almost always forgot them so I moved them to my car.  The problem with that is that I keep them in the trunk area with the stroller....which I never use at the grocery store!  I think I need to start keeping them with my cart cover!

3. Go on a date with my hubby!  FAIL...again!  We did have a night without Carson while we were in a wedding on October 11th but we haven't had a special date night for the two of us in SOOOO long!

4. Try a new recipe.  Success!  I tried a new soup recipe that I'll be sharing with you all very soon!

5. Try out a new story time or a new park with Carson.  Success x 2!  We visited a new park AND a new story time!  It's starting to get too cold to try new parks so I'm glad we did this while the weather was still decent.  I'm looking forward to more story times during the colder months, though!

Now onto new goals!

November Goals

1. Read 1.5 books.  I'm keeping this goal since I almost met it last month.  Just for a 2013 goal update, I'm on my 14th book and my goal was 25 books for the year.  Unless I start counting the hundreds of picture & board books I read on a daily basis, I think I might not reach my goal.  Womp womp!

2. Start pinning ideas for Carson's big boy room.  It seems silly that I need to make this a goal, but I keep putting it off because it makes me sad to think Carson is going to be getting a new room soon!  Whenever we move (someone buy our house!) Carson will be getting a new room no matter what.  If we end up staying in this house, Carson will probably move to the guest room so Baby2 can take over the nursery.  It's hard to think of ideas when I don't know if we'll be here or somewhere else!

3. Go on a date with my hubby!  I'm adding this one again since I've failed so many months in a row now.  I think we need to make a point to do something with just the two of us....hopefully a movie because I'm craving one of the sandwiches that our dinner theater serves!  :)

4. Save more money with coupons.  I used to be SO good with my coupons!  Now I have about 3-4 coupon insert packets that I haven't even gone through yet.  I need to set time aside during nap time or after Carson goes to bed to cut and organize coupons and then make my grocery list accordingly.  I also need to try to use the coupons that I can load onto my store loyalty card!

5. Visit somewhere new with Carson.  Last month we had fun exploring a new park and checking out a new story time.  This month I want to do something else new.  I'm not sure what the weather will be like so that's why this is a vague goal.  Maybe we'll do another new story time, maybe a park, maybe something through our city's rec center...who knows!

September/October Goals

Here's a look at how I did with my September goals:

1. Read 1 book.  Success!  I actually read 2.5 books.  Such an over achiever!  In reality, I'm just playing catch up so I can try to meet my goal of 25 books in 2013!  Here are the 2 books I completed this month.  I'll share the other with you when I finish it next month!

2. Get our house on the market!  Success!  Our house officially went up for sale on September 7th!  If it were up to me, I would have waited until Spring to list the house.  Fall is a weird time because school has already started and people like to move during warmer weather.  Keeping my fingers crossed anyway.  We've had some showings and a super successful open house!  We also had one (ridiculous) offer that we didn't even respond to, but at least it's something, right?!

3. Visit somewhere new with Carson.  Fail. :(  We went to a lot of fun places, but nowhere new to us....not even a new park!  Maybe we've just seen all that we can see!  (Obviously I'm joking!)

4. Go on a date with the hubster.  Semi-Success....ish!  We went to an Ohio State football game (O-H!) but we met Nick's aunt and uncle there so it wasn't really husband-wife only time.  We also went on a few fun family dates, but no husband-wife dates this month.  I still had a lot of fun going out as a family.  We don't go out to eat much (mainly to save money) and this month we went out to dinner with Carson and also took him for his first breakfast out!  He did great and loved watching everyone in the restaurants!

5. Get some "me" time during one nap a week.  Success!  I try to take at least 1 nap time during the week to catch up on DVR, read a book, make a craft, or even (gasp) NAP!  It's been really amazing and I don't feel guilty because I get a ton done on the other days!  

Now onto new goals!

October Goals

1. Read 1.5 books.  I'm hoping to finish the book I'm currently reading as well as another book.  That will still leave me pretty behind for my 2013 goal, but I don't want to make unattainable goals!  Maybe I should start counting the 100's of picture books I read on a daily basis!  :)

2. Go Green at the grocery!  I have a huge collection of reusable grocery bags from random places that I just keep in my laundry room.  I've used them at the actual grocery less than 5 times and I don't know why!  They are obviously way better for the environment and they actually fit more groceries so you end up having less bags to carry!  I might need to start keeping them in my car so I don't forget them on grocery trips!

3. Go on a date with my hubby!  I'm adding this one again since I pretty much failed in September.  I'd love to go to dinner and see a movie or do something romantic!  

4. Try a new recipe.  I usually try at least a few new recipes every month, but I'm going to add it to my goals list to make sure that I try something new this month!

5. Try out a new story time or a new park with Carson.  Carson LOVES story time!  We've been to a local bookstore, and several libraries.  We're lucky to have a ton of libraries around us.  We frequent the one by our house, but we've also been to probably 5-10 other libraries!  Lately we've just been going to the one by our house so my goal for October is to check out another branch!  I added or a new park just because the weather has been so nice lately.  If it stays like this, I definitely want to take advantage!

August/September Goals

Here's a look at how I did with my August goals:

1. Read 1 book.  SUCCESS!  It took the entire month, but I finished a book.  I really wish I had more time to set aside for reading but once I put Carson to bed I usually like to use that time as husband/wife time.  Don't get any ideas...we normally just play a game or watch some Netflix!  :)  Here's the book I read in August, still deciding what my September book will be.

2. De-clutter the basement.  FAIL!  I was able to sell about 5-10 things from the basement that I didn't need anymore, but I definitely didn't de-clutter.  I did, however, de-clutter the rest of our house!  It's getting super close to being ready to put on the market!  

3. Find a way to get Carson to eat more veggies!  Semi-Success.  We tried a few new veggies this month including soy beans and Carson was not impressed.  One thing that worked for me was pureeing the veggies and adding them to things.  That's not super convenient so I'm still looking for other ideas.  I also tried to mix some veggies in with his beloved Annie's mac'n'cheese and he picked the green beans out and tried to feed them to me!  What a stinker!  He'll still eat the food pouches so right now, that's how he's getting most of his veggies.

Notice he left all the beans.... :/

4. Go on a date with the hubster.  Success!  Not only did we spend an entire weekend together in NYC, but we also went to a wedding!  

5. Travel to another state!  Success!  I flew alone (for the first time!) to meet Nick in NYC.  He was there for 2 weeks on business so I joined him for a weekend and we packed in tons of sight seeing and yummy food!  It was my first time being away from Carson overnight and while it was super hard to leave, coming back to him was pretty amazing!  :)

Now onto new goals!

September Goals

1. Read 1 book.  It seems like this is a nice attainable goal for me so I'm going to keep it for September!  Now I need to hurry up and choose a book!  I've read 10/25 for my 2013 goal so I'm not completely behind...right?  :)

2. Get our house on the market!  We've been working toward this for a few weeks now and we're just about ready to officially put our house on the market.  It's very bittersweet since we've been here 8.5 years (time flies!) but I know Nick is excited to be closer to his work. 

3. Visit somewhere new with Carson.  I want to try out some new places with Carson both indoor and outdoor.  Hopefully the weather will be nice for the majority of the month, but I need to find some indoor activities for when the weather starts to get cold.  Once September is over the countdown to spring begins! :)

4. Go on a date with the hubster.  I'm keeping this goal for another month!  Last month we did amazing with a weekend getaway AND a wedding!  This month I'm going to shoot for something a little more low key like going to see a movie or something.  :)

5. Get some "me" time during one nap a week.  Lately I've been so tired at the end of each day.  Nick leaves before Carson gets up and usually doesn't get home until 7 or later.  I LOVE spending my time with Carson but it's not like we're just hanging out eating bon bons and watching TV!  I've never been good at giving myself relaxation time.  Even when I worked, I would spend my entire lunch break working; sending emails, prepping for the afternoon, making copies, etc.  I have decided that once a week during nap time, instead of cleaning or doing other things from my never-ending to-do list, I'm going to take some time for myself.  Maybe I'll read a book, maybe I'll watch trashy reality TV, maybe I'll paint my nails!  The possibilities are endless! ;)