Update on My 18 in 2018

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Funny thing about My 18 in 2018.  I forgot I wrote it.  And then when I finally decided to come check out my blog again I was impressed with what a great list I had compiled.  I’m going to keep it going for 2019 but 19 goals seems…unreasonable.  So I’m switching it to My 9 in 2019.  But before I make a new list I want to close out on last year’s.

  1. Buy a house – Obviously this is a huge one.  I think we’re finally ready.  We only have Eli left at home and that’s only for 3 1/2 more years.  We’re ready to downsize some and find a forever home.  A lot of my focus will be on this in 2018.  The first step is a meeting at the end of January with a mortgage lender.  We did it!  We bought a house that we all love.  We did not downsize.  We did not take our time.  We met with our lender on Friday, found the house on realtor.com IN THE PARKING LOT, went and saw it twice on the weekend, and made an offer on Monday.  But we are 100% in love with our new home.  c0c6c0d462425fbd2b937416a15c8a3bl-m1xd-w1020_h770_q80
  2. Eat Dinner As a Family – When we are all home we will eat dinner at the table, no TV, and have a discussion.  We will prioritize helping Eli with school and current assignments.  Notice I’m not setting a required number of times per week or anything stringent.  We are a busy family, we enjoy our activities, and I’m not going to set myself up to feel guilty for that.  When we are home we will make it happen.  This is an ongoing struggle.  Crazy schedules don’t help.  And a lot of times the 3 of us end up eating in front of the TV but we’re trying.
  3. Plants – I want to incorporate more plants into our home.  I realized recently that when I looked at homes on Pinterest and blogs the ones that I admired the most had a lot of plants.  So far I’ve added 6 plants to our home, all small ones, that I have named hoping that makes me more committed to them!  There is, clockwise from top left, Fern, Portia, Terry the Terrarium, Janet, Jack (I’m KRissi….get it?!) and Pearl.  Once I can keep these 6 alive I’ll add more.  When we do move to a new home this will be a priority for the space I want to create.  Nailed this one.  I’m up to so many plants I don’t even want to get up and count them all.  But it makes a HUGE difference in the aesthetic of our home and I get a lot of compliments.image1 (1)
  4. Monthly Date with Dan – A Year of Dates – this is something Dan and I have tried to do other years and we rarely make it past the 2nd or 3rd date.  Luckily we are secure enough in our marriage that letting each other take a back burner to other things doesn’t cause stress.  But we still need to make time to connect. We made it through January.  We’ll try again next year.
  5. Monthly Date/Time with Eli – I have less than 4 years left with Eli at home so I want to connect with him in every way I can.  Didn’t do this one at all.
  6. Friends – I’m going to work more on making personal connections and letting my friends know I appreciate them.  I bought a beautiful Rifle Paper Co. address book  and I plan on using it to send nice notes to people I care about!   I did just OK on this one considering I’d forgotten my goals altogether.  
  7. goodreads Book Challenge – 15 book goal for 2018.  Last year was rough.  I was frequently obsessed with current news cycles and social media, rarely having anything tangible to show for time spent at home at home.  I love reading and I miss it.  I think I read 11/15.  But I did start a book club!  So next year this should be an easy goal.
  8. E-Book – I have an idea that I think will be useful for other people and I’m going to explore writing an e-book or possibly another format to be used as a tool.  No progress.  Idea is still cooking though.
  9. Blog – I enjoy writing.  Not so that I can be a blog star but because it helps me organize my thoughts and feelings and motivates me.  I’m going to commit to 1 blog post per month.  Womp Womp.
  10. Spend Within a Budget – Dan and I are not good money managers.  It’s something I’ve struggled with (and paid for) my entire life.  About 4 years ago we started using Dave Ramsey’s 7 Baby Steps and envelope system.  Cash only for spending money.  It worked and we finally had a savings.  The I decided to switch to ynab.  I also liked this system but I slowly started spending more money to the point that I was feeling out of control again.  If I’ve had addictions in my life it’s food and shopping.  I’ve declared January a “no spend” month an have done better than previous months but not great.  Uh…hard no progress here.
  11. Increase water intake – doing this naturally makes me also drink less soda.
  12. Healthier Food Choices – pretty self explanatory.  Less fast food is a huge need for my family.
  13. Take Prescribed Medications – I’m terrible about taking medications.  I only have 1 prescribed medicine and I haven’t taken it in months.  It’s for hypothyroidism so I absolutely have consequences from not taking it.  I would also like to add in a multivitamin and possibly some other supplements.
  14. Move – Whether it’s the gym, a walk, whatever….I want to MOVE more in 2018.
  15. Get Outside – I live in one of the most beautiful places on earth.  I need to get out an enjoy it.  I’m setting a goal to do 6 hikes or trail walks in 2018.
  16. Beach – The Oregon Coast is a magical place.  We live 1 1/2 hours from there and it’s been over a year since I visited.  I’ve decided to visit the beach once per quarter so every 3 months or so.  I told Dan and Eli that I wanted to visit the beach in March for my birthday.  11-16 are also a “Nope”.  As in no progress made.
  17. Volunteer – In 2017, for the first time in my life, I decided I would try to volunteer regularly.  This was first and foremost an attempt to funnel some of the feelings I was having about the current events in our country into positive action.  I will continue to volunteer for Adelante Mujeres and Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, specifically their BeSMART Program. Not great…but not awful.  I’ve stayed active in Moms and feel good about my efforts.
  18. Personal Interests – The few that come to mind are continuing my Spanish education and knitting or crafts.  I’m taking a knitting class in January at my local yarn store, The Knotty Lamb.  I also plan to resume my Spanish lessons in February.  Didn’t get to these either.

2018 was a big year.  I lost my job in June and broke my arm in October putting me out of work for 3 months.  Considering the upheaval I’m happy with the goals I made progress on.  Looking forward to 2019!!

My 18 in 2018

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I have always loved the beginnings of things.  The beginning of a school year or semester filled with new books, new supplies and a fresh syllabus.  The beginning of a romantic relationship filled with love, lust, and optimism.  The beginning of a year for me is no different.  It feels new, blank, and ready to be made into something special.  But much like new relationship and semesters, it’s when the novelty wears off that it becomes less….fresh.  That’s where the work begins, right?  This year instead of setting New Year’s resolutions I decided to make a list of 18 focus areas ~~My 18 in 2018~~ that I can come back to throughout the year.  Some are specific, some are not.  I’m hopeful that by approaching it in this way (instead of 2-3 large goals) I will be able to cycle back through them as my interest waxes and wanes.

My 18 in 2018

  1. Buy a house – Obviously this is a huge one.  I think we’re finally ready.  We only have Eli left at home and that’s only for 3 1/2 more years.  We’re ready to downsize some and find a forever home.  A lot of my focus will be on this in 2018.  The first step is a meeting at the end of January with a mortgage lender.
  2. Eat Dinner As a Family – When we are all home we will eat dinner at the table, no TV, and have a discussion.  We will prioritize helping Eli with school and current assignments.  Notice I’m not setting a required number of times per week or anything stringent.  We are a busy family, we enjoy our activities, and I’m not going to set myself up to feel guilty for that.  When we are home we will make it happen.
  3. Plants – I want to incorporate more plants into our home.  I realized recently that when I looked at homes on Pinterest and blogs the ones that I admired the most had a lot of plants.  So far I’ve added 6 plants to our home, all small ones, that I have named hoping that makes me more committed to them!  There is, clockwise from top left, Fern, Portia, Terry the Terrarium, Janet, Jack (I’m KRissi….get it?!) and Pearl.  Once I can keep these 6 alive I’ll add more.  When we do move to a new home this will be a priority for the space I want to create.IMG_3109
  4. Monthly Date with Dan – A Year of Dates – this is something Dan and I have tried to do other years and we rarely make it past the 2nd or 3rd date.  Luckily we are secure enough in our marriage that letting each other take a back burner to other things doesn’t cause stress.  But we still need to make time to connect.
  5. Monthly Date/Time with Eli – I have less than 4 years left with Eli at home so I want to connect with him in every way I can.
  6. Friends – I’m going to work more on making personal connections and letting my friends know I appreciate them.  I bought a beautiful Rifle Paper Co. address book  and I plan on using it to send nice notes to people I care about!
  7. goodreads Book Challenge – 15 book goal for 2018.  Last year was rough.  I was frequently obsessed with current news cycles and social media, rarely having anything tangible to show for time spent at home at home.  I love reading and I miss it.
  8. E-Book – I have an idea that I think will be useful for other people and I’m going to explore writing an e-book or possibly another format to be used as a tool.
  9. Blog – I enjoy writing.  Not so that I can be a blog star but because it helps me organize my thoughts and feelings and motivates me.  I’m going to commit to 1 blog post per month.
  10. Spend Within a Budget – Dan and I are not good money managers.  It’s something I’ve struggled with (and paid for) my entire life.  About 4 years ago we started using Dave Ramsey’s 7 Baby Steps and envelope system.  Cash only for spending money.  It worked and we finally had a savings.  The I decided to switch to ynab.  I also liked this system but I slowly started spending more money to the point that I was feeling out of control again.  If I’ve had addictions in my life it’s food and shopping.  I’ve declared January a “no spend” month an have done better than previous months but not great.
  11. Increase water intake – doing this naturally makes me also drink less soda.
  12. Healthier Food Choices – pretty self explanatory.  Less fast food is a huge need for my family.
  13. Take Prescribed Medications – I’m terrible about taking medications.  I only have 1 prescribed medicine and I haven’t taken it in months.  It’s for hypothyroidism so I absolutely have consequences from not taking it.  I would also like to add in a multivitamin and possibly some other supplements.
  14. Move – Whether it’s the gym, a walk, whatever….I want to MOVE more in 2018.
  15. Get Outside – I live in one of the most beautiful places on earth.  I need to get out an enjoy it.  I’m setting a goal to do 6 hikes or trail walks in 2018.
  16. Beach – The Oregon Coast is a magical place.  We live 1 1/2 hours from there and it’s been over a year since I visited.  I’ve decided to visit the beach once per quarter so every 3 months or so.  I told Dan and Eli that I wanted to visit the beach in March for my birthday.
  17. Volunteer – In 2017, for the first time in my life, I decided I would try to volunteer regularly.  This was first and foremost an attempt to funnel some of the feelings I was having about the current events in our country into positive action.  I will continue to volunteer for Adelante Mujeres and Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, specifically their BeSMART Program.
  18. Personal Interests – The few that come to mind are continuing my Spanish education and knitting or crafts.  I’m taking a knitting class in January at my local yarn store, The Knotty Lamb.  I also plan to resume my Spanish lessons in February.

So that’s my 18 in 2018!  As a working mother and wife I always feel pulled in different directions.  By creating areas of focus vs. goals I hope to eliminate some of the guilt!

Did you set any New Year’s resolutions?  How do you plan to make 2018 enjoyable?

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Happy New Year from my family to yours!