Well, as you know, today is the last day of the year, so I thought I'd check in with my goals for 2012 one last time. This will be a lengthy post, so I don't expect you to read it all, but kudos to you if you make it through! I have some final thoughts at the end about this list and my plan for next year, if you're interested and want to skip down.
Here's a cheat sheet for you:
Normal text - didn't get started
Italics - made some progress but didn't complete
Bold - completed
1. Pack or eat a healthy breakfast on days I have to work {don’t stop for fast food or skip it} {I'm calling this a win. I would say I did this at least 80% of the time this year, maybe more. That's a huge improvement from what I was doing in 2011.}
2. Pack or eat a healthy lunch on days I have to work {don’t stop for fast food or skip it} {Again, I'm calling this a win. I greatly improved over the year, and would say at least 80% of the time, I avoided going out for lunch.}
3. Plan dinners the night before so we can stop for necessary ingredients or take things out of the freezer to thaw {We definitely were better about this, and eating at home in general, but still have a long way to go with planning ahead on menus. I do have some ideas in place for 2013 and honestly, I think moving the location of our freezer will help...which is also in the plan for 2013}
5. Donate at least 20 boxes of things to the thrift store before moving {I didn't keep count, but between donations to the thrift store, to friends & family, and to my work, I know we got to at least 20}
6. Sort and organize all holiday decorations so they are easily accessible {This is happening this week, actually. It will be a win in very early 2013, but I can't say I'm done yet.}
7. Donate holiday decorations that won’t be used prior to the next holiday {We actually didn't decorate this year since we hoped to be moving, so I didn't get to go through everything. As I'm finding things we won't use while organizing, I'm making a pile to donate.}
9. Complete 2011 Project Life Album {I fell so behind on my 2012 album that I didn't get a chance to work on previous years.}
10. Start & complete 2012 Project Life Album {I did get a good start on this, have a ton of pictures printed, and am working on it right now. I came up with a new way of organizing the album for this year that I think will work better for us, and I hope to get it finished in early 2013}
12. Print pictures at least once a month from the previous month {This actually wasn't the best plan for me and my budget. I tried for awhile, and then quit because it wasn't working.}
13. Work with nieces on Project Life albums, including printing pictures for them monthly {It happened once this last year, because all of our schedules are so crazy. I hope to continue working with them in 2013, and I also hope they take some ownership of their albums without me watching over since we all have such busy lives!}
14. Grow my business {I'd say this was the focus for my year. Business didn't grow the way I had imagined it, but it also exceeded my expectations. I continue to have goals for business, a list of things I want to get done, and dreams for what I could accomplish, but I know this year was a win on the business front.}
15.
16. Engage in at least one activity per month to promote my business {I'm honestly not even sure what I was talking about here...if I meant shows/fairs, or some sorts of advertising thing...but as I said, 2012 was all about business for me, so I feel okay with that whole aspect of things.}
17. Take at least 1 picture per day {I figured out this doesn't really work for me. I tried some other options, and then really thought about this particular goal and what I wanted to accomplish. The idea was to get a real picture of our every day life, and I think I did much better at that - I participated in a day in the life, a week in the life, December daily and took a TON of other every day life sort of pictures. Even though I didn't meet my stated goal, I feel really good about memory keeping this year.}
18. Take pictures during important events/gatherings {I can't call this a win because I didn't do it universally - for example, I didn't even take my camera to Christmas celebrations - but, I did pretty well, especially this last fall}
19. Plan 1 date night per month with Mike {We did really well on this the first half of the year, and then it fizzled. I could blame opening Gather and having much less time, but the reason I had this goal is I wanted us to dedicate a night to each other, no matter what was going on. We didn't do that, and we need to be more committed to this in the future.}
20. Complete 1 project per month from inspiration found on Pinterest {I didn't keep track of what I did when, but I know there were far more than 12 projects completed this year}
21. Start an idea binder to keep inspiration from magazines, etc. {I'm calling this in progress because I started a notes section on my iPad for things like this}
26. Visit 1 place I’ve never been before {I saw so many small towns in Nebraska this year on our adventures}
27. Pay off at least 1 credit card
28. Use at least 1 coupon with every grocery purchase {I still maintain that this is a good goal for us, but we have to figure out how to make couponing work with our schedule. I hope to do a post in 2013 on my couponing process}
29. Try one new recipe per month {Again, I didn't really keep track, but know I've tried more than 12 new recipes this year}
31. Donate items from couponing to an organization in need
33. Make our new house feel like our home {well, we didn't move, so...}
36. Take pictures for my blog posts {Thank goodness for Instagram. I didn't do it with every post, but I was definitely better about it this year.}
37. Create a video to post on my blog {Project Life Blog Hop & Miss Mustard Seed Milk Paint, woohoo!}
40. Frame pictures for our home and display them {I wanted to wait til we were moved to do this, so it hasn't happened.}
41. Create a gallery wall in our new house of important/sentimental pictures {see above}
43. Relax and enjoy December and Christmas preparations {I can't say I was completely relaxed during December, but this was definitely one of the most enjoyable Christmas seasons I remember.}
44. Finish all holiday shopping by December 1 {Again, this is something I can own as a choice, but it's difficult when you share the cost of presents and others don't share your goals. I did have my list made in October, and some of my shopping done early}
46. Use my iPhone calendar to help keep me organized {I'm so reliant on that thing now}
47. Build a stockpile and only shop for perishable items as needed - otherwise, use the stockpile {This comes and goes, it seems}
49. Freeze or can fresh produce to use throughout the following year {We had so much stuff canned and frozen from previous years, we didn't end up doing any this year.}
50. Take a family picture to display in our home, including both puppies
56. Make homemade rolls for a holiday dinner {Garlic knots to go with my corned beef & cabbage on St. Patrick's day}
57. Drink at least 3 big glasses of water daily {more often than not, so I'm calling this a win}
58. Find at least 1 new blog per month to follow {No problems here, at all.}
59. Comment on at least 1 blog post per week {I did pretty well at this. I don't know if I did one per week, but it was probably close}
62. Identify a space in our new home for books and make use of it {Again, we didn't move. I do have some plans though for when we do}
63. Visit a large flea market/antique show {Oh gravy, this was so much fun. We went to Walnut Antique Walk and JunkStock in June, and Junk Jubilee in April!}
65. Organize my spice cupboard so it’s not overly full and difficult to find what I’m looking for
70.
71. Attempt to make contact with the people who received organs from my mom {I'm just not ready yet. Maybe next year.}
72. Send Christmas cards
73. Carve a pumpkin
74. Attend a training/seminar to learn a new skill for work {I actually can't remember if I learned something new, specifically}
78. Use my time wisely to eliminate stress
79. Check Etsy and local stores first for gift giving options
80. Plan ahead for gift giving to allow time for shipping or searching for the right gift
81. Complete the Week in the Life project and get photographs into an album or Project Life layout {I bolded part of it. I took photos for the project, but they're not in my album yet}
83. Keep my new house in a state where I’m comfortable with people dropping in {Again, we didn't move...}
88. Purchase a pair of dress shoes that are cute and do not hurt my feet
91. Organize my pantry
92. Don’t give up on taking photographs daily if I happen to miss one day {I missed a couple days and came up with a solution that works for me...that's why I'm calling it a win. I didn't give up just because I missed, I revised my plan instead.}
95. Make a custom recipe book {or find my favorite online recipes and pin them onto my Food board on Pinterest} {I started this on Pinterest, but didn't get them in order the way I wanted...so that's why it's still in progress}
96. Eat 3 things I’ve never tried before {I honestly can't remember if I did or not}
99. Make my own cleaning product rather than buying something {laundry detergent is for sale at Gather, if you're interested}
103. Identify 25 things that make me happy and find a way to incorporate those things into Project Life {I may still do this as I'm wrapping up Project Life...but I didn't do it during 2012}
105. Visit at least 1 photo booth
109. Send thank you notes in a timely manner {I'm hit or miss. I don't like that.}
111. Create/purchase a family calendar to be used by both Mike & me {my iPhone calendar seems to work better than this would have...we just check in with each other about things that are going on and I keep track of it.}
112. Say no to things when I don’t have time or am feeling overwhelmed {I'm calling this in progress. When I started Gather, I readjusted my priorities, and made sure I was taking time to make my dream come true. Sometimes, that means saying no to things, even when it's something I want to do. I'm working to feel okay with that, because I'm often disappointed, and even more often, worrying that I'm disappointing someone else. I have to move past that.}
Whew. To best honest, I stopped looking at this list halfway through 2012 {when I wrote my last post about it.} I knew it was there, but I didn't prioritize some of these items like I should have. It became a really overwhelming list for me, because our lives changed so much this last year.
When I first posted this list, someone made a comment that there was so much on my list, and my response was, well, if I even get a few of them completed, then my life will be that much better. I really believed that going in, and if I'm counting correctly, I completed 28 of the items on my list. Another 19 are in progress. So, that's pretty awesome when you think about it. Some of the fails were due to outside circumstances, some were because I just decided they weren't important, and some genuinely were fails. Maybe I readjusted my priorities, maybe I just didn't have the time or money, or maybe I just plain failed. Whatever the reason, I feel like the accomplishments on this list are pretty significant.
Okay, on to 2013. No, I won't be doing a 113 in 2013. It was just too much trying to do this list in 2012, even when I was paying attention to it. And clearly it fizzled out. I obviously will have some goals for next year, and I'm brainstorming some ways to keep me on track with them. Once I'm finished with the list, I'll be sharing it here like I did this year. I'd love to see your years in review, or your goals for 2013. Leave me a comment with blog posts on these topics so I can share in your challenges as well.
I hope everyone has a safe & happy New Year's Eve, and I wish you all the best in 2013. I'm looking forward to a great year!
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