I came up with 12 goals I’d like to accomplish this year with the hopes of being able to cross one off my list per month to make them more manageable. I thought a great way to hold myself accountable to the things I want to accomplish this year would be to do a weekly update.
After all, we all need a little help staying motivated sometimes. Here’s how I am doing so far:
1. Clean, de-clutter and organize my entire home in 30 days or less. – So far this year I have cleaned my closet, organized my kitchen, decluttered my bathroom, organized my office, gutted the garage, and tackled the laundry room. So far this week The Girl and I have gone through all shoes and tossed the really junky ones and stuffed the others in a bag for the Goodwill.
Also on our list for this week is cleaning out the bathroom cupboards again. We did this about 6 months ago but it’s time to do it again. How does all that stuff get in there anyway?
2. Fit into the same jeans I wore 8 years ago when we moved into our house. We got some serious mileage in on our pedometers when we were in Victoria over the weekend. One day we walked 11 miles. Wowza. Who knew walking around town looking for pastries and tea shops could be such a workout!
3. Travel. So far this year The Girl and I have been to Boston, London, Paris, Portland, Oregon Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia and Virginia and now Victoria B.C.
What’s next on our list? Nothing. 🙁 Unless of course you count the HH and The Girl’s road trip to college at the end of the summer. That one will be a doozy for sure. 3,000 miles? Umm yeah, I’ll be sitting that one out. {I’ll tell you more about that one later}.
4. Send my daughter to college without having a nervous breakdown thus spending a week in bed sobbing. At this point I’m too busy getting her ready for college like making sure she has quarters so she can do her own laundry, and working on other projects so I just don’t have any time to worry. So basically, stay busy and it will all work out. Right? Right. 🙂
5. Get 3 new teeth. – I’m suppose to go back to the oral surgeon later this week to see if I can finally get the green light to make an appointment with the dentist to get some teeth. Wish me luck! 😉
7. Finish this primitive folk art rug I started 4 years ago. Finished! It took me 6 months but I’m done. 🙂 I started another rug, it has a turkey on it so I’m hoping to get it done in time to set out for Thanksgiving. We’ll see.
I also started my first ever cross stitch and I think I’m either
A. going to go blind trying to finish it or
B. Just stop altogether. To say cross stitching is time consuming would be a HUGE understatement. 😉
8. Do something together as a family ever Sunday. The Girl and I were out of town this past weekend but word on the street was Monkey Boy and the HH had a great time driving around town and eating BBQ.
9. Secret Plan #1 – Done! – I’ll tell you about it at the end of the month.
10. Secret Plan #2 Making progress.
11. Secret Plan #3
12. Convince the HH we should buy a Salt Box Style House in Colonial Williamsburg. Our 20th anniversary is coming up and I keep hinting…. we’ll see how it all pans out. 😉
13. Spend at least 1 hour a day working in my garden. I am totally diggin’ the weather here in Western Washington lately and was able to get quite a few things planted this past week. Green beans are up and we’ve been picking raspberries like mad. Life is good!
So there you have it, my goals for the new year.
How about YOU? How are your 2014 goals coming along?
~Mavis
P.S. YES, I know I wrote down 13 goals. I’m fairly certain I won’t be able to attain one of them. {gee, I wonder which one?} 
But I wanted to add it in there anyway because I believe in miracles.
Peggy Stenglein says
Mine are coming along slowly, my one and only goal, a necessary one in order to have great goals such as yours: get out of debt. I’ts been a hard 6 months, I could be doing better, but it’s coming along one thing at a time. I think getting out of debt will be my goal for next year too, but I can see and feel the light at the end of the tunnel, it”s a hard road, but most good things are at the end of a rocky road. 🙂
Mavis Butterfield says
That’s right. Hang in there. You can pay down your debt! 🙂
Em says
Good job, Peggy and Mavis! I need to declutter (more) and finish paying off some debt.
PattyB says
I once had 5 credit cards (in my single mom days). I decided to pay them all off. I took an extra $50 out of my budget and added that to the minimum payment on the lowest balance. Quick gratification and made me feel like I was really making progress. Then I added the minimum payment from the debt I just paid off and the $50 and added all that to the minimum payment of the next credit card. I did that until they were all paid off. It took about 2 years but I DID IT!.
Pam H says
Just a suggestion on the shoes. If your shoes are beyond good will, rather than throwing them out, Nike and Converse stores (and there may be others out there) will take your used athletic shoes and recycle them into the playground turf.
MARY says
that rug is insanely gorgeous. did you design it yourself? tell us more how it was made!
Mavis Butterfield says
Yep. I simply drew stars on a piece of rug hooking linen and pulled strips of hand dyed wool through it. 🙂 It’s easier than it looks. Just time consuming.
Lisa says
Cross stitch is my craft of choice. However, it does take a long time. I’m sure I’ve given away more things than I’ve kept. I really like the way it looks, so the time spent is worth it. I also have a handful of unfinished projects. In fact, the very first thing I started still isn’t done yet. It’s a sampler of the 12 Days of Christmas. I’m currently working on a baby announcement that I started when my cousin was pregnant with her first kid. At the time I stopped working on it because it wasn’t rocking my world, so I started a different one which I finally finished when she had her 3rd kid.
Patti says
Your rug is absolutely gorgeous. I was an avid cross stitcher in the past and now have a stack of unframed pieces, a stash of linen, patterns and floss gathering dust. I love stitching on linen, but my eyes just aren’t as good as they use to be. I purchased an ott lamp several years ago. I need to practice using it.
Lana says
We paid off our house and are now 100% debt free! That was my ONE goal for this year and we did it!
Mavis Butterfield says
AWESOME!
Pam says
Hi Mavis,
I am sure you’ve already checked, but just in case, you may want to confirm she needs coins for her laundry (I assume she’s staying in a dorm?). At my university and last apartment, we had cards we just loaded cash onto which made life so much easier.
good luck,
Pam