Tomorrow will be the start of another year and if you’re like me you probably have a list of things you’d like to accomplish in 2014. I came up with 12 goals I’d like to accomplish next year with the hopes of being able to cross one off my list per month to make them more manageable.
Here they are in no particular order:
1. Clean, de-clutter and organize my entire home in 30 days or less. I did this last year and let me tell you Bob, by the end of the month my house was gutted and cleaned like a fresh fish. It.Was.Awesome.
2. Fit into the same jeans I wore 8 years ago when we moved into our house.
3. Travel.
4. Send my daughter off to college without having a nervous breakdown thus spending a week in bed sobbing because my Friday night movie buddy, travel partner, sometimes photographer and the best pal a mother could ever ask for has moved away and left me forever.
5. Get 3 new teeth. 😉
6. Pay off my car. Here’s a video of when I bought it last summer.
7. Finish this primitive folk art rug I started 4 years ago. After all, I have all the supplies so it would be a shame to give up on what I started so many years ago. Here’s what it looks like right now:
I figure if I can get one square {8 point star and surrounding area} finished per week, I should be able to finish the rug by December 31st, 2014. I’m not sure if I’ll want to burn the rug or keep it at the point, but at least it will be done. 😉
8. Family Day. Do one thing together as a family every Sunday until The Girl Who Thinks She’s a Bird leaves for college.
9. Secret Project #1
10. Secret Project #2
11. Secret Project #3
12. Convince the HH we should buy a Salt Box Style House in Colonial Williamsburg. I could dress up everyday in a colonial dress and give tours of our vegetable garden and home and he could hang out in the cellar/man cave with all the other men from the community watching tv and playing with their electronic gadgets.
13. Spend at least 1 hour a day working in my garden.
So there you have it. 12 goals for the new year.
How about YOU? What do you want to get accomplished in 2014?
~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.
Bible Babe says
I have a few goals for the new year–walking one hour a day, spend more time in Bible study and prayer, etc. However, i have declared that 2014 will the THE YEAR OF THE BARTER. I already have several things set aside and am making a list so that I can show it to folk sin my church. A friend asked me what was I hoping to get. I replied, “Whaddya got?” The fun of barter is not that you say, “I have this, I want this”. Instead, you say, I have this, what do YOU have?” That opens up the possibilities. Happy New Year, Mavis!
Kathy says
My goal is what I do every year, almost every day…TRY to do a good deed every day, key word is try. It almost always works too. For 2014 I have added declutter and downsize, which I’ve already started.
Happy New Year from my home to yours, Mavis.
Mavis Butterfield says
What an awesome goal Kathy. Happy New Year to you too!:)
Delores H says
I love the rug! Did you get a kit or are there some direction on the web somewhere?
Mavis Butterfield says
No, I used to do rug hooking all the time. I you want I can write up directions and post them though.
Kathy says
My Grandmother and her friends had a rug hooking group a while back. This group of seniors called themselves the Happy Hookers. <3 loved those ladies!
Cathy says
I would love to see a post on how to hook that rug!
Ashley M says
Yes, please do post a post on rug hooking! I’d love to learn! I’ve seen kits for little rugs at the craft stores, but I never knew you could do a large area rug.
Melissa says
Aw, it will be hard when your daughter goes to college. Maybe she won’t go too far away?
Danielle O says
We are aiming to:
Eat 4 vegetarian dinners, 2 meat-based (most likely a roast chicken or pork roast or beef roast, something that can stretch to the second meal) & 1 egg based. Use less cheese. Right now it’s a “main ingredient”. I want it to be more of a “flavorant”. Slowly easing up on wheat-based dishes & experimenting with rice, quinoa, lentil alternatives. And CANNING! Tons of canning 😀 I just got the Ball Complete Guide to Home Preserves (free because Amazon gifted me a $20 Amazon card for registering my Kindle Fire HDX on Christmas).
Work out goal is 30 minutes for 5 days a week: 2 cardio run days, 2 strength days, 1 “fun” day (WiiFit, swimming, dancing, gardening, 5K, whatever tickles my fancy that week) & additionally one family day as well – swimming, hiking, walking some trails, playing Wii together, going to the park & playing tag or catch or shooting some hoops.
And we aim to pay off at least half our $21,000 student loan debt by the end of the year!!
That’s about all i got at this current juncture in time 🙂
patty p says
I am interested in a rug post too! Good luck on your goals (my husband wants to buy a volvo now!).
Danelle - Tattered Treasures says
I stumbled upon your website a few days ago and LOVE it. I, too, have several “goals” to focus on in 2014. One of them I have already started – the DE-CLUTTERing of every area in the house. I have a pile to take to Goodwill… a pile that will sell in our shop… and a pile that I will list on CL. It is truly an awesome feeling. Good luck with the daughter leaving!!! That’s a hard one! Ha!
Stacey says
I can sympathize with how hard it will be to send your daughter off to college, especially seeing how well you two get along (not all mothers and daughters do). My daughter was married two years ago, and it was so hard to not see her all the time. I have been lucky enough to visit her in California frequently, though she is in Vermont this winter with my sister while her husband is deployed. Since her husband is a marine, I know eventually they will move too far away for us to visit much, so I take every chance I can get! It sounds like you already have that part under control. When the day comes, go ahead and cry – a lot of us will be willing to lend our shoulders.
Heidi P says
Great words of wisdom Stacey. I think there needs to be a group at every high school preparing mothers about the emotional tug they are about to experience. I had no idea how hard it would be. My daughter is now a senior in college. I cried for about six weeks after she originally left. It’s still heart wrenching at times but it is all the process of them growing into amazing adults.
Ingrid says
I can’t believe that 8 years ago you were even smaller than you are now!
Michele in Salem says
Great goals Mavis! Let me know if you need help with #4, I just did that recently and it’s a toughie but you’ll be fine!
Ellen in Clackamas says
I like the idea of goals instead of “resolutions”. For some reason the same things seem do-able if they are called a different name! I also plan on decluttering. My son has promised he will help. Easier to do with help for sure. We plan on working on one room at a time. Take everything out, clean, sort then put back together. I figure this will also get my exercise goals worked in too!!! I also want to expand my garden and make more jelly!
Mavis Butterfield says
I like calling them goals too. 🙂
RebekahU says
Mavis – You have been such an inspiration to me this year. Because of you, I have saved money, cooked many more meals at home that I would have otherwise, started my own garden, and started many projects that I am sure I would not have if you had not planted the thought. Thanks so much for encouraging me! Happy New Year!
Mavis Butterfield says
Planting seeds of possibility is cool, isn’t? 🙂 Happy New Year.
janet says
Happy new year Mavis!!
You are a star!!
kate says
#1 start a community service project (garden based)
#2 help the food pantry’s garden
#3 petition for a recycling center in my community
#4 start a business composting organics and recycling
#5 go camping with my family
#6 watch shooting stars with the family
#7 go to Herkimer Diamond Mine with my family
#8 start a upcycle craft club at the library
🙂 we can do this! love your list. here is the start of mine!
Paula Black says
ONLY a week in bed sobbing sending the girl off to college? Ha ha – good luck with that one! Did that this last year and I tell you it felt like a half-funeral. But, it.is.doable. But working on that rug and keeping yourself busy will help. And taking the time to spend with your son. Happy New Year Mavis! Your blog has been a blessing to me this past year! Blessings to you and yours!
Linda says
AWW Mavis!! I can so relate to #4!! My daughter is a senior too this year and I so dread her leaving for college this fall. I’ve done this once with my son so youi’d think I’d be prepared but already my heart aches just thinking about it. We are super close and we are both not looking forward to the separation yet looking forward to the opportunities ahead for her. Enjoy the time you have now and I think traveling together is a definite must before she leaves!! Happy New Year Mavis and good luck with all the goals!
Karen at A Glimpse Into My Reveries says
I secretly cried for three months before my oldest daughter’s high school graduation, and not so secretly three month after she left for college! You’ll make it, now we have FaceTime and Skype to make it easier. Our second daughter stayed home for her first two years of college, so her high school graduation was easier–till she left the nest, and again I cried for months. The graduation of our son was the easiest as we knew he had no intention of leaving home. I have to admit I cried when he did leave last spring. I am blessed as our grown kids have come back home and all live within 30 minutes of home. I love their company , as adults, but in my quiet moments, I often miss them as babies.
My goals for this next year is to declutter. I am intrigued by the 30 bags in 30 days challenges. I want to clean out the extra bedroom to create a sewing studio so I am not constantly shifting my quilting out do the way of our daily meals!
I am inspired by your gardening blogs to expand my raised beds to our sunny front yard and to increase my veggie production!
Mavis Butterfield says
It’s nice to know I am not alone. Kids leaving is so bittersweet. 🙁
Joye says
My oldest is headed to college this year as well, it will be hard on me for sure she’s my partner in crime!
BTW – you look fab, good luck with the jeans, I have a similar goal, my chore jeans make my butt look great, but they got tight, I think someone sneaked in at night ans shrunk them, anyways, I want the looser, that’s one of my goals too 😉
Laurie Gaudino says
Happy New Year Mavis! Just found your web site recently and I love it. (I’m also partial to dressing up in costumes randomly!)
You will miss your daughter, but look at it as a new adventure for both of you. When my boys each left home I would choose a new challenge or adventure for myself to focus on. When my youngest left I decided it was the perfect time for me to finally commit to going through the Master Gardener program. It totally expanded my world. I wish you all the best in the new year and wonderful new adventures!
Rachel says
You would think that with three young children at home (my youngest is 4!) that I would not be be having a nervous breakdown about the fact that my oldest daughter has not only graduated from high school, but also college and has gotten married! I am STILL not over her moving away. She is only 4 hours away, but it is not close enough. I miss her and the time we spent together, but it makes me VERY happy to see how well she is doing and how happy she is (and what an awesome guy she married). That almost makes it worth going through the teenage years 🙂 I think I am going to start cleaning and organizing too…it will give me something to throw myself into until I can start gardening and canning again. I would love to become a Master Gardener someday…it is on my to-do list for when my younger kids get older (if I can still get around by then, ha ha). Happy New Year!
Michelle R says
I have had this page open all week to try to get some goals down. I know if I put it out there somewhere it might actually happen so I am just going to put down what comes to my brain.
1. Declutter and streamline my home as much as possible
2. Have a budget and use it (Hubby and I have had many discussions about this and I *think* we both agree on the importance of this.
3. Continue to prioritize my physical health (sounds selfish but I just lost 50 lbs this year and while I am in a “healthy” weight I don’t just want a magic number, I want to be healthy in activity and food.)
4. Camp with my kids as much as possible and hope that hubby can join us for some of it. I’m hoping for at least 6 trips.
5. Grow as much of my own food as possible to be as self sufficient as possible.
6. Run the Tacoma St Patty’s Day Half-Marathon (and I want to try to run it, I did the 2011 Honolulu full in 2/1 intervals and I have been working up to running straight through.
7. Run the Ghost of Tacoma AND the Tacoma City races. I haven’t decided yet if I will do both fulls (because that’s insane) or if I will try for a Goofy. Thinking about it scares me a little.
8. Finish the STP with my brother.
9. Continue to learn guitar, I’m not good but at least I’m trying.
10. Save up money for a really cool family vacation next year.
11. Use or get rid of all the yarn I got when my grandma passed away. I want to use it but I don’t have time and I have had it for a very long time already. If I don’t have a plan to use it in the next 2 weeks or so I’m donating it!
12. Talk my husband into another pet or more chickens (this would be a miracle hahaha)
So I may not get all of them done but I am going to try. The hardest one on here will be the STP. The bikes are just so expensive and not only do I need to be able to find one that will work for me but my brother does too. I think I need to find a sponsor for my race activities 😛
Ok there they are! Guess we’ll see what I actually get done this year!
13. I just remembered one that would be good to include. I think I need to get a routine/schedule in place. If I can get something going I know the rest of the stuff might actually happen.
Michelle R says
I guess I need 14 because I forgot that I am learning about bees and starting hives in the spring. I am VERY excited about this but my family is not.