My goals for 2017
Get 7- 8 Hours of Sleep Each Night
I went walking with Mrs. HB on Tuesday and she mentioned she had a business trip coming up that she wasn’t looking forward to. Suddenly questions started flying out of my mouth… “What hotel are you staying at? Do you have to share a room with anyone? Do you have the rental car all to yourself? What is your schedule going to be like?”
Yada yada yada, I ended up tagging along and we had a blast!!! I mean c’mon, a mini girls {working} vacation with free hotel and car rental, who wouldn’t be up for that? Anywho, I learned quite a few things about Mrs. HB that I didn’t know before {I’ll fill you in later} but one of them was that she LOVES to sleep {like 9-10 hours a night!}. 😉 And apparently I’m quite content with 6 hours. It made for an interesting few days and I’m glad I went along. 🙂
Make Saving a Priority, Not an Idea
How low can it go?
Last month when sold our east coast home we decided to apply the money we received at closing {the equity after realtor/closing costs} to the principal balance on the house we are currently living in. In one giant swoop it knocked 4 years off our mortgage. Do you remember what my #1 goal was in 2016? Ya well, it’s on, like Donkey Kong. And that’s all I’m going to say about that.
Live a little
Did you have a set of those Merino wool socks from Costco? My mom gifted me a set 2 winters ago and the holes…. they have been non stop. True, I wear them practically every day but I’ve mended the death out of those things over the past 2 years and finally had to toss them in the scrap fabric pile. I found a set of 4 Wool IQ socks on Amazon last week {The price was $4.54 when I placed my order} and I’m really happy with the quality so far.
Visit 52 REAL Bakeries
Bakery post coming soon! Mrs. HB and I found a good one!!!
Have 1 “no spend” week each month
I’m going to shoot for the end of June.
Start a Line of Rug Hooking Patterns
I am now up to 8 rug hooking patterns! And I’ve even added a bunch of hand dyed wool to my Etsy shop. I am currently working on 2 new patterns and am hoping to have them listed in the next few weeks.
Turn My Wool Stash into $2,500.
This is my slow season for rug hooking… and I didn’t sell anything last week but so far I have brought in a total of $4204.73 for the year. Last summer I put my shops on “vacation mode” but this summer I’ve decided to just keep them open in case a few sales trickle in. We’ll see. Things usually start back up again towards the end of August so I’ll just continue making stuff and wait for fall to list it.
Purge 250 Items Including Selling Larger Items We No Longer Feel We Need
So apparently we aren’t done! 😉
This past week The Girl went through her closet and was able to find 23 things to get rid of. I was a little sad she decided to get rid of her formal dresses, but seriously… I get it. It’s highly unlikely she’ll find a buyer for them at our neighborhood yard sale so if she doesn’t, we will be donating her dresses and clothing to a local teen program that offers prom dresses/clothing to foster kids.
We will make one more sweep through the house and garage next week and then start pricing stuff for the upcoming neighborhood yard sale. So far we have purged 163 items this year. I’m not sure we will hit the 250 mark… but we’ll see.
Oh ya. I bought 4 items off her. 😉 3 tank tops at $0.50 each and a blue warm up coat for $2. I normally don’t wear blue, but I figure it’s a little classier than the green blanket with holes I wrap myself up in {around the house and outside when I’m gardening} when I’m cold. Ha! Also, those slippers… best gift ever! Thanks mom.
Learn to Crochet Mission Accomplished
Dote on My Husband Even More Than I Do Now.
After a few days away I’m looking forward to hanging out with the HH today. He makes me crazy, but I sure do love him. And that hug… when you haven’t seen someone you love in a few days… It’s the best.
Lose the Muffin Top. {again}
Seriously?
Wear out {most of} the clothing I already own.
Working on it.
Try 52 New Recipes
I didn’t try any new recipes this past week but I am going to make this today.
Read 52 Books
After watching Anne with an E {twice!} and LOVING it, I’ve decided to listen to Anne of Green Gables on audio book this week while I work. It’s been a long time since I’ve read the book and I’m looking forward to it. If you haven’t already, check to see if your library offers a free subscription to Hoopla Digital. All the books I’ve listened to over the last year have been through this service and I really love it.
Do you find yourself re-reading books? I hope I’m not the only one.
Give Back to 12 Different Organizations in My Community
- January – Donated to Quilts from the Heart in Memory of my brother.
- February – Donated to Empty Bowls Fundraiser for the Boys and Girls Club.
- March – Donated to my daughter’s mentor who was in a horrible car accident.
- April – I know what I’m going to do… I just have to do it.
- May – $100 Tip to a waitress on Mother’s day.
And then, there’s those top secret goals we’re not talking about yet.
- Secret Goal #1 Sell East Coast House {I talked about it last week} Mission Accomplished
- Secret Goal #2 Chickens! Mission Accomplished
- Secret Goal #3
- Secret Goal #4
How about YOU? Did you set any goals for 2017? How are they coming along?
~Mavis
Read About My 2017 Goals HERE.
Lisa MTB says
Haha, I have been re-reading Anne of Green Gables, too. I must have been about twelve when I read that book the first time. I haven’t watched the new Netflix show yet, but I’ll have to check it out.
Laura T. says
I just started watching Anne with an E. I was skeptical because I was so used to the old version but I’m liking it. It’s the same, but different!
I’m getting ready to have a garage sale too. I wanted to do it in the early spring but got too busy. Now it’s really, really hot outside. It was so mild in Chicagoland for a long time now it’s 93 today & there’s been all sun! Maybe I’ll do it when it cools down a bit!
Great job on the mortgage! It will be paid off in no time!
Delores says
I reread many books, in particular The Lord of the Rings and the Aubrey/Maturin series by P. O’Brien. I actually get more out of the books that way.
Goals… since the beginning of the year, lost 30 pounds. This is mostly because I developed (not sure if that is the correct word) IBS, but I am counting the lost 30 pounds as the silver lining in all of it. The rest of the goals… well, I have definitely fallen off the wagon. At fist, a few months ago, I just kept finding excuses. But the reality is — I am using circumstances in my life to excuse the lack of goal accomplishment. I tell my kids frequently: give me solutions, not excuses. So, time to put the money where my mouth is. By this time next month, I hope/plan to have a better report on goal progress!
MEM says
Interesting about Ugg slippers isn’t it? I don’t find the boots supportive at all but I purchased a pair of Ugg slippers on a discount shoe site – previous year’s style and all that and they are the only slippers I can wear. Very supportive, thick soles. The style is not great – black skulls on white with a neon green sole but I think I paid $50 for them. I wear them all year around.
Mavis Butterfield says
I LOVE the soles on Ugg slippers. Thick and sturdy.
Linda says
What am I making for supper? I buy 2 whole pork loins when they are on sale (usually about $1.79 lb) cut one into chops and cut the other into roasts. So yesterday I took one of the roasts out of the freezer, plopped it into the crock pot with 1 quart jar of Vlasic sauerkraut and 6 or 8 potatoes, quartered, and let it cook all day. Today we had company, so I took it out of the refrigerator, heated it up and we had it for dinner. Yumm! With a side salad, just right. I made chili earlier in the week, and salmon pie with a cheese sauce one day,
Rozy says
Re-reading books? YES!! It’s like visiting a good friend again.
Heather says
Well, I now understand why neighborhoods don’t always want chickens, but especially roosters. We spent a week on Kauai and they are getting over run with wild chickens and roosters! And, being a mostly city girl I thought roosters only crowed when the sun came up – wrong! The roosters were crowing all day and night long. And the chickens and roosters were roosting in trees. I did have to laugh the last night since a new guy was staying at our hotel and was clapping at the chickens and roosters trying to get them to leave the tree outside his room, but they wouldn’t leave. At 3 am one of the roosters made a sound and we could hear the guy outside clapping at them! I was happy to be heading home after that night.
Mavis Butterfield says
Oh my goodness… I would not want to listen to a rooster morning noon and night if I was on vacation either.
Brianna says
The chickens and roosters on Kauai were the result of a hurricane in the late 1990s that hit the island. They have no predators and bred fast and couldn’t be captured. It has been an issue for years.
Kathy says
Hi Mavis! I just love your blog! I have a question and a story for you. First – I am a new chicken mama, my girls are about 8 months old. Is it common for chickens to NOT lay their eggs in their nesting boxes? I mean, I find them at least a couple of times a week in their run. Almost as if they dropped it and ran, lol. Second – a few years ago, when my daughter was a junior in high school my husband was laid off from his job. With my job and his unemployment we were barely squeaking by. My daughter was asked to prom and was going to turn the young man down because she knew we had no money for a prom dress. I heard of The Angels Closet, where party dresses are donated and girls are allowed to pick one for their proms. It was a God send and my daughter happily danced the night away in a dress that we were given with no one the wiser. (its a clique-y little town). Kudos to you and the Girl for thinking of donating her dresses. You may never know about it, but I guarantee you will be making some young lady very happy! Kathy
Mavis Butterfield says
Oh Kathy it’s totally normal. I once found a cache of 27 eggs hidden in some brush. Apparently the girls were sneaking out and laying elsewhere. I thought maybe they had just stopped laying. 😉 And, I’m so glad your daughter was able to find a dress she liked. 🙂
Amy says
Mavis, Congrats on the massive mortgage paydown, I am so happy for you!!
Amy W says
For Anne of Green Gables audiobooks, I LOVE Karen Savage’s version. I listen on the “Audiobooks” app for the iPhone, and all L.M. Montgomery books are free to listen!
Congrats on great progress towards paying off your mortgage!
Janet h says
My library offers Hoopla too. Music, books.some tv and movies. Also something new called Kanopy that streams interesting documentaries and how toos. All free with your library card. Viva la bibloteque.
Marcia says
Wait, what?? You sold the east coast home? How did I miss that? Last I remember, you were trying to pay off your WA home so you could move to the East Coast home?? No more nostalgic East coast pics for me in your blog??