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Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Remember me?

Hi there! It's your wayward blogger here. You remember how I said I was going to blog everyday for a month and then disappeared? Yeah, that wasn't good. Sorry about that. I have all the good intentions to make that up to you. I can't make any promises because life is still busy. But I do still want to record what's going on if for no other reason than for me to look back and see what happened. I'd still like to talk about some of the topics I set up for November. So I'm back and I have plenty to write. Here's hoping I can actually get it down on paper. 

Tuesday, January 14, 2014

2014 To Do List

I liked the idea of a to do list last year better than resolutions so I decided to do the same this year.  I have a feeling I might add a few more things to this list as the year progresses but for now this is where I stand.

  1. Take a trip that doesn't include visiting my parents or any other family.
  2. Pay off a couple of credit cards and keep them paid off. 
  3. Go on at least 1 date a month with Chris.
  4. Take the boys to Disney World.
  5. Read 24 books that are being turned into movies.
  6. Spend an entire weekend kid free.
  7. See Alabama play in Bryant-Denny Stadium.
  8. Participate in NaBloPoMo.
  9. Complete the 52 Week Money Challenge.
  10. Read the entire Bible
  11. Celebrate Mom and Dad's 50th Wedding Anniversary in January.
  12. Do at least 1 fun family activity a month.
  13. Keep money in our savings account all year.
  14. See my nephew graduate from high school in May.
  15. Lose the remaining 20 (or 25) pounds I need to get off.
  16. Find a new "For Me Only" activity.
  17. Watch all of Veronica Mars before the movie comes out.
  18. Finish Jackson's Year 2 book.
  19. Make the most of our Thinkery membership.
  20. Find a new activity for Jackson in the fall.
  21. Take some day trips around Texas.
  22. Go to some wineries on the Texas Wine Trail.
  23. Use my camera more which means learn how to use it.
  24. Get Jackson and Sean both into swimming lessons.
  25. Bake now that I have a Kitchen Aid stand mixer.
  26. Actually follow some of the tips and activities I've pinned on Pinterest.
  27. Plan two birthday parties in one month (again).
  28. Revamp my wardrobe.
  29. Make cookies for Chris's shift.
  30. Organize a gathering for the shift wives.

2013 Goals Year End Review

2. Take Jackson to his first football game. Done - One of the local colleges started a football team for the first time in 68 years.  We decided to go support the Southwestern Pirates and, in turn, took Jackson to his first game.  He wasn't ready for it and we left at halftime but I'm glad we can say we did it.
4. Read The Great Gatsby before seeing the movie. Nope - I tried, I really did.  I got several chapters in but the language and the writing is strange to me and I can't follow it.  I still haven't seen the movie though so I added it back to my list and I am going to try again this year.
5. Get another tattoo as a tribute to Jackson. Nope - I can't figure out what I want or where I want it. Nor can I decide if I want to go through the pain again.
6. Take a trip that doesn't include visiting my parents. Done - Although this wasn't the way I expected to accomplish this.  I went to a training course in DC with my boss for a week in June.  I hadn't been to DC to really see the sights since middle school so it was a lot of fun.
7. Pay off another credit card. (Maybe even two!) Sort of - We did but then charged them back up. My goal for this year is to pay them off and keep them that way.
8. Go on at least 1 date a month with Chris. Close - We did really good until we moved in May then we hit a lag through the summer and didn't get a night out for several months but closed out the year with two weekends in a row having a night out including our first overnight together with no kids since Jackson was born.
9. Spend more time outdoors with the boys. Sort of - the boys got more time outside thanks to the playground near our new house. I, however, did not join them. I'm not outdoorsy.
10. Make more time for myself. Yes - I joined YPC this year and volunteered for a cause that means a lot to me. However, I just found out YPC will be no more after the end of our year so I need to find something else for me.
14. Increase our charitable giving.Yes and No - We gave more to the church and more consistently but we did not give to as many places as I wanted to.  We did, however, donate a lot of stuff when we moved.
15. Read 23 books. Not Quite - I read 14 and only because of the Great Flu epidemic of Christmas 2013 where I was able to read 2 books in about week.
16. Blog at least once a week. HAHA - Yeah, not even close.  Life just got in the way too many times and I couldn't find time to write.
17. Spend an entire weekend kid free. Done - I traveled home in October for my Judson board meeting.  Once again this isn't what I had in mind but it did check the box.
18. See Alabama play in Bryant-Denny Stadium. A girl can dream - One day...one day we will have the time and money to make this happen.
19. Run a 5k. Well...I didn't run one but I did walk one with my entire family.  It took over an hour but we weren't hurrying and we enjoyed the stroll.
21Visit my brother's family in Houston. Done - We stopped at Clay's on our way back from Alabama this summer and got to visit the aquarium while we were there.  I plan to make a trip just to Houston some time this year.
22. Setup Savings Accounts for the boys.  Done - This one was easy.  It was just a matter of making it to the bank.
23. Keep money in our savings account all year. Yes - It wasn't a lot but there was still money in the account at the end of the year.
24. Go to the gun range with Chris. Done - I shot once and told Chris I was done.  Guns just aren't my thing.
25. Clear out the excess stuff in our storage unit.  Not really - We gave some furniture away when we moved which did give us some more space but my goal is to permanently get rid of stuff (donate, garage sale, something).
26. Update mortgage, house, and bills to married name. Yeah, I forgot. Maybe one day I will get everything updated or else close the accounts so it doesn't matter anymore.
27. Participate in NaBloPoMo. We saw how that turned out. One day of no internet at home followed by a day of gone for over 12 hours and NaBloPoMo failed to happen. Oh well!
28. Complete the 52 Week Money Challenge. Close - I did this all the way up to December which was nice because it gave me a little nest egg for Christmas.  I am debating trying a modified version of this for this year.