2016 a recap

January:

Project wallpaper: full steam ahead...

Hygradrana blooming

Blanche in her usual happy coma like state

February:

More painting

More resting

Happy birthday to me

March

Tulips on the table make me happy
Abraham Lincoln, the first rose in the new bed, blooms
Joined Weight Watchers (again)

April

Napping in a sunny spot

Started a new Bible Study

Rose bed taking off

May

Fixing a makeup spot in the bathroom
Fell in love with a consignment shop. This blouse was $12
Community Agriculture farm box sharing program in full swing

June

The breakfast nook has become my favorite spot

New curtains for the guest room

New curtains and new couch for the livingroom

July

Amaryllis blooming (finally... what took you so long?)

Swapped the upstairs guest room and upstairs office around, waxing the floor in the process

Worked all night at my church service BR Police Officers funerals

 August

Beach trip to Gulf Shores

Surprise flooding (my house is above word flood)

Stayed with a friend for 6 weeks where she left me little gifts on bedside table

September
Powerwashing the livingroom
Baylor Baseball team surprise work day

Down to the studs

October
A weekend at the Propel conference in Jackson, MS
Settling into upstairs living
The drying continues

November

And still more drying out
Signing the construction contract (on a dog crate)
Never thought I'd be so happy to see insulation going in

December

Quite a few Christmas parties
Walls and new windows installed (this is the dining room)
Contractor left a little gift at my front door- the painting started

2016 Goal Setting

I've been using Lara Casey's  power sheets method of goal setting for the last three or four years.  She walks you through her goal setting here (and here is another example also using the powersheets and here is an abbreviated version not using powersheets). I blogged about my 2015 goals here  and had big plans for making 2016 goals. In fact, thought the goals would be made the last few weeks of the year.  But so far... not much.....

For the first time, I am still struggling through the process...

Looking back, 2015 was a  great success. I blew through a lot of the goals I had set. Some you can actually see the results and some are more personal without real measurable results (like exercising regularly and setting up a night time routine).

Some of the highlights of the most visible, I:
read 47 books (47?!)
got the garage cleaned out and the door fixed
got the guest room up and running
fixed the fireplace
had a huge yard sale (HUGE)
filed the empty spot in the kitchen
Went to Tennessee in June
Went to California in September

The things I have in mind for 2016 are still kind of scattered and random and all over the place.  I can't get them to fall into a neat little line.  Its a lot of things at home that I still want to accomplish, like:

Finally get the wallpaper off in the bathroom. I've been struggling with this for a while. Its about 85% done, but I then have to face down the spots of glue that remain and the spots of sheetrock damage and then start painting. Even though the wallpaper is almost off, its still a big job, and a tiring one.  After the painting, I'll put up a curtain rod, curtains, new rugs, etc....

Get the home office up and running. (basically do to the office what I did to the guest room in 2015).

Paint the upstairs bathroom.

New nightstand. I've been struggling finding the right one. I think I've decided I need two or three enclosed drawers.

I cut some mature Carolina Jasmine way back last year and it is just growing back. While it is still coming in,  I want to put rose bushes in front of it. I've already got the stones in place and started putting down some potting soil and I've been looking at these catalogs forever and it surprisingly makes me a little too excited that one of the first roses for the new bed will be from England. I've also got another spot for some climbing roses.

So.... work on 2016 goals slowly continue.....

Im linked here

Goal planning for 2015 with Lara Casey Power Sheets

Is it strange to talk about goals in the middle of January? When I feel most people are no longer thinking about it....

I have a system (using Make it happen goal sheets), and it is a system that can't really be rushed. It kind of takes all of January to slowly piece it together. I describe it to my friends as a process of thinking about the big life picture, what you want your life to look like, then slowly narrowing the focus into what your days will be filled with. 

I read a statistic that only 1% of people actually write down their goals for the new year, so I figure I am already way ahead, even if my goals are still in formation in January.

I use a goal setting process by Lara Casey, and it helps that she does it step by step with you on her blog, here, She describes it as preparing prayerfully and intentionally (another reason it takes a while for my goals to develop).

Some (me included) are sharing it on Instagram using #Laracasey or #powersheets. There is a little button the side if you want to follow me on Instagram or search for other's experience with this system.

I've been starting the new year with the goal sheets for three years now, and every year my goals get clearer, smaller, more specific, less flighty, less pie in the sky, more concrete. I like it so much, I gifted a set of goal sheets to a friend for Christmas. Its fun to have someone to do it together with, although, it is not really together. Its such an individual thing.

I didn't expect I would have 10 goals, and I was OK with that.  They are still cementing themselves together, but so far I realized they are surprisingly really small goals. And I am OK with that.

So many others have big goals, like writing a book, providing water for a village in Africa, adopting, going to business school and taking head shots to start an acting career....  meanwhile, my goals are more like .... how can I get more sleep every day? How can my surroundings make me feel better?  I realize I am in a different season right now. I have done a lot of big things in the past, now my season is focused on comfort and taking care of myself is at the forefront of my mind. 

I also picked a word for the new year: "moving forward", that is what my focus is on.

In a nutshell, here are my goals, in general terms:

1. Read more books- goal: 20
2. Healthy eating
3. Find and enjoy daily exercise
4. Professional development
5. More time in Bible and prayer
6. Morning routine. I have very slow mornings, like This.
7. Evening routine
8. Focus on home





I expect I will be sharing more specifics, what each of these goals really look like in my daily life, and how I progress throughout the year. I am giving myself a little more time to sit with the ideas and really figure out what it means to me, and get a little action plan going.