It’s that time of year again… time to evaluate how I did on my goals from the past year and make plans for the year ahead!

So how did I fare in 2021? SURVEY SAYS…. Meh.

2021 Goals revisited

As a reminder, here are my goals from last year (with updates in blue):

Verse: Philippians 4:8

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. 

I didn’t quite memorize this verbatim, but I have the gist of it in my head. This verse turned out to be very fitting for me this year. Over the past few years, I’ve been having a tough time with my mental health. Thanks to encouragement from friends and family, I finally did something about it and sought out therapy and medication to treat my depression. I am so thankful for the gift of a better state of mind and working towards wholeness and health. This was the biggest win of 2021 for me. Hooray! Thank you Jesus!

Personal Goals

• • • 2 books/mo (24 total) – I read 29!
      • My favorite books of the year were:
        • Blackout and All Clear (Connie Willis)
        • Doomsday Book (Connie Willis)
        • Reading the Bible with Rabbi Jesus (Lois Tverberg)
        • The Omnivore’s Dilemma (Michael Pollan)

• • • • These books made me think (because injustice is so angering, but these women overcame)
        • Educated (Tara Westover)
        • I am Malala (Malala Yousafzai)
        • My Beloved World (Sonia Sotomayor)

• • • Prayer & kid journals daily – Yes! I did this! Now starting on year two of my journaling 🙂
    • Phone free mornings & offline day – Nope. But I have a new strategy for this year!
    • Daily one on one quiet time with God – Meh. Not really. I’d like to do better at this in 2022.
    • Less meat – For the most part, yes. I’ve subbed in beans for meat in a lot of dishes this year and I’ve been doing better at buying better quality meat when we do partake (certified humane, organic when possible).
    • Be fully present at meals – I’ve been doing somewhat better, but again need to do better at this in 2022.

Family Goals

• • • Read a parenting book together – Technically we did this! It was a book about potty training (“Oh Crap! Potty Training”) and we listened to it as an audiobook, but I’m counting it!

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    • Visit more state parks/hiking – We did hike a fair amount, but didn’t make it to any new parks. We’ve enjoyed exploring our local parks a lot this year, though!

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    • Farmers market once a month (post-COVID) – We still aren’t living in a post-COVID world, but I have been able to do this since getting vaccinated. I want to continue doing this in 2022.
    • Doing some apple variety reconnaissance at the state farmer’s market in November

Financial Goals

• • • Open college accounts for baby 2 – We did this!
    • Save towards down payment – Yes! By automating our savings from our checking account to our house account, we were able to sock away a significant amount!
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2022 Goals

This year’s theme is going to be Carpe(t?) Diem! The year of carpet (we need to get floor redone BADLY) and the year of seizing the day. This means not putting things off, taking full advantage of opportunities, praising God for all He has done, is doing, and will do, and living fully. 

Scripture for the Year: Psalm 150

Praise God in his sanctuary;
    praise him in his mighty heavens.
² Praise him for his acts of power;
    praise him for his surpassing greatness.
³ Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet,
    praise him with the harp and lyre,
⁴ praise him with timbrel and dancing,
    praise him with the strings and pipe,
⁵ praise him with the clash of cymbals,
    praise him with resounding cymbals.

⁶ Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.

• Snacking after dinner no more than 3x/wk
  • My appetite is non-stop (maybe from nursing a baby?), but I’d like to have better self-control
• Post on this blog 2x/mo
• No phone in bedroom (to avoid endless scrolling and promote reading/better sleep habits)

Family Goals 

• 1000 hrs outside in one year (we started this in November and are just 5 hours away from our first 100!). I’d love to have you join us! 
• Carpet diem – new flooring in our house
• Trips to Glacier National Park, Michigan (to visit my grandmother – we missed her 90th birthday last year), and a romantic weekend for me and Jonah without kids

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