Reading Recap - January 2025

Decent reading month although I just wasn't finding as much time as I would have liked to read at the start of the month.  Embarking on homeschool probably had a lot to do with that.  Big shake-ups to our routine!  But we've figured it out a bit now and things are going smoother just in every aspect, but for the purposes of this post, especially for my reading!  Not much blogging happening (it'll probably take me 3 tries to get this post finished) but some things just had to be cut to make homeschooling happen for now!

I'm very active on Goodreads here, somewhat active on Instagram here, and linking up with Modern Mrs. Darcy!  

What I've been reading:

 

A Hundred Summers by Beatriz Williams
This is often the last book I finish every year but Christmas break just didn't have the reading time I hoped it would (December was crazy) and so it was the first book I finished in January.  I love it, I've read it around 10 times now and it's glittery New Years Eve setting of New York City during prohibition just make it the perfect late December (or early January) read for me, despite that a large chunk of the book also takes place in summer.  (I generally feel that summer set books can only be read in summer or in the dead of winter when I need hopes of summer to get me through!).  4.75 Stars

The Holiday Cottage by Sarah Morgan
I was very much interested in this because the cover looked and it sounded like The Holiday which I know is bit a ridiculous movie but I enjoy watching it every December.  This book really wasn't much like that, for starters, it wasn't really a fun read and it was about 100 pages too long.  But there was a good twist in there I did not see coming at all so that's something. 2.75 Stars

Snowed In by Catherine Walsh
A cozy-ish Christmas-ish set book that wasn't THAT much snowed in, maybe just 1/3 of it (I thought it would be more).  I didn't enjoy it quite as much as Holiday Romance, the book that preceded this one and I read this in January when maybe it would have been more cozy to read in December.  But a worthwhile read if you enjoyed the first one.  3.5 Stars

Subpar Planet: The World's Most Celebrated Landmarks and Their Most Disappointed Visitors by Amber Share
I read her Subpar Parks a few years ago and enjoyed it, having visited a good number of National Parks in my life.  This was world-wide destinations, some of which I had heard of, a few I had been to, and many I had never heard of.  Still astonishing that people can find nothing nice about beautiful places and it made me want to travel the world more, not just the US. 3.25 Stars

The Star That Always Stays by Anna Rose Johnson
Middle grade book about a Native American pre-teen/teen living in Michigan about 100 years ago, who is forced to abandon some of the ways of her heritage when her mother remarries a man who is not a Native American.  Grappling with figuring out who she is and where she fits in.  Not a time or situation I was much familiar with so it was interesting.  And based on the author's ancestors.  3.25 Stars

The Maui Effect by Sara Ackerman
I've read all of Sara Ackerman's books and this was a departure from her earlier historical fiction novels although still set mainly in Hawaii like the others.  All about big wave surfing which sounds even more dangerous reading about it than I had previously thought.  Mostly in Hawaii but some California and Portugal too.  Also about preserving some native land and nature that makes Hawaii what it is.  Liked it.  Cover is pretty too. 3.75 Stars

Die with Zero: Getting All You Can from Your Money and Your Life by Bill Perkins
I have thought more about this book than I have about nearly any other book I've read in the last year.  A fascinating way of thinking about spending all your money before you die.  Which of course is very hard because nobody knows when they will die.  The only things you can leave loved ones with are money (or things worth money) and memories so you might as well pack in the memories with them while you can.  And the average age to inherit money is 60 which is, hopefully, when people have already set themselves up for retirement.  Money could be more useful to children/grandchild when they are young, old enough to be responsible (maybe post-25) but young enough where they aren't fully financially stable themselves (maybe 35?).  So gift your children/grandchildren money at younger ages as you are able to help them out.  It would probably benefit them more than getting it when you die.  Again, it gets a bit complicated with not knowing how long you'll live or what health complications you might have BUT...I am very intrigued by the whole idea of it.  It's definitely driven some conversations between Matt & I about how we want to handle our finances.  4 Stars

The Author's Guide to Murder by Beatriz Williams, Lauren Willig, and Karen White
I have read all the books that these three authors have co-wrote.  I LOVED the first one (Forgotten Room) and have been so-so on the rest.  This was definitely the worst of the bunch.  Felt very indulgent with the plot being about 3 co-writers going away to write a book together but then turned into a murder mystery.  It felt disjointed in writing styles AND it had a 4th wall breaking of sorts.  First they mentioned a character from some of their previous novels as if she is a real person.  Great, love connecting novels with cross-over characters.  BUT THEN they also called out one of the authors by name.  As is "you got that from Beatriz Williams' website".  I do not like when fiction authors mention themselves AND how can both Beatriz Williams AND a character she made-up be real in the same book??  It was VERY distracting from a book I was already not really enjoying.  1.75 Stars

The National Geographic Bucket List Family Travel: Share the World with Your Kids on 50 Adventures of a Lifetime by Jessica Gee
This book has beautiful pictures and a lot of "bucket list" like trips.  Like that require chartering private planes or a private yacht.  Or flying to Australia for weeks on end.  Her intentions were good but she also shared at the beginning that her husband sold an app for multi-millions of dollars, thus funding their trips AND buying a house in Hawaii (not something in the budget for most of us).  And they became travel influencers so they got many stays/flights/experiences for free.  Which, again, isn't an option for most of us (without putting a lot of time and money into becoming an influencer).  I didn't look up any of their recommended accommodations but feel pretty confident that saying even their "budget" options are out of my price range.  So pretty pictures but take it for what it is.  If you don't have an unlimited budget maybe a couple of these are possible in a lifetime but not all 50.  2.5 Stars

Read with Luke or Sam
The Popper Penguin Rescue by Eliot Schrefer
A follow-up to Mr Poppers Penguins written by the grandson of the original author? Or great grand nephew??  Some relation.  The first book makes no sense but it was written so long ago that you just kinda accept it as "things were different then".  But this book takes place in present day and it still required a decent bit of imagination stretching.  These kids dropped out of school for months to travel nearly to both poles and nobody seemed to care? And they didn't seem to have nearly enough supplies packed for a multi-month trip.  Or a big enough boat.  You don't need to read this even if you enjoyed the first. 2.5 Stars

The Busy Beaver by Sophy Williams
Yet another of the Zoe Rescue Zoo books that I've been reading to Sam over the last 18 months.  The beaver wasn't much of a main character in this one but otherwise pretty much what I expect from Zoe. 3.5 Stars

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling
Luke and I FINALLY finished this, took 7 months.  One of my favorites in the series (but I could say that about a lot of them) and it was so fun to share with him.  We're trying to get through Half-Blood Prince in less time.  Maybe 3 months??? 4.5 Stars

Number the Stars by Lois Lowry
This was the first book Luke & I read for homeschool.  I picked it because it's one I never read in childhood and had been meaning to for awhile.  Plus, I had resources to go along with it for a homeschool unit.  Luke knows a bit about World War II, the Nazis, etc so this wasn't all new to him which helped.  It was a good book to read together and discuss.  4 Stars

Looking Back at January 2025

January felt like a very long month.  Why does that happen every year?  It is the cold? Is it the lack of sunlight? Is it the return to normal after Christmas festivities?  I am not sure but the month seemed to drag and I was STILL surprised at all we fit into the month and that was with being home A LOT.  We were in Indy, had a family fun day, started homeschool, Matt got his first office and then 2 weeks later the position to go with it (a result of his recently finished schooling), more homeschooling, some snow, some e-learning, and wrestling camp for our 1st grader.  The stuff that happened at the beginning of the month feels a very long time ago now. 

Looking back:
1 year ago: {14} Valentine Picture Books
2 years ago: Picture Books: Snowmen
3 years ago: Author Love: Sara Ackerman
4 years ago: Things I Like - January (because I still wear #1 daily in the winter)
5 years ago: Book Love: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
6 years ago: The Whole House Purge (I feel like this hasn't stopped in 6 years)
7 years ago: Book Love: The Power of Moments by Chip Heath & Dan Heath
8 years ago: A Day in the Life #6
9 years ago: Book Love: Big Magic (also, why I think you should blog)
10 years ago: A Decade in a Box
11 years ago: Office Renovations (I've updated a few pictures in frames but otherwise this largely looks the same, 11 years later.)
12 years ago: Things I Like - January (I/we still have #s 2-5)

1) Snowy day downtown for family fun day.  Having snow feels like a long time ago.
2) Eating lunch at Electric Works which we always do on our January family fun day.
3) And went to the botanical gardens! Which we also always do this day.
4) The cactus room is the most boring one but the cactus are cool.
5) We also usually bowl on family fun day.  I won thanks to bumpers (Luke & Sam had them too, Matt did not).
6) Every year we watch Beauty and the Beast while taking down the tree.  Which usually leads to the boys watching the movie while I take everything off the tree.
7) Celebrating one Grandma's 100th birthday in dishes from my other Grandma!
8) Reading at weekly swim lessons (Luke's a decent swimmer but does weekly homeschool swim lessons right now for a winter activity.)
9) So many beautiful green dishes we got from my aunt's house (formerly my Grandma's dishes).  They are a perfect shade of green (we did not keep nearly all of these...and it doesn't include the bulk of the ones we did keep).
10) The gutters were overflowing (we should look at that...) and creating massive icicles in this bush.
11) A donut shaped donut at work. 
12) Some snow, there was more snow, it melted, then some more snow.  But it's been awhile since we had enough for the boys to play in.
13) Downtown for a BIL's 50th birthday party, checking out a new place (it was loud but great views).
14) Running in the cold.  I wore a lot of layers.  Luke wouldn't go with me.
15) A 2 hour delay day, got Sam to read with me on the couch before needing to get around for school.
16) Dining local but at home, these tacos covered 3 meals for me! (And I think Luke had one too). 

Books finished: 13! 
Miles ran: 2!  That's enough for how cold January was.
Currently watching: Matt & I just finished Shrinking season 2 (we got AppleTV for a month to do so).  I'm not sure what's next!
Most read post this month: Reading Recap: November & December then DIY Strawberries & Cream Instant Oatmeal

 

February is a blissfully short month to wrap up winter! A few days off school, Valentine's Day (which thankfully isn't Ash Wednesday this year), more cleaning up the basement, and hopefully a less cold run!

Things Saving my Winter

This has been a weird start to winter with December just being crazy with Matt finishing school and then January brought a new homeschool challenge to my days (I still shock myself occasionally when I remember that we are doing that..it stills feels little crazy).  Some days are certainly easier than others and today was...not one of those easy days.  But it was also 56° and didn't feel like winter so maybe that's just how it balances out.  Linking up with Modern Mrs. Darcy for a few things saving my winter (although I am ADAMANT that winter is over on February 28th and spring starts March 1st.  Nobody can change my mind on this.)

1) Matt not being in school
It was a hard 16 months, especially the final few weeks in December which was crazy for a number of other reasons too and then Christmas as well.  But him not being in school anymore and actually being a present member of our family has been WONDERFUL.  The boys appreciate seeing him more.  I appreciate him helping with the boys and anything else around the house more.  And we no longer have to schedule our lives around his classes.  It is amazing.

2) Cleaning the basement/getting rid of things
The first big post-school project that Matt has tackled has been working on the basement, a continual problem area in our house.  We got some shelves from my aunt's house and that lead to massive purging and cleaning out, which has been motivating for both of us.  Just making decisions on things, getting things out of the house, having less.  This has mostly been aimed at the basement but we've also gotten more ruthless in other parts of the house too, as inspiration strikes.  It's very freeing.  

 

 3) My tea schedule
I am already looking forward to tomorrow morning's tea.  It's English Breakfast shortly after breakfast and Lemon Lift at lunch.  Sometimes one or both of those hit the microwave at least once (it's a very fine line between burning my mouth and it being too cold!) but I look forward to both my cups of tea, every day.

4) Harry Potter on audio
I started reading Harry Potter to Luke about 2 years ago, and with a few other books in there, we just finished Order of the Phoenix.  It's been slow going.  Now that he's home with me and we're in the car more, just the two of us, I borrowed from the library the audiobook of first, Order of the Phoenix and now Half-Blood Prince for us to listen to to help us keep the momentum going.  It's maybe only one or two chapters a week this way, just driving to/from homeschool swim and maybe the orthodontist, but it really has helped the momentum going the most.  It would have been nearly impossible to do before (there just isn't much time it's just us in the car) but I'm glad we finally realized we should do it now. 

5) Get Healthy U TV workouts
This has been my non-running workout of choice for the past year and I especially love the mornings I am not so rushed for time (i.e. over school breaks, two hour delay, or elearning day) so I can do a slightly longer one.  I still love running when it's nice outside but these have been wonderful for working on some muscle groups that running tones less (upper body and core, namely) and giving me some full body workouts especially when I'm not running.  I don't always get out of bed in time to do as much as I'd like but I do appreciate the days I do.  

6) Reading
I've never not had this on my list and it continues to be true this year.  Reading settles my brain like nearly nothing else and I get so anxious on days too busy to fit it in.  My brain needs that break away from thinking about everything else.  

7) No Sports
In addition to Matt being done with school, we are also on a nice long break from sports, given Luke's homeschooling.  It was a BIG change from him playing basketball and Matt in school to all of a sudden being done with both within a week of each other.  We have our nights at home again now!  Most nights I can put on my lazy pants as soon as I get Sam from school!  It doesn't mean our nights always go smoothly but it does let us get in more of a more consistent routine than we had been able to for quite awhile between both those scheduling crunches. 

What's been saving YOUR life?

Winter 2024 List
Winter 2023 List
Winter 2022 List
Winter 2021 List
Winter 2020 List
Winter 2019 List
Winter 2018 List
Winter 2017 List

Things I Like - January 2025

Due to just LIFE, I missed doing the last 2 months of these.  Maybe we're finally finding some routine again (or I am just ignoring other things I should be doing in order to do this.)

I always enjoy hearing what works for other people and I like sharing things I like, it's part of the reason I have a blog.  I've been doing these monthly posts for 10 years and they also provide a nice little snapshot in my life at a moment in time! See more here!  Some affiliate links may be included!

1) Bigelow Lemon Lift Tea
This is a black tea that I have enjoyed at numerous hotel breakfasts and I usually take a couple more for home because I could never find it in stores (that means Aldi or Target didn't carry it).  I finally decided some more regular lemon tea would be nice...and found I could buy a box at Kroger for $3.  So within a few days I stopped at Kroger and bought some.  And it has been delightful and I'm drinking some right now (it's my afternoon tea).  I try to do loose tea leaves for less waste most of the time but sometimes the tea bag is just so easy.  (And I'll probably still grab a few extra from the hotel breakfasts when I see it.)

2) Roasted Red Pepper Hummus
I hate figuring out what to eat for lunch each day because it never seems like I should go to a whole bunch of work just for me.  Even with homeschooling our oldest now, we don't eat together, it's part of our little lunch break (we are together A LOT right now).  Anyways, when we have it, a big part of my lunch is usually this hummus with pretzels.  There is protein and it's delicious. I do put the peppers in the pig bucket about as soon as I open it because I do not want to eat those, but the hummus is delicious. (I usually buy at Aldi but occasionally put in a Target order if that's how the grocery shopping is going that week.  They are slightly different textures.)

3) Electric Hand Warmers
I bought myself these after Christmas and they are very nice to have for some of these frigid days we've had, even though I try to very much limit my time outside when it's that cold.  They charge through a USB and get pretty warm pretty fast but not to the point they are burning.  The boys want to borrow these every time they are out in the snow but I don't quite trust them not to just use them to melt snow and then have them sitting in water...somehow it feels like I won't get them both back in working condition.  But for me, they are great. (I have blue which isn't available as of this writing but this green is pretty too.)

4) National Geographic Rock Tumbler
This was a Christmas gift to the boys since they've developed a bit of a rock collection with gem mining at a number of campgrounds over the years.  This came with some rocks but they have plenty more to try it with!  We just finished the first set, they take nearly a month with changing out the grit roughly every week (I bought this but Matt has managed all the rock tumbling with them).  It's pretty quiet but we kept it in our basement and through the laundry chute I could hear the faint sound of water when the house was quiet, to the point where I frequently thought it was raining when it wasn't.  But it's really not any louder than a nice rain on the windows (you can't hear the tumbling rocks at all!).  It's been a fun little project with the boys and my younger son used one of the jewelry fasteners to put one of his backpack (all on his own!).  We need to get more grit now to do more.  It's amazing how smooth they got!

5) Poofy Pens
I just thought these were fun and bought them as stocking stuffers for multiple kids.  I did not give one to Sam but then he wanted one of the leftovers and now it's his favorite pen.  I definitely would have loved one of these when I was a kid and they were great (price and novelty) for stockings.  

What have YOU been liking lately?

25 in 2025

This marks my 8th year making one of these lists.  I do not know how I struggled to come up with 18 or 19 items in the beginning because now I can easily get over 20 (not really going great on last year's list certainly helped fill this one) but there are usually 1-2 at the end I get stuck filling.  But

18 in 2018 | How I Did (25%)

19 in 2019 | How I Did (72%)
20 in 2020 | How I Did (85.75%)
21 in 2021 | How I Did (89.5%)
22 in 2022 | How I Did (86.4%)
23 in 2023 | How I Did (79.5%)

24 in 2024 | How I Did (68.33%)

Home Things
1) Make a step on home addition
This has been the plan for some time but we were waiting for Matt to get through school; we could not have handled an addition on top of the school stress last year.  So now we need to at least figure out if what we have in mind is even feasible.

2) Get rid of 500 things
I did a "get rid of 1000 things" challenge with two of my sisters in 2023 and I made it with just hours to spare on New Years Eve.  It cleared out so much extra stuff from our house!  I kinda tracked last year but fell off about April even though we'd occasionally get rid of things through the rest of the year.  Already in 2025 Matt & I have been a bit ruthless going through boxes, especially in the basement (is this the year the basement finally stops being a problem?!?!?).  500 feels like a good number to aim for.

3) Hang boys' jr ranger badges in their room
This is a much cheaper option than #1 and yet crossing off either gets me the same number of "points".  The boys have accumulated 4-5 junior ranger badges each and I'd like to hang them up in their room instead of leaving them to languish in a box.  Basically I need to go to a craft store to buy ribbon but it's something I've been meaning to do for months.

4) Homeschool for at least a semester
You know what, this is a new thing this year but it is taking up a significant amount of my time and even more brain space so I am giving myself an easy one to cross off...since I've already been doing it for 3 weeks, not a full semester yet!  I'm sure I'll write more about it in May or June, when we've survived it, but already it's going much better than the beginning.  I haven't cried in over a week so BIG PROGRESS.  (This, for obvious reasons, counts as a "home thing".)

Food Things
5) Host 6 Cookouts
We hit 7 last year which was an all time best for us but I do not know if we are ambitious enough to get to 8.  Six as a minimum feels good.

6) Eat local once a month
This might be one of the few items that is on the list every year but I also think I've hit it every year?!?!?  Mostly on our dates but we have a local pizza place and a local Chinese place we pick-up from with the boys as well as many ice cream places and a sno-cone one. 

7) Make something from Mel Kitchen Cafe cookbook once a month
I've been following the Mel's Kitchen Cafe blog for many years and not a single one of her recipes has ever steered me wrong (my kids might not like them all but I've been pleased with them).  She released a cookbook in early 2024 I believe and I just got it for Christmas.  I haven't gone through the whole thing but have flipped through it quite a bit.  It's been a LONG time since I bought a cookbook that wasn't ice cream specific (those might be the only ones I've specifically gotten) and thought would be a good challenge to cook at least one thing a month from it.  I've done a "once a month" for a different food project for a few years now, this one might be the easiest since it's so specific? We'll see (January has already been a success!). 

8) Make a standard fall/winter and spring/summer menu plan with grocery list
As I said a few days ago, I'm very close on this one, would really like to have it finally done and then start using it!  Menu planning is a stressor for me, even though I very much see it's usefulness.

9) Make a treatza-pizza
Does anyone remember these from Dairy Queen around 30 years ago??  I was recently reminded of them and decided I need to make one.  So I will try.  I really don't think I can go wrong (from what I remember, it was like an crushed oreo crust, ice cream, and toppings...but more pizza form than ice cream cake).

Fun(ish) Things
10) Go on 10 dates
Years ago we struggled to hit 4 in a year but as the boys have grown, and especially aided by Matt's 4 years of working 4-10s, we've gotten much better at getting these in.  It really helps that they boys are ages where we can leave them alone, at least long enough to go out to eat. 

11) Try 4 new date ideas
Shamelessly stealing this from Kelsey at Rising*Shining.  Our dates are fairly typical going out to eat so I want to try at least 4 new things, even a new restaurant might count, maybe we'll find some new favorites! 

12) Finish 5 photobooks (OBX, 2024, Luke, Sam, summer 2025 vacation)
Three of those I do every year, OBX it last year's trip, and then ideally we'll go somewhere this summer but since my husband is imminently switching jobs, he doesn't have any time off planned for the summer and so nothing planned.  I'm hoping we can get in at least two trips this year but all depends on that job...

13) Buy 3 books I'm excited about
Two of these are from two of my very favorite internet follows, the first being Ordinary Time: Lessons Learned While Staying Put by Annie B. Jones.  She is the owner of The Bookshelf, an independent bookstore in beautiful Thomasville, Georgia.  She also is the host of From the Front Porch, a podcast about books, small business, and life in the south, that I've been listening to for 8+ years.  And I've convinced Matt to make a detour to Thomasville TWICE when driving to/from Florida (the second time I got to meet Annie which truly was a delight).  So very excited to read her debut book (I have already preordered it from her bookstore).  Next is I've Never Been Here Before: Our Family's Year of Budget Travel, Wandering the World, and Finding the Sacred by Ashley Campbell.  I've been following Ashley on Instagram for over a decade, I started when Luke was pretty little (I wrote about it here, 11 years ago, almost exactly!).  She homeschools, adopted her youngest, and has beautiful photography.  From June 2022-June 2023 she and her husband took their 5 kids on a trip around the world and her IG content was one of the best things on the internet those whole 12 months.  I LOVED following along and am so glad she wrote a book on it. Very excited to read this.  And, finally, How to Be Busy: Unhurried Living Even When Your Calendar is Chaotic by Rachelle Crawford.  Her Messy Minimalism was one of my favorite reads of 2022 and she has been a delightful Instagram follower since.  Just a very relatable writing style but also practical advice.  I was very excited to hear she was writing another one.  Affiliate links to Amazon on the last two but I'm going to try to buy them from The Bookshelf, even if I have to ask them to special order (which I have done many times!). 

14) Run outside every month of the year
I was a bit shocked that I managed to hit this last year, the first year I had ever run outside every single month of the year (even though January, February, and December were each a single 2 mile run).  I have been watching the forecast carefully to see if January looked possible before I committed, I wasn't going to be running when our windchill was -16° a few days ago!  But January looks doable and it's one of the two worst months (with December).  February has a better chance of being decent by the end that I often have run at least once in February even before this challenge.  

15) Visit 10 local parks 
Matt actually helped me come up with this one!  We have a decent local park system and there are 5 we visit with some regularity but many I've never been to.  So we decided that we'd visit 10 and do at least SOME activity at each one.  If they have a playground, that counts.  If they do not, we'll have to come up with something else.  These will probably mostly happen between April and October but I'm excited to try some new to us places.

16) Take boys to a movie at the theater
I think Luke has been twice and Sam just once, as a baby which is partially the reason I haven't tried again (it was one of those summer kid movie afternoons where there were many babies and MANY little kids).  But it would just be fun to do this with them.  I don't even remember the last time Matt & I were at a theater (maybe 3 years ago??).  The biggest problem might be finding something decent for the kids to see...

17) Go to the drive-in twice
There was a year when we went 11 times.  That was before kids.  The last many years we've gone one single time, for our wedding anniversary.  And we love it but it'd really be nice to go more than once.  We haven't taken the kids in a few years so that's a big possibility.  Before COVID we'd take them at least once a summer.

18) Watch Little Women
The newest one, from 2019.  I've heard good things about it and I've even owned the DVD for over a year (it was $1 at the school Christmas market).  I should actually watch it.

19) Go to the Farmers Market 6 times
Six feels like a good number.  We maybe only went once before I started putting it on our list and now we are people who go to the Farmers Market!  It's fun but I also have to be in the mood to spend money.  That's not always true but we can usually at least find some food to get.

Just Get These Things DONE or Take Them Off the List
20) Finish our will
Yes, this needs done.  Done. Done. Done.  It needs to be finish.  Stop putting this off, SELF.

21) Art books
SAME.  We're getting to poop or get off the pot territory here.  Commit or give up.  COMMIT.

22) Sell a Lego Millennium Falcon
We've been meaning to sell this for 2 years but, I'll admit, I am very nervous about selling it online and then someone having a problem with the quality (the box is in excellent quality) but adult Lego people are SERIOUS.  But we need one less one in the house. 

23) Figure out how to use Gmail better (clear-up inboxes)
Should I have done this 20 years ago when I set-up the account???  Maybe.  But also, I need a better system.  I want to hold on to some e-mails but I haven't had inbox zero since I first set it up...like I said last year...I have e-mails from around the time we got married in there and that was nearly 19 years ago....

24) Fix tags
I did this partially last year but need to commit to finishing.  This isn't as terrible as some other long lingering items on the list but it's still one I'd like to wrap up.

25) Do a special collection at school
I have two in mind, really two that I've done in the past, but I wasn't able to do either last year and it would be nice to try again this year.  Ideally I'd like to do more with this project BUT homeschool is really cramping my time for many things (this blog among them).  

The first goal is to do better than last year (68.33%).  The second goal is to get an A (90%).  I need to come up with some sort of reward/incentive if I do hit an A...now I need to think about that...