Thursday, January 4, 2018

2018: Simplifying

I think I say it every year but I LOVE the fresh start feeling at the beginning of another year.  LOVE IT.  I love the whole Thanksgiving-Christmas season too but in the midst of the crazy and shopping and wrapping and ALL THE THING, I sometimes find myself craving the fresh start in January.  When life slows down, the extra decorations are packed away, the tree gone, and presents put away. 

I usually wake up January 1st full of optimism, hope and resolve for a new, fresh year.
Isn't it nice to think that tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it yet? - Anne (another genius redhead)
I find the simplicity of January so refreshing after the busy-ness of December.

And I think that's my theme for the year.  Simplifying.  This is my 4th year of picking one and while it's mostly just in the back of my mind for the year, I do get to December and find the ways it kept popping up.  I'd like to simplify our routines, our belongings, and our schedules.  I am always interesting in having less (except when I'm at Target) and needing less.  Schedule wise, our lives are about as simple as they can get so this might be extra important to keep in mind when things get more complicated in the fall with Luke starting school (still in pretty serious denial that it's that soon!).

For 2017 I wanted to focus on grace and I found myself thinking about that a lot, referencing it often.  Grace to give myself to let things go, how good God's grace is, giving more grace to others when, shockingly, their minds don't work just like mine.  I've seen how good God's grace can be, the peace it has helped me find with the adoption process.  It's something I'll never stop needing help with but remembering to give and receive it was a good lesson this past year.

(For reference: 2015's word was "curating", 2016 was "living intentionally", both things I am always trying to improve!)

I also love me some goals and resolutions.  First, how I did on last years:

1) Read 100 Books
Kinda killed it, 200 books for the year.

2) Get rid of 150 things by the garage sale
Ehhh....111 that I tracked, probably another dozen or two that I didn't.  So didn't quite make it.

3) Get up before the last minute
Some days we do better about this than others.  Like in the spring/summer/fall, basically anytime it's not freezing outside.  It still needs continual work BUT we have gotten a lot better about going to bed "on time" which does make getting up much easier.  So progress.


4) Stop putting stuff off 
There is no easy way to judge this but I think we have been doing better.  I feel like I've been wasting less time on my computer and just getting to what needs done.  Not everything can be done the second I think of it but we have been doing better about what can be.

5) FINALLY get the basement organized
Progress.  We finished the pantry storage down there and my craft storage upstairs (coming soon) which meant some of the stuff from the basement could be moved up to that.  I think I need to give up on Matt's workbench ever being organized to my standards (I have fairly high organizing standards).  I figure if he gets that corner of the basement to keep as he sees fit and the rest is pretty organized, then it's a win. 

As for 2018...

I have a decent project list for 2018 I plan to share in a couple weeks, because internet accountability is helpful to me.  And I like looking back and seeing what we got done over the course of a year.  But for resolutions/goals:

1) Read 125 Books
Pretty good chance it'll be more than that but this is roughly 10 books a month which I've found I can do fairly easily. 

2) Facetime with out of town sisters once a week-ish
Three of us girls live near our parents in our hometown.  Three of them live ~2 hours away.  We Facetime with some of them some of the time but I'd like to be more consistent, especially to get Luke talking to his cousins down there. 

3) Run a 10k and 350 miles
I definitely need a year off before training for another half-marathon but I do like running and a race in the fall keeps me motivated all summer.

4) Get rid of 100 things pre-garage sale
Always a goal, we always could use less.

5) Improve my skin-care routine
For example: I've been using the same face moisturizer since college.  My "getting too close to mid-30s" skin could probably use something different than my 20 year old self.  This might mean spending a little more money.  Which is largely why I've been putting it off for a decade.  Suggestions welcome, especially if I can buy it at Target or Amazon!

Are you the resolution making type?  I'd love to hear what you have in mind for 2018!

2017 resolutions
2016 resolutions
2015 resolutions
2014 resolutions 
2013 resolutions
2012 resolutions
2011 resolutions
2010 resolutions

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