There are few things that get me out of my post-Christmas/tired of being cold/winter slump like planning and organizing. I've been planning both summer adventures and projects we'd like to get done before December. As well as, obviously, trying to get rid of half our belongings (and not succeeding, it's like people here, including me, are attached to and need certain things).
So I'm doubling down on prepping this list, for the first time in years I've actually had TOO many ideas and had to make some hard cuts! And I didn't even cut the least likely ones to get done, I need the motivation to actually check them off! This is the FIFTH year I've officially done one of those (I almost hit 17 items to do in 2017 but never posted about them) and I've gotten closer and closer to 100%, will this be the year?!?
1) Replace the boys' bedroom light
Their bedroom light remains the only non-basement or garage light (and maybe even those have been replaced, Matt has bought a lot of LEDs) that we haven't changed in 16 years here. They have this small ceiling fan which has always worked fine and we used it mostly in the summer. But now with the bunk bed in it's current location, the blades are too close to Luke's head so this needs replaced with a low profile light. We haven't used the fan since moving their bed to it's location, should be an easy switch to make.
Matt & I both had ceiling fans in our offices which aren't my favorite visual choice but we use them too often in the summer to get rid of them. When we replaced fans (that we had put in) in the front room a few years ago, one of those got moved to Matt's office but it wasn't working right and Matt scrap metal'ed most of it in the fall. So he has part of a ceiling fan light but no fan. I think we should just buy another of the one that's in my office, the front room, and the front porch. That seems like an obvious choice...he's going to want a fan in by summer.
3) Hang art in our bedroom
Sometime around 2016, our 10th anniversary, I wanted to do a bedroom refresh and that project slowly got done from 2017 (when I painted our room) to 2020 (when we got our new bed frame and nightstands). The one spot left undone was a blank corner that could use some art. I had art picked out but then decided to repurpose four white frames that came out of the stairs and do a grid. This is pretty straight forward, just decide placement and order 4 8x10s. Then maybe our bedroom will be DONE (just in time for me to change my mind on something, haha).
Last year I wanted to redo a gallery wall and I did! That post is coming soon. But it left a big blank wall in our front room. I've collected a few pieces for the new (fewer piece) gallery wall I want to do but haven't done anything towards deciding on an arrangement. Part of my hesitation is that we moved the buffet over to accommodate Sam getting a desk next to Luke's in the corner. That moves the location of my gallery wall by ~8 inches so I want to be very sure that the desks are staying before I commit to holes in the wall. But hoping this is still maybe a 1st quarter project. (The picture is what I took down...9 months ago.)
5) Rotate front room rugs
Yes, this should be fairly easy but haven't done this in the 5 years we've had the rugs and they are showing some wear. So putting this here should make sure it actually happens.
FOR THE FIFTH YEAR but Matt says it's next after 2 godchild gifts he's making for February birthdays. Really, it might actually happen.
12 years ago we put down bamboo floors in my office and I have loved it ever since. But, they do get a bit worn and I've finally decided a rug would be nice. Basically, I just want one. I even know which one I want and it involved contacting an AirBnB we stayed at almost 3 years ago to get the name. And they are checking on it for me!
8) Make a sandbox for the boys
Another repeat but one that might actually happen? I don't know. All the former obstacles have an answer (my sister will take our extra dirt, we know where to get sand) so we just need to commit and do it. Luke LOVES digging in the dirt under his swing and I would much prefer to have him dig in sand. Plus, it would look intentional instead of the quasi-digging that's happened under the swings so far. (Some by me.)
We LOVED our raised garden beds last summer and now that the compost has been moved to our old garden we have an open spot for one more bed. This one should be easier than the current beds since those are L shaped and the new one will just be a rectangle. I am HOPEFUL Matt can start on this around April so we can plant in May! (That picture IS the one I just used to show the compost moved BUT it is also the spot for the new garden bed.)
10) Make rain gauge for the backyard
Since we are somewhat serious about our gardening now it would be nice to know how much rain we get. Maybe because I come from a family of farmers but there are always text conversations after a good summer rain about how much rain everyone got. Even though a handful of us live in the same city (it can vary!).
Food
11) Make Mom's pot roast
My Mom's pot roast is one of my favorite main courses and I've only had it a handful of times since we've been married. I somehow thought Matt didn't like pot roast and I wasn't going to commit to eating a whole one myself. (I think it was that Matt wasn't as enthusiastic about pot roast as I was, not that he didn't like it) so I'd really like to work this into our meal rotation. My Mom has told me the instructions but I wasn't taking notes and also, I still don't know what roast to buy. But I would LOVE to eat it again once a month when it's cold.
12) Buy from a local restaurant once a month
We did this successfully last year and are trying again this year! It was SO MUCH FUN to have a pretty regular routine of picking up food (we rarely eat in restaurants, COVID times or not) and try and find local favorites. These often happen on our dates but sometimes (especially of the ice cream and sno-cone variety) with the boys too!
13) Bake with yeast once a month
There was a 3 year period from about 2013-2016 when I baked 85% of our bread. I baked all of it for maybe 2 years but then we started buying hot dog buns (mine never turned out right) and then hamburger buns (which did but I think we were having a cookout and I didn't want to commit to that many) and then, eventually, sandwich bread was bought too. I don't have aspirations to bake ALL of our bread again (I am fine never failing at hot dog buns again) but I would like to get comfortable with yeast again. This does not have to be "health
y" bread. I plan to make Babka this month.
14) Celebrate a food holiday every month
There are all those random food holidays that I want to celebrate one with the boys each month. Mainly, I want an excuse to pick up donuts on a weekday. Also, just looking at January there are so many that seem easy and fun (National croissant day?? Yes. I'm in.) I already celebrated "National Prohibition Remembrance Day" by having a drink. But really, I mean with the boys. Also, to get some short cuts on menu planning (we will definitely be eating tacos on national taco day).
Fun
15) Finish 4 photobooks (2021, Sam, Luke, vacation)
Well this is my idea of fun. (I saw an IG post about organizing photos and it ended with "nobody is perfect at this"...but I actually feel like that's one area of my life where I have a pretty perfect system, developed over many years.) Our 2021 book just needs the IG collage that I end every book with and then a final editing (I even have the page count right already!). The boys' are caught up through 2021 even though they need some page editing (too many by just a few!). I've done much better staying on top of these since I've given myself a dedicated time to work on them (Monday evenings, after the boys are in bed.)
16) Make a fabric pendant for birthdays
We've done a balloon garland many years for the boys' birthdays (and their joint party) and have enjoyed them over the next 2 months. But with my recent zero-waste kick I can no longer justify throwing away all those balloons so I want to make a fabric pendant we can reuse year after year. I have some ideas in my head but haven't done any work on this yet.
17) Go on 10 dates
I am especially proud at how well we've gotten at these, especially after we cheated in counting to get to 4 dates in 2019. Matt's 4-10s work schedule GREATLY helps, many of our dates fall on weekday mornings when we only need a sitter for Sam. Unfortunately, many of these happen on Mondays when, I have discovered, not many downtown shops are open. But we always figure out something to do! And there is always food involved.
18) Make tie-dye family shirts
We talked about this last year when we were in line for the train at the zoo (it's a very specific memory) but then we didn't get it done before our vacation. We want to get shirts screen printed with something (not our last name, I don't like advertising that, especially when we are out of town) and then tie-dye them our 4 favorite colors (blue, green, red, and orange). This might be a disaster but we will DEFINITELY all be wearing them on some of our trips. Yes, we are crazy AND adorable.
Nagging Projects
19) Get a will made
Yes, we should have done this 9 years ago when we got Luke. Really need to get this one crossed off this year. The main problem is we have too many potential guardians for the boys and we need to agree on who to ask.
This is a bit of a carryover from last year, finishing up a project. I have made good headway on photoing his art (I'm up to the fall of 2019!) and need to get this done. Sam's book was quick to put together once the art was photographed but he has MUCH less art. Still, photographing it a bit at a time still feels like the much more labor intense part of this project. And then I'd like to be within a couple months of these being updated once I am caught up!
21) Recycle crayons & markers
I've been collecting these (...mostly from myself) for the last many years and know of places that recycle both but I need to look into actually sending them. Ideally I'd like to be able to collect from Luke's school because just knowing the amount of those WE go through...there has to be a lot getting thrown away. But I want to try it out with my smaller amount first.
22) Project for Luke's school
This is another project related to his school that I have thought a lot about and talked with my Mom and some sisters about but I have put off actually researching and talking to the principal about. I need to commit to this before school is out so hopefully it could be implemented for next school year. HOPEFULLY more about this one coming later.
That's it! 22 project we hope to accomplish this year! Excited to see what we can get done. And ALSO, I'd love to hear any ideas if anyone else does a list like this! Let's be productive together!
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