2016 | GOALS

I've been meaning on posting my 2016 goals but keep forgetting! I love the "fresh start" the new year brings each year, but I also know that you don't need a new year or a Monday to start something. You just need a new day and a positive attitude! January is my least favorite month of the year. Here in Tennessee it is always SO gloomy and for the most part really cold. There isn't really any big holidays and the first week or so is spent trying to fall back into a routine from the holidays. Let's just say I'm usually never sad to see it go. Welcoming February is always a fun thought, just another month closer to warmer weather!

So here they are! I made them on a small 5x7 print so that I can print a couple of them off and keep one in the front of my planner and one hanging up at the house to see and keep me on track!

Most of them are self explanatory but I'll expand on them a little more.

1. Buy a house.

   - We can go on and mark this off, but when I was thinking about my goals at the end of the year this was definitely one of them.

2. Build intentional relationships with our church family. 

-  We are so incredibly lucky to have our group at church. They are probably 15+ young married couples in our class and I want to get to know them all and really connect with them. Our class does a lot of activities together and I want us to attend and participate in as many as we can!

3. Save money.

   - It can be hard saving money when you have all these house projects running around in our minds, but we know, and want to save money. We have an emergency account in case something small were to happen (ex. an appliance go out, a car deductible, a small doctor bill) but we also want a "6 months of expenses" in a savings account in case something were to ever happen, it's good to have that as back up. 

4. Celebrate a whole year of sweet marriage.

  - July 18th :) Still can't believe we've been married a little over 6 months. 

5. Memorize more scripture.

  - I have read different ways to do this. Some said putting a note card on the bathroom mirror works best for them because they see it while they are getting ready for the day and ready for bed. I've also read that putting a note card with a verse on it on your dashboard to read every time your are stopped at a red light is a good idea. Any thoughts? Do y'all have any certain ways to help you memorize scripture?

6. Eat dinner at home for a whole month. 

  - We don't eat out as much as we did in college, but we still tend to eat out quite a bit on the weekends. I am hoping to have a month this year where we only eat dinners at home. (I would LOVE to go a whole month without eating out at all but that's sometimes hard for Matthew since he goes out to eat with clients for lunch. Maybe one month we will get brave and not eat out the whole month...we'll see about that one lol.) I'm hoping that eating every dinner at home for a whole month will help us see just how much we spend on eating out and maybe will work us up to not eating out for a whole month! I also think it would be fun to plan a whole month of dinners every single night!

7. Love my husband and respect him wholeheartedly.

  - I strive to respect Matthew in his leadership over our home at all times, but just like everyone else, I am human and don't respect him as much as I should. I want to really work on that and make sure I am respecting him at all times. The more that I respect Matthew and his role in our home/marriage the more that we will be able to serve The Lord and others together. I want our home to be a place where we both feel relaxed and comfortable. For us to be able to do that, I have to absolutely stop with the nagging. I really need to validate the way he does things and let him know that I respect him as a person and as a leader. The most important earthly relationship I will ever have will be with my husband. God first, husband second. I want to start our marriage with that attitude and always, always keep that. And in order to do that I need to invest time into him and our marriage daily, and place his needs above mine. I want to plan date nights this year. At least one a month if not more. I want to take turns each month planning our date nights, so it's not just a thing I do. We get so caught up in life and the day-to-day events, so I want us to both be excited and looking forward to our date nights. 

8. Cultivate a healthier lifestyle.

  - I feel like this is on everyone's list of goals, but it's an important goal to have! I'm not setting a certain amount of weight to loose this year or putting myself on a strict diet. I just want to be conscious of everything I'm eating. If I ate an unhealthy lunch then I should probably try and eat a healthy dinner. I want to eat more fruits and vegetables and try healthier options. I want to automatically grab an apple or bowl of grapes for my afternoon snack than a bowl of potato chips or candy bar. In order to do that, I need to buy healthier options at the grocery store. If I don't have unhealthy foods in our pantry then I won't be tempted to eat those things!

9. Work on home projects.

  - We have a growing list of projects that we want to do to our house, and I think it grows everyday! Some projects are big and will cost a pretty penny and some are small and won't cost much at all. I want to pick a project each month to work on. It doesn't have to be all big projects. One month our project might be organizing our pantry and the next month it might be taking down wallpaper and painting. We're just excited and thankful to make this house our home!

10. Travel to new places.

  - I love traveling and seeing new places, and I'm hoping to add some new places to my list of places I have been this year!

11. Cook/bake more.

  - I am really starting to love being in the kitchen. I love trying new recipes and finding things we love to eat. Once we get settled into our house I want to make some freezer meals to have on hand. 

12. Simplify.

  - I just want to simplify everything! I want to get rid of clutter and not have things just laying around the house. I want everything organized and in it's place so when we need something we won't spend 30 minutes searching for it. I loved Emily Ley's Simplicity Challenge, and I would love to do it every few months. I would also love to do my own Simplicity Challenge at some point this year, one that is completely centered around our lives and ways to help us simplify!