goals for the year ahead...

January is for setting up new planners and journals and sketchbooks. It's truly one of the best parts of greeting the New Year. This time around, it was a delight to sit down with my oldest as we planned out what our goals would be for 2021 (she's absolutely a list-maker, just as I so happen to be). 

For the last several years, I've been a bit more organized when writing down my annual goals. I realized that I do much better when I organize them by category (yes, I have enough to create categories; this is my life) and also limit myself to three-ish items in each category. I think it is a good way for me to really focus in on what I hope to accomplish, and also limit myself to specific goals and not nebulous options like, Drink more water! Find the joy in every day! Stop using your Angry Mom voice so often! (Granted, that last one isn't really nebulous, but still.) I once read somewhere that you tend to accomplish what you set out to do when you make it as specific as possible—without it adding a wild amount of stress to your life, in my case. 

So, without further ado, here are my goals for 2021, broken down by category because that's how I roll:

Family and Home

• create a new tradition (last year, our new tradition was Saturday night take-out dinners—truly one of the best ideas we've ever had)
• print/frame photos for our staircase (we've lived in our home four years and this has taken entirely too long to accomplish)
• visit 10 new places together (I'm keeping this one travel/nature focused)

Health

• complete three exercise programs (I use the Beachbody app)
• do a sugar detox (I'd love to attempt to do this for 30 days)
• switch three foods from store-bought to homemade

Heart and Soul

• getaway for our 15th anniversary (this would be our first overnight trip together since having kids!)
• memorize six Psalms or scripture passages (I started memorizing a new Psalm every month or two last year, which has benefited me so much)
• read four books by C.S. Lewis (I have this book, which has some of his most popular titles)

Creativity

• post here once a week (or more, should I feel wildly inspired)
• create photo books for the girls (I completed a monthly photo project last year that I'd love to get into books)
• learn a new skill (I'm keeping this goal purposely nebulous because I like to keep my options open!)

Miscellany

• complete monthly service project with the girls (this could include donating money or items to a charity, sending a care package to a soldier, cleaning up trash at a park, etc.)
• read 60 books (I read 75 last year, but I'm setting a slightly lower goal this time around)
• buy one item for myself monthly (you have no idea how long I put off buying new eyeliner or socks or my favorite writing pens)
• no social media for the entire year! 

So, there you have it. I'm quite satisfied when I look at these goals, and although I'm sure there will be several left unaccomplished by next January (I'm looking at you, anniversary getaway) I feel as though most of them are absolutely things I can make happen.

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a new space...

It has been so long since I've written regularly that I hardly know how to begin. There was a time that I spilled my thoughts onto paper (or the internet) on an almost daily basis, so at a certain point it felt as if sharing my stories in written form were second nature. Even as my life became busier and more complicated, I would find myself writing paragraphs in my head—ones that never made it into a notebook or onto a screen. I'd choose the perfect words, switch up the paragraphs, edit my thoughts into written form, and think it over in my head until it sounded just right. I did this for years, actually.

I've lost a lot of that ability—to easily translate my thoughts into well-crafted paragraphs—and I miss it. I try not to think too much about the gap in between the years I spent purposely documenting my life and where I am now. If I think too hard about it, I begin to wallow in mom-guilt about never having written my third daughter's birth story (while her two older sisters have many hundreds of words written about theirs), or mourn the loss of memories that I would have been able to retain, had I taken the time to write them down.

However, I also don't regret stepping away from certain aspects of the internet, and I think that overall I'm grateful that I didn't carry on and reach a point where my livelihood depended on my social media presence—or, similarly, that I was sharing my life and stories (and those of my children) in a way that made me document every detail of our lives for the consumption of others. As my daughters grew older (and, let's be honest, the internet became a less charming place than it was a dozen years ago) I did feel compelled to let it go.

This year, I'm experiencing another bit of a give-and-take…I'm giving up my last bit of social media (a private IG account) for the entire year, but I'm taking on this new space that feels like something I'm a bit more in control of. I'm doing it for the creative outlet (writing, photography, coding, and so on) but also because I do like having some record of my days, weeks, and months—and I miss the long-form style of blog posts as opposed to limited IG captions. And when it comes down to it, I miss when the internet was about things that you had to pore over…wordy emails from friends, lengthy blog posts from your favorite writers. I wonder if there is ever a way to recapture that, especially as social media has taken over everything and our attention spans (including my own) have become embarrassingly short.

But I digress.

In any case, I wanted to write something short and sweet to reintroduce myself to the blogosphere (I'm not sure if that's an actual thing anymore, but humor me) and say hello. How have you been the last two years?