Well….it’s been one of those weeks.  I’ve had lots of computer problems and my IT Guy was out-of-town (also known as my hubby). Without the necessary help, (because when the computer freezes, so do I) my schedule of posting went out the window.  A post that was meant to post yesterday (my daughter’s room) didn’t happen and today’s is a lot later than I had planned.  Another example of going with the flow I guess.

A few weeks ago, I realized that half of this year is almost behind us!  Which means I have six more months to knock out my goals for this year.  Where did these last six months go? Today I’m going to look at what my goals were and share with you an update about how I am progressing (or not progressing). In other words I’m giving myself a little kick in the booty to keep going with these goals!

As a reminder…

I think of approaching a goal like going up to a door.  You have to know the door you want to go to, you have to knock on the door, you have to wait, and sometimes you make it in and other times you don’t.  The important part is that you are looking for doors to knock on.  The doors don’t come to you, you need to go to them.  So….what doors do I want to knock on in 2014?

Here were mine…

 

2014 Goals

Continue to be a morning person and get up early M-F.

Insert, FAIL.  Not really.  I did REALLY good Jan – April.  Then Spring Break came and I’ve been a terrible backslider ever since.  We are just finishing our first week of summer, and the first week is always a total free for all, so my goal is to get more scheduled starting this Monday.  Oh Monday, how I love you so.

Exercise/move every single day.

Welllll….who put this one on here?  If move every day means going up and down my stairs 943 times, then YES I move every single day.  In actuality, I am probably exercising an average of four x a week and I’m good with that!

Obtain a new certification within the area of fitness and renew my current certifications.

I know the one I’m signing up for and it’s on my “To Do” for the end of July.  Along with an additional goal to get it completed by the end of the summer.

Try paddle boarding.

CHECK!  My hubby and I went two Fridays ago and it was SO fun!  I loved it.  So peaceful, fairly easy, and just a great activity all around.  

Plan memorable European vacations.

Another CHECK!  We head to France and Scotland in July!

Improve my tennis game.

I regularly attended a Tennis Clinic once a week from Feb-May.  It was really fun and a great workout – see the above, “move every day goal”.  I’m taking a bit of a break right now with summer but would like to stay with it.  I have realized however, that I’m not a very competitive person.  It’s not that I don’t like to compete per se, but I just don’t like the pressure, especially when you play doubles.  I prefer just having fun while doing an activity, I’m the same way in golf.  I guess maybe I have a hard time being serious???

Read through the entire Bible.

I’m not even close to being on track, but I still want to stick with this.  I made the mistake of following a schedule that wasn’t really “working” for me.  So I need to find a better plan, I’ve done a lot of reading but I need to pick up my pace to stay on track.

Grow, advertise and develop my business.

Thankfully I have realized that blogging and running a site is really fun.  However, I have SO much to learn and have come to the realization that in order to turn it from a hobby into more of a business, I have to really work on my marketing and advertising.  I’m not a natural self promoter so I tend to gravitate towards keeping my site organized and posting regularly.  Both important things but without the other piece (marketing and advertising) I am limiting my reach and my potential.  The second half of this year is going to be spent on really coming up with a Business Plan for my site.  

Attend a 7-week Alpha Marriage Class at Church.

CHECK!  We did and it was really good.  Great materials. I can’t stress the importance of working on your marriage. Marriage is a relationship that takes a lot of work and the more tools in your tool belt the better!

Implement 7 (Jen Hatmaker) into my life.

Rockin’ this one!  I am not buying any clothes this year.  I might make an exception and buy a new pair of running shoes, see below.  I am instead taking my “clothing budget” money each month and donating it in some way.  I love taking on a discipline to buy less for me and then to give more to others.  In fact, this discipline caused me to address a huge pile of mending, a pile that will help extend my wardrobe. I also starting composting, not sure how I really feel about it. We had to back off because we already filled the bin. This is still in the works. Next goal is to sew a bunch of cloth napkins.

Finish my children’s memory file boxes.

Can’t tell you how good this one feels!  See them over HERE and my other version HERE.

Finish Berkley’s baby book, it’s about 95% done. 🙂

Why am I so weak with this one?  I could probably get it done in about an hour….

Study and improve my Portuguese.

 I wish I could say that I want to do this one, but who are we kidding? I’m not a language person. It’s just not how my brain is wired. Visual yes, auditory NO. I did buy a book from Amazon, that counts a bit right? After doing two days of assignments, (which feels like I’m in second grade again) the book is collecting dust. On the flip side, I understand A LOT. When the cashier ask’s me questions I usually know what she is saying and can usually respond confidently. 

Run in another race. (1/2 Marathon?)

Someone is crazy, and that someone is ME. I have decided to actually train and run a full Marathon in October. I shared more about it HERE. I am three weeks through my training and am really enjoying the challenge. It is a bit daunting but I really do better with a BIG goal out there in front of me. Let’s see if I can stay the course!

Dress up more, avoid wearing my “mom” everyday clothes.

I’m going to give this one a 50/50. Doing better, but could still do better. Just depends on my mood, what I’m doing, and if I’m motivated. Good for me to be reminded of this one, as I sit here in my eight year old jeans, that are just sooo comfy!

Organize my hope chest and other misc. photos.

With my first two Monthly Organizing Challenges I tackled these two!  Yay! It feels so good to cross two more things off of the old list.

Research the potential of earning a Master’s Degree while living overseas.

This was an easy one. It just doesn’t make sense for me right now. We don’t know exactly where we go from here and I’m not really sure if I will NEED a Masters for my future endeavors. So for now this is a check! If only all my goals were this easy. 🙂

Order our family picture canvases.

Slacker award goes here. Mainly because I haven’t wanted to spend the money. With all of our travels I’m trying to keep the budget on track. So these keep getting moved down the list. I will get to these eventually.

Read 25 books.

Currently I have read eight books and am four books behind!  I need to step it up! I am in the middle of about three books, so no worries here. 

Embrace everyday with my kids, they are growing too fast!

Honestly, I need to do better with this. I’m probably at a 50/50. Some days I do great and other days I fail miserably. This is another good reminder. I am blessed with some really great kids and I hate how fast they are growing up!

Write an e-book.

This is going to happen! I have gone around and around about what I wanted to share and now I know. I am making a goal to have it ready by September. Stay tuned!

Sew more.

This will happen when I finally get around to ordering my fabric to make our new napkins.  

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Now, if you haven’t set goals for 2014, there is no time like the present!  Even if we’re already six months in!

Start by sharing with me one of your goals this year in the comments.  I love to hear what you all are working on and how you are choosing to be more intentional.

Hoping you have a FABULOUS weekend!