january goal check

My goal for January was to focus on home. Honestly, most of the stuff I did I would have probably done anyway without the goal, but it was good motivation and felt good to be working on something bigger than just the day-to-day tasks.

Sub-goals included cleansing and simplifying (we got rid of soo much stuff and it felt soo good), decorating our new apartment (I cheated and just finished the curtains today, but close enough), and focusing on getting a good schedule and spirit in our home. It felt nice to focus on getting into the groove of the little things, like kneeling family prayer, family home evening, and spending time together at night. It has made a huge difference in our attitudes and the demeanor of our home and family.

And even though our apartment is laughably small and has lots of issues, we kind of love it. I'm just happy to have a place that feels like home for my two best guys.

Living area with the wall I carefully planned out and made André spend forever hanging things

Never in my life would I imagine a kitchen so small (I've had closets that are bigger), but it will make for good stories someday

Rhett's happy little room. I love the bright colors and he loves that he can pull things out of the drawers from his crib instead of napping.

goals goals goals

I'm fascinated by goal-setting and self-improvement, so I love reading other people's goals around the new year. The past few years I've created massive lists of things I wanted to accomplish throughout the year, but they've become less effective each year so I'm switching it up. This year I'm taking a page out of "The Happiness Project" and focusing on one area each month with specific goals under that topic. I have a general outline of each month, but I'm also leaving it flexible because things can get crazy. So this year I'm focusing on:
home, motherhood, marriage, spirituality, relationships, body, past/future, service, mind, money, gratitude, and creativity.

I figured "home" was a natural way to start because this month will be dominated by moving so I might as well make the most of it. My focus for this month is to simplify and organize everything (seriously--EVERYthing), establish a schedule, create a loving home environment, and get back into a groove of being our own little family. I'm super pumped and may have cheated and donated four bags of junk to the thrift store this week. Cleansing!

Our family goal for the year is one word to focus on--Happy. Individually and together we want to focus on being patient, charitable, and fun, but it really all comes down to being happy.

this is my new desktop background/daily reminder. thanks pinterest!

bring it on, 2015. We've got some killer goals for you!

tasty cakes

Goal #14 on my 2014 goal chart? Take a class in something new. After years of wanting to do it, I finally took a cake decorating class on Saturday. Granted, it was the shortened one-day class until I can fit the long course in my schedule, but it gave me the bug. And thanks to a 12 year old boy who didn't think to bring cupcakes or frosting to a cake decorating class, I had a private session.

André definitely doesn't mind my new, tasty hobby. I'm not very good, but now I've got the skills to get better.

If I keep practicing for myself, I'll be obese in no time. So, who needs cupcakes?