Hi friends,

I wanted to give you an update on my list of goals that I posted about last September. It’s been almost a year since I set these goals for myself, and I had such high hopes of having it be my most productive year ever. But God had other plans on how I should spend my time! Between moving twice in one year, starting a new job, doing a master’s program, and trying to build a good community, the blog and my goals fell to the wayside. At times, I’ve felt guilty for not only slacking on the goals I set for myself, but also for letting my readers down with my inconsistency. But at the end of the day, I’m glad I made the decision to pour more into my marriage, my community, and my education. I won’t write posts for each of my goals, but I will update you on my progress here!

• Read six impactful books
  • Calm, Cool, and Connected
  • Finding God Through Poetry
  • Uncomfortable
  • The Gifts of Imperfection
  • H3 Leadership – I really enjoyed reading this book by Brad Lomenick on leadership; there were lots of practical takeaways.
  • Managing Change – this one was a book I had to read for class, but I found it so interesting!
  • Uninvited: Living loved when you feel less than, left out, and lonely – I’m currently reading this one and loving it so far!
• Work out once a week
  • Week of Zumba 
  • This definitely did not happen, but I will say I’m slightly more active than I used to be due to our new fur baby Darcy! Isn’t she adorable??

• Spend twenty minutes of quiet time at least five days out of the week
  • Do Not Worry
  • I’m most disappointed that I didn’t keep up with this one, and it’s definitely a goal that I will keep working on. There are always things that can get in the way of spending time with God, but I just have to be disciplined and not let them. If you have any good devotional books that you would recommend, let me know! I just started reading one called Unexpected: Learning to love your unpredictable story, and I’ve really enjoyed it.
• Do one creative project a month
  •  Hablas espanol?
  • Christmas gift tags
  • DIY chic keychain
  • DIY marbled nail polish mug
  • I’m sure I did this in one capacity or another, especially with doing my fine dining at home posts. It has been fun to be more creative and adventurous in the world of food!
• Be more responsible with money – save more and give more
  • While it’s still a struggle to save and give more, we have made some progress and are close to the savings goal we set for ourselves.
• Collect and organize Matt’s and my monthly letters (only about 7.5 year’s worth!)
  • Another one I haven’t done yet but will definitely do at some point – hopefully before my next class starts.
• Explore the east coast
  • Roanoke and Charlottesville
  • Washington DC
  • I also went to Wilmington, NC, although I didn’t get to blog about it. I’ve  enjoyed exploring more in the cities around me, especially Charlottesville. I’m hoping that we will be able to visit one of the east coast beaches soon also!
• Unplug for a week
  • I think I just didn’t do this one because a) it’s scary and b) I never felt like I could really unplug between school and vacation. But it’s still something I would like to do in some capacity!

While I didn’t get to complete all my goals in a year, I still plan on pursuing them and blogging about them when I get the chance! Thank you in advance for your grace as I continue to determine how to best spend my time and energy and how that fits in with the blog.

On another note, I will be adding some different content to the blog that is a bit more personal rather than how-to, and I hope you guys enjoy it! So keep an eye out for my next post!