Natalie 2016: Intention

Each year I set a theme to focus on instead of doing new year's resolutions.  I love the idea of a theme or Strategy.  It gives you guides but doesn't confine you to something that you might give up in a month. 

For 2015, my theme was Simplify/Streamline.  I revisited my theme in this post if you want to see how I had done half way through the year.  I struggled with some of the individual goals that I made for myself but I feel I did a good job overall of staying focused.  In 2014, it was Mastering the Task at hand and in 2013 was a list of goals.  It's fun to go back and read what I had wanted to focus on that year.  When I began to think about 2016 and what I would like to focus on, I struggled with trying to define it all in one theme.  This usually happens but it's great to get your mind thinking this way and pushing you to really put into words all the ideas in your head.

Before I get started, I wanted to share with you our family holiday picture this year.  So grateful for the year we have had and looking forward to many more adventures in the new year.  There will be ups and downs as every year but I hope to cherish the good and shine through the hard times.  

So, Natalie 2016 is going to be the year of...Intention.

This year I am also going to loosely follow the S.M.A.R.T goals guidelines for setting the different goals based on my theme.  Some won't have all the details because it might be a bit personal but otherwise I'll be an open book.

Physical
Run a full 5K by my 36th birthday. I started the Couch to 5K program recently and had issues with my knees.  I'm going to have to work out the knee issues but I'd still really like to run a 5K.  I may need to find a buddy for motivation as well.

Intellectual
Take at least one class/course/instructional session a month. This can be anything as long as it's something I learn from and can grow from.
Read a book a month. I already was able to start this in Dec and knocked out a short but good book call Fish!

Social
Meet up with one or more of my friends at least once a month.  This can be as easy as a lunch or going to knitting group.

Financial
Have a working budget for our family by March. I've become obsessed with budgeting and getting control of our money.  I've been reading and listening to many different resources about how to figure out budgeting and how to make it work for each family.  A lot of people(me being one of them) always felt a budget was constraining and frustrating but it doesn't have to be that way.  Having a budget is a way to tell your money where to go instead of not knowing and then finding out where it went.  Some resources that have been my go to lately have been Dave Ramsey, which he is a bit extreme but he has a lot of great ideas and things that I have learned from.  Also Derek and Carrie from Better Conversations about Money and Marriage podcast and Dave's daughter Rachel Cruze.  They all say it takes 3 months to figure out a budget that works and so we've been working on that and I'm giving us 4 to get it right.
Pay off a large portion of our debt by Dec 2016.  This won't include our home but the rest of the debt we have. I have a set amount in mind but feel that's personal.
*Savings and Emergency fund goal* For some reason I feel the details of this one are private.

Family
Have a movie/game night for our family once a month
Have at least one date night a month with my husband.

Spiritual
Find a church home by Easter.  This has been a struggle for me.  The church I went to for a long time just doesn't feel like home anymore so I stopped going.  My sisters and I have been trying out different churches and we haven't quite found our place yet.  We will.
Read a devotional daily.  I use the Bible app on my phone and set a reminder.  They have a ton of great devotionals but I think I'm going to re-read the Joyce Meyer year long one.  I've read it before and I really enjoyed it.

 And because this essentially is a knitting blog too.

Crafting
Send my TKGA Master Knitter Program Level 1 notebook by my 36th birthday in May.
Finish the projects I have already committed to making by June.
Always have a project for me on the needles.

I think this is a great start to the new year.  The goals are great but mainly I hope to follow my theme of being intentional with my time, energy, and thoughts.

Thank you for taking the time to visit and read my goals.  I wish you the best of luck in the new year!

Happy New Year!

What are your goals/themes/hopes for 2016?

Natalie 2015: Simplify and Streamline (revisited)

It's that time of year to revisit the Natalie 2015 theme and see what has been accomplished and what I can focus on for the rest of the year.  Each year, I like to post my goals on the blog(2008, 2013, 2014, 2015) but often times I don't revisit them until the new year comes around again...not this year!  Let's do this now so I still have time to focus on my theme and see what needs to be adjusted.  So no it's not halfway through the year but you know the start of the new school year always feels like some kind of start so we'll go with that. The original goals posted at the beginning of the year will be in italics...my response and updates will be next to them.

Crafting:
1. Organize my stash so that it's visually pleasing and not just stored away. I am currently in the process of culling my stash.  Instead of just making it pleasing to look at, I decided I wanted it stored in safe place but organized.  I also wanted to rid my stash of the filler yarn/fiber and only have stuff I love or plan to use.
2. SPIN MORE!  This is big.  I really want to give Pilar some love this year and spin spin spin!  It's been a while since I spun and I just need to get back to it. Major fail on this one...but I did just started spinning again and really am enjoying it like I always do.  It just goes back to having to store my wheel out of the way from little hands...and so it's out of sight and sometimes just feels like it would be too much effort to set up.  Planning a spinning OWL for the next term of the Harry Potter Knit/Crochet House Cup so that might help keep things going.
3. Take more classes. This coming year, I hope to take more workshops and crafting classes.  I want to learn more techniques but mostly I want to learn from those teaching. I haven't managed to take more classes yet....
4. Teach more classes. This got put on hold because of my surgery and life.  I am planning another class in Oct though at Stash - a place for yarn.
5. Travel to a fiber festival!!  This is huge!  I REALLY REALLY want to make it to a festival this year.  We have plans in the works but hope it works out as well as we are planning. A fiber festival isn't working out but I did sign up to attend my first ever knitting retreat Into the Wool Retreat at the beginning of next month in Tennessee!  I'm SO EXCITED!! I am working on a way to attend the Florida Fiber-in with my local knitting guild but as of right now I might only make it out to one day...which is totally better than no days.

Personal:
1. I'd like to simplify our home by purging all the things that are not used/played with or don't have a place in our home.  This especially goes for clothes that don't fit and trinkets that don't hold emotional attachments or have a place to live. This has been a big win so far. I still have a lot to do but I've also accomplished a ton!  I've already purged a LOT of just stuff from my bookshelves, kitchen, and new office area.  As I said, I'm still working on my stash and need to do another pass through my clothes and the girls clothes but I've done a lot already!  It feels great to have less stuff!  It's also much easier to keep things clean when everything has a place to go.  The kitchen is doing amazing because I visited the Homer Laughlin China Company factory store on our trip to OH and I got some amazing steals on a bunch of new stuff for my fiestaware stash!  I love this stuff and want more but have to purge if I bring stuff in.
2. I'd like to purge my wardrobe into a smaller one that only has clothes that I love and make me feel good. Sadly, I still have "maternity" clothes that get worn here and there.  They must all GO! Doing this and it feels good! I have purged my clothes down to only stuff I love.  I bought new clothes and got rid of everything that was maternity or didn't make me feel amazing when I put it on.
3. Make it through the construction that is about to begin on our home and really decorate our living room and rest of the house with pictures and more. Construction on the bathroom and roof are complete!  YAY and boy was that an experience.  I haven't tackled the living room or putting up many pictures yet but I'm getting there.  I have gotten some frames but need to print more pictures and buy more frames soon.

Parental:
1. Focus less on bedtime routine and more on enjoying the time with my girls.  NOT saying I'm going to get rid of bedtime routine but often at night I feel like it's this race to get them to bed before it becomes a meltdown battle of over tired girls.  This stresses me out and I end up not enjoying the time we have together as much.  I really would like to focus more on enjoying the time and less on racing through the time.  This has been an ongoing focus.  When my workday is stressful, I have to focus harder on giving myself and my girls grace but I've been doing good with being mindful of this time.
2. Start having dates with each of my children.  My girls love to be together but I also feel they need some alone time with me.  I would like to start having fun outings with just one of them at a time.  We'll see how this goes.   We have not been good about this because we don't get a lot of time together as a family due to our work schedules.  We tend to focus on family time together on weekend.  It's funny though because this weekend Special K and CGR are going to the Rays game with others and I'm getting to spend the afternoon with just Ria.

Relationships:
1. Schedule monthly date nights with my husband.  We are good about doing date nights but we often realize we haven't had one in a while and then plan one.  I would love to do this monthly in the new year. This has not been nearly consistent enough but we have managed to get some dates in there.
2. Focus more on what I'm bringing to my marriage than what I'm getting.  I feel this is such a better way to love and helps to curb the tit for tat mentality that can often cause grief.  Still focusing on this and it's been great!  Sometimes I get caught up but I refocus and it changes how I react to things.
3. Plan more time with my sisters.  We always love going to brunch together but do not do it often enough.  Downton Abbey is starting soon and we always watch that together on Sunday nights and it's nice to be with them.  Need to work on this for the rest of the year...we haven't been intentional enough with this.

And to finish off I would like to cut out the excess in our life and focus on the good and what truly matters.  Focus on our family and our home.  Give our journey to God and know that he has big plans for us and enjoy the ride that he takes us on.  All I can say to this is Amen!

How are you doing with your theme/resolutions you set for yourself this year?  Are you struggling with any and need to refocus?  Have any made a big impact in your life?

Natalie 2015: Simplify and Streamline

I love the idea of having a theme to focus on each year.  I am not sure I really follow it throughout the whole year but it's always fun to start of the year with a focus.  I'm also a big fan of lists...so I'm going to combine these for this year's resolutions post.

This year my theme is going to be: Simplify and Streamline.

Not all of my goals below fit nicely into this theme but that's ok with me...

Crafting:
1. Organize my stash so that it's visually pleasing and not just stored away.
2. SPIN MORE!  This is big.  I really want to give Pilar some love this year and spin spin spin!  It's been a while since I spun and I just need to get back to it.
3. Take more classes. This coming year, I hope to take more workshops and crafting classes.  I want to learn more techniques but mostly I want to learn from those teaching.
4. Teach more classes.
5. Travel to a fiber festival!!  This is huge!  I REALLY REALLY want to make it to a festival this year.  We have plans in the works but hope it works out as well as we are planning.

Personal:
1. I'd like to simplify our home by purging all the things that are not used/played with or don't have a place in our home.  This especially goes for clothes that don't fit and trinkets that don't hold emotional attachments or have a place to live.
2. I'd like to purge my wardrobe into a smaller one that only has clothes that I love and make me feel good. Sadly, I still have "maternity" clothes that get worn here and there.  They must all GO!
3. Make it through the construction that is about to begin on our home and really decorate our living room and rest of the house with pictures and more.

Parental:
1. Focus less on bedtime routine and more on enjoying the time with my girls.  NOT saying I'm going to get rid of bedtime routine but often at night I feel like it's this race to get them to bed before it becomes a meltdown battle of over tired girls.  This stresses me out and I end up not enjoying the time we have together as much.  I really would like to focus more on enjoying the time and less on racing through the time.
2. Start having dates with each of my children.  My girls love to be together but I also feel they need some alone time with me.  I would like to start having fun outings with just one of them at a time.  We'll see how this goes.

Relationships:
1. Schedule monthly date nights with my husband.  We are good about doing date nights but we often realize we haven't had one in a while and then plan one.  I would love to do this monthly in the new year.
2. Focus more on what I'm bringing to my marriage than what I'm getting.  I feel this is such a better way to love and helps to curb the tit for tat mentality that can often cause grief.
3. Plan more time with my sisters.  We always love going to brunch together but do not do it often enough.  Downton Abbey is starting soon and we always watch that together on Sunday nights and it's nice to be with them.

And to finish off I would like to cut out the excess in our life and focus on the good and what truly matters.  Focus on our family and our home.  Give our journey to God and know that he has big plans for us and enjoy the ride that he takes us on.

Wishing your family a Happy and Healthy New Year!

Love the Barknknit family!

What are your resolutions/themes for the new year?

Natalie 2013: Goals for 2013

I love lists and planning...most people wouldn't be able to tell because I'm usually forgetting something or scatterbrained but that doesn't mean there wasn't a list that got me as far as it did!  I also love goals.  I like to work towards things and strive to achieve a goal...usually it's when I am most productive.  With everything that is coming next year, I figured it would be a good plan to make a list of goals in different areas of my life.  And I thought I would share them with you.

Knitting:
1. Complete one project a month during the terms of the House Cup.
2. Try a new skill such as colorwork.
3. Knit these stockings for each of the 4 humans in our family by next Christmas!
4. Don't stop knitting for too long after having the baby...remind myself that it's mental therapy to knit and that while sleeping is always best, knitting is still important to my mental health.

Spinning:
1. Spin at least once a week for at least 5-10 mins.
2. Complete a long term project this year, for example another sweater worth.
3. Try a new skill.

Personal:
1. Try to have a natural birth but be open to whatever this baby needs.
2. Drink more water!!!!!
3. Keep active! (but rest when the doctor tells me to)
4. Get out and walk as soon as I can after having the baby...slow walking counts!
Parental:
1. Help my toddler adjust to having a baby in the house.  Be patient with her as she learns to be a big sister.
2. Spend some quality time with CGR each week with just the two of us.
3. Breastfeed the new baby.
4. Trust my instincts and remember to be the momma bear!

Relationship:
1. Tell my DH I love him every day...often more than once a day.
2. Try at least once a month or so to get out with just him and be a couple.
3. Be kind and forgive often.
4. Kiss each member of my family every day!

What are some of your new years goals?

2008!!! New Years Resolutions!! and the New Thankful Tuesdays!!

Ok...it's that time of year where everyone makes promises to themselves and evaluates where they need to work on their lives. I usually hate this time of "resolutions" but this year I'm kind of excited about it. Not really sure why.

Well...here are my 2008 New Years Resolutions. 8 in each category.

Knitting:

1. Knit one gift a month in preparation for birthdays, holidays, and random gifting.(I've joined a Year Long Gift-A-Long)
2. Knit at least one pair of socks a month. This one seems hard but I think that I can at least try.
3. Learn to knit two socks at a time using the Magic Loop Method and learn to knit a toe up sock.
4. Learn to dye yarn. (I edited this one used to say knit one dishcloth or household item a month)
5. Keep my stash and needles organized.
6. Finish all projects on needles in a timely fashion.
7. Knit my wedding shawl. (the Summer Shawlette)
8. Teach others to knit wherever I can.

Life:

1. Exercise more and eat better. In other words, Get tone for my wedding.
2. Walk the dogs more often and on longer walks. Refocus our dog training. This kind of goes with the first one.
3. Get Abigail's skin under control to help with the last two.
4. Keep my home clean, organized, and welcoming.
5. Save money for our wedding and try to pay off the debt I have already. (edit)
6. Not get stressed over the coming wedding with Special K. Focus on the positives and the moments that we share. Help Special K not be stressed about it either.
7. Work hard at work and get my teaching certification. (this is important)
8. Be kind, helpful and gracious. Be happy and HAVE FUN!!

The surprise that I mentioned is that I'm adding a Thankful Tuesday to my week. My blog friend Nicole is doing three things she's thankful for each post. I "borrowed" her idea but decided to make Tuesdays, which are usually hard because it's right after a tough Monday, my Thankful Tuesdays. I'll work on a good button for it and if anyone wants to join me or "borrow" my idea...Please feel free!!



I am going to start off with I am thankful for my family and friends. They have made the holiday season a wonderful one. I have enjoyed spending time with them and I miss those who are not with us this year and hope that they all are here next year for our wedding and can be together during the holidays. I am thankful that they support me and love me no matter what. I am thankful that they are who they are and are in my life. I am especially thankful for Special K who has taught me how to love and be loved. I am thankful that he wants to spend our life together and grow old together. It might not always be easy but it is worth every moment. I am thankful that he is in my life.

I hope everyone had a wonderful New Year.

Happy Knitting!