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?

2014 New year theme/goals!

It has been far too long since I posted but life has been busy and hasn't allowed me to post.  I won't bore you will too many details but a quick recap...first off I have a 3 year old and 9 month old who take turns not wanting to sleep, which takes over my mommy time at night, second I have a husband and dogs that require attention as well, and then thirdly I got a promotion at work that has kept me super busy!  I am excited about all the things taken over my time but I also had to let some things go to fit it all in. 

With the new year quickly coming, I was thinking about my new year theme ala Jasmin from the knitmore girls and some goals, as I work well with clear goals.  The first thing that came to mind was I wanted to share with you, my neglected blog readers, that I have missed so much!  So here I am...ready to share with you my new year plans and also needing to do some serious catching up with all of you! We'll start with this post and see where it goes from there!  As always, this blog is a work in progress!  Enjoy!

For 2014, my personal theme is going to be Mastering the task at hand.  What this means is that I plan to do my best at whatever I am doing at that time and put my focus there.  To not to stretch myself too thin and spread out my energy but focus it and master/do my best at what I am doing.

With this theme in mind, here are a couple of New Years goals to start with:

1. I recently read this blog post about 3 things he wishes he knew before he got married and the one about going home and loving your wife hit home with me.  Often times we and by this I mean me, tend to focus on what we are getting out of the relationships we have instead of focusing on what we are giving.  When we focus more on what we can give, we get way more positives than when we worry about what we are getting. I plan to focus on loving my husband and to put away my mental tally of I did this and he did that.  To just love him and put him first in my thoughts and in my actions.  

2. With this first one, I also plan to focus on my girls when I am with them.  I have become a little lax with my phone time lately.  I would like to go back to my dad's advice and really focus on quality time instead of worrying about all my selfish needs of me time and just focus on my girls when we are together.  The me time will naturally come but I'd like to make the time with them more quality.

3. With my crafting time, I plan to tackle the Knitter's Guild of America's Master Knitter Program Level 1 with my friend KnottyKnitter17 aka Alicia.  We are hoping to apply for scholarships here soon and either way start the program by March at the latest!  I'd like to take my knitting to the next level this year.

4. As a test for January, I plan to restict my social media time...mainly Facebook. I do not plan to post less pictures as I am not restricting my Instagram time but I plan to restrict my Facebook time to only weekends and once at the end of the day.  I was going to only do weekends but lets not get carried away too fast.

More goals make come up as I adjust my life to fit my 2014 theme but for now I think this is a good start.

Hope you are all doing well an have a fantastic New Year!

Happy New Year!