We hit a lot of our goals for 2018, but not all. Overall we it was a very successful year for us, we traveled, had fun and learned new things! Here is a look back at our 2018 goals, while setting new 2019 goals!
6. Video Loreali twice a month. We purchased a video camera to not just take quick snapshots of videos on our phones, but to really video her as a child. We would like to make this a priority.
We actually did really well with this one. I think we truly captured video of her on our video camera at least twice a month. We are making it a point to burn a dvd movie of her each year...and this year it will be long!
8. Take at least 1 plane trip with Lorelai. I have a few work trips this year, and are thinking of tacking on a family trip to one of those. New Orleans comes to mind! We did take Lorelai to New Orleans with us in March. We took 5 trips to Denver to see family (which I wasn't counting when I made this goal).We also flew to Chicago in May and in June we went to Toronto as a family.
2018 Goals
1. Lose the Pregnancy Weight. Yep, we are bringing this one back... let's do this!
Well CLEARLY this one was a no-go. Instead I put back on new pregnancy weight!
Well CLEARLY this one was a no-go. Instead I put back on new pregnancy weight!
2. Date night...once a month. I'm trying, really I am.
January- Took a Calligraphy Class together
February- Tea pairing with chocolate & Anniversary date night
March- Failed. No date night this month.
April- We took a trip to NYC together, so I'm counting that as one giant date
May- Seeing Wicked together.
June- Going to see Brian Regan
July- Movie for Kevin's birthday
August- S'mores on the patio, because it was the last day of August and we couldn't get away. Star gazing and talking
September- Axe throwing event downtown and Dear Evan Hansen musical in Denver
October- this month I'm counting the adult Halloween party as our date night. We were out without Lorelai and with friends and had an hour drive there/back in the car without our baby. The 2 hour car ride alone would be considered a date for me. We also started doing a parenting workbook for a church class this month,which felt like a date each evening that we worked on it after Lorelai went to sleep.
November- Black Friday shopping was our date night in November!
December-It wasn't a big production, but with as busy as Lorelai's birthday weekend and Christmas was, my parents took Lorelai while we went to a date night at Panda Express and walked around target. It looked more like an awkward college date than anything else, but was just perfect and exactly what we needed.
January- Took a Calligraphy Class together
February- Tea pairing with chocolate & Anniversary date night
March- Failed. No date night this month.
April- We took a trip to NYC together, so I'm counting that as one giant date May- Seeing Wicked together.
June- Going to see Brian Regan
July- Movie for Kevin's birthday
August- S'mores on the patio, because it was the last day of August and we couldn't get away. Star gazing and talking
September- Axe throwing event downtown and Dear Evan Hansen musical in Denver
October- this month I'm counting the adult Halloween party as our date night. We were out without Lorelai and with friends and had an hour drive there/back in the car without our baby. The 2 hour car ride alone would be considered a date for me. We also started doing a parenting workbook for a church class this month,which felt like a date each evening that we worked on it after Lorelai went to sleep.
November- Black Friday shopping was our date night in November!
December-It wasn't a big production, but with as busy as Lorelai's birthday weekend and Christmas was, my parents took Lorelai while we went to a date night at Panda Express and walked around target. It looked more like an awkward college date than anything else, but was just perfect and exactly what we needed.
3. Complete 5 "Classes"- Yes, I PROMISE I am finished with working towards a degree, but I want to make it a point to still try new things. We already are signed up for an awesome Calligraphy Class in January!
(1 & 2)January and May I did a meal prep class our local grocery store (Hy-Vee)
(3) January we also took a Calligraphy class.
(4) Mulhals class on house plants in Janaury
(5) Tea Pairing class
(6) In October I took a sushi making class! Which was an absolute blast.
(7) Over the summer I joined our library book club, which I'm counting as a class. I also joined a church book club, but with bedtimes wasn't as diligent at attending unfortunately.
(8) Kevin and I did a parenting class at church too, which was really cool to do together.
(1 & 2)January and May I did a meal prep class our local grocery store (Hy-Vee)
(3) January we also took a Calligraphy class.
(4) Mulhals class on house plants in Janaury
(5) Tea Pairing class
(6) In October I took a sushi making class! Which was an absolute blast.
(7) Over the summer I joined our library book club, which I'm counting as a class. I also joined a church book club, but with bedtimes wasn't as diligent at attending unfortunately.
(8) Kevin and I did a parenting class at church too, which was really cool to do together.
4. Get Involved at Work. This one has been hard for me, as I love to just do my work and go home. I realize that isn't the way to move up in the world. I'd like to actively participate in at least two "groups" at work.
I joined a group at work that plans the "fun" events for employees, which has been an amazing way to get involved. By the end of the year I ended up being appointed to the board for next year too! I've also started volunteering once a quarter, which is encouraged with work sponsored activities.
I joined a group at work that plans the "fun" events for employees, which has been an amazing way to get involved. By the end of the year I ended up being appointed to the board for next year too! I've also started volunteering once a quarter, which is encouraged with work sponsored activities.
5. Help with a Church Event. Life this year got a little crazy, and we would like to get back into giving more time as a family to assisting with a church event. I did help coordinate a volunteer group for church for the year, but unfortunately didn't get as involved as I would have liked.
6. Video Loreali twice a month. We purchased a video camera to not just take quick snapshots of videos on our phones, but to really video her as a child. We would like to make this a priority. We actually did really well with this one. I think we truly captured video of her on our video camera at least twice a month. We are making it a point to burn a dvd movie of her each year...and this year it will be long!
7. Take 2 Roadtrips with Lorelai. We are thinking perhaps Oklahoma City and Chicago!
Well we did get to Chicago, but decided to fly. We did road trip to Oklahoma City in May. In August we drove to Kansas City for the weekend with our family too!
8. Take at least 1 plane trip with Lorelai. I have a few work trips this year, and are thinking of tacking on a family trip to one of those. New Orleans comes to mind! We did take Lorelai to New Orleans with us in March. We took 5 trips to Denver to see family (which I wasn't counting when I made this goal).We also flew to Chicago in May and in June we went to Toronto as a family.
9. Take at least 1 plane trip without Lorelai. Yep, that's right. We want to leave our darling daughter, as we have not yet gone without her overnight.
We went to NYC together without Lorelai in April, it was scary and wonderful. We love traveling with her, but also without her is nice too :) I also went on a girls trip in December to Austin/Waco, which my intent of this goal was a trip with just me & Kevin...but this one was just me!
We went to NYC together without Lorelai in April, it was scary and wonderful. We love traveling with her, but also without her is nice too :) I also went on a girls trip in December to Austin/Waco, which my intent of this goal was a trip with just me & Kevin...but this one was just me!
10. Pay down $15,000 of our mortgage. Right now, its tough to put a goal on this one, as we are still adjusting financially to all the changes these past 12 months (Kevin leaving his job to stay at home, having a baby, and buying a new home) but we wanted to set a goal irregardless!
We started this year with a mortgage balance of $156,802. We actually hit our $15,000 goal early, around June! At that time we set a new goal to be down to $130,000 by the end of the year. With a good photography fall season and low overall expenses (no traveling or big home expenses) and a few other unplanned items that worked in our favor, we ended the year with $112,000 left on our mortgage. Which means we paid off a total of $44,802 this year! Almost 3x what we set out to do!
I have to add, this year I pulled off "Meet with a Financial adviser which had been on my goal list for over 2 years (I pulled it off in 2018 because I thought I wouldn't do it)....but this year I finally did it!
We started this year with a mortgage balance of $156,802. We actually hit our $15,000 goal early, around June! At that time we set a new goal to be down to $130,000 by the end of the year. With a good photography fall season and low overall expenses (no traveling or big home expenses) and a few other unplanned items that worked in our favor, we ended the year with $112,000 left on our mortgage. Which means we paid off a total of $44,802 this year! Almost 3x what we set out to do!
I have to add, this year I pulled off "Meet with a Financial adviser which had been on my goal list for over 2 years (I pulled it off in 2018 because I thought I wouldn't do it)....but this year I finally did it!
2019 Goals
2019 is probably not going to be a huge goal accomplishing year for me. I remember what life was like with an infant, and I know things are going to move a lot slower. Even more, I know myself and I know setting a lot of difficult goals for myself is going to send me into a depressed state if I'm not able to balance work, kids, and my new crazy goals. 2019 I'm cutting myself a break. A number of these goals won't look like my goals in the past, because this is what I need now.
"Me Time" once a month. Whether its an hour of reading, going to a coffee shop, having my hair done or time alone to shop....I want to make a point of doing something alone once a month.
Giving Kevin "Me Time" once a month. The same goes for Kevin, I want to make sure he goes out on his own. Movies are a big thing for him, and going to a movie alone may just be the break he needs from the girls.
Giving Kevin "Me Time" once a month. The same goes for Kevin, I want to make sure he goes out on his own. Movies are a big thing for him, and going to a movie alone may just be the break he needs from the girls.
Pay off $20,000 of our mortgage. I did raise this goal slightly, although I don't expect to be near as aggressive as we were this past year. In 2019 I'll be out of work on leave part of the year, we will be taking photography more easy with a new baby, and we had some bonus items that really helped with last year that are not on ongoing thing. I hope we can still keep up some great momentum on the mortgage, because this is such an important challenge for us!
Video both kids twice a month. I loved this goal with Lorelai this year, and think it will be so fun with both girls together!
Take one roadtrip with the girls. We have one amazing road-tripper right now, and I'm hoping we have a second one!
Take one flight with the girls. - I'll be honest, this sounds horrendous right now. I feel like we finally have our grove with Lorelai, and adding a newborn to the mix sounds like a real challenge.
Date night, once a month. - I really enjoyed this challenge...and it really was a challenge to do something without Lorelai. I'm sure we will find it just as challenging with two!
Enroll Lorelai in one Class- We've looked at everything from music, to dance, to swim class...I think this is a great time for Lorelai to start taking classes and learning new skills from other people.
Read the "Children's Bible" to Lorelai- I love our little children's bible, and so does she. Its about 500 some pages and we usually start wherever she feels like opening it. I'd like to read from start to finish with her this year.
Take one roadtrip with the girls. We have one amazing road-tripper right now, and I'm hoping we have a second one!
Take one flight with the girls. - I'll be honest, this sounds horrendous right now. I feel like we finally have our grove with Lorelai, and adding a newborn to the mix sounds like a real challenge.
Date night, once a month. - I really enjoyed this challenge...and it really was a challenge to do something without Lorelai. I'm sure we will find it just as challenging with two!
Enroll Lorelai in one Class- We've looked at everything from music, to dance, to swim class...I think this is a great time for Lorelai to start taking classes and learning new skills from other people.
Read the "Children's Bible" to Lorelai- I love our little children's bible, and so does she. Its about 500 some pages and we usually start wherever she feels like opening it. I'd like to read from start to finish with her this year.
Comments