Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Goals

It is so refreshing to get away. To see new scenery, to visit new shops, to eat new food, and to just have uninterrupted time.

We planned this trip to celebrate our one year anniversary. Our premarital mentors advised taking time each anniverary to getaway (even if it's just for dinner or a weekend) and to evaluate our relationship.

They asked us to take the time and go over how we spent our money, how we served God, how we spent our time between families, friends and each other. After evaluating the past year, we spent time setting goals for the year to come. How do we want to spend our money? How much do we want to save? What do we want to accomplish in this year? Is our time with family and friends balanced? Do we spend enough quality time together?

It was a great exercise and I look forward to doing this each year. We set goals for our careers, our weightloss, our education, our finances...so why wouldn't we set goals for our marriage too?

56 comments:

Lucky in Love said...

What a great idea! I am forwarding this along to my hubby! :)

Anonymous said...

I love this idea! Your pictures are so cute!!!! Im glad you all had such a great time!!! I would love to visit there!!!
Congrats again on the one year!

Sara said...

What a great idea! And, how true! We recently saw our sponsor couple and realized how special they will always be to us for giving us guidelines for our marriage.

Chels said...

Such a good idea. You guys look like you had a blast, too!

Lis said...

I think that is such an amazing idea! I will have to share this with my hubby so we can do it as well, thanks for sharing!!

You trip looked so amazing!!!

The Other K Wick said...

That is a great idea. Glad you guys had such a good time as well.

Stephanie said...

I love it! I am hoping that we are still able to go to Maine in July for our one year anniversary...of course that all pends my job situation and if I will be able to get time off.

I hope you had a fabulous time!

Jon and Steph said...

Wonderful idea!!

Pleasant Living said...

I think that's a great exercise! It's good to be honest about your marriage. I think that people often just glaze over any problems, and they end up becoming huge ordeals! Good job!

Emily said...

what a wonderful idea and what a great time to do it.. right around ur one year anniv!

Kate said...

That is a great idea!

Anonymous said...

Dimples and I will be doing this during our spring break this upcoming week! Good for you and Garth!
xo

Ginger said...

sounds like you all had a productive trip and something to work towards now that you're home.

Adventures in Newlywed said...

That's such a great idea, we definitely need to do that :)

Sara @ Domestically Challenged said...

Awesome. That is something we should all do. Right now, as a mother with 2 young animals? My goal is to get regular date nights with my hubby. I am going to go over this with the hubs.

LyndsAU said...

That is a great idea :) i love it!!

Melissa said...

That is a very good idea, plus you get some fun quality time together!!

Tabbie:) said...

I think this is incredible.

JennyLee said...

that is a great idea and a great way to keep life in perspective!

Unknown said...

What a great idea. I'm definitely going to share this with Husby.

d.a.r. said...

That is such an amazing idea. I'm so glad you guys got to have that time to bond, spend time together, and reflect on your marriage!

AmberDenae said...

Such a wonderful idea! I'm glad you had a great time and I love the pictures! :)

Megan said...

Such a great idea! And so great for your marriage to take time to do this!!

Jules said...

I think it's great that you had premarital advisors. I think you can learn a lot from married couples with experience.

I also agree that it is a good idea to set goals for your marriage. This is something hubby and I need to think about.

THE Stephanie said...

Such a great routine to get into early in your marriage. Glad you had a fun time as well!

Lynsey T said...

Great idea! I am totally stealing this!

Girl Meets Beau said...

What an awesome idea! I completely agree!! Our marriages are so important, yet I don't feel like we put as much time into them as so many other things in our lives. I am going to save this post! Our one year anniversary is coming up in another month and I want to practice some of these things as well.

So glad you had a great time! Your pictures looked beautiful!! What an awesome getaway :)

Saskia said...

That is wonderful advice.

CONGRATULATIONS on your one year anniversary!! How special!

Saskia x

Whitney said...

That's awesome! Welcome back!

Unknown said...

This sounds like a great idea!!! I love these kinds of things :)

My hubby and I do a weekly study together on marriage and it's so refreshing. Not to mention romantic :)

The Pink Chick said...

This is a wonderful idea! I love it! Thank you for sharing!!!

Unknown said...

We are going to do this too! :)

Kaitlyn said...

Oh what a great idea-- I'll be using that in my own eventual marriage :)

Adventures in Newlywed said...

Please please please move here! I'd be so excited to be IRL friends :)

Rachel said...

Amen to that...awesome idea!

Tara Gibson said...

what a great idea!! I am going to share that with my hubs

- Sarah :-) said...

Good call, Lindsey. I think we should all be better at this. Your mentors were so right!

Elyse said...

Cool! I so agree there should be goals for marriages as well. I have an award over at my blog for you too.
~Elyse~

April E. :) said...

Hey there, headed here from my sisters page (Deep End of the Puhl)! Glad to find you!

I think GOALS in marriage is VERY important! I know we once had it put this way to us, You do monthly or quarterly maintenance on your car, even sometimes your house and especially there are check-ups on your health. If marriage is such an important FACTOR in our lives...there should also be maintenance and check ups there regularly as well. We like to attend classes when we get the chance, go through devotionals together and so much more.

It's hard for something to "break down" when it has had the proper maintenance :)

Courtney said...

So true! Glad you guys took the time to do that.

Sassy Engineer said...

What a great idea! It allows y'all to keep growing together and hopefully in the same direction :)

In This Wonderful Life said...

I need to be better about this!

The France Family said...

That is a fantastic idea and I totally agree!

Heather @ Simple Wives said...

Wow that is a wonderful idea! I'll have to keep that in the back of my mind! :)

Kristin said...

Great idea! You two are setting a great example on how relationships should be!

Unknown said...

Wow...that's a great idea!

Kyla @ The Simpsons said...

That is the best idea!! It makes so much sense, why wouldn't you plan/evaluate your marriage!?!

Sweetbabs said...

Congrats on the anniversary! And that is a great idea to set some time aside to discuss these things. Rome was not built in a day and when it comes to building a strong marriage and family you need to plan. Good for you.

Kelli said...

This really is a great idea! Our pastor gave us the exact same advice!! I love it!

Unknown said...

Congratulations on your first anniversary! Love the advice... and your blog. Looking forward to reading more.

Winks & Smiles,
Wifey

Shea said...

Thats a good idea!

morewineplease said...

that is some excellent advice... I think I will have to take this one!

Leah said...

I agree with everyone else. This is wonderful advice and I will certainly be following!

Jules said...

P.S. I left you an award on my blog!

Perfectly Imperfect said...

Love this!!

And I completely agree about doing something for each anniversary. B & I always make it a point to have our anniversary be just about us. We try to go somewhere for the weekend and leave the phones, computers, and pups behind. It's such a great chance for us to get the focus back on us. We figure if we start this now, it will be habit when our family gets bigger!! Good for you guys making your marriage a priority.

Newlywed Next Door said...

I love this idea! I read a great pre-maritial book that said to hold your anniversary sacred like you would Christmas and don't let anything stop you from celebrating it. Congrats again!