2014 Goals Revisited / 2015 Goals

I wasn't going to do a resolutions post of sorts, but I changed my mind. I just love goals. I love setting them. I love accomplishing them. I love looking back each year and seeing how I did. It just brings me joy. I really believe if you don't decide where you want to go and who you want to be you won't get there. That is why I love goals so much. They are taking me to where I want to be and who I want to be. 

For curiosity's sake lets see how I did last year:

1. Stop comparing my life/marriage/body to others. I actually think I succeeded at this. Regardless of not being at my goal weight I found myself comfortable in my own skin. I realized my weight is such a small part of who I am. I stopped comparing myself to others. Really. I don't do it anymore. I chose to be happy NOW and I truly am. My worth comes from the Lord. That changed my life. It may seem obvious to you but it wasn't to me. I was so consumed with my weight. My body. It was all consuming. It's liberating to be free from that pressure and not be so consumed with something so small and focusing on more important things like my relationship with God. My marriage. My work. My family. My friends. When I took a step back and stopped obsessing over my body things started to fall into place. I was happier. More content. I could be a better wife. A better daughter. A better friend. A better coworker. The result of that was a better quality of life. A better, stronger marriage. A body I was thankful for instead of cursing. A weight loss journey that I could enjoy. That is success in my book.

2. Stop complaining. Why did I chose to make this a resolution during the worst winter we had in over 100 years? And why is it so fun to complain? This was definitely a tough one, but I had a sweet friend help keep me accountable. I found that anytime I started to complain I would start counting my blessings and I found myself in awe at the beauty of All. That. Snow. I'm still a work in progress but I'm getting a heck of a lot better at this one.

3. I want to lose the 30 (maybe 40) pounds I have put on in the last few years once and for all. It bugs me I didn't accomplish this last year. But I know I made huge leaps in the right direction (see #1) that will get me to where I want to be this year so it wasn't a total loss. I didn't know I would have to focus on the internal first before making progress on the external, but I did. And I'm really glad I did. Now I'm ready to focus on the external.

4. Stop caring what others think so much.  In realizing my worth isn't in my weight and knowing my worth comes from Christ I inadvertently stopped caring what others thought of me. It's been a journey and it's still something I have to work on everyday but I'm finding freedom in it which makes it easier. I found in not caring what others think so much I advocate more for myself and what is best for me. That is a great side effect! I find I love the woman I'm becoming. Advocating for me. Comfortable in my skin. Not caring what others think of me. Un-apologetically being me. 

5. Watch less TV. I do still watch a few reality shows (Real Housewives and Vanderpump Rules) that I just can't give up. And I'm into House Hunters, Dexter, Ground Floor and Cougar Town (last season, wah!) but that is it! I did the math and realized I read 30 books last year. I think that is the most I've read for fun and it's all thanks to setting the monthly goal of 3 books a month. Since I read 30 books last year I must have cut down on television. It's always a good thing when you crave reading a good book over television, right?

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When G and I went away for the weekend to unwind and rest we spent a lot of time talking about the highlights of last year. What we liked about it. What we wanted to change. What we wanted this year to look like. So I thought I would share those goals here to keep us accountable. The main themes for our year are health and house.

1. Lose 45 pounds and keep it off. G and I realized we got a little off track. Got into some bad habits. It's time to get back on track and take good care of our bodies. I only get one body so I need to take better care of it. Eat less processed foods. Drink more water. Watch portions. I'm on the right path and I'm excited about. This is my year! I just know it.

2. Paint the kitchen. We can't put this off any longer. Our appliances are all dying slow deaths and I don't want to buy new appliances until we paint the cabinets so that needs to happen sooner than later. We are aiming for spring to tackle this. I know it will be a big job and a lot of work but the end result will be worth it.

3. Buy new furniture. As much as we love taking vacations, I think our vacation budget will become our furniture budget this year. We love our home. We are homebodies. So it's time to really invest in our house. Make it our dream home. The first big expense will be kitchen appliances. We would also like to get a large L-shaped couch for the living room. I love our couch and chair we have in there now, but G doesn't like laying on that couch and his chair gets uncomfortable so he goes to the basement a lot more than I would like. An L-couch would allow him to lay down too and provide more seating when guests are over. If the budget allows this year we would also love a king size bed and a hot tub. But that will probably come down the road because we'll probably want to do some type of little vacation in there somewhere.

4. Unplug before bed. An hour (or two) before bed I would like to get off my phone. Turn off the television. Unplug. Read or talk to G. I hate how addicted I am to my phone so I would like to take a break from it, especially because I hear it helps with sleep.

5. Host a Stock the Bar Party. G finished the bar in December so now we just need to patch up the wall behind the bar that used to hold the dart board. Once we patch we might paint the wall an accent color (maybe blue?) and then all that is left is hanging all the great bar signs G got for Christmas. We want to host the party in the spring so we can utilize the deck area and have a bonfire with s'mores. We're thinking this will be a pretty big party since we haven't thrown a big party since we moved in four years ago. It's time. Ever since we went to our co-worker's annual summer bash I've had the itch. So if we're going to have a big party we would also like our kitchen to be done too so it will probably happen late spring / early summer. But I really want to do it. So I'm writing here so I actually do it!

6. Go to one big event. This is a goal G and I try to do every year. Last year we went to the Manchester United game. The year before that we went to the Kenny Chesney concert. I hate big crowds so these kind of events make me nervous, but I always love it when we go. I just have to push myself to go. I never regret it. We are looking at a big music event in Milwaukee my co-worker raved about. We shall see!

How did you do with your goals/resolutions last year?
What are your goals for next year?