2017 was a whirlwind of a year for us! We started the year with a bang with Caleb's birth in January. I enjoyed a few months home with all four of my guys before returning to work in late April. We spent a few great weeks at the beach this summer. Our oldest started a new school in August. I began a new position at the end of the summer. Kevin and I spent a week at the beach in October. We took a few trips to the mountains and watched the Tigers play. We celebrated a year's worth of "firsts" with baby Caleb. And I barely blogged, which has proven to be quite problematic as I'm working on our photo book of the year. Oh well, there's always next this year!
As I began thinking about my goals for this year, one word kept coming to mind: Simplify. Life is busy. Home is busy. Work is busy. Fun is busy. This year, I am aiming to simplify my life.
I've been reading Emily Ley's Simplified Life and it is really speaking to me. Case in point, I read the first five chapters and told Kevin at 11:30 PM that I needed to clean our closet. We stayed up until nearly 2 AM cleaning out the closet. I couldn't tell you the last time I stayed up until 2 AM, but you know what, I feel so much better.
In my quest to simplify, I aim to free up more time to just be. I want more time to just enjoy my family without a long list of to-dos hanging over my head, time to just enjoy the company of my husband without thinking of the things we need to take care of, and more time to just sit down and relax and invest in some of those things that make me tick.
Does it mean I don't have set things I want to do? No. It just means I want to get to a point where I can not have a million things running through my head (if that's even possible) and just enjoy where I am without being so concerned about the excess.
In addition to simplifying, there are a few other things I'd like to do this year:
- Read through the Bible - This is probably the tenth year I've had this as a resolution, but God-willing, I will complete it this year! I'm using the Bible in a Year plan on the Bible App and love it. There's a reading that goes along with each day that explains the verses read.
- Run more - While running didn't take a backseat in 2017, I certainly didn't run as much for obvious reasons. I am the best version of myself when I run or work out most days of the week, so this is something I want to do better on.
- Cook more than eat out - We eat out a ton. Seriously. And it's not even eating out in the traditional sense of going to sit down in a restaurant. I'm the first to admit it's difficult to put together a meal after working all day, but I really want to feed my family well. Oftentimes, that turns into pick up from our favorite restaurants or Chickfila which amounts to wasted groceries and wasted money. Over the holidays, I really enjoyed cooking some from the Pioneer Woman cookbooks I have. This year, I want to cook more days than I don't.
- Read more - I know it sounds silly to say "more" in virtually every goal I have especially when the overarching theme for my year is to "simplify," but it's my hope that simplifying every area of my life will allow me time to do more of those things that I love and that matter. I love to read. I used to read several books a month, but I probably only read five or six books during the entire year of 2017! I have a stack of books I anticipating reading during maternity leave only to find them on my bookshelf unread nearly a year later! Before I make another trip to Barnes & Noble (one of my favorite places to go with my boys) or check out on Amazon, I'm going to read those books. And I'll tell you about them.Labels: goals