2013 Goals...how I measured up.

 Now that I am finally caught up on blogging our 12 Days of Christmas,  I am able to begin this year good and proper-like (albeit a week or two late) and consider the great, vast, wide open scope of possibilities for the new year.  2014.  A fresh start.  And, along with that, I am able to look back on where I was last year and where I hoped to be to see just how far I have come and how I measure up.  

Not many people are brave enough to look back and critique themselves and even fewer are brave enough to share the bad news with the entire blogging world (or the small .00000016% of it that read my blog, anyway) but here I am- doing just such a foolish thing.

 They were lofty goals, I know.  Some of them were downright unattainable (especially the financial ones!) but even in the failing, I was pointed in the right direction.  I was encouraged to STRIVE. 

So I fail. So what.  At least I tried. 

It's the TRYING that counts. 

And it is the TRYING that makes me proud.

Here is how I measured up.  

(The 2013 goals are in red.)

Hopestead Goals~

• Plant several Christmas trees (nope.)
• Plant an asparagus bed  (yes!)
• Plant several fruit trees (no.  My biggest lament on the Hopestead front.)
• Cut back very overgrown Lilac Bushes (no.)
• Prune Apple trees (second year) (yes!)
• Begin concrete plans for Hopestead Herb Farm.  (For now, that dream needs to stay in the 'dream category.)

Financial Goals~ 

• Develop the habit of giving Matt $40.00 per paycheck (yes! And more!)
• Pay $10,000. toward principal of house (ha!  This is one of the laughable ones.  How did I ever think I could do this?  I don't know.  Very early on in the year, I shared here that I would readjust that goal so that we could save up a more substantial 'emergency fund'.  Before that was decided, I did make several additional principle payments.)
• Save $5,000 toward a new van (ours has 130,000 miles on it so a "new" one is inevitable.)  (It's now up to 145,000 miles and we don't have any money saved up for a replacement.  eek.)
• Save $1,000 to put toward investing.  (Thanks to NOT following through with paying a ridiculous number of dollars toward the principal on the house , we were able to meet and EXCEED this goal.)

 We had several unbudgeted surprise expenses this year that threw us off financially this year...including two non-insured emergency room visits (several thousand dollars later...).  Knowing this, even though I failed pretty miserably on paper, I don't consider it an EPIC fail.  We absolutely made progress, even when handed unexpected circumstances and expenses (that we were able to pay off fairly quickly leaving us again right where we like to be- DEBT FREE)...and that is something to be proud of.  
To even remotely accomplish the above goals I need to:

• Reevaluate our budget and spending and completely overhaul it to accommodate our CODE ORANGE, LOCKDOWN status.  :-)
• Cut all unnecessary spending. 

 We did reevaluate our budget and overhaul it but I can't say we cut ALL unnecessary spending.  There was plenty of unnecessary spending.  A dollar here, a dollar there sort of things.  I will say, however, Finances on Friday have helped me to become more "lockdown"-minded.  ;-)
  
Personal Goals~

• Read through a not-dorky devotional.  (no devotionals.  I read through this book (which has specific daily Bible readings) along with regular Bible readings and the childrens' bible readings this year.)
• Learn to knit socks. (I started going to a free knitting class.  Not good enough for socks just yet though. *sniff*)
• Decorate, even thriftily, the childrens' rooms. (nope.  I concentrated mostly on keeping them tidy! And that took most of my time. *wink)
• Make something for myself to KEEP.  (Did I?  I don't know.  I don't think so...)
• Invite people over for dinner at least once a month.  (I never kept track of this so I don't know for sure, but if I didn't reach this goal, I came VERY close.  My gut says I probably did and them some.)
• Lose 5# a month until I reach my goal weight.  (I lost 30 pounds which was ridiculously close to my goal weight.  Four pounds or something.  Unless I was shooting for wedding weight (and I kinda was) which would have been 14 more pounds.)  Don't congratulate me though- because I have gained back nearly 15 pounds in the last few months due to varying (good and not so good) reasons.  Nothing so frustrating as working so hard and then having to have a do-over.  ugh.)
• Wake up to send Mattie off to work each morning.  (Not EVERY morning, but many more mornings than I had been doing.  Progress.)
• Reestablish family read-alouds (barely.  I think we read four chapter book read-alouds all year.  Pathetic.)
• Begin reading the Classics using Susan Wise Bauers' The Well-Educated Mind: A Guide to the Classical Education You Never Had as a guide. (The closest I came to this was reading Brave New World, which isn't exactly the level of 'classic' I had originally intended.  But it is a start!)
• Take one photo a week finding Beauty. (I think I succeeded here, if unintentionally.  I kinda forgot about this one...but with me taking as many pictures as I do, I don't doubt it.)
• Get a church website up and running. (I did!)
• MAKE something once a month.  (Probably not.  I worked on things every month- but this summer and canning season, I didn't actually finish a single crafty thing.  Too busy canning, I guess.I well made up for it in November/December though!  *wink)

 Next time, I will share with you my goals for this new year upon us. 2014.   

Anno Domini

Do you ever check back on your goals for the year?  If so, how'd you do?