2016 - A Year in Review

As 2016 comes to a close, I have to say it was a pretty good year for me. Yes, the election was devastating and I'm nervous about the next four years but over all, I had a pretty good year. 

1.  Workout 4 times a week - I stayed pretty consistent with this goal and really found my exercise love when I joined Sync Fitness. I also lost almost 20 pounds since May. While I have more to go, I'm feeling stronger, fitter and so much happier. The grief weight was really dragging me down. 

2. Complete Whole30 in January - I did this and thankfully this year, I am not doing it again! 

3. Keep purging the house with the Bowl Full of Lemons 14 Week Plan  - I purged a lot this past year and plan to keep it up in 2017. We have too much stuff and it needs to go. 

4. Complete Four (4) Day in the Life Challenges and participate in at least ten 10 on 10's - This was a fun way to stretch my photography chops. I feel like my skills really grew this year and I am so thrilled with my improvements. 

5. Complete TKGA Master Knitting Level I - I did not complete this but I made some great strides. 

6. Grow a kick-ass Garden! - My garden was so awesome this year. I planted corn and it was fun watching it grow. My tomatoes were gang busters and next year I'm planting peppers earlier because when mine finally took off, they were taken out by frost. 

7. Read for 15 minutes a day - and by doing this, I read 60 books this year! I have a post coming up with a quick review of all the books I read. 

8. Volunteer with two organizations and include the girls - I volunteered with PEPS this year and led two groups - one of which was horrible and one of which was AWESOME! The second group, the awesome one restored my faith in humanity. The girls and I also volunteered with Mary's Place and I look forward to doing more of this. We also did the Treehouse Toy Drive and donated socks to WeCount. 

9. Catch up on my yearly photo books of the girls - Yeah.....

10. Get back to Blogging on a more regular basis and focus more on my writing - Totally did this and I have big plans for 2017. 

Merry Christmas!

Wishing you Peace & Joy and a Happy New Year! 

(Taking one's own family portrait is hard, folks!)

2017 Goals and My One Word

This past year, I went with "Present" as my word for 2016. While there is still room for improvement, I think I did pretty well. In April, I identified my phone as a major distractor and worked to stay present. I'm often in my own head, thinking of other things so this was quite a goal for me. 

This year, my word is "Release". I'm going to work to release the pain and anger around my parent's health and death. I'm gong to work to release stuff from my home. I'm going to release the negative from my life. Release!

In 2015, I worked hard to get my Sh*t Together and 2016 was a continuation on that theme. I am in a much better place now than I was at the start of 2015. Our country is not but I am. I lost almost 20 pounds this year, read 60 books, got super fit, improved my photography, traveled a lot and wrote a bunch. I plan to do a recap of this year later. 

This year, I'm focusing on 10 solid goals, two of which are repeats. 

2017 Goals

1. Workout 217 times in 2017. This works out to 4.5 times a week which is totally do-able! 

2. Participate in the Year of Creativity - I signed up for the Year of Creativity with Coffee + Crumbs where we'll have writing assignments based on monthly themes. I've also decided that I'll do a photo essay based on the monthly themes. 

3. Shoot one roll of film a month. 

4. Complete TKGA Master Knitting Level I - This is a goal that I've been working on for almost 10 years. This is the year that I WILL COMPLETE THIS GOAL! (this is a repeat from last year) 

5. Finish my Miter Square Blanket. I started this blanket in 2007 and it's almost 10 years later! I can't wait to lie under the cozy-ness of this blanket so I'll be finishing this up in 2017! 

6. Read 52 books. I read 60 books this year so this might not be a hard goal to accomplish. 

7. Finish up various House Projects - I have a few lingering house projects that I want to get done. I'll be painting the bathroom and kitchen. I really need to paint the back deck and finish up the basement re-do. 

8. Catch up on my yearly photo books of the girls. Sadly I've only done one for Molly's 1st year so I have a lot of catching up to do. (this is a repeat from last year)

9. Become more politically active and work to be the change in my community. 

10. Learn how to make a really good stock. 

Bonus Goal: Grow two new crops in my garden and add some chickens to my flock. 

Project 52 - Week 39

We spent a morning at the Maui Aquarium on our visit to Hawaii last week and I snapped these photos of the girls doing their thing. They are both getting so big! 

Project 52 - Week 38

We went on a whale watching trip yesterday and Maggie was so excited. Before the boat left, she was excitedly telling my aunt about the whales! I love her little passion. 

Join me for a Day in the Life Challenge on Thursday, December 8th

Starting on Thursday when you wake up, take a photo every hour (or more) to document your day until you fall asleep that night. You can join the Flickr group and/or tag your photos #adayinthelifephotochallenge on Instagram.

Here are some guidelines (adjust as needed for YOU!)

From the time you wake up until the time you go to sleep...

1. Take at least one photo an house (but you can take more!).
2. Post your photos to the "A Day in the Life" Photo Challenge Flickr group when you can. Posting your photos throughout the day as you take them is great (so we can see what everyone is doing in real time), but no worries if you cannot post until later. 
3. Your photos do NOT have to be self-portraits.
4. Include the time of the photo either as the title of the photo or in the description. (i.e. 9:45 am Hilarious Hand Holding! My friend and I had to walk really, really close to each other.)
5. Use your phone or camera - whatever you want to use to capture your day, however ordinary or extraordinary it may be. 
6. Have Fun! 

Since this is my 1 billionth time doing this challenge and I'll be away from home, I'll be shooting on my DSLR and posting later in the day, possibly all at once at the end of the day.  I've set up a new album on my Flickr photostream for December 8th challenge which you can follow here: A Day in the Life 12.8.16. Can't wait to see your photos and your day on Thursday! 

Monthly Goal Check-In (November)

Wow! Seriously, we have just 26 more days left of 2016. It's time to start thinking about my goals for 2017! Until then, here is an update on my 2016 goals. 

1.  Workout 4 times a week 
2. Complete Whole30 in January 
3. Keep purging the house with the Bowl Full of Lemons 14 Week Plan  - This is an ongoing project. I'm considering this done because every day, I'm purging! 

4. Complete Four (4) Day in the Life Challenges and participate in at least ten 10 on 10's - I did another 10 on 10 in November and will be doing my last Day in the Life Challenge this week! 

5. Complete TKGA Master Knitting Level I - Yeah, I have some thoughts on why I'm not getting this done. 

6. Grow a kick-ass Garden! 
7. Read for 15 minutes a day 
8. Volunteer with two organizations and include the girls.

9. Catch up on my yearly photo books of the girls - So yeah, still haven't done this. 

10. Get back to Blogging on a more regular basis and focus more on my writing.