2017 - A Year in Review

2017 is coming to a close and while the political climate is not good, my year was pretty good, ok it was great! 

We went on a ton of trips - Disneyland, the National Parks and lots of places nearby. I traveled for work and increased my client base. I exercised a lot. 

I released a lot of feelings and belongings. We got a kitten! He destroyed things and I forgave him. 

Molly started kindergarten and I started my elementary school volunteer career. 

As for my goals, I completed 60% of them this year and I'm pretty happy about it! I did make great progress on 3 of the remaining 4 which is fantastic!

2017 Goals

1. Workout 217 times in 2017 - I did it! I got in 227 workouts in 2017. Having this goal really kept me focused on working out. It is something I really love to do but sometimes I fall off the wagon and running to catch up with it leaves me out of breath.

2. Participate in the Year of Creativity -  Our last theme was Hope and I have to say that I participated fully in this group. It got a bit too religious toward the end for me but otherwise it was really good and got me more into writing and developing my craft. 

3. Shoot one roll of film a month - I did well with this at the beginning of the year and then stumbled when it came to processing. I do think shooting film is a great way to work on my photo skills but this just wasn't the goal for me this year. 

4. Complete TKGA Master Knitting Level I - I'm about a third of the way through this goal and have a new deadline of March 15th for sending off my notebook. 

5. Finish my Miter Square Blanket - I stopped working on this goal sometime in June and never picked it back up. I plan to finish this in 2018. 

6. Read 52 books. - I almost did it! I read 46 books and loved most of them. 

7. Finish up various House Projects 

8. Catch up on my yearly photo books of the girls - It took me all year but I have all the photos gathered into Flickr albums. The next step is making books for the girls. I have about 500 photos in each folder which means selecting photos is going to be a challenge. I might just have HUGE (i.e. expensive) books. I have a plan for continuing these. I have a monthly reminder to cull photos into albums and then in August/September a reminder to start the books for the year. I'm excited about getting caught up on this goal done by April 15th of next 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. 

Monthly Goal Check-In (November)

I always forget how busy this time of year gets with birthday celebrations, holiday traditions and all the fun that comes with the jolly season. I'm already looking forward to some quiet in the new year and new goals! 

2017 Goals

1. Workout 217 times in 2017 - I worked out 17 times in November. I'm at 216 workouts with 1 more workout to complete this year. I'm pretty confident that I'll get this done. 

2. Participate in the Year of Creativity -  We worked on gratitude this month which is always such a nice theme. I'll admit to must being too busy for much gratitude though. It's always hard for me in November to slow down right when the celebrating is just getting started, though I do enjoy the reminder. We have one more month left in the YOC! 

3. Shoot one roll of film a month - Not done. I'm ok with that. I think the whole getting the film processed as a HUGE stumbling block for me. 

4. Complete TKGA Master Knitting Level I - I slowed down on my swatching as I needed to work on the girl's birthday sweaters. I'm still working on this though. 

5. Finish my Miter Square Blanket - Let's just not talk about this, ok?

6. Read 52 books. - I read 4 books this month. This means I have 4 books to read this year and 47 under my belt. I never got around to recapping my books from October so look for a dual October/November book post soon. 

7. Finish up various House Projects - I finally painted the kitchen this month! FINALLY! It felt good to get that done. I think I'll claim this goal as complete for 2017. There are always more house projects to do and next year, my goals on this will be more specific. 

8. Catch up on my yearly photo books of the girls - I am so far behind on this. GAH! This will be a repeat goal next year. 

9. Become more politically active and work to be the change in my community. - I'm also counting this as done. I've been more politically active even if I haven't been as much as I would like to be. 

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. 

Monthly Goal Check-In (October)

Whoa. Whoa. Whoa! How is it already November? I have so much to do in the next two months! I'm already thinking about my goals for next year. I love, love, love goals. 

2017 Goals

1. Workout 217 times in 2017 - I worked out 19 times in October. I'm at 196 workouts with 21 more workouts to complete this year. I'll need to complete 2.6 workouts a week for the rest of the year to complete this goal. I'm in it to win it!

2. Participate in the Year of Creativity -  This month was all about Trust - learning to trust ourselves, learning to trust the process. There is a lot of trust when one goes into writing. I've been falling behind on the prompts and resources but loving the community. I got a little jaded after the September course was so religious but this lesson was so good and really spoke to me. I still need to go back and explore more of the exercises. One exercise was a core values and I could see a great divide between the group's other members and me at times. This exercise showed it a bit more. One of my core values is not faith. While I believe in God, I do not believe that he guides my life. I do not look to scripture for guidance. My core values are much more pragmatic - efficiency, family, trust. I believe differently than the group and yet I have learned so much from them this year. All in all, it has been a huge win! 

3. Shoot one roll of film a month - Oops! I completely forgot to do this. I want to shoot more film but I need to find a better way to process the film. There is a great lab on Queen Anne but getting there is just so hard for me. 

4. Complete TKGA Master Knitting Level I - I have buckled down and am making great progress on this! My goal is to mail this off by 12/31. I'm a swatching and question answering machine. I'm digging deep into knitting. 

5. Finish my Miter Square Blanket - I may be deep into knitting swatches but not so deep into knitting miter squares. 

6. Read 52 books. - I read 4 books this month. This means I have 8 books to read this year and 43 under my belt. I loved all the books I read this month and can't wait to recap them soon. 

7. Finish up various House Projects - We are starting to dig deep into the basement remodel. I've been meeting with our architect and visiting too many tile stores. If Scott hears another discourse on lighting fixtures or door placement, he might roll his eyes into the back of his head. I am narrowing down my choices but quickly realizing that this remodel is going to take a lot of my time and mental energy. 

8. Catch up on my yearly photo books of the girls - Wha! I'm dreadfully behind on this project and foresee it becoming a goal for next year. 

9. Become more politically active and work to be the change in my community. - Our school district is re-doing the high school boundaries so I attended the community meeting, emailed the district and helped start a petition on the changes. Hopefully it will all work out. 

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. 

Monthly Goal Check-in (September)

September came in with a bang! Molly started Kindergarten, Scott went to India, Maggie ramped up her preschool days and I just kept swimming.  

2017 Goals

1. Workout 217 times in 2017 - I worked out 19 times in September. I'm at 177 workouts with 40 more workouts to complete this year. I'll need to complete 3.3 workouts a week for the rest of the year to complete this goal. Totally do-able! 

2. Participate in the Year of Creativity -  This month was all about Relating and while I loved the idea, I did not love the execution. All of the writing exercises and resource suggestions were about religion, God and relating. While I am working to relate to other people's struggles, I am not someone who believes God is why I exist. 

3. Shoot one roll of film a month - I spent way too much time on other projects and never got around to this. 

4. Complete TKGA Master Knitting Level I - Ummm, yeah about that. 

5. Finish my Miter Square Blanket - I knit one square but really need to buckle down on this project. 

6. Read 52 books. - I read 2 books this month. This means I have 14 books to read this year and 38 under my belt. I loved all the books I read this month and can't wait to recap them later this week. 

7. Finish up various House Projects - I was on fire this month with house projects! We had a weekend of outside work where we cleaned up the yard, painted the front banister, re-painted the front door threshold, cleaned up the outside furniture and toys. I also painted the girl's room. That was an epic adventure. I decided to do it while Scott was gone so they could sleep with me. I forgot what aggressive little sleepers they are. Combined with all the reaching while painting, I was in so much pain. Their room looks awesome though! 

8. Catch up on my yearly photo books of the girls - I've gathered all the images into folders and am planning to start their actual books this month! 

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

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. 

Monthly Goal Check-in (August)

August was the month of Lewis the Kitten, Swimming and soaking up all Summer had to offer us! 

2017 Goals

1. Workout 217 times in 2017 - I worked out 20 times in August. I'm at 158 workouts with 59 more workouts to complete this year. I'll need to complete 3.6 workouts a week for the rest of the year to complete this goal. Totally do-able! 

2. Participate in the Year of Creativity -  This month was all about slow! We were assigned the task of working on an essay for the entire month. One of my goals was to submit an essay to Coffee + Crumbs and I used this assignment to get that essay done. I worked on it until the last minute of August 31st before submitting it. 

3. Shoot one roll of film a month - I shot film with my Instax camera this month and had so much fun doing so. You can see my August Film here.

4. Complete TKGA Master Knitting Level I - I made up my plan for the coming months and worked on some research. I plan to really tackle this once the girls are in more school in a few weeks. 

5. Finish my Miter Square Blanket - I neglected to work on my blanket this month as seriously it was too hot to knit. I hope the cooling fall can inspire me to knit more. 

6. Read 52 books. - I read 4 books this month. This means I have 16 books to read this year and 36 under my belt. I did not complete Book Bingo but plan to finish the remaining 6 on my list. I just couldn't get myself to read faster and kinda hated all the books I read this month. 

7. Finish up various House Projects - I tackled a lot of home projects this month! I planned out my painting projects and painted the back patio and re-did both entry banisters. I also cleared out a bunch of clutter with The Minimalist Game. I also cleaned out the linen closet and pantry. I feel like I made a lot of progress on this front. 

8. Catch up on my yearly photo books of the girls - I'm almost done gathering the images and then plan to make the books. I'm not sure if I should use chatbooks or shutterfly or something else. I need to make a decision here. 

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. 

Monthly Goal Check-In (July)

July was spent vacationing so my 2017 goals were not really tackled but some progress was made! 

2017 Goals

1. Workout 217 times in 2017 - I worked out 16 times in June. I'm at 138 workouts with 79 more workouts to complete this year. I'll need to complete 4 workouts a week for the rest of the year to complete this goal. Totally do-able! 

2. Participate in the Year of Creativity -  This month was all about play! I played hard and wrote little. I had so much fun exploring and adventuring with my kids and I believe we all need a break. 

3. Shoot one roll of film a month - I shot two rolls of film this month and am taking them to the film lab to be developed. I can't wait to show off my film! 

4. Complete TKGA Master Knitting Level I - I did not work on this goal this month. Too much playing!

5. Finish my Miter Square Blanket - I made one square this month but this project is coming along. 

6. Read 52 books. - I read 4 books this month. This means I have 20 books to read this year and 32 under my belt. Book Bingo is already helping me crush my book numbers.

7. Finish up various House Projects - I took some time this month to plan out my house projects and break them into little tasks. Hopefully this means I'll get some stuff done. 

8. Catch up on my yearly photo books of the girls - I'm still gathering my images. Five years of images takes a lot of time to gather and put in the appropriate albums. These books are going to be epic! 

9. Become more politically active and work to be the change in my community - Ermmm, yea about that... 

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. 

Monthly Goal Check-In (June)

We are officially more than halfway through the year! Life continues to move at a rapid but extremely fun pace. While Fall is truly my favorite season, I do love the playfulness of Summer and all the swimming. Oh, I love the swimming! 

2017 Goals

1. Workout 217 times in 2017 - I worked out 19 times in June. I'm at 122 workouts with 95 more workouts to complete this year. I'm tracking well on this goal. 

2. Participate in the Year of Creativity -  This month was all about space, specially making space for our creativity. I am terrible about making space for writing. I write in the midst of the chaos. I write as children climb over over me and shout at me. I write and photograph as the craziness of life overwhelms me. I have space downstairs but it is in our cluttered guest room and will soon be remodeled. 

3. Shoot one roll of film a month - I slid in with this goal at the very end. I shot my roll of film on June 30th at the pool. Now to get it developed along with my other rolls of film. 

4. Complete TKGA Master Knitting Level I - I worked on my primary swatch and some of the questions related to it. 

5. Finish my Miter Square Blanket - I worked on a lot of squares this month. I want to say that I got 4 done. I can see my blanket growing! 

6. Read 52 books. - I read 6 books this month. This means I have 24 books to read this year and 28 under my belt. Book Bingo is already helping me crush my book numbers.

7. Finish up various House Projects - This month was spent keeping things together with Scott gone so I did not get to any of my house projects. 

8. Catch up on my yearly photo books of the girls - I'm still gathering my images. Five years of images takes a lot of time to gather and put in the appropriate albums. These books are going to be epic! 

9. Become more politically active and work to be the change in my community - Ermmm, yea about that... 

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. 

Monthly Goal Check-In (May)

Whoosh! That was May rushing right on by. We're almost at the halfway point in the year and I still have a lot to accomplish on this set of lofty goals. I did get a fair amount done this month though so I'm feeling good about this list. 

2017 Goals

1. Workout 217 times in 2017 - I worked out 25 times in May. I'm at 104 workouts with 113 more workouts to complete this year. I need to do 4 workouts a week to accomplish this goal. Summer travel is going to make this interesting!

2. Participate in the Year of Creativity -  This month was all about noticing. I did a Day in the Life to notice my surroundings. We get so lost in our to-dos that we miss the details. The moments. I've also been doing 100 Days of B/W Photography over on Instagram which has made me slow down and notice the details. B/W photography can be tricky if you miss the details. 

3. Shoot one roll of film a month - Added another roll of film to my processing pile. I really need to get these developed. 

4. Complete TKGA Master Knitting Level I - I finished my preliminary swatch and am working on the other swatches. I have blocked out time to work on this project as I am getting it done this year. 

5. Finish my Miter Square Blanket - I finished one square this month. I have completed 34 squares of the 60 total squares I need to knit. Maybe where summer travel will be hard on the workouts, it will be a blessing in the knitting arena? 

6. Read 52 books. - I read 4 books this month. This means I have 30 books to read this year and 22 under my belt. Book Bingo is really going to help these numbers! 

7. Finish up various House Projects - I pressure washed the patio, tidied the garage and started sorting the filing. I feel like projects are never-ending and I plan to paint the kitchen this month. 

8. Catch up on my yearly photo books of the girls - I'm still gathering my images. Five years of images takes a lot of time to gather and put in the appropriate albums. These books are going to be epic! 

9. Become more politically active and work to be the change in my community - I'm struggling with this one. I'm feeling disillusioned and I need to work hard on this goal. 

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. 

Monthly Goal Check-In (April)

I seriously can't believe April is over. I feel like this year is just speeding up and I'm running as fast as I can to stay next to the out of control train. I did ok on my goals this month but did not make as great of progress as I would have liked. 

2017 Goals

1. Workout 217 times in 2017 - I worked out 15 times in April. I'm at 79 workouts with 138 more workouts to complete this year. I need to do 4.3 workouts a week to accomplish this goal. 

2. Participate in the Year of Creativity - April was about being Vulnerable which is something I am TERRIBLE at. I did spend time writing in my journal every night and followed a lot of the writing prompts. I did have trouble with re-telling my birth story. I do not have any lingering trauma regarding my daughter's births. I feel they happened as they should have and the scars left on my body tell that tale. They do not necessarily make me vulnerable and in that realization, I am vulnerable. It's something I want to explore more. 

3. Shoot one roll of film a month - I shot some film but need to get it processed. Sadly processing is my roadblock. 

4. Complete TKGA Master Knitting Level I - I worked a bit more on my Blocking Report research but need to step it up with this goal. 

5. Finish my Miter Square Blanket - Again, I didn't knit any of my squares this month. 

6. Read 52 books. - I read 5 books this month. This means I have 33 books to read this year and 19 under my belt. I've been struggling to read lately but my kids have not been sleeping and I usually read before bed. 

7. Finish up various House Projects - We selected our contractor and architect so I feel like the basement remodel is on the way. I also selected colors for the kitchen and bathroom which need to be repainted.

8. Catch up on my yearly photo books of the girls - I'm still gathering my images but slowly making progress on this goal. 

9. Become more politically active and work to be the change in my community - I finished up another cross stitch for my acupuncturist's political donation and called/wrote my senators. 

10. Learn how to make a really good stock  I'm counting this goal has being done! 

Bonus Goal: Grow two new crops in my garden and add some chickens to my flock. These are done! I added two chickens and planted some new crops. We'll see how they do!