30 Goals ~ Accountability

Last week I turned 30.  I don't feel any different.  When I look back at where I was at say, age 20, and where I am now, I like who and what I am now and hope to continue that trend.  I don't feel like I've accomplished anything earth-shattering, except that I have 4 amazing and beautiful kids and a fabulous husband that I adore.  That's all I need.  I did however make a list of 30 goals to accomplish/work on a year ago.  Here is an accounting of how that turned out: (Warning: I really wanted to include pictures throughout, but don't have the time....) (Hint: Red=Not complete, Blue=YES!  Purple=Close)

1- Attend the Temple 12 times - I did not make it to the temple nearly as often as I wanted to.  I checked off five visits this year.  I did however make it possible for Michael to attend the Temple more frequently, and I thoroughly enjoyed and appreciated the times I was able to attend.  This is going to stay on my annual goals list.
2- Earn my YW Recognition Award - I did it!!  I finished the YW Personal Progress experiences and projects and I gained a lot from it.  Definitely a testimony builder of the power of the scriptures, the power of me and what I can achieve, and the Power of my Savior Jesus Christ.  I have scheduled to go visit the YW in our ward next week to tell them that I finished and encourage them to do it too.
3- Teach Brennan to read - YES!!  At the beginning of the year he tested right on grade level.  By the last DIBELS test he tested well above average, and now he reads like a champ and LOVES it!  Huge success, I'm so proud of him.
4- Run another Half Marathon - I changed this goal a bit... I added that I wanted to beat last year's time, maybe even make it in under 2 hours.  I ran the Provo City Half Marathon on May 4, 2013 in 2 hours and 10 minutes.  Beat my old time by 10 minutes!  I felt awful the whole run and had strange ailments that hadn't ever happened before.  It took me over a month to recover my running after that.  Running another half marathon in 2 weeks... we'll see how it goes.
5- Finish the Master Bathroom (painting, trim, organizing) - didn't even touch it, except regular cleanings of course.  This one will continue on the need-to-do list.
6- Make Roman shades and wood valances for Master Bedroom - I made the shades with blackout fabric and it has been so nice to not be awakened at 6am with beams of sunlight shining through the blinds.  I have everything in the garage for the cornices, but have not put them together yet.... soon.
7- Refinish Armoire - FINALLY!!  It is sitting in the garage right now waiting for me to hang one set of doors on it (had to touch up paint one spot on it last minute) and then carry it inside.  Michael is THRILLED that it will very soon be out of the garage!!
8- Finish painting trim & decorate girls room - Did this!!  Their room really is so cute.  We even got them bunk beds this spring which they just love. 
9- Finish boys room - Did not have the time to do this one... well, I did, but I needed Michael's help and was not about to ask him to take it on when he was already so super busy.  It's a job for a rainy Saturday this fall.
10- Teach EmmaRay to read - So close!  She can sound out a lot of words, has many sight words down, and is on lesson 62 of "Teach your child to read in 100 easy lessons"
11- Take an Interior Decorating class - I really wanted to do this.... but searched and searched and couldn't find a local class or a reasonably priced online course.  I didn't want to pay $300 for the ones I found.  However, I did do a lot of decorating this year - furniture refinishing, holidays, rearranging, etc. and I have added a lot to my style and feel of our home.  I'll call this one a win.
12- Organize my closet - Did it!  I even added a decorative wrought iron curtain rod to hang scarves, belts and bulky necklaces on.  I even organized my clothes by genre.
13- See 120 lbs on the scale - FAIL.  I did see 124.... then I'm not quite sure what happened.  I know I've put on a lot of muscle from running and zumba because my skinny jeans no longer fit around my calves and my waist has slimmed an inch or two.  Right now I'm stuck bouncing around 129-131.  I need to kick myself in gear and watch calories again.
14- Read the Book of Mormon front to back - Did it!  Finished it a couple of months ahead of schedule.  Always love reading the Book of Mormon.  Next personal study book is the New Testament again... it's been a couple of years since I read it all the way through.
15- Run 300 miles - I have to say I thought this was going to be a pretty easy goal and it ended up being one of the hardest!!  I did it though!  Despite getting sick two weeks before the deadline and missing 5 running days (I did run 3 times while sick, then when I kept getting sicker I decided I better take it easy), I logged 302 miles the day after my birthday.  WOOHOOOOOO!!!  Considering I run an average of nine to eleven minute miles that was over 50 hours of running.  Hmmm, suddenly that doesn't sound like much.  I do love that I can run 5, 6, 7, even 9 miles and not be sore afterward.  I hope I don't lose that, which means I'll keep on pounding the treadmill and pavement.
16- Finish & organize toy room - I did not finish painting the baseboards... I never felt like moving all the furniture away from the walls... but I did clean out and organize it about 10 times this year.  Why is that a never ending process?  And I did rearrange desks, got a new bookshelf and put my computer desk in there.  I'll call this one a win even without the paint.
17- ABC's on Schoolroom wall - I have most of the letters ready to hang up, but it's not done yet... still in the works.
18- Refinish end tables and coffee table - Done!  I love how they turned out!  I don't really have a place for these except in the unfinished basement "guest room" but they needed refinished and now they're done.
19- Purchase a new couch and make pillows - WE LOVE OUR COUCHES!!  We bought new couches in October last year-- super comfy, look nice and now our whole living room looks coordinated.  I still want to make new pillows or recover the pillows that the sectional came with because I don't think they go with the rest of the house.... but I haven't found the right fabric yet.
20- Build up and organize food storage - Organized, built up, used, and in need of rebuilding again.  Hate it how that happens.  But at least it's being rotated!
21- Put business logos on car & warehouse, decorate warehouse - I'm so glad I procrastinated this one because we moved warehouses in December so I didn't have to do it twice.  Got the vinyl on the office window and the marquee sign out front, and put vinyl on both of our cars. Of course now we sold one of the cars and had to scrape it off and I'll have to do it again when we get the new one.... but oh well.  It was done for awhile.  I also painted the new warehouse office and did some work in the bathroom.  There is just not enough time to do it all....
22- Put together 72 hour kits - Still working on this officially, but I did collect a bunch of items and I also cleaned out and organized our camping gear.  I still want to put together one official 72 hour kit tote.
23- Paint kids easel black - done!  Looks way better than markered pine!
24- Build entry table - I think I finally have the right idea in mind for this project, but it's not done yet...
25- Potty train Adelynn - Hallelujah!!  She's very well potty trained now... it was a miserable 5 days in the bathroom, but since then she's been amazing!  Night time and everything.
26- Organize office and finish painting - I surprised Michael by doing this when he was out of town last October... this and having the carpets cleaned in the whole house and having the new furniture delivered (see #19).  That was a fun surprise when he came home! 
27- Write in Journal monthly - I was terrible at this for the first few months... then in January I started a daily "Journal Box" that has a note card for every day.  I write the year and then something that happened that day, something funny a kid said, something I was thinking about or grateful for, or whatever I feel like, and that's it.  Next year will be fun to read as I write the new year on it.  I have been pretty good about keeping up with it-- even if I don't write on the notecard I at least jot something down on the calendar and then do a catch up in the box every now and then.  It's the best consistent journal I've ever done I think.
28- Update Blog monthly - I missed a month here and there, but overall I do have 12 blog posts this year which is improvement!  I will continue to try to increase that because I really do want my life/kids lives documented and I really love keeping up with friends and family through blogs too.
29- Hold FHE weekly - We've been pretty awesome with FHE's for the last year.  We're not always formal about it, but we always at least read an extra scripture story or story from the Friend on Monday's, and a lot of times we do sit down and have a formal FHE.  We also do nightly scriptures and prayer as a family which we love.  I think we get an A+ on this one.
30- Be the best Wife & Mom that I can be - I hope I made this one...  can't really judge myself, but I think I improved. 

I also added to the list:
31- Make backup DVD's of family pictures - I'm up to 2012 which means I'm just about done.  I have to admit, it's been fun to look through the old photos again.  Wow, my kids are growing up fast!
32- Purchase and refinish new dining room chairs - YEAH!!  Love them-- see previous post with before and after pics.
33- Deep clean and reorganize kitchen - I did this early this spring.... and it's in need of it again.  Not so much the organizing part, I've kept that up pretty well, but there are a plethora of sticky fingerprints on the cabinets again, and all my dishes need polishing again because of the awful phosphate-free soap that leaves a white film on everything.
34- Clean/Organize/Declutter Basement - haven't put in enough time on this one yet... some areas are better, some are worse, and some are just the same as last year.  Ugh.  Must. Get. Done.
35- Recover and refinish piano bench- Did this!  Love it now that it's black with a black and white damask top.  Don't know why it took me so long to get to this, it only took an afternoon to get it done.
36-Picture shelves in Dining Room - Finally found the ones I wanted, had Michael help me put them up, took photos of the kids, printed pictures and picked them up, and decorated the shelves just how I had it in my head.  That's the kind of project I like.  It really spruced up the dining area.
37- Do a photo shoot of the kids - Did this on the 16th of August... and they turned out cute!!  I love it when ideas in my head turn out!  Now if only Adelynn would look at the camera and EmmaRay would sit still....  but really, they turned out super cute.

I'm currently working on my list of goals for the coming year.... suggestions?