2011 Recap

I do love the New Year.

I have always loved the opportunity to pause, reflect, take stock, and set some goals to work toward.  I feel like I always have areas in which I'm trying to grow, or places that I'm needing more discipline.  I'm usually overly ambitious and not always able to achieve everything I set out to, but I feel like this process just keeps me moving forward ~ even if it's slower than I'd like at times!  I don't feel guilty or badly if I don't finish or complete something.  It just usually stays on my list and eventually I do it.  I've learned that in this season of life I just have to be more patient with finding time for these things.

My general goal last year was to simplify.  Here's a summary of my specific goals & what actually happened....(I'm recording this for myself, so I'm sorry if it's rather boring, but feel free to read along if you're interested!)

~Read the whole Bible this year. 

I did not read the whole bible this year.  But I did read Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Matthew, Acts, part of Psalms, and I'm half way through Romans and have a start in Numbers.  I have a reading plan that I'm doing and while I didn't finish, I have really enjoyed doing this and am going to continue on and try to find a time that I can do this with more regularity this year.  I did other bible studies and faith centered readings, so I feel like that was still a focus in my life, but I'm committed to keep moving forward with this.  If it takes me 3 years, it takes me 3 years.  That's okay.

~Exercise regularly.  Yeah.  That just flat out didn't happen.  No excuses.  But wait until you hear what I have in store for THIS year!!  :)

~ I want to try to continue to minimize how much "stuff" we have.  Have less, experience more. 

I made some definite strides here. I worked REALLY hard at accumulating less stuff.  Before christmas Dan told me that I had cut our clothing expenditures in half compared to the prior year!  I told him that it felt like it!  It was hard!  :)  I have a slight addiction to children's clothing.  I don't buy so much for myself, but I do love to buy things for the kids.   I have gotten MUCH better in this area all together though.  I will never be a minimalist (my cookie cutter and cake pan collections alone can attest to that) but I really do aspire to only have things that we need/use/love.  I need to kick up the "experience more" part of this a notch.  But more on that later too.

~  I'd like to learn how to shoot in RAW and do photo editing.
I did not learn how to shoot in RAW.  But Dan did buy me "Lightroom" which is photo editing software and I have learned a little, but not nearly as much as I'd like.  I'm bumping up against the end of my knowledge/skills and would really like to take another class/read more, but I feel like this will have to wait.  I can take good enough pictures for what I want to do on a daily basis with the kids, and so will table this for the future when I have more time. 

~ I want to start reading more again. 
I did this, and REALLY enjoyed it.  I haven't read much Fiction in a LONG time and I did this year and it was great.  I hope to read even more this year.   Dan's nightstand is full of books that we both want to read.   Everything from parenting, faith, fiction, historical non-fiction, classics....lots of good stuff.  I just need more time....

~ Minimize my time on the computer. 
Hmmmm....I'm improving here, but still have a bit to go.  I definitely made strides on this.  The majority of my computer time is spent downloading/editing photos/and doing my blog.  I'm getting to where I'd have to cut those things out to cut out my computer time.  I'll have to think about what I want to do with this, this year.

~ Finish cleaning out/organizing my house....
....I remember making the bold declaration to Dan that by the end of the year, there would be NO clutter in our house.

Okay, so that didn't happen.  But I'm getting close.  I made HUGE strides on our house.  Huge.  I have worked diligently on it throughout the year as time and opportunity presented ~ tackling each closet, shelf, drawer in every room.  I have gotten rid of so much stuff.  It's so liberating!  I used to struggle with this and was more of a pack rat.  But now I love the feeling of simplifying and feeling the fruits of it, with the house being easier to maintain, I can find things more easily...I just honestly feel less burdened.  It sounds melodramatic, but honestly, it's very freeing.  I highly recommend it.  I love to do this and in our old neighborhood I went and organized my neighbor's pantry.  :)  Another friend had me organize her linen closet and her homeschooling stuff when she started schooling...I love it.   If anyone wants my services just let me know!  :)

Anyway, I have completed most of the upstairs with just the guest room and a portion of the playroom left to go.  I've gotten a start on the downstairs as well.  It feels SO good to have done this, and Dan and I both agree that the result has been fruitful.  The house is easier to maintain, I can find things more easily, etc.  I'm hoping to wrap this up by March of this year, with the exception of the garage, which will wait until summer.

So that's 2011 in a nutshell.   Dan and I sat with the kids today and made a list of things we'd like to do in 2012, but I need to put more thought into my personal focus of 2012.  However, I do have one thing I'm going to do a post on next!