Here’s an update on how I’m doing with my 2013 goals and bucket list.

My 2013 goals:

• Read through the Bible.  *hangs head* We are so very far behind.  So far behind that it seems insurmountable to get caught back up.  I think if we put our mind to it we still can, though.
• Improve my posture.  Still in progress.  I’m much more aware of my posture and straighten up when I catch myself slumping, but unfortunately that is still more often than I’d like.  And honestly, sometimes I know I’m slouching but just can’t seem to muster up the effort and energy to sit up straight.  So yeah, this is still an ongoing thing.

My 2013 bucket list:

• Make 72 hour emergency kits for our house and vehicles.
• Learn how to make Mom’s Christmas cookies.
• Take a photography class.
• Sew quilted stockings.
• Make another quilt. – Hoping to start on this over spring break.
• Run a 5K - Well I definitely haven’t done this yet but I have been running once or so a week and am working (slowly) through the Couch to 5K program.
• Make another scrapbook for my in-law’s. – I started one while on my scrapbook retreat (psst Liz…pretend you never read this and act surprised when I give it to you) but haven’t had time since I’ve been home to work on it.
• Take more pictures of us together - Thanks to some friends taking impromptu pictures of us we actually got some good ones this month!

A sneak attack picture by Tiffany at Abby and Josiah’s birthday party - This is my new favorite picture of us :)

John Ross took this faux-family picture of us with “our boys” at Kelsey and Will’s wedding

Easter

Other notable events:

• I went on my first scrapbooking retreat – had a blast, made new friends, and got a ton of scrapbooking done.

Good thing I didn’t make a long list for this year since we’re 1/4 of the way through and I haven’t completed a single thing…

See previous updates: January and February

Here’s an update on how I’m doing with my 2013 goals and bucket list.

My 2013 goals:

• Read through the Bible.  We have been struggling this month.  We can’t seem to keep up and have to spend one or two days a week doubling tripling quadrupling up to get caught back up.  I’m hoping we can get caught up and stay caught up once I get back from my scrapbooking retreat this weekend.
• Improve my posture.  Working on it!  Now that my back pain has gone away my chiropractor is going to give me some exercises and tips to help me improve my posture.

My 2013 bucket list:

• Make 72 hour emergency kits for our house and vehicles.
• Learn how to make Mom’s Christmas cookies.
• Take a photography class.
• Sew quilted stockings.
• Make another quilt. – I know what I want to make, just need to get some fabric.
• Run a 5K - Well I definitely haven’t done this yet but I have been running once or so a week and am working (slowly) through the Couch to 5K program.
• Make another scrapbook for my in-law’s. – Hoping to get one (or at least most of one) done at my scrapbook retreat this weekend.
• Take more pictures of us together - Uh no.  Picture fail so far.

Other notable events:

• I turned 26.

Yep.  That’s about it.

See January update here.

The first month of 2013 is already over…wowsers!  Here’s an update on how I’m doing with my 2013 goals and bucket list.

My 2013 goals:

• Read through the Bible.  Going well!  It’s definitely different to read the Bible chronologically rather than straight through like I have in the past.  So far we’ve read Genesis, a little bit of the genealogy in 1 Chronicles, and Job.
• Improve my posture.  This is still a work in progress, but I have definitely seen an improvement.  I’m definitely more conscious and find myself constantly straightening up during the course of the day.  However, my “default” is still slouching and standing up straight is still hard.  The first few days were so hard – I was exhausted and couldn’t wait to lay down at night so I didn’t have to worry about sitting up straight :).  I was also pretty sore.  Then about two weeks my lower back started hurting horribly…come to find out it was a bulging disc.  The chiropractor couldn’t say for sure, but it’s possible that trying to stand up straight after 25 years of hunching over irritated some discs and caused them to swell.  After two weeks of chiro visits, rest, ice, and easy exercise, I’m feeling better.  Not 100%, but definitely better.  And I’m still working to stand up straight.

My 2013 bucket list:

• Make 72 hour emergency kits for our house and vehicles.
• Learn how to make Mom’s Christmas cookies.
• Take a photography class.
• Sew quilted stockings.
• Make another quilt.
• Run a 5K.
• Make another scrapbook for my in-law’s.
• Take more pictures of us together

I haven’t made any progress yet on my bucket list.  Good thing I still have 11 months :)

Other notable events:

• We bought our first TV!  It’s crazy having a tv after nearly 4 years without one.  I don’t even know what to do with myself.
• We had one snow day (actually, no snow…only icy rain and icy roads…so technically an ice day)
• Less than one week later we had weather in the 70s and I went for a walk around the neighborhood in a t-shirt.

Yep.  That’s pretty much it.  January was a quiet, uneventful month.  Which is just the way I like it right after the holidays.

I’ve never been one for New Year’s resolutions, but last year I set two 2012 goals (my version of resolutions) and made a bucket list of things I wanted to get done.  It worked out better than I expected, especially having the bucket list – it gave me a deadline to get some things done that I had wanted to do for a long time but had never really gotten around to doing.  I didn’t get them all done, but I got most of them done and I’m very proud of that.  So this year I’m going to set some more goals and make another bucket list.  So here we go.

My 2013 goals:

• Read through the Bible.  Last year we read the New Testament straight through, then the Old Testament.  I originally planned to just read it on my own, but Michael wanted to do it too so we ended up doing our readings together each day, alternating reading chapters out loud.  This became a special time for us to spend together and reading out loud helped us to slow down and focus better.  This year we are going to read the Bible chronologically (in the order the events happened in history).  This is the plan we’re going to use if anyone else is interested.  
• Improve my posture.  This is hard to have as a goal because there isn’t really a way to quantify it, but I’ve had horrible posture all my life and I’ve never really cared enough to learn how to have better posture; the times that I do try to sit up straight it is very uncomfortable so it doesn’t last long.  So, this year, once and for all, I am going to start sitting/standing up straight and improve my posture.  If anyone has any tips, please feel free to share.

My 2013 bucket list:

• Make 72 hour emergency kits for our house and vehicles.  This was one of our goals in 2012 but we never got around to it so I’m adding it to this year’s list.  I’ve found a great blog that has a weekly guide for setting up an emergency kit.  She also has an e-book you can buy with lots of checklists and printables.  We’re going to use her tips and guides to get ours set up.
• Learn how to make Mom’s Christmas cookies.  Another one of the things I had on last year’s list that I didn’t get done, so I’m going to try to do that this year.
• Take a photography class.  I love my Canon Rebel and I’ve played around with it some, but I’m still shooting on manual most of the time.  I’m not sure if I’ll take a class that I go to or do an online thing, but I want to take some sort of photography class.  Suggestions are welcome :)
• Sew quilted stockings.  I’ve found some quilted stockings that I adore and I bought the pattern, now I just need to get to work making us some personalized stockings.
• Make another quilt.  I am so proud of my first quilt and I definitely want to make another.  I have several patterns in mind, plus I’ve heard that Craftsy is going to do another Block of The Month class that I might participate in since I learned so much with last year’s class.
• Run a 5K.  I haven’t run consistently in nearly 2 years, but after lots of rest from running and a few visits to the podiatrist, I think I’m ready to give it another go.  I hope to get back in a running routine and run in a 5K.
• Make another scrapbook for my in-law’s.  I’m hoping to get more than one done, but I’d at least like to get one more knocked out.
• Take more pictures of us together While looking for a picture that we could put on a Christmas card I realized that there were only two pictures of us together from 2012!  There are a lot of us individually but It’s hard to get pictures together when there is just the two of you.  So one of my goals is to take more pictures together this year.

Here’s to 2013 being an even better year than 2012!

Well, 2013 is here and 2012 is over – can you believe it?  It’s so cliche but every year seems to go by even faster than the previous year.  I didn’t get every single thing done on my bucket list, nor did I meet all of my 2012 goals, but I did complete some of them which is more than I would have if I hadn’t made this list so I’m calling that a win.

(to see previous updates: January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, and November)

2012 goals:

• read through the entire Bible - We did it!  We read the whole entire Bible out-loud to each other in one year.  We didn’t read every single day, we got behind a few times, but we just doubled (or tripled) up on other days and got caught up.  I am so so proud of us!
• get my healthy lifestyle back, specifically to lose the 20-25 pounds I’ve gained since getting married. - Well I lost about 10 pounds twice over the course of the year but then gained it back each time so I’m basically starting 2013 at the same place that I started 2012.  So I guess I’ll try again next year.  However, we did transition to a much healthier lifestyle by switching to mostly real, local, organic foods.  So even though I didn’t meet my weight loss goals, I’m still happy with how to adjusted our diets.

2012 bucket list:

• make an apple pie from scratch – I used this recipe and it turned out pretty well – the apple chunks were a little too big for my liking but the crust was amazing.

• take cake decorating classes - I took the Wilton Cake Decorating Course 1 classes in March (see here, here, here, and here) and took Course 2 in April (here, here, here, and here).  I had a blast, learned a ton, and I’ve already gotten to use my new skills to make cakes for other people, too!

• learn how to make Mom’s homemade Christmas cookies – Never did get around to doing this – our Christmas holidays were very unusual this year so we didn’t get time to make cookies together.  Maybe next year!
• make 72 hour emergency kits for our home and cars – We never got around to this either, but now that we’re in our house and actually have places to store these kits, we are definitely going to get this done in 2013!
• make my own laundry detergent - done and I also made homemade cleaning supplies and hand soap.

• bake a loaf of homemade bread - Done!  I’ve now made some Amish friendship bread and whole wheat honey sandwich bread.

• make a quilt - After working on it all year, it’s finally DONE!  You can see each month’s block individually (January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, and October) and here is the completed quilt.  What a long process but I am so very proud of myself for learning to quilt and getting my first quilt done this year.

• grow something - tomatoes and herbs…check!

• can pickles - It was quite possibly one of the stinkiest things I’ve ever experienced, but we now have 7 quarts of sweet lime pickles canned (plus 7 quarts of tomatoes, 11 pints of green beans, 13 pints of tomato sauce, 17 pints of salsa, and 9 pints of pizza sauce)

• take some sort of vacation - Chicago!

• get at least one scrapbook done for my in-law’s – Finally!  I’ve had their pictures for a year and a half and still hadn’t gotten around to scrapbooking them (although in my defense, we moved to an apartment shortly after I got the pictures and there wasn’t a very good place to scrapbook).  I finally sat down over Christmas break and got one scrapbook done – starting with Michael’s brother’s birth in 1983 and going up until right before Michael’s birth in 1985.  There are still many years and pictures to get done, but I’m glad I at least got one done.

• ???start an Etsy shop??? – This one was a big maybe when I wrote this list and I’ve definitely decided not to start one, especially at this point in my life.  Maybe someday, but not now.

So now that I look through this list, I actually got more done than I originally thought. Our of the 14 goals and bucket list items I had listed, I got all but four completed.  I didn’t lose the weight I wanted to lose, we didn’t get our 72 hour kits made, and I didn’t learn how to make Mom’s Christmas cookies, and I decided not to start an Etsy shop, but I did read through the Bible all the way, go on a vacation, take cake decorating classes, make a quilt, start a garden, canned pickles and more, made a scrapbook for my in-law’s, made homemade bread, made an apple pie, and made my own laundry detergent.  Pretty impressive!

Time to start working on my 2013 goals and bucket list!

(to see previous updates: January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, and September)

2012 goals:

• read through the entire Bible - New Testament: check.  Old Testament: only the major and minor prophets left!
• get my healthy lifestyle back, specifically to lose the 20-25 pounds I’ve gained since getting married. - Sigh.  Trying to lose weight stinks.

2012 bucket list:

• make an apple pie from scratch
• take cake decorating classes - I took the Wilton Cake Decorating Course 1 classes in March (see here, here, here, and here) and took Course 2 in April (here, here, here, and here).
• learn how to make Mom’s homemade Christmas cookies
• make 72 hour emergency kits for our home and cars
• make my own laundry detergent - done!
• bake a loaf of homemade bread - Done!  I’ve now made some Amish friendship bread and whole wheat honey sandwich bread.
• make a quilt - Working on it!  See January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, and October
• grow something – tomatoes and herbs…check!
• can pickles - It was quite possibly one of the stinkiest things I’ve ever experienced, but we now have 7 quarts of sweet lime pickles canned (plus 7 quarts of tomatoes, 11 pints of green beans, 13 pints of tomato sauce, 17 pints of salsa, and 9 pints of pizza sauce)
• take some sort of vacation - Chicago!
• get at least one scrapbook done for my in-law’s
• ???start an Etsy shop???

Other notable things:

• We bought a house!  We’re moved in (not necessarily settled yet, but we’re living in it!)

Yep, that’s pretty much it.  Not much new to add to (or check off) the list, although buying and moving into a new house is pretty big in and of itself :)

(to see previous updates: January, February, March, April, May, June, July, and August)

2012 goals:

• read through the entire Bible - New Testament: check.  Old Testament: working our way through the Psalms
• get my healthy lifestyle back, specifically to lose the 20-25 pounds I’ve gained since getting married. - 10 to 15 ish more pounds to go – I’m not sure if I can do that in the next three months but I sure am going to try!

2012 bucket list:

• make an apple pie from scratch
• take cake decorating classes - I took the Wilton Cake Decorating Course 1 classes in March (see here, here, here, and here) and took Course 2 in April (here, here, here, and here).
• learn how to make Mom’s homemade Christmas cookies
• make 72 hour emergency kits for our home and cars
• make my own laundry detergent - done!
• bake a loaf of homemade bread - Done!  I’ve now made some Amish friendship bread and whole wheat honey sandwich bread.
• make a quilt - Working on it!  See January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, and September
• grow something - Our popper tomato plant is bursting with tomatoes!  They are so sweet and delicious and I love eating them on my salads.
• can pickles - It was quite possibly one of the stinkiest things I’ve ever experienced, but we now have 7 quarts of sweet lime pickles canned (plus 7 quarts of tomatoes, 11 pints of green beans, 13 pints of tomato sauce, 17 pints of salsa, and 9 pints of pizza sauce)
• take some sort of vacation - Chicago!
• get at least one scrapbook done for my in-law’s
• ???start an Etsy shop???

Other notable things:

• We completed our 100 days of real food and no tv challenge – you can read the results and recap here.  It went really well and I’m so glad that we did it.
• Still no house, but we’re getting closer.  Nothing definite yet but we’ve found one we like and might make an offer this week.  Fingers crossed!