February Goals checkup

I posted on facebook about a week ago that I could see the end of February looming and I had better really work hard on finishing up a few last goals.  Well, I got a lot done that last week so ended with all but one of every-month goals done!

You can read my original goal post here – this is a summarized version so I can so I can comment on which ones I still need to work on and which ones I have made progress on.

Goals are in bold, progress is in italics…

2012 GOALS

Grow in my relationship with the Lord

• spend daily time in His word and in prayer –working on this
• read through the Bible in a year – working on this
• read devotional books – hmmm..need to work on this  still need to work on this!

Nurture a loving relationship with my husband

• date nights every other Friday night – did this!
• find ways to encourage him (notes, spoken words)- wrote 1 note, but still working on more that I can do
• find ways I can make his life easier (pack his lunches, clothes ready for work) – working on this
• make meaningful conversations a priority – had some good talks on our car trips to church but still need to work on “not working” in the evenings as much.  Going to make it a goal this month to have 1 evening each week (not counting a date night) that I don’t work in the evening and we spend meaningful time together 

Challenge myself to become a better woman, wife, homemaker.

• Read at least 12 books this year – read The Money Saving Mom’s Budget in January, but haven’t finished my February book  – gotta work on that
• Take better care of myself (exercise, eat healthy, go to bed earlier) – this one was sort of a bust last month, BUT I have definite plans to work on this as a habit this month.  Going to try to start an exercise routine and develop a daily schedule (set bed times/wake up times)
• Get my home organized and clean – did more of this in February!  Just about done with my BIG purge (LOTS of boxes have been taken to the garage for a yard sale and even more trash thrown away,  Planning on keeping on doing this on a smaller scale on a weekly/monthly basis   Check out my before and after Simplify posts.   
• Develop and maintain a weekly cleaning schedule in our home – I did develop a schedule, but maintained it ??– hmmm…guess that is this month’s project  still need to work on this  – habit I hope to form this month (more below)
• Keep the main living area of our home 30 min. to company clean – have done better with this in February.  Having company helped get it clean and then helped me KEEP it clean!
• Learn to LOVE where I live – working on developing thankfulness in all areas of life.  (see below.)
• Make homemade laundry soap – will work on this later this year…
• Learn how to make Artisan bread in 5 minutes – plan to do this in the next couple weeks  didn’t do this in February, so maybe this month?
• Menu plan, menu plan, menu plan – STILL got to get better with this! 
• Challenge myself to grow in the kitchen with new recipes, making things from scratch, etc. – made several new things this month

Grow my blog and have FUN with it!

• find balance in home life, home priorities, and computer time is my # 1 goal under this priority – work in progress

Fun things I have planned to do and share on The Frugal Homemakerin 2012 (and I am sure this list will grow as the year goes on.)

• Do and blog about a monthly Pinterest project – yay, got this done!  January’s project (Hang my measuring cups)
  February’s project (Make a DIY Clothespin wreath)
• Make a DIY scarf – need to go buy some material  still need to do this, but it might be more of a spring scarf now
• Make pillows – bought some fun material on Saturday for this!  now I just need to make them
• Write several series  – wrote my “Simplify” series and have a fun project coming up later this month with some other bloggers 😉
• Continue to work on room re-dos in my house – Kitchen, Half bath, Guest bedroom, Master bedroom, Master bathroom as budget and time allow – some of these are in the beginning stages – hoping to have one close to done by end of April
• Work on re-doing several pieces of furniture in my garage –will start this once it gets a little warmer outside  yay, it’s getting warm so hoping to get some done this month!
• Learn how to use my camera better – work through several series on how to take better pictures – having fun with the P52 project!  Still need to get my camera OFF auto!

Be a good steward of our finances. 

• Save even more this year by managing our money better – amazed this month how keeping better track of our finances and spending has allowed us to save more!
• One specific savings goal – save 75% towards the purchase of a new-to-us car (hoping to purchase in the fall/end of next year) – saved February’s amount

Find ways to minister to those around me. 

• have guests in my home once a month – yay, accomplished this goal in February!  Had a couple over for Sunday dinner and then spur of the moment invited another family over too!  Plus co-hosted a game night at my brother’s house. 
• minister to others – found opportunities to reach out to our neighbors and a few others this month

I also made 12 specific HOME goals:

1.  Add a gallery wall in our entryway- maybe this month?

2. Work on our kitchen – thank you so much for your cabinet advice!  Working on finding a deal on some cabinet doors.

3. Re-do our 1/2 bath – priced some options at Home Depot – trying to decide on beadboard or a board/batten treatment

4. Continue to spruce up the outdoors (in the spring) – cleaned out the flower bed but planning on a lot of work this month

5. Make our bedroom a sanctuary – been pinning some ideas, thinking about a color scheme, and we went furniture browsing o Valentine’s Day – still deciding

6.  Transform some furniture – should be warm enough this month – hoping to get at least one piece done!

7.  Paint – repainted above the mantel

8. De-clutter and simplify – about 90% done with the BIG Simplify project and cleanout but plan to keep on doing this throughout the year

9.  Make our home more “us.” – been doing this a little by getting rid of things we no longer love, need, or want  – got rid of lots more in February!

10.  Focus on making our home a place we can minister in the area of hospitality – did better this month and had people over!

11. Keep our living space (downstairs) 30 minutes to company clean. – did better, but still need to be more consistent

12. But most of all, learn to LOVE where we live – Really did well with this goal in February.  Ended the month excited and content with where we are in life right now. 

Yay for progress. 

They say if you do something for 30 days it will become habit.  A few days into February, I decided to work on developing a new habit in my life each month.  February’s habit –develop a consistent attitude of thankfulness.  (I was greatly convicted that if I was not being consciously thankful for the things I already had, why do I deserve more?)  Although being thankful is a lifelong project, after consciously making this a daily goal in February it is much easier for me to have a thankful spirit.

So my habit to work on in March:  develop and practice a time schedule in my life.  Not sure if I have mentioned it or not, but I quit out of the house job right before Thanksgiving and now work strictly from home.  It has been hard to get in a routine since every day of my week is different – some days I am watching 3 kids, some days I work online/around the house most of the day, etc.  BUT I need to develop a  bare bones type schedule.   Go to bed at a set time (although as I type this post it is 12:10 am – that is why I need to work on this!), get up at a set time, and have a bare bones schedule/blocks of time during my day set aside for certain tasks.  (Whew…this might be a 2 month project!)  Any suggestions from any stay at home/work at home women or moms?

I have also declared March “The month to get things DONE!”  I have lots of little projects (some you see above and many more!) that I want to cross off the list this month.  Most of these you will probably see here throughout the month. 🙂

Thanks for reading this book of a post!  Hopefully it is an encouragement to you, but I know it is great accountability for me!

How about you? Have you been working on your goals? If you posted about your goals or a check-up post, share your link in the comments!

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