February Monthly Goals 2017

This year I'm continuing to keep my monthly goals based on four year long themes. Each month, I try to work on these goals in a new direction.

My Four Year Long Themes:

Balance - Find balance across all areas of my life.

Purpose - Reflect on the purpose of the things I own and my time.
Health- Spend time focusing on improving my own physical and mental health.
Organization- I am always striving for better organization, everywhere.

As these are big goals, I'm working on approaching them in manageable chunks. 

April Monthly Goals 2017

March wound up being a crazy month, which made getting to my goals harder. But, it also made me think about the importance of the goals too.

My Four Year Long Themes:

Balance - Find balance across all areas of my life.

Purpose - Reflect on the purpose of the things I own and my time.
Health- Spend time focusing on improving my own physical and mental health.
Organization- I am always striving for better organization, everywhere.

As these are big goals, I'm working on approaching them in manageable chunks. 

December Monthly Goals: Be A More Proactive Blogger

Hard to believe that almost a year ago I started setting out monthly goals. Throughout the year I feel like the goals have helped me to focus on a variety of house and family related realms. I've loved seeing and feeling progress over the course of the year. With progress in a lot of areas, one area I still need to focus on is blogging.

I love writing this blog and I can't believe that this spring it will have been three years since I began. But it's amazing how quickly time can go by and some of the things I'd hoped to do still haven't happened or become routine. So for the last month of 2015, I've decided to make my focus stay here, on Kitchen Floor Crafts.

Monthly Goals: July 2015

I've been having so much fun enjoying our June Monthly Goals which included making a summer bucket list. You can find some of our summer bucket list moments over on Instagram.

But it's lead me to a new thought: making sure we don't over do it this summer.

July Monthly Goals: Plan to Unplan

We are one of those families who almost always have a plan. We're usually on the go, with things to do, people to meet, places to see. Even our "home days" have plans: projects to complete, to-do lists to check off and other work to finish up. 

January Monthly Goals 2017

In the past few years, I've enjoyed participating in a Monthly Goals series with several other bloggers. Each month bloggers share their goals and update on the progress they've made. By posting my goals here, for all of you to see, it's made me feel much more accountable to meeting the goals.

After a few months off from goal making I've decided to refresh the practice for the New Year. This year I've decided to do year long goals, with monthly check-ins.

Monthly Goals: January 2015

Happy New Year! It's hard to believe it's already January 1, especially as the end of 2014 seemed to just fly by this year. We were still regrouping from the Christmas rush when New Year's Eve seemed to sneak up on us yesterday. We spent the night at home, just the four of us, which was really what we needed and appreciated the most last night.

Now that the big night has come and gone it's that time of year where many people are making "resolutions;" I remember in my senior year of high school writing at least 20 of them. Did they get accomplished? Probably not when I wrote so many of them. In the past few years, I've tried thinking about just one or two but even those often fade a bit by spring time.

That's why I was excited when I learned about the Monthly Goals linky. I've always been better at meeting goals when I can do it within a social situation. I lost weight after Big Brother was born by attending meetings and weigh-ins. I always did better with group projects in school. I work out two times harder when I can make it to boot camp class rather than when I do it at home. By setting monthly goals things seem much more achievable, and bigger ideas can be chunked into more manageable pieces. By sharing these goals here I know I'll feel more motivated to do them.

Monthly Goals: February 2015

Hard to believe a month has already come and gone, but it's time for thinking about monthly goals again.

Kicking off a new month with a chilly sleigh ride. 

Unfortunately at the beginning of the past month a knee injury that had been bothering me worsened, and although I've had spells of being able to work on my goals, I was not able to accomplish as much as I had hoped. After a successful minor knee surgery this past week I'm hoping to jump back into it soon. I kicked off yesterday by finally getting a chance to enjoy some of the beautiful new snow we've gotten the last week, and it felt great to start a new month with all that fresh air!

Monthly Goals: April 2015

It's been a busy week, so my monthly goals are being posted a little later this month. We spent the weekend with family and enjoying some quiet time at home.  But after the busyness of the past week, it gave me some time to think through where my goals have taken me, and where I want to focus this month.

April Goals: Look for Growth and Progress

This is usually the time of year where I love seeing new growth, green grass, and the beginnings of flowers. Unfortunately winter is still not really over for us, and as the cold and snow drag on we're finding ways to create our own spring. Tulips have always been one of my favorite signs of spring, and while they are still a little way from growing in the yard, we can at least enjoy them inside.

They are also one of my favorite symbols for the idea of growth and progress of spring, two things I want to focus on this month.

Monthly Goals: June 2015

It's hard to believe we've been setting monthly goals for half of a year now. Each month I feel like things are getting a little more organized, a little more focused, and even a little more thoughtful!

But this month I've decided to switch up the goals a little and think a little differently than before. Our June goals are all about getting ready for summer so we can make the best of it when it gets here.

June Goals: Make a Summer Bucket List

It's been hard not to feel like summer is already here these past few weeks. The warmer temps, all of our outside time, and the fact we've been purposefully taking it a little slower this past month means that we've already been dipping our toes into summer fun. 

10 Classic Ways to Enjoy Spring (April 2016 Monthly Goals)

Whether it's the unusual winter we just had, the sporadic temps we're still experiencing, or just a touch of late cabin fever - I am so ready for spring, a real spring, to arrive!

Something about this spring also has me thinking about those classic activities that families and kids get to experience during the warming spring months and I find myself just wanting to slow down and enjoy those experiences as much as we can. I'm sure some of this comes from the fact Big Brother turns 6 this month and officially is in the world of BIG KID. A time is going to come when we're more focused on sports, school, and friends and have even less time for these family focused moments.

So for my April Monthly Goals I've come up with 10 classic ways we can enjoy spring as a family. (Although of course I'm still chipping away at my January goals of organizing household clutter, my February Goals of using the crockpot more, and my March Goals of fitting in more exercise for myself.)

Monthly Goals: March 2015

Wow, February just flew by! Hard to even know where the month went. It definitely snuck up on me that the month was over and I was still working away on my February goals. But here we are, a few days into March.

Looking Back

January Goals: Declutter and Reorganize
These have become year long goals. Each week I'm constantly looking around at how I might remove more clutter from our daily lives. Slowly but surely I'm chipping away at getting extra things out of the house or back into their actual places. And the more I declutter, the easier it's getting to let things go.

February Goals: Pause and Prioritize
1. I tried a new decluttering strategy with a "bag a week," although it didn't amount to that much each week. Keeping a constant bag ready to fill did help however and I'll be keeping one near the basement stairs from here forwards as a steady reminder to keep decluttering.
2. A "To-Do" list for my transitions home are still evolving, but it was helping me prioritize each day. to at least get a few things written down. I also changed how I write my lesson plans each week which made the priorities more clear.
3. My "pause" moments were the best parts of my month. I tried each day to find a time, even if it was truly just a moment, to just take in what was happening and enjoy it. When a camera is nearby I've started trying to capture the moments. You can see them on Instagram. (And when a camera is not nearby, I don't run and grab one as that would ruin the effect of the moment too.)
4. Prioritizing was definitely a goal that was maybe a little too vague and a little too big for one month, still thinking this one through . . .

Looking Ahead

My March Goal: Connect

May Monthly Goals 2017

I keep thinking that we're into spring: the warm, t-shirt and shorts, pretty flowers spring that we are all desperate to see — and then another cold snap comes through and everyone gets a little bummed out again. Which all just reminds me that this time of year takes a little patience. Those warm spring days will come, but in our part of New England it takes a little longer.

Similarly March was pretty crazy, and while I felt like I kept waiting for things to even out a little in April, I'm realizing that too will take a little patience. Even now, I'm over a week into May without posting my monthly goals. 

My Four Year Long Themes:

Balance - Find balance across all areas of my life.

Purpose - Reflect on the purpose of the things I own and my time.
Health- Spend time focusing on improving my own physical and mental health.
Organization- I am always striving for better organization, everywhere.

As these are big goals, I'm working on approaching them in manageable chunks. 

Monthly Goals: May 2015

The past two weeks have been more about thinking about what's going on now, and dealing with the present, rather than planning ahead and focusing on goals. 

I have always prided myself in being a pretty healthy and active person, which allows me to maintain the busy pace we set for our lives. An injured knee in the winter has now lead to some new health discoveries, which are definitely compromising my energy level and approach to our daily lives. While not life threatening, and treatable, it will need to be something I think about in terms of slowing down and taking time for myself. So for May, my goal is going to be a little simpler: Take Care of Me. 

March Monthly Goals 2017

February seemed to fly by, which meant getting to my monthly goals and my four year-long themes was not as easy as it might be in longer months.

My Four Year Long Themes:

Balance - Find balance across all areas of my life.

Purpose - Reflect on the purpose of the things I own and my time.
Health- Spend time focusing on improving my own physical and mental health.
Organization- I am always striving for better organization, everywhere.

As these are big goals, I'm working on approaching them in manageable chunks. 

January 2016 Goal: Organize the Household Clutter

Last year we joined the Monthly Goals series and found it to be a great way to keep us motivated during the year to tackle a variety of resolutions. Rather than kicking off January with a whole list of resolutions, each month we selected a new goal and worked towards meeting that goal.

This year we're again excited to be joining in on the Monthly Goals series. I quickly realized last year that it was best for our family to focus on just one set of goals at a time, so each month we'll have a specific theme.

For January 2016 we're actually returning to a 2015 goal: 

Organize the Household Clutter

We spent the early part of the beginning of 2015 focusing on the goals of organizing and decluttering. I loved the changes we were able to make in our house. We redesigned household spaces, donated or gave away unused items, and in general had less clutter laying around.

Monthly Goals: August 2105

As a teacher there's something about August 1st that has always left a slightly bittersweet feeling in the air for me. It means there are a few more weeks of summer to go, a few more relaxed days before the busy days, a little bit of time left to squeeze in a few more things from our summer bucket list.

But there is also that beginning anticipation and excitement of a new school year ahead, new students to expect, and all the plans to be made.

Only this year, as August 1st rolled around there was a new feeling: the realization that at the end of this month my big guy will officially be a kindergartner. And as soon as I think about that, I just want to slow summer down as much as possible.

When people ask me how our summer is going, I feel like I can honestly answer that while it's been busy, it's been good. We've been enjoying our Summer Bucket List, Simple Summer Themes, and our attempts to Plan to Unplan. We've spent time with friends and on our own, we've created and played, we've explored and just hung out too. 

Connect (August Monthly Goals 2016)

Anyone who is with a long term partner and has children knows that connecting amid parenting is hard. This coming month my husband and I will have been married 8 years, although we've been together much longer than that.

There is not another person in the world I would rather share this journey with. We met as teenagers, grew with each other for several years, and in our mid-twenties eagerly took on the challenges of creating a home and family together. We both acknowledge that marriage is a journey that requires commitment and flexibility. With all the requirements in life; (Kids, jobs, household needs, volunteer commitments, etc.) it can be easy to prioritize something else and let our partners take the back burner.

Traditionally the eighth year anniversary gift is pottery or bronze, but this month I'm hoping we can give each other a little extra time.

June Monthly Goals 2017

This year I have been setting goals each month using four themes: balance, purpose, health, and organization. These themes have helped me focus each month on specific steps towards creating positive changes and growth.

In June these themes still apply, but my focus is a little different. This month is a bittersweet one for me, as for the first time in over 10 years, I am preparing to change schools. On top of the normal craziness that always comes at the end of a school year, there is extra emotion, need for organization, and anticipated change.

March 2016 Goal: Fit in More Exercise

This year our monthly goals have been focusing on specific tasks rather than multiple goals each month. In January we tackled more decluttering throughout the house and in February we worked on using our slow cooker more to help offset busy nights. We found several recipes to enjoy this past month, and even started tweaking several to create our own recipes. (You can look forward to seeing those sometime in the near future.)

This month we're moving on to something that is definitely more personal to me individually: Get more exercise.

Since college exercising has been one way I de-stress during the week and clear my head. Not to mention all the other pivotal health benefits that come from exercising by staying fit and active. And although the intensity decreased, for many years after having kiddos I still found ways to exercise regularly.

Remembering to Celebrate Mom Wins (May 2016 Monthly Goals)

So today I forgot my boss' birthday . . . 

I should mention that I was supposed to be his "birthday buddy" and bring in a treat for the whole staff to share . . .

I should also mention that I work in a pretty small town, with one small store, and no bakery  . . .

So forgetting meant no treat for a happy staff to share. Forgetting meant totally having to own up to it. And, for me, forgetting the birthday treat completely ties into my monthly goals I'd hoped to set for May. (Only those too, like the chocolate cake currently baking in my oven, are coming a little late this month.)