I know New Year’s goals can end up being pretty laughable because most of us never keep them and fall off the bandwagon within the first two weeks of the year.  I totally fall into this category most of the time, but I always like brainstorming and writing out ideas for the year on paper.   It helps give me something to focus on and see what I would like to accomplish through the year.  I also love to have something to refer back to.  Many of us have very similar goals, but the difference can be how we try to execute them.  I like to try and figure out how I will attain the goals that I set for myself when I write them.  Here’s a look at what I have so far…

Personal

Mindful Eating

I’m calling it this because I’ve spent the last week of the new year trying to be more mindful of what I eat.  I have a whole post that I would like to write about this, but think of it as more salads, less sandwiches.  More protein and veggies, less carbs.  I’ve been bad about eating on the fly and grabbing whatever is easiest.  I am now trying to plan my day better, so I don’t have an excuse.

Cut the Wine habit

It honestly is just a habit.  The more I let myself drink a glass or two of wine on a weeknight, the more I want it.  It just becomes habit.  I don’t mind if I’m out for a date night or at a friends house to enjoy a glass; but when I’m just at home every night, I want to cut back on the wine.  The wine is what makes me crave the bad foods the next  day too.  Vicious cycle.  I’ve made great strides in this so far, but I know I will have to work hard to keep it up.  This is easier for me in the winter because my husband likes to drink bourbon instead of wine in the winter, so I’m not tempted by him opening wine either.

Travel (with and without kids)

 Travel is definitely one of my favorite things!  I love traveling with my hubby, our friends, and with our kids.  I hope to do more of it this year.  We’re not sure if we will be adding a 3rd baby to our family or not; but I want to squeeze in lots of travel time now in case we decide to :).   We have several trips on the books already for this year that I’m really looking forward to.

Date Nights & Hubby Time

We are honestly really good at having date nights and time out just the two of us or with friends and I love that.  I hope to keep that up, but also improve our quality time at home.  We used to be really good at playing games and having quality time together before we were married, but it’s easy to fall out of.  We love renting movies, but there are only so many good ones to enjoy.  I would love to find some TV series we both agree on, date night at homes with games, and working on improving my “acts of kindness” towards hubby. Things like small post-it notes around the house with a kind message, sending surprise cards to his work, random text messages saying I love you and any of the other little gushy things you can think of to let him know how much he’s appreciated and loved.  What are some of your favorites to do for or with your hubby?

Family Historian

 This is a forever-going task, but I love being our family historian.  I love making photo books, organizing albums, and making videos.  I hope to get caught up on this more this year.  My latest project is learning iMovie better and compiling all of our family videos.  On the same note, I hope to keep improving my photography and video taking skills.

Blogging

Connect with my Readers & other Bloggers

I know this should go without saying, but as life has gotten so busy, I’ve spent less time commenting and responding to bloggers.  That makes me sad, because it used to be my favorite part.  It means that I will have to give up some time in another department.  It may mean reading a few less blogs from time to time or posting a little less content now and then to try and find some time to engage with other bloggers.  But that’s okay, I think it’s important.

More Videos

I honestly used to have no time to watch bloggers videos because I was usually on the fly and didn’t want the sound on or just didn’t have the time to watch a ten minute video.  I like to quickly skim posts.  But, I found a new love for videos this year.  I found a few that I really enjoyed watching and I saw how engaging videos can be.  I posted my first video this year that was a Day in the Life of a SAHM video.  It got some pretty amazing feedback even thought it was pretty horrible quality.  The sound was bad.  But I hope to work on that.  I filmed a cooking video late last year as I made one of my favorite dishes, but I have yet to put the video together.  I hope to share that one soon.  I’ve been asked for a hair tutorial which I would love doing because I love curling my hair.  If you have other ideas, shoot them my way.

Plan Better

This will probably always be on my list every year because I always have hopes to get ahead of the game and have posts prepared ahead of time, but it pretty much never happens.  Since I am hoping to have more video content this year, it requires planning.   So maybe this will help me schedule content better.  I also have some more Blogger Spotlight interviews that I will be posting this year and hope to continue.  I love these interviews so much as a way to get to know bloggers better.  I have the best little duo coming at you this month that I know you will all love reading!!

Find Photographer

I had the sweetest young college student that was taking a photography class shoot some pictures for me during the 4th quarter of 2016.  I had a lot of fun with it and she enjoyed getting the practice.  I would love to find another photographer that I could meet with one a month or every other month and shoot any new material I have for the blog.  It helps having another set of hands!  She shot the photos and I edited them. If anyone is interested or knows anyone in the Pensacola area, please let me know!

I think that covers most of it.  I love the idea of trying to attend a blogger’s conference sometime soon, but I’m not sure if that will be in the cards this year or not.  I’m always working to try and improve social media too, but it just takes time.  Thank you to everyone that engages and follows along and I look forward to a positive 2017!

Link up with Mix and Match Mama and A little Bit of Everything

Past New Year’s Goals:

2015

2016