A Look at Our 2021 Goals

I thought this might be a good week to review where we are on my 21 goals for 2021. It is going fairly well, I think. Even though everyone is done with school, the year still seems to be ramping up like it does every fall. I know it is only August, but kids are starting back to school all around us. Between the kids' jobs and Rebekah's professional ballet training program about to start, our year is in full swing. I don't think we will get many more family goals accomplished, and I am not sure about more goals for our house. We shall see. 

 Daily Goals ~ 

• Drink more water ~ I hope to drink a minimum of 40 ounces a day. So far, I have accomplished that most days. ~ So far, so good.
• Walk 800 miles by the end of the year ~ I have walked 10 miles so far this year. That is a slow start for me. Winter is hard. The best time for me to walk is when my daughter is in dance classes downtown at night. My city is not very safe to walk around at night. There are many desperate homeless people as well as strange people exhibiting mental problems, and there are very few stores open to pop into if I get nervous. I will start making more progress when it gets lighter in the evenings. We are also trying to take more family walks on the weekends. ~ This goal was very ambitious and I am finding that I will most likely not make it to 800 miles...but every mile counts toward a healthy lifestyle. As of today, I have walked 373 miles.
• Take care of my skin ~ This should be an easy goal. I am mostly in the habit already of putting on sunscreen and lotion daily. ~ Check!
• Read 12 Books ~ I enjoy books but never seem to prioritize them. I hope to accomplish that this year. I am currently reading The Empathy Exams by Leslie Jamison. It is okay. I am not a huge fan, but it is an easy enough read and I am halfway through. ~ Done! I am currently on book thirteen, and I plan to keep going. 
• Convert the rest of my blog into book form ~ This goal will really depend on availability of money. Each book costs a bit over $100 and I am four years behind right now. We will see how far I get. ~ Haven't made any progress on this yet.
• Take photos for a Billion Graves ~ This combines my love of photography, doing service and graveyards. ~ I am dropping this goal. There isn't time for it this year.
• Learn to use my Dad's last professional camera that I received after his death ~ I need to buy the charger and I will be on my way. ~ I am not sure I am going to get to this goal, either.

Broad Long-Term Goals ~ I say broad goals because they are open ended. Each one has an ideal or dream plan versus a realistic plan.

• Travel to a different city at Christmastime ~ I love visiting different cities at Christmastime. We have visited Washington, D.C.; Knoxville, Tennessee; and Greenville, South Carolina at Christmastime in the last few years. We didn't visit anywhere in 2020 for obvious reasons. ~ We have big hopes, but that COVID variant isn't letting up so far.
• No Buying Month ~ I do this most years in January or February. I am not sure when I will do this in 2021. I do buy the essentials, such as groceries and gas. I just don't buy any extras. ~ I decided to do two or three low spend months. We have done two so far and it does help.
• Visit a new-to-us state park ~ When my husband and I were thinking about travel this year, we just started to nervously giggle. Who knows what is to come? It isn't looking like a fantastic year to travel at the moment. However, outdoor places are possibilities. There are state parks far and near that we have never seen. I am sure we can manage to visit one of them. ~ We visited Natural Tunnel State park in Virginia. We loved it. We may get in one more.
• Visit a new-to-us national park or site ~ We have a dream one in mind, but I suspect that a more reasonable one will be our destination. ~ The dream one didn't happen, but we did do two already. We visited Congaree National Park and Fort Pulaski National Monument.
• Take an overnight or weekend trip with the family or a week long trip ~ Ha! There are some destinations that are a short distance away that we have never seen. We shall see if they can happen. ~ Done! We went to Savannah and Atlanta, Georgia.
• Do something new every month with the family ~ This could be as simple as a new game, new hike or takeout from a new-to-us restaurant. It also could be a totally new experience such as going on a horseback ride together (most of us know how to ride a tiny bit). ~ Outside of our trips, we have done small experiences. We played Operation Shrek one night, which I picked up from a thrift store. We tried two new take out places and ice cream at a new place.

Goals for the House ~ 

• Paint the laundry room ~ This one is a huge undertaking and makes me want to faint just to think about it. However, I know it would vastly improve the place. It is very old and dirty cinderblock that has never been painted in some areas or in other areas was painted in a sickening green. ~ Not yet and not likely.
• Replace two or three doors in the house ~ We really could use to replace six doors so I have lots of options. ~ Two doors are ordered and should be installed this month.
• Declutter 365 items from our home ~ This will be an easy goal. I have already gotten rid of 31 items this year. ~ We have currently removed 258 things from our home. That does not include the "one thing in one thing out rule," which we always follow.
• Replace our bedroom curtains with shades, because our curtains are getting pretty worn. ~  Done! I found gorgeous floor length black out and insulated curtains at the thrift store for $16 dollars! They were a steal, and I decided to go with them instead of buying shades.
• Paint the kitchen ceiling. ~ Done! My Mom paid for it to be professionally painted for my birthday.
• Paint the dining room ceiling. ~ Done! My Mom paid for it to be professionally painted for my birthday.
• Make rec room into a useful and comfortable space ~ We are actively working on this project now. It is an underused space and an overflow area in our home where lost items get dumped. It is also where we enter the home, and it is not the nicest space to see when you first arrive home. We are turning it into a multi-purpose room with a sewing area, the model building area for my young men, a closet area and a cat corner with comfortable seating. The cats love to chase their toys around in the big empty space, and we find ourselves sitting on the cold floor while we watch them. ~ Done! We turned it into a family room and now our library is almost empty since we moved most of the furniture downstairs, and the library is now awaiting a plan as to what it will become. 
• Paint the breakfast bar ~ Accomplished this week! ~ Done!

Wow! We have gotten through so much! I look forward to seeing what else can be accomplished by the end of the year. 

Blessings, Dawn