Yes, I know I checked out of blogging.
Maybe I mentioned before, but this blogspot hosting site is actually really annoying to use. Everything is hard about it from start to finish: logging in, uploading pics- it always does it in the wrong order, and... I guess that's it, but those things make it time consuming when I really don't feel I have that much extra spare time to give.
I think this blog served its purpose in self-reflecting thru a hard time, and has been fun here and there, but mostly now feels like another chore. Hence, not being on here hardly ever.
That said, I do like setting goals and then reflecting on them later- so here I am.
And here we go.
All year I kept this piece of paper in a desk drawer and I could look at it and see where I was at, that was helpful to see it consistently and be reminded, but there were A LOT of 'no's or just didn't get to it yets...
Marriage Goals:
- Complete the Love & Respect workbook with Doug. I want to get back into doing this, it should be so easy to do this on the weekday when I work, when I really don't feel like doing much more when I come home after work. - nope, it's been sitting there all year
- Date nights 1x a month. - probably 8 out of 12 months we had a date night!
- Do The Husband Project. - not yet
- Pray consistently for Doug and our marriage. - always going thru Power of a Praying Wife book of prayers, but still needs that consistency
- Finish reading Cherish together. - nope
Mothering Goals:
- Complete the Parenting from Surviving to Thriving workbook together. 4 more chapters to go! - CLOSE, we did a few, and have just 2 lessons left
- Continue "Monday Momming" prayer check-ins with Liz. - yes! Liz and I have emailed every Monday and traded prayer requests, altho my prayer life could use some more time and fervor all around
- Be better with menu-planning/grocery shopping to save time & money - did good in the first half of the year, getting tired of making food day in and out every day!!
- Figure out a way to eek out more one-on-one time with each kiddo - hard to quantify. Definitely more time with Lucy as we have a couple days alone, August always gets alone time with me at bedtime to read, but the girls share it.
- Finish BSF. - Finished last year's study, and going strong, AND LOVING this years' study
- Read through my Intentional Word Bible. (I got 1/12th through in 2024.) - No, only made it to 2/12ths
- Family Service Projects - nope, Doug and I couldn't agree on what to do, so we did nothing instead
- Do several mini devotions thru my Bible app, ones I've got saved are: - I did the Grit & Grace one (super good!) and also Overwhelmed by my Blessings
Work Goals:
- Finish off my 100 pack of index cards with writing 2 flashcards per shift: 1 drug and 1 disease/condition to study up on. - nope again
- Look into getting involved with the new Nurses Union. - looked into it and no one got back with me??!
Personal Goals:
- Use the harp lessons from my 40th bday. - nope
- Sign up for German lessons - I did get a language app, Mondly, from my friend, but haven't used it much
- Gratitude lists - started, not consistent
- Find a way to bring in some extra income - made a little extra, but not really enough to do anything with
- Read more of my book pile:
(and maybe re-read a few of my favorite child-raising ones too as we are in a difficult season right now! But that stack is shrinking, so I've made some progress last year!) - I read Prayer in the Night, Mama Bear Apologetics, and many others not on that list. But I didn't finish the others in that pile.
I did read all these:
Fitness Goals:
- At least 2 Keto Challenges. - I did 2 weeks in February, and 1 week in July
- Maintain weight and BMI under 24. - close, but this wasn't a great year for weight. I did lots of strength training. Finished Ashley's Firm 30 program and her 10 min plan, I've been doing workouts with Nourish Move Love. It has just been hard to lose weight/even stay at a weight these days. Maybe it's the perimenopause? Maybe it's the carbs? I did find my testosterone is low. I don't know, but it has been disheartening. I just keep on keeping on.
There have been other 'health things' that got added in 2025 without being on the horizon back in 2024- the biggest is getting a grain mill and grinding our own flour and making a lot of the bread we eat. This too has been a learning curve, and we for sure have not switched completely. But we have definitely been getting more of the nutrients from the whole grains back into the food and I'm sure that is a good thing. This podcast inspired that decision.
- Complete a 5k or Fun Run of some sort - nope
- Heal up my diastasis recti, I thought I'd healed it in PT, but seems to be cracking open again - I've been doing a lot of core in the above programs, so I think there has been some progress, but hard to tell without an official PT measuring.
Not resolutions, but hopes:
- More photos in our photo travel map (aka more trips... we are going to Florida in March, and plan to go to Pennsylvania, and up to the U.P. this summer. So that'd only be one "new photo" place, but still looking forward to them anyway.) - Yes! we added photos/checked off: Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland, Delaware & even squeezed in New Jersey
- Rental property/ and/or Move. - no surprise here, but yeah, no. We remain in our home and mostly priced out/ interest rates too prohibitive for moving.
2025 was I would say overall a good year. A hard year. The kids are a blessing, but a definite strain on both me personally and our marriage. This year I have been intentional on having more "me" time. And while I feel selfish needing that, I think and hope it can make me more refreshed and ready to give back. Although in some ways, the more I have, the more I want. So that is tricky. But this year I both played tennis in the spring, and did country line dance lessons in the fall, and of course, my monthly book club nights out. Another thing I did was over the summer fly down to see my friend in Missouri, we road-tripped to Oklahoma and climbed a mountain we had climbed together 20 years ago. It was really hard. But so wonderful to have that time together and to see how strong we still were all these years later.
It's really frustrating as these years go by my kids seem messier, not less, and some bad behavior patterns don't seem to be lessening. I know "it takes a childhood to train a child" but the progress of certain things, especially the annoying bad behavior ones, just seem extra draining. It has been hard to respond with patience and grace a lot of the time and I know I am the model and the barometer for the home, so that feels like a lot of pressure.
Anyway, I don't know the HOW but I do want there to be a change of heart (mine!!) over the next year.
