2016 | G O A L S

I've already shared with you my word for 2016, and as I focus on that for the year I also love to write down smaller goals for the year and accomplish those throughout the 12 months. If you've been reading & following a long for sometime now you'll know that I do monthly goals to help keep me focused. 

I thought I'd share with you today some of my goals for this year. As well as my goals for the month of January:

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Here's a list of goals I wanted to focus on this year in 2016:

PERSONAL

• turn off social media daily from 4-8 pm and focus on being present with family.
• read 36 books this year.
• continue my workout program & figure out and stick to a nutrition plan.

FAMILY

• do more activities as a family (hiking, fun events, etc.)
• have consistent family nights.
• pay off more debt & save more.

MARRIAGE

• go on 2 dates each month.
• plan a trip for our 9th wedding anniversary. 

HOME

• complete at least 2 home projects each month. Big or small I'm looking forward to getting stuff done in 2016. 

BLOG & SHOP

• focus on quality content.
• design more shop products quarterly.
• move my shop to squarespace.
• work on developing a podcast focusing on celebrating the everyday.

PHYSICAL

• continue to keep my body healthy by working out & eating well.
• figure out and stick to a nutrition plan (I've been super all over the place in the last 6 months and I want to find something I can stick with.)
• challenge myself with a new workout program. 

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What are some of your goals for the new year? I'd love to hear them in the comments below. How do you purpose and focus your year? Do you write them down or share them with people in any way to hold you accountable? 

My Word for 2016: G A T H E R

I started praying and thinking about my word for 2016 a few months ago. Just shortly after my birthday, something about birthdays makes you very reflective huh?! It was around that time that God placed the word gather on my heart. 

I've always been a gatherer in some way or another. I love to gather people in my home. I love girls night's, I'm the first to book a coffee date or have a party, or gather people for dinner in my home. I always tell people that I'm a social introvert, and by that I mean I love being around people and spending time with them. Even though they don't give me energy, it's part of my love language to spend quality time with people. Thus 'social introvert.' 

As I started to pray about this word that God put on my heart, I felt the Lord revealing some things about this word and also convicting me in some areas of this word. If you've spent any time of this blog you've heard me use the phrase before 'create the community you crave.' It's a theme I feel strongly about. I've learned over the last  years that the community I desire depends on me be willing to cultivate it and let the Lord do something with it. 

It has not always been easy. There have been seasons where it's been especially difficult. There have been friendships that haven't stuck, there have been forgiveness in relationships, but there has also been great joy in connecting with people who see the value in it just as I do. I spent a lot of last year gathering people for various reasons because I see the value in it. 

Two things stuck out to me when I started praying about this word for 2016;

1. I need to focus on quality over quantity. 

I do not need a bunch of friends. Not even close. God is showing me that he's placed certain people along my path right now. But he's also placed life long friends in my life for a reason and I need to focus on making those matter as well. Gathering is less about the amount but the quality. When a farmer gathers his crop at the end of the season he's hoping for a quality crop, it won't matter if it's a 100 bushels of crop if it's all spoiled. I believe that the Lord is calling me to focus this year on the quality, and not the quantity when it comes to relationships and people this year. When it comes to gathering people in my life for whatever reason I want that gathering to be purposeful.

2. I need to gather my family more.

I spent a lot of last year gather people for a lot of things but it wasn't always my family. At the end of last year I started to feel convicted about this and felt the nudge to start having family dinners with my immediate family every Sunday evening. I'm so glad that I followed through on that nudging. Sunday family dinners with my Grandparents, mother, husband and children are some of my favorite memories from last year! This year I want to continue that. I want to gather my family for more family nights, more family time of togetherness. I want to do more acetates with my family, it's not about money spent but memories made and spending quality time with them. I don't want to look back on the end of this year and feel like we didn't spend enough time putting each other as the priority, or that I put gathering others before them. 

When I think about 'gathering' this year this is what I want to focus on, this is where I want to rest and let the Lord lead and teach me in these areas as I make them a priority in this way. 

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Are you focusing on a word for the year? If so, I'd love to hear what God's placed on your heart. Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.

2015 | Our Year

As I sat down to write this 'year in review' I thought I'd run through each month of this year and pick out the high lights, but as I sat down to think about it I realized that this year was full of some really significant defining moments and lessons God taught us. So instead I thought I'd run through a couple signifiant moments as they stream through my mind today.

In March my Grandma had quadruple by pass surgery. It was a trying time for my family but our family rallied around each other and my Aunt & Mom made their way to Arizona to help me take care of both my Grandparents. 

Ava turned 5 and Zane turned 3. Ava started kindergarten this year. In April we put our house on the market and it went under contract within 5 days. We spent most of May packing and looking for a new house. Also in May we left our current church of 4 + years to pursue the dream God placed on our heart of planting a new church here in Phoenix. 

Weight loss. Zane got a big boy room and learned to use the potty. Turning one year older and celebrating 8 years of marriage. Kicking off Summer with a family vacation to Disneyland. Ava danced her heart out in July at her recital. 

And even though I lost my precious Gramps just a few days ago, this year was beautiful. I have complete peace knowing he's with Jesus. He'll be missed, but I know he's made whole in Jesus' name. 

I'm looking forward to 2016 with all it's new adventures and offerings. I'm looking forward to pulling back a bit and being more purposeful in areas of my life in 2016. Cheers to a brand new year, I hope your 2015 ends beautifully. 

N O V E M B E R Goals.

For me November officially kicks off the holiday season. Truth, I'm fighting the urge to start decorating for Christmas. I know, I know there's a lot of nay sayers about that, but I can't help it I just love Christmas and everything about the season I want it to last forever. 

Maybe we could call it Thanksmas. 

A little October goals recap first;

We did make it up North to the pumpkin patch which crossed off two goals pumpkin patch & escape to the mountains. I finished my Christmas shopping for my kiddos, and I read 1 new book. I can't wait to share my review of the book. I did not however finish the board and batten project yet. Ya'll this is taking me longer than it should. Every time I think I'm going to start it we get busy with other things and I forget all about it. So seriously, this month I'm gonna finish it.

Onto NOVEMBER Goals;

01. Pick out tile, door pulls and paint for our kitchen reno: We're planning a kitchen reno early next year. This month I want to nail down all those items and start saving up for the cost of it early. 

02. Read 3 new books: I've got so many on my list and with the holidays coming I really want to spend some time reading and relaxing. 

03. Host Thanksgiving: This year I'm hosting at my house. I can't wait to menu plan and get all the details together.

04. Continue running + add HIIT 3x/week: This is my new workout routine I've started and I'm loving it so far. With the temperature cooling down it's been perfect for running.

05. Start Christmas shopping for my Husband: So excited to get his gifts done early before December.

06. Plan Zane's Birthday Party: He's turning 3! Holy moly, I need to start planning. We're doing a super hero theme, and my parties always start with the invitation. I've narrowed down a few. 

So tell me what are some of your goals for the month? I'd love to hear them. Is goal setting ideal for you? I've been really loving monthly goals the last year and a half, it's helped keep me focused. 

O C T O B E R Goals.

Welcome October. You are my very favorite! 

September just got away from me. I did finish my Christmas shopping for my kids, and I spent some time at The Influence Conference and I finished Zane's "big boy" room. I didn't accomplish everything but the things that I did I'm calling a win! 

This month I've got a few more goals I'm hoping to check off my list, read on to see what's on my list this month.

beautiful print : image via

01. Pumpkin Patch - We love doing this in the Fall. This year we're going to explore a new patch up North in the mountains.

02. Read 1 new book - I didn't finish any of the books I started last month, so this month planning on finishing them, at least one. ;)

03. Escape to the Mountains - See #1, we're taking a weekend getaway this month up North. I'm excited for cooler weather and to see the leaves changing. 

04. Work on board & batten - We'd planned to finish this last month but September just got away from us. I'd love to work on this and finish it before the holidays start.

05. Finish Christmas Shopping - I've already started this for my kiddos. I'd love to finish my Christmas shopping for my kids and my husband. 

06. Have a family over for dinner - We love entertaining and having people in our home. We haven't for a few months, I'd love to open up our home this month and host a family for dinner. 

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What's on your goals list this month? I'd love to hear what some of your favorite parts of Fall are, leave them in the comments below.