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? 

Our Kitchen Reno | Before & Some Plans

We've lived in our home for 7 months now, since the moment we looked at this house we knew the kitchen needed some updates & upgrades. We've been saving our money ever since and making plans to tackle big projects in our kitchen this year. 

On our list:

• add backsplash ($300 budgeted)
• paint cabinets white
• add hardware & drawer pulls ($200 budgeted)
• replace light fixture (done! $40)

We haven't done much to this kitchen since we moved in except switch out the light fixture for a new one. Here's our kitchen the day we moved in. 

We already started working on our backsplash, it's already adding so much to our kitchen. It really has helped to transform this space. I can't wait to show you.

We have a budget of $1000 for this update of our kitchen. 

Stay tuned in the next few weeks as we update our kitchen and take you along for the progress. I'm excited for a new kitchen this year. What home projects are you working on this year? 

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. 

2015 | Christmas Home Tour

We decorated for Christmas early around here, the second week in November to be exact! We've been enjoying the twinkling lights of the tree for weeks now. I thought it was time to take a look at our home this Christmas. This year it's sorta fun t decorate a new space since it's our first Christmas in this home. Everything has a new and different place. It's been fun to put decor in new spaces, and I'm loving the addition of having both a formal living room and family room to decorate. 

This year I pulled out a lot of my red traditional decor, and I'm super loving buffalo check and plaid this season. 

So let's jump in at the front door. 

I love having this open banister this year to decorate. Big bows with glitter just make me so happy. 

Our Christmas card books from the last few years, every year I save them and bind them into a book and set out the next year for people to look at. I love seeing our friends & family from year to year. 

You can see more of my Christmas table scape here. 

I added the ribbons to my pantry door to hang Christmas cards on as we get them. I love seeing them as I walk into my kitchen. 

Thanks for taking a peek around my home this year! Christmas is in just a few days, hoping you and your family's have a beautiful and Merry Christmas!