One Hundred Dollars a Month

{Yes, I know it’s painfully obvious the tree on the right is larger than the one of the left}

There is just something about writing goals down and committing to them over the course of an entire year that really appeals to me. Forget about those 30 day goals… I need a good 365 to accomplish mine. Some of my goals this year will be a walk in the park, others I’ll enjoy powering through, but a few of the other ones, well, those will be a long drawn out process.

If I’m being completely honest, I feel like ever since phase 1 of our remodel wrapped up, my mind {and body} has gone to mush. Over the past 6 weeks I’ve gotten incredibly lazy. I took a lot of time off, lounged around in my pj’s, and slept way more than necessary. I’ve shrugged off projects, over committed myself, missed deadlines, and pretty much walked around in circles unsure if it was because I just didn’t give a crap or if I was feeling seriously overwhelmed and just couldn’t dig in and get what needed to be done, done.

It’s a strange feeling. Last year I was away from home at least a dozen different times and I honestly don’t know how I got anything done. Looking back to 2013, I REALLY don’t know how I had the energy to complete so many projects, garden 24/7, write this blog, take boatloads of pictures, edit them, cook, clean, eat, be a wife and a mother and still function as a normal human being.

Maybe 2013 was when I reached my personal peak and it’s all downhill from here?

Who knows.

One thing I know for sure is that if I don’t set a few goals for 2015, I’ll keep spiraling downward and end up with a house full of unfinished projects, 52 cats, and a bunch of empty tuna cans laying around. So see, goals are good. They keep us moving. FORWARD. And off meds. 😉

So here we go, here are my new goals for 2015

1. Get Organized. Bottom line, I need to get my **it together.

2. Run, walk or crawl a Marathon, half marathon, 10k, and 5k race this year. Let’s face it, I need to be in better shape. I’m getting old and stuff is starting to jiggle. Those skinny jeans that I was finally able to fit into last year? Umm, let’s just say they totally don’t fit anymore. I’m not really a runner, but I do like to walk fast. Just not in the hip swinging, fast walking kind of way.

3. Remodel our Master Bathroom, Master Closet and Monkey Boy’s Bathroom. Chino and his crew will be here in early spring and the goal is for them to be out of here before The Girl comes home for summer vacation. {Since we will be staying in her room during the remodel.}

4. Finish Every Room in Our House. I basically want our house to be totally completed on the inside {read: no empty rooms and stuff hung on the walls} by the end of the year. Currently, there are only 2 rooms in our entire house that a fully done/decorated/looks like a real room. Monkey Boy’s Bedroom and The Girl’s Bedroom. Everything else is still a mismatched chaotic mess.

5. Turn Spare Bedroom into a Cozy Home Office Space for myself. I am currently working out of the HH’s office and he wants it back {even though all that’s in there is a desk and chair}.

6. Create a Vegetable Garden. {Our backyard is heavily shaded so this will be a challenge}.

7. Build a Path into the Hillside for Easy Access to the Upper Garden. {I’ve never had to do this before so I hope I don’t mess it up}

8. Limit my personal spending to $100 a month. I spent way to much on crapity crap last year, so I decided the best way for me to stop spending money on frivolous stuff was to stick $100 fun money in an envelope at the start of each month and once it’s gone, it’s gone.

9. Purge… Weekly. Find 10 things each week to donate to the thrift store. I thought I did a pretty good job of getting rid of stuff we didn’t use anymore before we moved. Until I unpacked everything.

10. Read 1 book a week. – My goal is to read 52 books this year {1 book a week}.

11. Slow Down. – Do one thing for myself each week.

12. Canning – Life was sort of crazy last year and I feel like I sorta fell off the canning wagon and I’d like to hop back on it this year. Ideally, I’d like to open my pantry at the end of the year and have rows and rows of home canned goodness staring back at me.

So there you have it, my goals for 2015. How about YOU?

~Mavis