Welcome to 2019
Hey friends, it’s time for my annual New Year post ;)
Let’s start with a recap of 2018. Some exciting things happened:
We brought home our sweet puppy boy, Jackson, on January 27. As we said on our Christmas card, he brings a lot of joy and energy to our home, and we’re so glad we made the decision to have him join the family
Tommy switched real estate brokerages so that he’d be able to work out of an office and feel more connection with other’s in the business
I opened my Etsy shop! and started Wallpaper Wednesday, which I’m hoping to bring back and *maybe* be more consistent with in 2019
We celebrated our second wedding anniversary 🥂at the beach! (photos below)
We have slowly but surely been making our house, which we purchased at the end of 2017, feel like home. Still working on mounting a single thing to the wall, though 🙈🤷🏽♀️
I made some progress with my word of the year for 2018, “discipline.” Definitely have lots of improvement still to go but I’m grateful for the time to focus on this.
I’m glad I made Tommy take this photo with me, because Jackson is so big now it’s almost hard to remember him as a tiny little puppy!
July 16, 2018. Two years married 💕
Here are some goals for 2019:
I loved “discipline” so much that I considered making it my word again for 2019, but I think instead I’ve landed on “healthy.” Which can in part encompass discipline, but also involves a level of mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being. Sounds like a lofty goal, I know. But I think there’s a sub-word here, which I almost picked, and that is “kindness.” I’ve noticed less patience in myself lately, which often results in less kindness. So, when I chose “healthy” as my word, I was thinking about several factors, including physical fitness, spiritual discipline, emotional health and flourishing relationships, and being mentally strong. I’m not 100% sold on “healthy” and am still mulling this over, so it may shift. We’ll see.
Also !! I decided there’s no way I can not add a second word for 2019, which is FAMILY. Both of my sisters-in-law are getting married this year, and I’m excited to be a bridesmaid in both weddings – which means lots of family and wedding-related events this year! We also have a cousin’s wedding to attend, at least one niece or nephew on the way, another cousin engaged, etc. etc. I’m really looking forward to all this family time and celebratory time!
Figure out direction, strategy, and scope of what I’d like to do creatively in 2019. I have so many ideas and different types of things I want to try (painting! working with wood! new products! designing more and not just lettering!), but also realize that my time resources are limited
Offer some new products in my Etsy shop (I have this idea to create a survey for anyone to fill out, anonymously if they want, saying what they would and would not be interested in)
Maaaaaybe have some Christmas-specific offerings this year on Etsy
Lose some weight (yes, yes, I am putting that in here. Let’s just go ahead and quickly scoot to the next thing…)
Continue working on discipline in the areas of time with the Lord and exercise
Pay off a car loan and one other loan that we have, so that we’ll just have our mortgage
Read 19 books! I started a book club this year with a couple of friends and have gotten into using the Goodreads app, which prompts you to set a reading goal. I was going to do 18 books (which is basically the 12 book club books, one per month, and few others sprinkled in between) but decided hey, it’s 2019 so I’m going to shoot for 19 books. Then in 2020, I can up it to 20 books and keep going that way.
Would love for several of those books to be about theology. I like to read for fun as a way to de-stress and kind of explore stories, but also want to read some more practical, applicable books and books that will grow me, not just entertain me.
Travel! In the last week of 2018 and first of 2019, we attended weddings in Pittsburgh and Boston. This year, we’ll be headed to Virginia, Charleston, SC (somewhere we’ve been wanting to go for a while!), West Virginia, and hopefully somewhere else that’s new for a trip that’s just us (we haven’t gone on one since our honeymoon, so I think it’s about time)!
Thanks for reading! If you’ve made it this far, I’d love to hear what some of your goals are for the 2019. If you see me, ask me how mine are going and hold me accountable!