For the past two years I have chosen a word that would ultimately act as a theme or motivator in this next new year of life. In 2014, I chose the word trust. Which turned out to be pretty apt for that year since we welcomed our first daughter into the world and I completely changed my current career path from being a full time public school teacher, to stay at home mom, to part time teacher. Then in 2015, I decided to simplify. With the purchase of our house this past January I felt the need to purge (and still do) and start fresh. I also really wanted to focus on saying no to every single social event (even though I still want to do this all of the time;) and really figuring out how our family unit could thrive in our new community.

So, continuing on with tradition I wanted to pick a word for this bright and shiny 2016. I kept bouncing back and forth between two words and decided that both might come in handy over the next 366 days. I also decided to set some actual goals for this year! I’ve never been one to make resolutions because I hate not crossing things off my to-do list and would rather not feel like I’ve let myself down at the end of the year in the case that I don’t fulfill a certain resolution. But goals and intentions I can do. Hopefully this will all help me to be better organized in my thinking over the course of this year and keep me motivated to continue the journey of bettering myself for my family and friends.

Without further ado, the two words I have chosen for this year are: create + cultivate. I think I should also throw in the word survive because this year we will be welcome our SECOND daughter into the world and I think that there will probably be a good few months that are solely dependent on copious amounts of coffee and a hefty dose of prayer. But anyway, I landed on these two words because last year I felt like even though we did simplify in a lot of ways – I didn’t really get a chance to dig deep into creative endeavors and relationships I wanted to see grow. I let this blog go by the wayside in so many ways and it really is a space I enjoy. I feel like I would enjoy it even more if I actually dedicated regular time to it, rather than just ignoring it for months on end only to pop up every once in a while with an apology for an unintentional hiatus. I also really love cooking and sewing and both of those hobbies haven’t really been cultivated in the ways I have been hoping for lately. Again, time and dedication are going to have to be something I implement in my calendar in order to achieve the goals I want but I think that’s doable. There have also been some new friendships made over the past couple years that deserve time and attention, and again the cultivation poured into them that I just haven’t been lately.

Now as for goals, after deciding on these words I was able to sit down after the start of the new year and break down certain areas of my life I really want to see improve. My planner has a nice little space right in the front that I was able to brainstorm in and write down all of these lofty ideas. I hope to refer to them monthly and make smaller more attainable goals from there. I think a problem I have had in the past with resolutions/yearly planning is that I have always had these huge ideas in my head and then haven’t taken the smaller steps monthly, weekly, and daily to achieve them. Some of these goals are things I’ve just needed to write down to keep myself more accountable, for example: I want to make going to confession a monthly event. In college I was so eager to get to confession as often as I could. I was a part of a very involved student ministry and felt so supported and encouraged all the time to go. Then I started working and became a real deal grown up. I got bogged down in the day to day of going to work, fostering friendships with coworkers, and helping my students in anyway that I could that I forgot to help myself. Then I became a mom which blew any sort of regularity out of the water. Some of the other goals I have are a bit more practical like really taking the time to meal plan every week, making the most out of our Costco membership, and buy smarter when it comes to clothes and accessories. Then there are the fun/silly goals (which I think the Costco membership one could be filed under this as well;) like creating more at-home date nights with my husband, making more constructive activities for my toddler and I to do together, and reading at least one book a month.

I’m so excited to fill this year up. I already know it’s going to be a full one but I think it’s going to be even more so just knowing all I want to achieve.

Happy 2016 y’all!