Yearly Goals

I realized the other day I hadn't done an update on my goals for this year in well, over 2 months, so I thought I'd reflect back over the past couple of months to see how I've done!

1) Cook 20 new recipes from Pinterest: 6/20 I haven't been feeling very adventurous with cooking lately, so I haven't made anything new. I better get on this if I want to finish by the end of the year.


2) No online shopping for 1 month Done and done! It was one of my goals for the month of May, and I achieved it!


3) Visit 5 places I've never been before: 5/5 Check! In June I went to the Four Bears Casino in New Town, North Dakota to see Miranda Lambert play!

Also, this past weekend, the wedding was held at a place I'd never been in Billings and it was a beautiful venue-an old train station converted into an event center!

4) Read 20 books: Check! I read all 20 books by the beginning of May. Since then, I've read 6 more and currently on my 7th. Find me on GoodReads to see what I've been reading!

5) Send a note in the mail once a month to a friend: 7/12 I'm right on schedule with this one!

6) Complete 10 Pinterest ideas: 4/10 The first was my "Man" Easter basket, the second was my red white and blue pallet I made for my MIL's birthday, the third was instead of using burlap bows to hold my window curtains back, and the fourth was this:

 

7) Use some of my photography to decorate our home. Done! See the picture above!!

8) Complete the weekly savings  money challenge. Nope! Haven't even started this one, so seeing how we're halfway through the year...it's probably a safe bet that I won't be doing this. 

9) Take a week off of work, just because.  Done!! I took a "staycation" in May and it was fabulous! 11 days off in a row.

10) Read a daily devotional book with my husband, every day. We started this at the beginning of the year, but haven't done a great job following it. 

11) Host 3 giveaways on my blog. I've only done one so far...so we'll see how the rest of the year goes.

12) Give my blog a facelift. Done!

13) Finish 3 projects in our house: 1/3 I rearranged some things in our living room, but that's it. I have some curtains and rods to hang in our bedroom, so that will be another project complete. I need another idea though!

Overall, I have completed 6 of my 13 goals, so I'd say that's pretty good for being a little over halfway done with the year! I have only epically failed on the money savings challenge, but everything else I'm either on track, or have completed some of it. 

How are you doing with your goals for the year? 

Well Hellooooooo There

So apparently this is turning into the blog where I post once a week....whoops! 

And now that we're finally halfway through May (wait, how did that happen??) I thought I'd update you guys on my goals for the year:

1) Cook 20 new recipes from Pinterest: 9/20

During April I actually made 5 different recipes from pinterest! You know this picture of Banana Oatmeal Breakfast Muffins that everyone and their dog is repinning?

 I went there...and they were pretty good! I would definitely make them again. I also made Ramen Noodle Salad, Roasted Veggie and Black Bean Burritos, Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole (which I posted on here), and Bubble Up Pizza. They were all pretty good, but the Ramen Noodle Salad was my favorite. 


2) No online shopping for 1 month
This did not happen during April-I actually did A LOT of online shopping that month! However, May is my month for no online shopping. So far, so good!

3) Visit 5 places I've never been before: 3/5
I actually went to 3 new bars in Billings that I had never been to. We took a short weekend trip to see the PBR and visit my sister and some friends. My sister and Patrick had been to these places, but I never had! I'll just count this as one new place though.

4) Read 20 books: 17/20
I read 6 books this month! Walking Disaster by Jamie McGuire, Lana (from the In Flight Series), Perfection (Neighbor from Hell #2), Neighbor from Hell #3, The Proposition, The Proposal (both by Katie Ashley), and The Shack. I think it's safe to say I'll probably reach my goal by the end of May...

5) Send a note once a month to a friend: 4/12
Done and done! I actually did an extra one this month to make up for missing one in January.

6) Complete 10 Pinterest ideas: 1/10
I completely forgot to post about this in last months updates, but I did the "man" Easter basket for Patrick!

7) Use some of my photography to decorate our home.
Haven't completed this yet either...but I'm forming some ideas, and yes, Pinterest is involved. I have big plans for next week, so we'll see how it all comes out.

8) Complete the weekly savings  money challenge
Nope, nothing on this either. I'm obviously terrible at saving $. Good thing I have a 401K at work.

9) Take a week off of work, just because.
This is happening NEXT WEEK!!! I'm off early Friday afternoon the 17th, and don't come back to work until the 28th! YAHOO!! I'm not going anywhere, and just staying HOME :)

10) Read a daily devotional book with my husband, every day.
We've continued to fail at this one too. I could make excuses, but we just haven't done it. It takes less than 5 minutes at night.

11) Host 3 giveaways on my blog   
I was actually planning on doing one for my 3rd blog anniversary, which was last week, by the way...whoops! Just didn't get around to it. But I have some other ideas in mind...

12) Give my blog a facelift  

13) Finish 3 projects in our house: 1/3
I got one finished! I redid a few things in our living room. And I'll be hopefully doing a picture tour of that in the NEAR future. Which means I actually cleaned it, and took pictures :)

I felt I did pretty good in the month of April for my goals! It looks like I'm right on schedule with the Pinterest recipes, and I know I'll have all of the books completed by the end of May. I only had 3 left to read to reach my goal and I'm almost done with book #3 for the month.

It definitely takes some effort to consciously think about these goals and get them done, but it's nice to keep myself accountable!

How are you guys coming on your goals for the year?
  

April Goals Update

I created goals for myself this year and my plan was to update you guys on how I was doing with them at the beginning of the month. I figured since we're halfway through April I should probably get it done then huh?
Here goes:

1) Cook 20 new recipes from Pinterest: 6/20
I OWNED this one this month! I cooked four new recipes! You can find all of them on Pinterest with my comments. They included: Chicken Cordon Bleu, Broccoli Cheese Casserole, Crunchy Peanut Butter Cups, and Taco Pasta Bake. I'd make all of them again, except for the Taco Pasta Bake. I'll be giving the recipes and my review for these two below next week!

 
2) No online shopping for 1 month
Nope, didn't happen this month either


3) Visit 5 places I've never been before.
3/5. This month I was able to visit a new bull breeder in Western Montana where we bought a Polled Hereford Bull from Ehlke Herefords.


4) Read 20 books
This month I read 5 books-Reckless, On The Island and the In Flight Trilogy.

5) Send a note once a month to a friend
Still only 1/12...I'll have to catch up on this next month.


6) Complete 10 Pinterest ideas
Yeesh...still haven't gotten started on this one.


7) Use some of my photography to decorate our home.
Yep...still nothin.

8) Complete the weekly savings  money challenge
Nope...still got nothin.

9) Take a week off of work, just because.
Got it scheduled! I'll be off the entire week before Memorial weekend!!! WOOHOO! You know it's getting bad when your boss says, "Nicole, you have too much vacation. You really need to take some time off."

10) Read a daily devotional book with my husband, every day.
Big sigh...haven't done this either. I wish I could say we have been too busy, but really, that's the most poor excuse. 

11) Host 3 giveaways on my blog
1/3. I did my first one with the Name that Cow giveaway!!

12) Give my blog a facelift
This was done in February, so I'll just cross this off the ol' list.

13) Finish 3 projects in our house
Nope, didn't do this either. BUT, I'm starting to work on getting the master bedroom stuff planned!


Ok, so overall I didn't do so great the month of March. Truth is, March was tough. Patrick's parents were gone for over a week, which meant only us taking care of cows in the beginning of the month. We also went to a bull sale, drove halfway across the state to get another bull (which fulfilled one of my goals, so no complaining here!) and just generally getting ready for calving and the upcoming farming season-paperwork included. 

Now that we're halfway through April, I'm realizing that I haven't been making all of my goals a priority. Which means I haven't been making myself and husband a priority all of the time. That's a hard thing when it comes to farming. We both work during the day, then come home just to do more work. Time together is precious, and growing more few and far between in the coming weeks. That's the life we live though, and we find a way to make it work for us the best we can.     

How are you guys doing on your goals?    

Update on my Goals

I thought since usually on Mondays I do a weekly check in on my health goals, today would be a good day to do a review of my yearly goals too. So first things first:

I did a weigh in last week, and I am down another pound! Total weight loss is 43 lbs!!! That is such a huge number...sometimes I can't even believe it myself. Just gotta keep on going! I had lost motivation for a bit and thought I was doing ok, but I can always tell when I'm eating better, because I actually continue to lose weight, and my stomach gets flat (well, as flat as it can right now!).

My goals last week were:

1) No eating out
2) Stay under my calories 5 out of 7 days
3) Drink 80 oz. of water a day
4) Work out 4 times

So how did I do? Pretty good! I didn't eat out at all, which is pretty hard! I did REALLY well with my calories, and stayed under EVERY DAY! I did a great job with my water, but not so good with the working out. I dont think I worked out even once...4 times was a bit lofty...whoops.

So onto this week's goals! This is where I need your help!

It seems like I do the same goals every week, so I'm looking to add a couple more, REALISTIC goals to my lifestyle. Any suggestions? And let's be realistic...I'm not doing Yeast Free (I'm a wheat farmer for goodness sake!) or anything too drastic.

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As for my other goals for the year, I'm coming along pretty nicely! You can read all of them here.

1) 2/20
    I have cooked 2 new recipes from Pinterest, and both were winners! I    posted about them last Friday.

3) 2/5
    I've visited 2 new places already this year! Washington D.C. and Canada! Starting the year out great!

4) 5/20
    I've read 5 new books so far this year, and 2 since I put out my goals for the year. Be looking for their reviews soon! The Edge of Never and Playing for Keeps. 


5) 1/12
    I sent one note to a friend in the mail. I think that's a lost are these days, and I'm excited to start doing that again. Who doesn't love getting fun mail?!

10) Kind of been continuing to read our daily devotional. Sometimes he passes out before we can read it, and other times we just plain forget. But, it's still on the nightstand to read before bed, so we'll keep reading!

12) DONE! Blog facelift complete!

I think so far I'm getting a GREAT jump on my goals for the year! The thing that's going to be hard is the 10 different Pinterest ideas. Yeesh! I better get on that one!

How are you doing on your goals for the year?

Finally! 2013 goals...

I know, I know, it's the middle of February already...but better late than never right? With a little inspiration from Tiffany, I got mine done!

Without further adieu....my 2013 goals!

1) Cook 20 new recipes from Pinterest

     Seems like a lofty goal, I know. But there are too many good ideas on there to waste, and if I want   to keep pinning, I at least need to try some of the stuff I've pinned!

2) No online shopping for 1 month

Since I live in the middle of nowhere a small town with limited shopping opportunities,

I often do a lot of my shopping online. Therefore, this shall be a difficult goal for me!

3) Visit 5 places I've never been before.

These can be restaurants, places, events, etc.

4) Read 20 books

5) Send a note once a month to a friend

My cousin Lacey does this ALL the time, and she even bought me cute stationary 

to write them on. This would be a perfect use for them!

6) Complete 10 Pinterest ideas

I'm reeeaaalllllyyy gonna have to step up my game for this one!

7) Use some of my photography to decorate our home.

I would love love love to have one of my photos printed on a canvas!

 Like any one of these:

8) Complete the weekly savings  money challenge

 

 9) Take a week off of work, just because.

I have 4 weeks of vacation saved up, so I should probably use them sometime maybe?

10) Read a daily devotional book with my husband, every day.

We actually have been doing this already, so I've got a good start on it.

11) Host 3 giveaways on my blog

I have one in the works right now, and it's gonna be EPIC!

12) Give my blog a facelift

Currently working on this too :)

13) Finish 3 projects in our house

You know those little things that you never want to do, because they're so tedious

and you're actually totally fine with them not being completed? Yeah, I need to 

do some of those around our house...finish the trim, new light switch covers, new

porch light, etc. 

I'm sure I could go on and on thinking about stuff I'd like to do, but I think this is a pretty good list! I'll try to update at the beginning of each month to see how I'm doing!

What are some of your goals this year?