Goals for 2016

I promise that I will do a check in on last years goals sometime soon (along with a birth story, a birth announcement, and a general list of things I think a post-partum momma really needs), but I wanted to get these goals out into the universe ON January 1. House

There is really only one house goal that I keep coming back to: a total gut job of the upstairs bathroom. PERIOD. It needs to happen.

Life: List style

• Learn how to become Lyla's momma. Not the momma that anyone else thinks I should be, but the momma that Lyla actually needs
• Go to yoga one day a week and to the gym two days a week at lunch when back at work. This is not a vanity goal... it is a sanity goal. Period. Also, when I go to the gym at lunch I don't spend money eating out. Win win.
• Allow LB to be Lyla's dad. Trust him to do this well by giving him space to make mistakes without judgment.
• Read one book a month. They can even be about parenting, but continuing to broaden my worldview by reading makes me a happier person. Plus, I want Lyla to know her momma is a reader.
• Sleep. Sleep as much as I can, but also not be crazy about it. Coffee exists for a reason.
• Use my for real camera once a week.
• Continue to love on and invest in my friends. This also means being bold about investing in new friends too.
• Leave the house without baby for something just for myself once every two weeks. (Once a week will be hard to do once back at work).
• Ask for help. Always.
• Take a for real vacation with Lyla and LB.
• Bask in the glory that is my little family instead of being so afraid that something will happen to it. I am so lucky RIGHT NOW and I just need to dwell in the right now.
• Love. Gratitude. Simplicity. These three. Always, but especially this coming year.
• Continue to evolve organizational systems for our new family of three (babies come with so much stuff).
• Blog more consistently again as a means to connect to the broader world.. which now includes the broader world of parenting.

And just because I'd be so pissed if someone who's blog I read had a baby, did her first post and didn't give me a picture... here ya go:

Capitalizing on Your Time: Project Planning and Life

"How do you have time to do all of this? I could never do that. I wouldn't even know where to start. You have so much energy!" These are all loving, typical things that I hear from folks when they stumble upon my blog or now a days, walk into my house. My MIL frequently says, "Young people... I don't know how you do it." Well here's the thing about me, I am totally TYPE A- as in, when they wrote the definition of type-A, they knew that I would come along one day and become the poster child for that personality. I like to think that I am not a typical type-A, lawyer, A-hole. I can be, but I don't necessarily enjoy that. I also am a product of the 21st Century-- I multitask like it is no-one's business. I hate being idle. I LOVE accomplishing things. And I thrive when I am busy.

You combine those two traits-- type A with a side of ADD-- and you've got me. So here's how I handle it all: life/house/wedding/exercise/project planning.

Weekly I use lists that incorporate goals and projects. I sit down every Sunday and write out my lists for the week using these forms. (I don't remember where I found them, so someone PLEASE link them on up if you know!). I also LOVE checkboxes and checking something off on my list feels like a reward (such a good student). I put smoothie in every single morning of the week, as well as which days I am going to exercise and when with a little checkbox.

I actually usually start with the one below (Project List) because it allows me to thoroughly brainstorm a project that needs to get done. I have one list for home and one for wedding. I sometimes add a column with the store name next to the thing I need to do/buy. I then go back to the weekly planner above and decide what project steps on here I can work on throughout the week and incorporate them into my weekly schedule. This one just saves us money-- period, without question. Not to mention the nightly "Can you stop at the store? What do you want for dinner?" annoyingness that happens.

Researching/Starting Projects When something pops into my head that I would like to do around the house, I do one of two things: I either put it into my Wunderlist app or write it down on my project list above. And then... I google and pin my face off. I do a TON of research into whatever project I am thinking about doing. I usually start at Young House Love and then bounce between google and pinterest. For example, I am currently trying to decide what to do with our backyard. So I started a board just for that. (You can see that the fence is really the biggest thing right now).

In my Wunderlist app I can create sublists: Wedding Projects, House and Grocery are my most commonly used. Right now in house projects are shutters, trim outside, crown molding and board and batten in the hallway. Having it in the list makes thinking about all of the things that I want to do WAY less stressful. Also, when we happen to be wandering through home depot, I have a list I can look at to remember what I'd like to tackle next before I just buy a light fixture with our home improvement budget that I don't need. Speaking of budget, we each put $40 a paycheck into our home improvement fund and about once a month we decide to spend it or save it for the next bigger project. This amount will increase after the wedding, but at least we are not dipping into our debt payoff plans to do fun projects around the house.

In terms of furniture, I am ALWAYS looking at Goodwill, Craigslist or ReStore for good stuff. I figure that even if I can't use the item in my house, I can always sell it on craiglist and maybe make a few bucks.

The Final Tip: Worth $1 MILLION You just have to do it. Just pick up the paint and the brushes! Buy that wood! Grab that hammer and those nails! And just try! I GUARANTEE that at a minimum you will learn something. As Ashley's contractor dude said: "Even if you do it yourselves, screw it up, and re-do it, it'll still be cheaper than paying someone else!"