Goodbye 2013, Hello 2014

Wow!  What a whirlwind.  2013 flew right on in and before I knew it, it had breezed right on out!   Who else is feeling like the last 365 days (and then some) have just flown by.  I personally think it gets faster and faster, the older I get. 

2014 is already planning out to be a big year for our family.  

My cousin and his wife are expecting their first child in February, my sister and her husband are expecting their first child in May, my niece is getting married in July, and that's just what is on the calendar right now, who knows what else will be happening!  Weddings and babies, what more could you ask for in a year?

Last year, I thought that this blog would help keep me on track.   I have to say, it did help..... {thismuch}.  Folks, we are busy people.  Four kids, 2 parents, sports and lots and lots of family time camping/boating/vacationing, which didn't leave me much room for crafting, sewing, trying new recipes, or even the DIY on the house that I had envisioned we would have tackled in 2013.

Let's see what my goals were and what was tackled:

1) Redo Baby-girl's room (Big plans here, for this special girl) **Actually have started with this room, just not enough to blog about....yet  25% done

2) Redo Firecracker's room (Can't wait to work on this pre-teen's room) **We have the prep work done, moving onto the big work now....can't wait to show you all!  20% done
3) Redo Hotrod's room (Gone from child to teen in the blink of an eye, his room is long overdue)  (Just realized I never did a full room reveal on the blog)
4) Redo the hallway **Started this, super excited about it too  50% done
5) Get organized..create a working system for our family.
6) Craft Room...again (just can't seem to get it right)
7) Update the playroom...again
8) Yard...I was going to say front yard, but honestly, who am I kidding? If you've been to my house, you know the back yard needs some love (thank you to the kids, dogs, and Oregon rain!)
9) Finish up ALL the started and not finished projects

It looks like I have A LOT of catching up to do!

Last year I also posted some of my New Year's Resolutions.  They were:

 

1) Spend the most time with my little family as possible, they are growing too, too fast.  (Accomplished!  Although, this will never be complete)

2) Cook more We have cut back out eating out from 3-4x per week, to just once or 2x per MONTH!!   Huge improvement!

3) Get more organized (added that in 3x, must mean something) (This is always a work in progress)

4) Create a Meal Plan Monday routine  (Completed!)

My personal resolutions goals for the 2014 are small but will make a big impact on my family:

1)  Our word for 2014 -- Joy.   We are going to find Joy in all the things we do.  Joy with each other.  Joy in today.  Joy in tomorrow.  Joy is all around us.  There is so much negativity in this world, and our children see it on a daily basis.  Whether at school, or on the news, or just out and about; if we can show our children, Joy, then maybe, just maybe, our part of the world will be a better place to live.

2) Weight Loss.   Both The Mister and I have some weight to shed, so we'd like to do that in a healthy manner.

3) Advancement at work.   Always a work in progress but we are both ready for some growth and climbing of the corporate ladder.

I'm going to go out on a limb and post this, but here are my goals for the house for 2014.

1) Complete the hallway project
2) Start and complete the entry project
3) Finish up both Baby Girl and little Miss Firecracker's rooms
4) New windows for the kids bedrooms
5) Start the prepping and staging for a new....dare I say it.....KITCHEN!  

Outside:

1) Add fencing around the garden boxes
2) Complete landscaping in the front yard
3) Build a memorial garden for Grammie with all her favorite plants/flower/shrubs

I pray that 2014 is good to all of you and that may we all strive in our goals and resolutions.  I can't wait to see what this year has in store for us all.