While January has always been my least favorite month (and the one that feels eternally long), this year wasn’t too bad actually, which was surprising because we hardly left the house at all (#newbornlife). A lot of that can be chalked up to the fact that I feel better than I have in a long, LONG time (not being in constant labor and not being in constant pain are a big part of that), and part of that can be chalked up to the fact that the older two kids are (often) playing really well together, which has made the transition to three kids much easier than expected.
Plus, newborn snuggles—those obviously will help turn any month around!
Here’s how the month panned out, goals-wise:
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January Goals
- Open up savings account for Hyrum
- Nope. Apparently it’s pretty terrifying to have a preemie newborn in the middle of winter, since it means you’re deathly afraid of leaving your house thanks to the millions of sicknesses going around. Putting this one on the docket again for February, but we’ll see if it happens.
Figure out insurance for Hyrum- And in the nick of time, too! I about had a heart attack when I got a bill from the hospital for $15,000 until I realized that it hadn’t gone through the insurance yet. Phew! (Jury’s still out on how much this last birth is going to cost, but it at least should be cheaper than that!)
- Finish writing thank-you cards
- I did send a few (along with baked goods!), but the rest of these will have to be written in February.
- Get Mazda title
- Sigh. No. Just no.
- Sell Mazda
- Blergh.
Make 4 recipes from The Best Simple Recipes- I made my 4th recipe on the night of the 31st, but I did it! And just like the other recipes I’ve tried from America’s Test Kitchen, there were some real winners in there (which seemed even more so since they all took 30 minutes or less!). I particularly liked the recipe for easy Tikka Masala Chicken that we tried, and the BBQ Chicken Pizza recipe I made was pretty awesome (and made more so because I added bacon to it…yum…).
Go to temple- It took me a couple weeks to get into the swing of a routine now that I have 3 kids, but I was able to start going again the 3rd week in and made it there twice. I’m pretty sure I’ll be able to start going weekly again, just like I was before! (For more info on why going to the temple is so important to me in my faith, you can click here.)
Decide on dates for Hawaii and start researching prices- Yeppers! Flights have sure gotten more expensive since the last time I flew anywhere and had to pay for it myself (so, well over a decade ago), but we’re still pretty darn excited for our family vacay to Hawaii in April!
- List 8 things
- I only listed one, but I also sold that one, so…not a complete fail.
Finish Backlist Blowout Challenge- I’m counting this as complete, even though I didn’t technically read 3 books from my own shelves (I only finished one, but I’m in the middle of 3 others), and I’m not *quite* finished with Gilead yet (but I will be within the week). Here’s what I read and the part of the challenge they fulfilled:
- If you want to see reviews for these (as well as the other books I’m reading), make sure to add me as a friend on Goodreads!
Create 2nd family photo album- Success! I ordered another one of these albums from Amazon (which holds 200 photos) and shopped around for prints and figured out Snapfish was the cheapest (with a promo). Now I just need to actually put the pictures into it!
Create a rough blogging editorial calendar for January/February- Done! I still don’t necessarily always FOLLOW my schedule, but it’s nice to know that it’s there in case I need some ideas 🙂
- Switch over Matt’s Roth
- No progress on this one. Rollover goal.
Other Notable Accomplishments:
Each month, I’ll usually accomplish a few things I didn’t plan to, but that are definitely worth noting (and celebrating!).
- My back is pretty close to back to normal, so I started exercising again!
- Thanks to consistent visits to a chiropractor (and $600 later…), my back, which I injured in November of 2018 and has been causing me a lot of pain ever since, is finally pain-free (most of the time) again! It’s meant that I’ve been able to start going to my exercise class again, which has made the BIGGEST difference in how I feel. I hope I never take having a healthy, strong body that’s capable of movement and exercise for granted again!
- I started consistently keeping our kitchen table free of clutter and doing ALL our dishes each day as part of my resolve to be a better housekeeper once and for all.
- I talked about this in my Suburban Homestead Diaries post for January, but it bears repeating here. I’ve tried for years to be a better housekeeper, but I think this time it’s actually going to stick—because I’ve totally committed to it (for once). It’s been so nice to have a (much) tidier house to enjoy, even if it has meant a lot less time for napping and reading (two of my loves).
- Updated a few old posts for Pinterest, including this one for 90-Minute Italian Bread and this one all about some of my favorite resources for minimalism and simple living.
- The best way to know if I’ve updated old content is to follow the blog on Facebook, since that’s the only place I put all the updated material!
All in all, not too bad for a January, really!
Here’s what I’ve got planned for this new month:
February Goals
- File taxes
- Mostly so we can get the refund early and put it towards our Hawaii trip, ha ha!
- Decide on Hyrum’s blessing date
- In my faith, children are usually given a blessing and officially entered onto the records of the church before they turn one. (FYI: This is different than a baptism, since you need to be at least 8 years old to be baptized in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints). This will also be a chance for our family and friends to come meet the baby (if they haven’t yet) and all enjoy a meal together after the service.
- Order birth certificate for Hyrum (and maybe Raven, too?)
- So it’s obvious why I need to order Hyrum’s, but I was looking for Raven’s the other day (just to make sure we are all set for her to go on the flight to Hawaii in April), and…I can’t find it? I don’t know if this is due to some disorganization on my part or to my not having ordered one. Best do some searching this month…
- Open savings account for Hyrum
- Rollover goal.
- Build bean/pea trellis
- We’re so excited to start planning and prepping our garden for the spring! In an effort to try and maximize our use of space near the raised beds, we’re going to build a trellis this year for the beans and peas to climb up.
- Finalize plans for raised beds + garden
- Some of our early spring veggies will have to be started fairly soon (early March, probably), so we’ll have to be on the ball with this one.
- Get knives sharpened
- It’s been over 3 years since we got our kitchen knives professionally sharpened (I know, because I blogged about how it was the best $14 ever spent). Time to happily spend that $14 again!
- Replace fridge filter
- I’m getting so good at this adulting thing, having this all mapped out and everything. #winning
- Buy tickets to Hawaii + book rental car
- It’s really happening, folks! Our first big vacay in years and years!
- List Mazda
- #eternigoal
- Finish writing thank-you cards
- Because if I don’t, it will start to get to the truly embarrassing point.
- Make 4 recipes from Two Peas and Their Pod
- I already made two from this new Christmas gift in January and loved them, so I’m excited to try out some more!
- Switch over Matt’s Roth
- The fees are seriously so high (almost 2%!) through Matt’s current advisor. I really need to not be lazy and do this ASAP so we don’t have to fork them over again.
- Start a read-aloud with Raven
- One of my 2020 resolutions is to start doing read-alouds with Raven with longer children’s books. Any suggestions on which would be a good one to start with? Maybe Charlotte’s Web?
- List 5 things on Ebay
- Eight was probably too ambitious. Let’s see if I can handle five, since that’s basically one a week.
- Read The Age of Innocence
- I only need to read one more classic in order to cross off my 101 in 1001 goal of reading five books off the 100 Most-Recommended Classics list. This seems the next easiest one to read on that, ha ha.
- Make 3rd family photo album
- If I do one every month, I should be able to finish this 101 in 1001 goal of being current on printing out family photo albums.
- Print photos for second “Quiet Book” for church
- We have a simple photo album filled with family pictures and pictures of Jesus in it for the kids to look at during church. Now that Mathias is older, I really need to make him his own.
A hefty list, but I’m excited for the month ahead! We also have our usual Valentine’s Day plans of doing a special dinner with the kids, a date night already in the works (we’re so on top of things this year, it’s scary!), and the hope of maybe being able to leave the house a little more now that the baby isn’t quite so little. Should be a good month!
