Things to Look Forward To
– closing on the sale of our old house
– catching up with friends
– buds on the trees with the beginning of spring
– reading the first book of book club for 2017!
– weekend trips to the park with the kids

Things to Work On
– small Lenten sacrifices every day
– giving my children my full attention when they speak to me
– sticking to the meal plan and not eating out
– snail mail letters to friends and family, just because
– getting back into exercise after a month of illness/Mark’s crazy work schedule


Things to Think About
– special dinners for St. Patrick and St. Joseph’s feast days 
– a Bible study to work through
– new vegetables to plant in our container garden
– what to put in the kids’ Easter baskets
– a quick bread recipe to try


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Things to Look Forward To
– celebrating Mark’s birthday
– starting a green smoothie challenge
– paying off one of our cars!
– having family visit for P’s baptism
– signing up the big boys for soccer

Things to Work On
– new essesntial oil blends to diffuse
– birthday boxes to donate to the local food pantry
– making the phone calls needed to donate unneeded furniture
– getting back into a groove with BWF’s social media presence

Things to Think About
– a dairy-free recipe to make
– a board or card game to play as a family
– a new local restaurant to try
– a book to share/lead with the book club

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I love when Modern Mrs. Darcy shares her lists of things that are saving her life right now.  The comments on those posts are also usually jam-packed with ideas and hacks, which I love.  Sometimes it’s the small, ordinary things that have the greatest impact.  

Today I thought I’d share a new system I’ve been using (and LOVING) in my bullet journal/planner.  My big goal for 2017 is to significantly slow down, decide what’s most important for me at this time in my life and do those things well.  Most of the things on this list could also be considered “self care”, but I think they benefit my family as a whole too.      

The things I wanted to focus on are:
+ Consistent exercise, starting with the Mutu System and moving onto running and weights later on
+ Drinking more water
+ Reading everyday, at least 10 minutes but preferably more
+ Working on a yearly scrapbook project, similar to my 100 Day Extraordinary Ordinary Project from last fall
+ Reflecting on a section of the Catholic Catechism everyday
+ Keeping up on household chores instead of always feeling behind

So in short: exercise, water, reading, creativity, faith and homemaking.  Easy to write on paper, but how exactly could I implement that on a day-to-day basis?

Here’s my solution:

I think I’ve mentioned this before, but on the homekeeping front, these weekly printables from the Confident Mom are awesome.  I’ve been printing a month at a time and clipping them to the opposite side of my weekly planning layout.  I’m still figuring out how to accomplish all the things with a newborn (current status: not well), but I’m doing so much more than had I not had the help and direction.  Baby steps!

 Last thing!  We always seem to be out of something around here, but our no-spending challenge has shown me that we don’t always need to purchase a replacement right.this.second.  So I’ve gotten in the habit of adding the items to the Jet app, but keeping them in my cart for awhile.  So, for example, if we’re out of Corn Chex but still have Cheerios in the pantry, I’ll add the Chex to Jet, but wait to buy until later.  It’s really helpful for curbing impulse buys too.  

What’s saving your life right now?  How are you creating habits to get your yearly goals going?  I’d love to learn what’s working for you!

Things to Look Forward To
– one month with our sweet baby!
– embarking on a month of no-spending
– (hopefully!) waking up to fresh snow 
– beginning to start the healing process with the MuTu System

Things to Work On
– upgrades to the Big White Farmhouse office (all purchased before the No-Spend Challenge!)
– reading the first few books for the Popsugar Reading Challenge
– thank you notes
– adding more vegetables to my meals

Things to Think About
– a pie to bake
– a documentary to watch
– a new project to combine creativity with daily gratitude
– “Keeping up is easier than catching up”
– a way to say thank you to our mailman

Well, it’s that time of year again – the exciting occasion of fresh starts and big dreams!  If you’ve read here for any length of time, you know how I live for this, hah!  You may also know that I’ve been adopting a yearly word for a handful of years now.  

As I look back on my choices, they all appear to be very action driven.  When I began the “One Word” tradition, I was an overwhelmed mom who needed a good kick in the pants to put myself out there and life the life I really desired.  And it worked!  The past four years have been full of adventure and fun and so much growth and I’m so thankful for taking that leap.  Yet now as we enter into 2017, I’m sensing the need for a change.


P’s birth was pretty intense and it’s taken me longer than usual to recover.  On top of that, I managed to get really painful tendinitis in the pointer finger of my dominant hand.  (Who knew you used that finger for everything?!)  So instead of immediately popping back to normalcy, I’ve spent most of December on the couch, cuddling a perfect little baby.  I’ve asked for help and humbly received it. (SO hard for me!!)  I’ve set down the massive to-do list and focused instead on just one or two things at a time.


So maybe it goes without saying, but 2017 seems to be the right time to reflect on the lessons I’ve been learning since P’s birth.  This year, I’m giving myself permission to slow down.  

For 2017, I want to explore intentional living from the standpoint of slowing down.  I’m still a list-loving, goal-driven girl, but I want to work on realistic expectations and doing things well.  Even though I could do all the things, I don’t have to do them all at the same time.  I would love to lose the baby weight, cook entirely homemade meals every night and see huge growth with Big White Farmhouse while getting debt free, training for a marathon, completing all of our home improvement projects and reading 50 books.  And God-willing, I have plenty of time to accomplish all of these goals.  But I don’t have to try to do it all at once.  As simple as that is to write, that concept is something I really need to learn and put into practice.  


A few big things I’m thinking about:


+ Less time mindlessly scrolling // More time reading, being creative and getting outside  


+ Less worrying about living an unrealistic standard // More accepting my current phase in life


+ Less spending carelessly // More focusing on our bigger goals and dreams


+ Less striving to do all the things at the same time // More doing one thing at a time and doing it well

And in case you think I don’t have any specific goals in my back pocket…I’ve limited myself to just a few!
+ I hope to work on 100 Little Things (#85) goal of “creating a postpartum wardrobe that makes me feel confident and not frumpy” with the added caveat of purchasing at least 75% of it secondhand or through ethical companies.  (Better on the wallet, the environment and mankind as a whole.  Win/win/win.)
+ I’ve been feeling inspired to really know my faith better, so I’m embarking on creating a morning routine of reading the Catholic Catechism cover to cover throughout the year.  (I’m using this plan if you’re interested too.)
+ I read the book, This Is Where You Belong, during the holidays and it became one of my favorite reads of the entire year.  I’m sure I’ll do a more in-depth post soon, but the short story is that it has me committed to digging into my town in 2017.  I want to put into practice the monthly concept of 3/$50 (spending $50 among three different small businesses…if more people did this, the gains for the entire town would be incredible) as well as investing into a local farm’s CSA.  

+ And probably most importantly, I want to pay off this debt!  We are in the hardest part of Dave Ramsey’s Baby Steps (#2!!!) with two car payments (one so close to be paid in full!) and a student loan, so I’m committed to sticking to our budget, selling our unneeded things and getting closer to big, big dreams.

Wishing you a new year full of good things, friends.


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