First Month Goal Review

Okay, so we've officially come to the end of the first month of the year. I thought it might be fun to let you know how my goals are currently coming. Splendidly, should be the answer because everyone has energy in January for new or lofty endeavors.

1. One arts and crafts time per month with the kiddos

On MLK Day we were supposed to have a play date but one of my kids was sick so it turned into our craft day. I had already determined that in January we would make paper snowflakes because my daughter seemed to enjoy doing them in December of 2014 (Yes, that long ago. I told you I'm terrible at crafts). I also thought it might be fun to try paper doll chains with the snowflake scraps.

Neither of these turned out that great. My daughter became frustrated trying to cut through the thick paper for snowflakes and couldn't quite figure out the chain cutting to make the paper look like people. My son has minimal cutting skills. Small slits in paper is all he can really do. I ended up doing most of the work.

Our cat sitting among the paper creations

So I punted and gave them both paint and paper and they had a blast. My son drew a T. Rex (at least that's what he told me) and my daughter drew a birthday cake for her uncle, a tree and an owl.

The T. Rex is the bottom left picture, birthday cake upper right

In addition to supervising I finally completed a project I started several years ago - turning an oatmeal container into The Very Hungry Caterpillar to use as an activity to read along with the book. It turned out fairly decent and both the kids love feeding the caterpillar as we read the book.

All the food was glued to baby food jar lids (some not pictured)

2. Blog at least twice per month

So far so good here. I actually blogged two times in the first week, eight overall. Also, the fact that I've been struggling a bit has provided material for posts. I'm trying to be more transparent this year. I have learned that when I am vulnerable it gives others permission to do the same. Jon Acuff calls it "The Gift of Going Second".

3. Grow in gratitude, contentment, joy and generosity

Okay, so this one is a little hard to determine empirically. I do feel more joy in my relationships. I struggled through some discontentment and discouragement mid-month (or perhaps most of the month as you may have noticed from my other blog posts) but I feel like I've turned a corner. God is helping me to learn to enjoy my relationships as they are and also showing me steps I can take to improve my relationship skills with others.


After posting my initial list, I edited it a bit. I read a book that suggested I focus on a goal in each of my passions. I determined that my main passions right now are Faith, Marriage, Parenting, Relationships and Blogging. So an additional one that is more tangible for faith (than number three above) is to memorize two scripture verses each month. Below are January's.

John 14:1- "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me."

1 Peter 4:10 - Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms.

John 15:5 - "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing."

Yes, I realize that's three verses. I can be an overachiever at times. January's a long month. Perhaps it can be considered an early start on February.


In January I also tried to not spend money on anything but essentials. How did I do? Find out!

Spending-Ban Assessment

I would be remiss if I didn't review how my month of non-spending went. I spent very little time in stores. I realized that sometimes I buy in anticipation of future needs that can be cost-saving if something is on sale but otherwise probably isn't necessary. Our mop broke and we ran out of floor cleaner so I went to The Home Depot and picked up a new one and cleaner. I also grabbed an extra cleaning cloth (just in case) but that probably wasn't a needed purchase.

I took a trip to Toys R Us to make a return. The counter is just inside the store, which is nice, but I could see the Christmas clearance from my spot in line and I was quite tempted to check it out for great deals. I know that my shopping weaknesses are clearance and thrift shopping.

In January I really just visited the gas station and grocery store which are mostly harmless. They did have Star Wars t-shirts on clearance that I really wanted to check out (my son is intrigued by the "storm trimmers" because one of our friends wore a trooper costume to church the Sunday the movie was released). But I have walked by them each week without browsing.

I did sign my son up for a gymnastics class that starts in March. I probably could have waited until today but I wanted to make sure he got into the same class as my friend and her daughter. It is both an experience and an opportunity to grow a relationship while also benefiting my son's physical development so it seems like a good purchase decision.

I also ate at home all month. It's not a big deal because we don't eat out often but it helped us to make sure we had a meal plan each week. I did have two meetings with friends at Starbucks but one drink was free and I ended up deciding that food out was fine if it involved growing relationships with other people. Though, the last week of January when we were running low on menu plan ideas I was very tempted to phone it in for fast food or a restaurant.

Most of the things I was tempted to buy this month were either books or experiences (tickets to a play, an obstacle course race, a comedian's show). I'm trying not to buy any books this year until I get through more of the unread ones on my shelf (though a friend asked about reading through a particular book together so I will order that one - relationships!). I think experiences are also a good purchase, in moderation.

I talked with my friend about how her month of no spending went. She said that she was over on her groceries. I definitely was too. This month I am going to try to be more diligent about this aspect. One thing I know I can do is buy more staples and produce at Aldi. The prices for many things are cheaper and worth taking a little extra time to get them. I can then stop by Kroger afterward to pick up the things we still need but are not found at Aldi.


So that's how it went. Have you done something like this? What successes did you have? Were you able to point out spending weaknesses?