Revisitng January's Goals

So...we're more than a third of the way through February already (WHAT?????) and I haven't looked at how I did on my goals for January.  Better late than never, right?  Let's see...

Personal:

• Set up a new journal (I'm looking at the bullet journal method).  I started this but it only lasted a week and a half or so.  I think I'm just not a journaler though it would be fun to have something to look back on in the future to see what the day to day was like. 
• Read my Bible every day (after working my way through the New Testament twice last year, I'm starting over at Genesis). I'm almost finished with Leviticus.  I haven't ready every single day but I've only missed four or five days since I started.
• Exercise 30 minutes at least three days per week.  Still working on this one.  20 minutes two days a week is more like it!
• Blog something at least twice per week.  I had 11 posts in January.  And they weren't even all about menus!  It has been fun to get back to blogging. 

Household:

• Mend my daughter's favorite hat (it's been on the pile for months).  No, but I did darn her Wonder Woman sock that got a hole in the toe after the first wearing.
• Track every expenditure (I reworked our budget over the Christmas break so we are ready to go).  This I did.  And we stayed in our overall budget (the overages and the unders balanced each other out to within $1.11).  Was able to transfer almost $100 leftover to our mortgage principle. 
• Menu plan weekly (you'll find those here on the blog!).  Done!  So helpful, even if we don't stick to it.
• Plan our summer vacation (we're finally taking one this year).  Hotels are booked!!!!!!!  Working on deciding on activities as we go.
• Order my garden seeds.  Not yet.  My daughter is taking over the garden planning this year.  She's picked out the seeds but I still need to review the list to make sure everything will work in our raised beds.  We need to get hopping though because radish planting season is almost upon us!

Work:

•  Write at least six grant proposals. I think I only did four.  I had six on the list but we weren't ready for a couple of them. 
•  Make my to do list more reasonable so I can actually feel like I'm accomplishing something.  Haven't done this, though it's still a good idea.

All in all, I'd say it was a successful month.  In addition to these, I've started establishing a more productive morning routine for myself, so I'm not just sitting there staring at a computer monitor for an hour before my daughter gets up every day, and that has helped me a lot.  Now, I just need to figure out how to squeeze more hours into my days so I can get more done!

What goals did you accomplish last month?

Why I'm Not Buying Books This Year

Since before I could read, I have been a lover of books.  I love to read them, I love to collect them.  I feel a great comfort in life, knowing they are there.  I suspect this has something to do with the fact that I am the daughter of two librarians.  Well, my mom didn't come to be a librarian until later in life, but she was an elementary school teacher before she was a librarian, and I grew up in a house that had wall to wall bookshelves in the living room.  And they were FULL.  As a young adult, I had wall to wall bookshelves in my spare room, also full.  I was surrounded by books. 

Now that I'm older, with a family and a fairly small house, my space for physical books has been greatly diminished (all I have left is the bookcase you see above, which has five narrow shelves, plus a few small piles here and there).  But that's ok, because I have almost completely made the shift to digital.  Back in the fall of 2009, I got my first iPod touch, and discovered the Kindle app.  Then I discovered the websites that notify you about the free Kindle books.  And I was hooked.  A year or two later I got an actual Kindle and I never looked back. 

Fast forward to today.  I still pick up a few physical books each time I work the library book sale (I serve on the Friends of the Library Board), but really I only read physical books when I'm camping.  There's something so relaxing about sitting by the river with a book and a cold drink, and I don't have to worry about getting sand in my Kindle.

A month or two ago, I was scrolling through my book list, and I took notice of how many unread books I have.  You guys, I have more than 2,600 books/short stories for my Kindle, and I've probably only read a few hundred of them!  Then I thought about how many unread books I paid actual money for - probably only a few hundred of those, and most of them only cost a few dollars each, but if I don't read them, that's money down the drain.  I still get tons of books for free - I get daily emails from Bookbub and pick up the ones that look interesting, plus I get a free book each month because I'm an Amazon Prime member.  And, I realized that most of the time now, I'm reading books I've downloaded from my fabulous library's Overdrive service, and not books I've purchased (free or otherwise) through Amazon. 

After thinking all that through, I made a decision - I'm not going to buy any new books this year (exceptions:  I'll need to buy whatever we're reading in Bible study, and I may pick up a souvenir book or two on my summer vacation, as that's the kind of souvenir I enjoy most. I'll also buy a few books as gifts for children), but other than that, I'm not paying money for books.  No new books, no used books, no e-books, no cookbooks (gasp! that idea just fully hit me).  I'm going to read what I have and try to catch up a little.

There will be times of temptation, for sure - Lisa See has a book coming out in March, but I've already recommended the e-book to my library which automatically put it on hold for me.  I'm sure they'll get it.  If not, it'll go on my Amazon wish list and I'll get it in 2018.  I'm hoping Kate Morton, my other favorite author, doesn't have one come out because two in one year might be too much temptation! 

So there it is.  My no-book-buying pledge. 

Have you stopped buying anything this year?  If so I'd love to hear about it!

Goals for January

It's the new year, a time when many people make lofty resolutions, then abandon them a few weeks later (new habits are hard!).  I am no exception - I've given up on more than I care to think about.

This year, I've decided to take it one month at a time, and I'm breaking them out into categories.

Personal:

• Set up a new journal (I'm looking at the bullet journal method).  
• Read my Bible every day (after working my way through the New Testament twice last year, I'm starting over at Genesis).
• Exercise 30 minutes at least three days per week.
• Blog something at least twice per week.

Household:

• Mend my daughter's favorite hat (it's been on the pile for months).
• Track every expenditure (I reworked our budget over the Christmas break so we are ready to go).
• Menu plan weekly (you'll find those here on the blog!).
• Plan our summer vacation (we're finally taking one this year).
• Order my garden seeds.

Work:

•  Write at least six grant proposals.
•  Make my to do list more reasonable so I can actually feel like I'm accomplishing something.

I think that's enough to get started!  I'll check back at the end of the month and see how I've done.

Happy January, everybody - remember to let your light shine through the winter darkness!