December Goals Recap & Ringing in the New Year

{asofterworld.com}


 Happy New Year!

Here is my updated goals  list, with final progress updates. (for full descriptions/rationale behind the goals, click here for the original post).

 I loved simplifying so much, that I decided not to make a 2015 goals list. It's much more forgiving. I need more flexibility in my life. I will be joining in on a couple of challenges for select months/years, but nothing as onerous as what I put myself up to last year.





FINAL 2014 PROJECT GOALS REPORT

  1. Glam out my Bedroom: SUCCESS
    So. I got almost all the way through this one before I decided the room would need some major reorganization. The important part is that I have made a lot of progress, and it will be easier to put the room back together in an organized/pretty way now that I have the head start. So, success!
  2. Decorate the Munchkins' Room: DITCHED 
    So.... As part of my December simplify goals, I decided that I was overthinking this room. The munchkins don't sleep over very often. I made a point of getting the room organized and livable.... so, that's a pass.
  3. Tackle my Craft Room Clutter: SUCCESS 
    It is so hard to get blog friendly photos of a room that is meant to have messes made in it!! But, I managed--finally--and will be posting photos of the craft space soon. I realize I have been saying "soon" for about six months now, but.... soon!
  4. Sew a Stuffed Toy: DITCHEDIf I do ever get around to this one, I really don't want it to feel like a chore. Never again will I add something potentially so cute to a task list.
  5. Knit Something Fun: DITCHED 
    Let's get serious. I haven't knitted anything since 3rd grade. This one was bound to get procrastinated. Happy to ditch it for now and try to reconnect to my knitting roots when I'm ready for it.
  6. Make Homemade Bread: DITCHED
  7. Plant a (Successful) Container Garden: SUCCESSRelated blog post: here
  8. Finish Guest/Play Room: SUCCESS 
    This is by far my favourite room in the house... My fella calls it the "reading room", and I enjoy that name muchly. One day I'll tidy it up a bit and blog about it... I'm in no rush, though. I enjoy dragging things out, dontchaknow. Also, the room is very comfy and I loves spending time in there more than I love blogging. So there.

    {UPDATE: You can find this post here}


Choose Your Own Adventure Linkup


The theme for December's Choose Your Own Adventure linkup was simplify. Here are my goals, and here is my recap.

 My December Simplification results: 100% success!!!
  1. For the holidays: This needs major paring down. Every year, I make my own stocking stuffers and at least half of my gifts. There are a lot of kids in my family, and we also usually do at least one group gift for a parent. Coordinating a group gift gets to be a headache, frankly, so I plan to avoid that like the plague if it comes up. I also think I will experiment with this foreign concept of buying instead of making all of my stocking stuffers. Also--- gift cards? I have never ever given one before. Maybe now is the time.

    100% Success:Christmas was kind of a breeze this year. My fella made everyone a box of Christmas baking, and we paired it with a gift card to a local breakfast place. Babies each got one toy and a gift card to Chapters, and the bigger munchkins got a stack of books. And instead of homemade stocking stuffers, I hooked everyone up with a sample sized Monkey Butter.  Bam. Apparently grouping entire households together makes Christmas super easy to accomplish.


  2. Around the house: I know this is bold, but I don't want to overthink the house over the holidays. I think if I can not start a new house related project in December, we are good on this front. I might not even bust out the Christmas tree this year. Holiday spirit to me is more about the smell of comfort foods than twinkling lights or glitter making its way from room to room. If simplifying the home decor means more time spent experimenting with holiday recipes, then I am absolutely down with that.

    100% Success:
    I decorated two spots in my house---using leftover decor from the     aforementioned baby shower. It was lazy and sparkly and did the trick. Also, GNOME.


    A photo posted by C.Lem (@creativeclementine) on


  3. 2014 Goals Completion: After thinking about it, I realize that I made too many goals last year in the first place. Out of fairness to myself, I'm going to reprioritize what's left on the goals list and consider anything ditched a success overall. Because sometimes, accepting that something is not important and letting it go is a success in and of itself. I'll be posting about that soon. (Yeah yeah... I know I'm unreliable with "soon" as a timeline)

    100 % Success:
    As you read above, this one was as simple as deciding what to ditch on my goals list. Success! It felt good to let go of the "I should be doing X, Y, or Z right now" guilt. I even got to sit around lazily playing SimCity for a bit over the holidays with my free guiltless time. Hoorah! 




Overall, I think operation Simplify was pretty successful--and should probably carry over into the rest of my life.

Now for January's theme--- "Complete". It's time to get something big off of the to-do list. Scratch it off forever. Finally get whatever it is that is nagging at me out of the way and off of my mind.

Good golly! This is a lot of pressure for a girl with a million to-do lists. So. Since I still have some of the Simplify December energy flowing through me, I will keep this short and sweet. Here are my January "Complete"  goals:

  1. Complete...my craft room blog post!Yeah. I don't blame you for not believing that this one will get done. Here is a link to the "Before" post I haven't posted the "after" for.
  2. Complete...my guest room blog post! 
    Or perhaps I'll call it the reading room. I still think that sounds fancier. Either way, that blog post is overdue. Here's a peek at the before.
  3. Complete...one important room in the house.
    My fella got me a gorgeous chalkboard for my home office, that is small enough that he set guidelines for its use: Only three major projects are allowed on this board at one time. And only once all of the projects are completed am I allowed to add anything new. Top of the list? A room project I haven't mentioned yet, and am keeping a secret. All I can tell you is that it is going to be awesome, and it doesn't involve anyone being pregnant.



I'll be posting my January updates at the beginning of February, and linking up on Not Entirely Perfect, Life According to Steph, and Keeping up with Ashley and Cody blogs. February's theme is "Create" and is a make-work type goal. Right up my alley.


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10 comments

  1. Unknown1 January 2015 at 17:36

    this is my favourite thing about new years. It's looking back at all you've accomplished and being ok with the things that didn't get done, or where just not well thought out goals! The new year is all about possibilities and fresh starts. Not necessarily as goals or resolutions but as things to try or things to finish.
    And thanks for posting Gnomy again. So adorable :)

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  2. Stephanie4 January 2015 at 12:59

    You did awesome on December, I love what you decided to do about the gifts. Good luck in January! I'm excited to see the posts, before and after shots are so fun.

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  3. Jenn @ Optimization Actually8 January 2015 at 11:08

    Omg, that gnome is adorable!!! We didn't really do gifts, because with driving down South and then flying to California, there was enough going on, but we did pack cards, a couple pictures for relatives who had asked for them, and some reindeer candy canes, so we traveled with boxes very similar to yours. I was pleased with our efficiency. :P

    Letting go is so hard! I keep thinking I'd have more free time if I only used my time more efficiently, but I'm starting to think I'll always fill it up with tasks and I should work on not adding things to my to do list, rather than trying to optimize everything. I don't know. I'm not quite ready to give up on it yet.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Unknown18 January 2015 at 17:35

      I'm starting to action plan NOW for Christmas next year. I like the photos--- I'm thinking I'll work that into some sort of master plan to take over the gift giving universe. We'll see :)

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  4. SMD @ lifeaccordingtosteph8 January 2015 at 15:18

    I love love love that you were like DITCHED on a lot of them. Sometimes I look at a goal and I think, WHAT was I thinking? I'm not going to do this and I'm actually okay with that. While I think it's important to set goals, I also think it's important to live a little and be okay with not completing them sometimes.

    Great complete goals for January, all totally do-able!

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    Replies
    1. Unknown18 January 2015 at 17:36

      Eighteen days into the challenge, I'm realizing my window of opportunity is closing soon to get my three tiny goals done. We'll see! :)

      Delete
  5. Anonymous10 January 2015 at 00:00

    I like the ditched by your goals. I should thought of that!!! You did great in December! I like your project board and that your husband put a maximum to the number of projects you can have on the board.

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    Replies
    1. Unknown18 January 2015 at 17:36

      The three project rule is pretty clever.. he knows me pretty well. I am even scared to write the first three at all. Commitment issues? :)

      Delete

Thank you for your comments! I love reading them all and will reply when I can.

xo♥clem