Hey y’all! It has been a while since I’ve written a post, so I figured my first post back should be a little recap of life over the past few months as well as what I am working on for 2020.
2019 Recap + Life Update
As far as life goes, I’ve been a little all over the place with things lately. I was doing pretty well with planning and keeping organized for most of the year. Last January, I set a theme of “Balance” for the year in all aspects of life, and I had it pretty together until about November, which I am deeming “Cold & Crazy Season”. Just to highlight some of the “good” of 2019, we obliterated quite a few financial goals, threw two amazing birthday parties for the girls, Nabil finally got to attend one of our annual extended family trips that we have been doing as long as I can remember (this was the first year in 14 years that the trip wasn’t during his work black-out period), I went on one of my dream trips to Chip and Joanna Gaines’ Silobration, we got through Christmas with zero added debt, and so much more!
So back to Cold & Crazy Season, the girls started to get their seasonal sniffles, and Skyler even had a little scare with wheezing and shortness of breath accompanying the cold that she got right after Thanksgiving. The girls’ activity schedule also slightly changed which needed some time to adjust to. I also decided to loc my hair in November, which has honestly been a silent hero in all of this because it requires so much less time and effort, but it is an adjustment nonetheless. More on that another time. On top of it all, the creative bug bit me and I thought it was a good idea to whip up some crafts (little girls’ boutique bows, to be exact) to sell at a few December craft fairs before the holidays. Oh… and then there was putting on the Santa hat to get all of the holiday shopping in between being Dr. Mom, Soccer Mom (well, actually Dance and Iceskating Mom), Martha Stewart, and a saleswoman. Let’s just say I’ve been a busy bee, to say the very least.
2020 Goals
Now that things have [mostly] calmed down, I really wanted to make sure that I’ve made time to pause, set some goals for 2020, and a plan to achieve those goals. Let me start by saying that I am not a huge “resolutioner”. Over the past few years, I’ve set personal goals for myself, but I haven’t done a great job of checking in on my goals throughout the year. Anyone else guilty? Maybe it’s because I was a bit overzealous and created too many goals to keep up with, or maybe they weren’t focused enough. So this year, I have 3 main goals for myself.
Goal #1: Be Timely
Hi, my name is Jayme, and I am chronically late. Sometimes, it’s not that big of a deal, but by the end of 2019 I felt like it was happening so frequently that it made me feel anxious, inefficient, and honestly embarrassed. I realized that it isn’t fair to Nabil, Skyler and Nia (and the rest of my family) that I was always cranky and rushing whenever we had to get somewhere, and also that the girls often walked into their activities that they look forward to all week later than all of the rest of the kids. I often blamed it on having to wrangle two toddlers, which is partially true; however, the majority of the truth is that I was late because I was unprepared and disorganized. In 2020, I am aiming to be more strict with my schedule, prepare ahead of time, and build in ample time to calmly get the girls and myself ready for the day ahead. “15 minutes early is on time, on time is late, and late is unacceptable!”
Goal #2: Be Organized
Being organized goes hand-in-hand with being timely. I did really well with this in 2019 for the majority of the year; however, I fell off haaard in quarter 4. This year, I want to push it through all the way to the end. This includes:
- being organized with our finances, and sticking with our budget and the Dave Ramsey Total Money Makeover cash budgeting system;
- grocery shopping, meal prepping, and cooking more at home;
- getting and KEEPING Skyler and Nia (and myself) on a good schedule that allows them to get more time at home and good rest; and
- of course, staying on top of planning and executing content for the blog.
Goal #3: Be Consistent
The two things that I have been most inconsistent with is keeping the girls and myself on a schedule, and creating content for this here blog. In both cases, I have a good spell where I am really on top of things, and then something not according to plan happens and I allow it to derail me. In 2020, I want to work on consistency while also recognizing that this is a huge ask of myself and allowing myself grace to improve gradually and not all at once (this really applies to being organized as well, now that I think about it).
Bonus Goal: Be Accountable
As a bonus goal for 2020, I want to build in some accountability for my goals. As I mentioned earlier, I haven’t been as good about circling back regularly throughout the year to measure how I am coming along with sticking to my goals. This year, I will schedule in time every other month to check in with myself and make adjustments as necessary to stay on track. If you are interested, I could also do a check in mid-year here on the blog or on Instagram as well. Let me know in the comments if you would be interested in seeing a mid-year check-in and also giving your mid-year check-in either here or on IG!
Well, that about sums up the last few months of 2019 and what I am looking forward to accomplishing in 2020. Again, 2019 was largely a fantastic year, and I don’t want to diminish that; however, I think it’s important for personal growth to look back, identify opportunities for improvement, create a plan of attack, and execute while giving yourself grace. So, how about you? What are your major accomplishments from 2019 and/or areas that you are looking forward to improving in 2020? Let me know in the comments!
