2024 Goals

For the past several years I've purchased a Bloom daily planner on Amazon. I really love this calendar because it has several lined pages in the front where I jot down everything from local hikes I want to explore or dinner ideas to try. It also has a lot of goal planning pages in the front, so I spent some time last week thinking about what goals I want to accomplish in the coming year. 

Here's a lookback at my goals from 2023:

Don't buy alcohol at the grocery store unless we are hosting a party.

I did very well on this one! Being pregnant nine months of the year probably helped! I only purchased beer in December a couple of times for Brian (not necessarily for a party but we did have people over more for the holidays and he had requested some stouts). I plan to mostly continue this in 2024 as I have a goal for 2024 that involves reducing spending, and alcohol can quickly turn into a big expense.

Read 20+ books and finish reading the Old Testament.

I read 10 books this year and got through Jeremiah in the Old Testament. I did read the Bible a little each morning until around October when life got too busy and my morning routine got off track. Also, once I read Demon Copperhead at the beginning of the year, it was so good that no other book really piqued my interest. I ended up watching a lot of Seinfeld episodes at bedtime instead of reading as much.

Complete over 100+ Peloton rides

Negative! I did 27 rides in 2023. I had my account frozen from June-October during pregnancy and just got back to riding this month at 7 weeks postpartum. 

Routinely attend church each week in-person

I consistently attended most weeks starting around March and then have been watching online since having Brooke. She is not really on a routine yet and our mornings are always different so it's been a struggle figuring out how to get there on time on Sunday morning and align her feedings/naps. 

2024 Goals

1. Finish Old Testament and read New Morning Mercies devotional each morning.

This is a continuation of my 2023 goal since I didn't get through the Old Testament last year. Also, I bought a new daily devotional for the year. My all-time favorite devotional has been Streams in the Desert, so I'll see if this new one (New Morning Mercies) is any good. 

2. Manage monthly spending and stick to budget each month.

Brian has a somewhat complicated way of organizing all of our accounts. With the cost of everything going up, I've been using my credit card much more than my debit card this year. Even with paying off the balance each month, I'm just not a big fan of credit cards and prefer to see the money immediately leave my account when I spend it. That said, I'm going to discuss with Brian a new approach this year which I think will help me with more mindful spending. I think we both could cut back on frivolous spending. My grocery store bill always seems so high, so maybe better meal planning and making sure no food goes to waste. I have a specific budget I've planned out for the year.

3. 100+ Peloton Rides

Second times the charm?

4. Blog once per week

Self-explanatory

5. Relax and have more FUN

Do you have a word of the year? I did this a couple of years ago (explore was my word) and I actually felt like it helped set my intention for that year. I did a lot more hikes that year to local trails with Cam and we had a great time. This year I've decided my word is fun. I notice how often Cam asks me "Mommy, are you frustrated?" and I feel so guilty because it's at least once a day. I know my tone and attitude do not hide my frustration very well, and most of the time I get frustrated over things that aren't really a big deal in the grand scheme of life. I want to make an intentional effort to have more fun, which will require me to not sweat the small stuff (and pretty much everything is the small stuff). Also, we won't be doing nearly as much traveling this year since we have baby Brooke, so I hope to plan fun things locally for us to do since there won't be as many exciting trips.

This is my only goal that isn't measurable, but I am hoping it will just stay in the back of my mind as I live out this coming year.