Saturday, January 30, 2010

a new decade

A new decade, which means I'm turning another decade older as well (30!). And we're already a month into this new decade and I can't figure out how time can pass so quickly!

Last January I posted my goals for 2009. And I feel like I did pretty well. A quick recap:

Simplicity: Simplify and organize our home (everything should have a place, and everything should be in its place), our finances (I have some bold ideas that I need to run by Chris before throwing them out here) and my life so I can spend what quality time I have at home with my family versus running around.

I feel like the majority of the house is much more organized than it was a year ago. That includes my closet! I started taking my clothes and handbags I no longer wear or can't wear into a consignment shop to subsidize my shopping addiction. The one area that I just can't get a hold on is the basement. We have gotten rid of so much, yet I still feel overwhelmed down there!

I turned over the bill paying to Chris and we're actually utilizing an ING account to transfer funds into to pay the bills. That way whatever is left in our checking account is what we have to spend during the month. And this is working really well! I had hoped to have our car paid off in 2009 (a year early), but we're going to be a couple months short. We should have it paid off this Spring though, at least 6 months early!

I'm still usually running around like a mad-woman on the weekends. Spending almost two hours commuting a day and working a full-time job just doesn't leave much time to get much accomplished during the week. It takes real effort on my part to try and do housework at night after James goes to bed so that we have time together on the weekends to do fun stuff, like go to gymnastics class.

Health: Physical Health (I haven't had a true physical since probably high school), Mental Health (see Joy), and Spiritual Health

I ran a half marathon with my dad, and feel and look great. I'm also going to the gym by my work 2-3 days a week during lunch.

We have become more involved in our church and small group this past year. We also both volunteer in The Great Adventure (Sunday school) every other week. But I still have a long way to go. I seriously lack discipline in carving out time during the day to spend time with God.

Joy: finding and embracing the joy as a mother, a wife, an employee; to live life joyously in 2009!

James bring a ton of joy into our lives. He makes my heart swell every time he laughs, gives me a hug or kiss, or learns something new. He amazes me every day. And I am amazed that he is already 2 years old!

I started a new position at work this summer. It provides a new set of challenges, a new set of people to work with, and will allow me to travel. I'm always up for a change!

I fail pretty miserably as a wife. We both focus so much time and effort on our jobs and on James that time for "us" is severly lacking. However that will be much more of a priority in 2010 (and beyond).

So that was 2009. Goals for 2010 coming up next.

1 comment:

Sheryl/Mom/Grandma said...

Katie - You and Chris do an amazing job of doing all you do as well as you do. Don't beat yourself up too badly about the "shortcomings" you feel you are still bumping up against. One thing that I have learned is that I am never going to be able to give 100% to everything all of the time. Just a simple law of mathematics! So be grateful if you are doing one thing really well at any one moment. Next week (or month or year) you will manage to focus on something else for a while. It's always a juggling act, and that's true for everyone whether you think so or not. You are smart to recognize how difficult it is to spend enough time as a couple. That is always the first relationship to be sacrificed, yet the success of all of your other relationships depends so much on it. Just smile, know that you are doing an awesome job is so many ways and continue to find a little joy in everything you do!