I am not a fan of New Year’s Resolutions.  The idea that we can, with one sweep, change our entire lives is ridiculous. But GOALS are different.  I look at goals as a list of projects to accomplish within a certain time period, or bite-sized daily steps to reach a big milestone. Yes, goals are my favorite.  I’ve been taking some time lately to think about my goals for 2018 in different aspects of my life.

Read at least 60 books.  60 has been my consistent goal for the past couple of years.  In 2016 I read 84 books and in 2017 I read 72.  While it would be easy for my goal-loving heart to up the ante and try to challenge myself a little more in this area, we are busier than ever before and I am not interested in stressing out about not reaching a goal for books read.  I’ll be challenging myself in other areas, so this year I am happily going to keep my goal at 60.




Make Art every day. This marks the fourth year of my practice of making art every single day. I have seen an incredible amount of personal growth in the past 3+ years of this project.  I am developing my style and discovering what I love to create.  While I will continue to make art each day this year, I am going to focus this project a little differently than I have in the past.  I will be working on a series of 100 day projects. Three 100 Day projects during the year, with a few “days off” for vacations, etc. interspersed throughout the year.  By days off, I mean I’ll still be making art but it will most likely be in a sketchbook as we travel, rather than adding to the project I’m currently working on.  My first 100 day project of the year is 100 Days of Scripture Prints.  You can follow along with me daily on Instagram to see what I’m painting.


Weekly Dates with Jason. Up until this point in our lives my husband and I haven’t felt the need for consistently going OUT on dates.  We’d put the kids to bed and enjoy some time together basically every evening. But as kids have gotten older and more abundant, planning time away has become something we genuinely need and look forward to.  We don’t do anything extravagant, by any means.  An occasional movie, but more often than not we want to be able to talk to each other uninterrupted.

We take turns planning each week, with one week of each month set aside to attend the temple. Last week I had planned to go cross-country skiing, but the snow conditions were awful so I ended up throwing together a quick trip to a crowded little antique store we’ve driven by multiple times a day for the past 6 years but have never ventured inside.  We wandered, talked and laughed, discovered treasures and left them all there.  We left after an hour without spending any money and felt completely refreshed and ready to love on our kids again.

Pinners Conference.  Gulp.  This is my big, giant, scary goal for the year.  I am doing my first art/craft fair in November.  It’s Pinners Conference (they had 18,000+ guests last year); it’s huge and I have no idea what I’m doing.  But I already put my money down for the booth, so I’m going to figure it out as I go.  I’m WAY outside my comfort zone here, but this is something I’ve wanted to try for many years.  I am both excited and terrified to be taking this step.

Read + Study the Old Testament. It’s been many years since I’ve studied much in the Old Testament.  Probably since high school? I’m looking forward to diving into it this year.  In fact, I’ve already begun and I’m loving it.  A couple of resources that are helping me gain deeper understanding as I study: Your Study of the Old Testament Made Easier this book is very clear and easily understandable.  I read it right along with my scriptures and make notes in my scriptures as I go along.  The gorgeous Walking With The Women of the Old Testament by my incredible friend Heather makes the stories of the hundreds of women in the Old Testament come alive.

Earn Young Womanhood Medallion with Ellie.  Ellie and I have been working on Personal Progress together and we’re planning to finish it it up this year.  We sit down together for an hour or so each Sunday to work on shorter value projects and a plan for making the longer projects happen. I look forward to this time with her and our work on this inspired program.


Long Walks, Audiobooks and Pilates.  One of my very most favorite things in the entire world right now is long early morning walks with an audiobook.  It brightens my entire day.   I’ve been sneaking out early every morning lately and it’s amazing how a daily ritual like that adds so much to my life.  I plan to continue bundling up and braving the cold each morning as well as adding in some Pilates  most days to help ease the lower back pain I’ve been dealing with lately.

Blog Plans. Here on the blog I plan to continue sharing twice weekly posts: scripture study helps, creative projects, book reviews, journal printables, etc.  Is there anything you’d like me to add to my blog post list?  Anything you’d like to see more of this year?


What are your goals for the new year?