In my look ahead to 2014 post, I shared all the things I wanted to achieve in 2014. Did they all happen? Oh heck no. You see, as much as we can try to plan out our lives, God has his own plan for us and life just happens sometimes. That’s not to say I accomplished nothing. Here is a look back on 2014 for the Huebner’s.
2014 Goals:
Family
1) One family vacation to somewhere we have to fly.
Goal accomplished! We went to Phoenix and St. Louis with Little A this year and had a great time. The flights weren’t the best (you can read about my breakdown in this post) but the trips were super fun.
In addition, we spent a week at our condo in Chelan and went to our cabin for some sledding adventures.
2) One vacation for Huebie and I alone.
Goal accomplished! We went to New York City for the Superbowl and Sonoma for our 4 year anniversary (you can read my posts about where we stayed, where we ate, our favorite wineries and other activities to do in Sonoma. We’re celebrating 5 years next year so we’ll see where we end up for our anniversary this time.
3) Continue quality time with Little A.
Goal accomplished! I’m still part time and so happy! Little A and I did a lot this year, and I was able to capture a lot of our adventures with my #graceeveryday photos.
4) Do one project with Little A every week. For some that may be simple, but we are a very busy family so fitting in time to spend on projects can sometimes be hard.
I did not accomplish this goal. 🙁 Our lives are very busy and although her and I usually did something each week, it wasn’t necessarily a project. Luckily she does a lot of projects in preschool and with her nanny, so I don’t feel like we totally failed at this goal.
Health
1) New routine every month. That means switching things up and incorporating new exciting exercises into my daily gym or at home workout.
HAHAHAHAHAHA! So did not accomplish this goal. While I did try new things most every month, I didn’t deliberately plan out a new routine each month and definitely enjoyed some workout videos for a bit. I did come up with some good at home routines you can find a couple of my favorites HERE and HERE.
2) More veggies! I am the worst about veggies. I’m great at fruit, protein, healthy fats. Really good. But veggies are not my thing. I’m not very adventurous when it comes to trying new veggies (or cooking them mostly) so I want to venture out of my comfort zone this year and try new things!
I think we did pretty good at this goal. Little A loves broccoli and spinach, so that helps get more veggies in our diet.
3) Tone. I know trainers really don’t like this word, but it’s a word most of us women understand. We want to be tone. We want our skin to be tight; not loose and flabby. We don’t want our thighs to rub together when we walk. We don’t want giggles when we raise our arms up to wave. We want to be fit.
I would say this was a success for part of the year, and a failure for part. I was in really good shape this summer, but the last few months have not been so good. Was I back to my post-baby body that was rockin’? No way. That would require a personal trainer for me, and since that is not happening ($$$$) I’m just doing the best I can with what I have.
4) Possible goal: Run another half marathon. I’m calling this a possible goal because I’m not sure if I will want to run another half this year, but if I do it will end up changing some of these other goals I have listed above.
Another HAHAHAHAHA! Thank God this was a possible goal. I spent most of the year avoiding running and only over the last few months have I felt like lacing up my running shoes and hitting the pavement. I really do love running in colder weather, I know that now, so maybe these cold winter months will be my running time.
Home
1) Finish the deck! Done! I didn’t post about it, but we did finish the deck this year!
2) Paint living and dining room. Done! So happy to say both rooms are finished. You can see our dining room makeover HERE.
3) New light fixture in dining room. Done! Thank you Mom and Dad for our Christmas present last year!
4) Paint bonus/play room. Done! Painted, not yet decorated, but painted!
5) Get rid of Little A’s baby stuff and clear out bonus/play room. Partly done. We donated a lot this year and a few of my friends have some of her other baby gear, so I consider this a partly accomplished goal.
6) Paint guest/Little A’s bathroom. Once we painted the ceiling, the walls in the bathroom didn’t look so bad. So we’ve left it alone. That may change in 2015.
7) Finish laundry room. Eh. I hung a sign. Painted the walls and ceilings and that’s about it. Hey, it’s a laundry room right?!
8) Shelves in garage for storage. Done! Huebie got 2 new storage units for the garage and they are now occupied with either sled parts or other garden or yard tools. But things are off the floor!
9) Paint ceilings in all of downstairs. Done! This was by far the best thing we did in the house all year. The dark ceilings made the house feel so drab. The white ceilings really brightened the whole house up.
10) Re-caulk master bath shower. Wah, wah. Didn’t get to this. Hopefully 2015 will bring some updates to the master bathroom.
11) Hardware on kitchen cabinets. Done! In addition to the hardware we got all new counter tops and back splash! Not part of the plan but one of the biggest projects all year. Still need to share photos with you all.
12) Purge the house! Semi-done. Like I said, we got rid of a ton of stuff in the bonus room and a lot of things we no longer use (dirt bike gear, backpacking gear, etc.). There are a few other areas that we could purge (my enormous collection of books I’ll probably never read again for one), so we’ll see what we can do in 2015 to further this goal.
Wow! We got way more done than I thought we would. Mid-year I thought there was no way we would accomplish half of these goals, but we made a big push year end. On top of all of this, we re-built our fence! By ourselves! That was a HUGE undertaking that I highly recommend you never do. AND we did a partial remodeled our kitchen! I still need to share that with you all, so that’s on the books for 2015.
What’s in store for 2015?
What are my plans for us for 2015? NOTHING! I have no plans whatsoever except to make memories with my family. Yes I’m sure we’ll do some work on the house, and I’m sure we’ll try to be as healthy as possible, but in 2015 I just want us to enjoy our lives. Yes, I’m a planner, but I’m trying to stop planning as much as I do. I seem to be planning our lives away and I just want to focus on living them.
Oh wait. Let me back up on one thing. The one plan I do have for 2015 is to grow my Young Living essential oils business. I cannot tell you enough good things about these wonderful oils and how they have changed our lives for the better. My goal is to bring health through essential oils to more and more people. Less doctor visits and more healthy, happy homes. I guess that’s my one goal for 2015. I created an essential oils page that shares more about essential oils and how they’ve helped our family HERE.
I don’t have any firm plans with the blog for 2015 except to continue to share my life with you all. I’ve met so many wonderful bloggers this year and I know in 2015 I’ll meet a ton more. I love this blogging community! Thank you for continuing to support this little blog and for being such supportive readers and commenters. I truly appreciate all the love A Touch of Grace received in 2014. Cheers to you all!
So I guess that’s it. What a year it’s been. I’m so excited for what 2015 has in store for our family. Happy New Year friends!!!
I think overall you did a great job especially exploring with little A and having quality time with your guy!! Can’t wait to see what 2015 has in store for you!! xo, Biana – BlovedBoston
First of all, I had no idea that you guys went to the super bowl! How awesome!!! Also, your new essential oils page looks great!
Soo awesome you guys went to the Super Bowl- I can only imagine how fun that trip must have been! I loved reading through this and learning some new things about your year- you definitely accomplished so much. I’m excited to see more of your kitchen remodel!
That was definitely the trip of a lifetime Jenny! BUT…..could be 2 trips of a lifetime not that we’re heading into the playoffs. 🙂
Thanks for your continued support of this little blog Jenny. It’s be so great getting to know you!
Wow! You did awesome at accomplishing your 2014 goals! And you had so many! You are so so great at sharing the oils so I know your business will grow in 2015. 🙂
Tiffany, that’s actually pretty impressive! I don’t think I’ve ever had a list of goals like that for a year before. I had more goals since it was like a huge to do list when I was in high school and college with all the work and assignments as well as getting into college that I had to be organized about. I also remember to do lists at my corportate job but since having a family, I’ve shyed away from them apart from grocery lists. Mostly because of what you said about just living our lives. The other reason is because we tend to get put in the unexpected often so plans wouldn’t really do me so great I don’t think right now. I’m sure some specific things will require more planning in the future though like home schooling multiple kids or planning a dinner or design scheme for a room. I look forward to that when it is needed. 🙂
Dang! What a good year – so fun that you keep track!!!! What fun trips you got to take too! Hope your YL business goes great girl!!!! So awesome!
It really was a great year. Looking forward to 2015!
Wow! You actually accomplished a lot this past year. My to-do list fell by the wayside. 2014 was a tough year (especially the first quarter). I think we need to give ourselves space–margin room to not be busy with so much and to just be.
I usually don’t make new year’s resolutions but this year I did. I want to be more intentional with my time and I feel like I’ve frittered a lot of it away.
Happy New Year my friend! Wishing you many joys in 2015.
xoxo
You know, I love that you don’t have plans for 2015! I think that’s the right attitude. And I also think you rocked out all the goals you had for 2014. I mean, you had a TON of them and accomplished most! Regarding fitness (because I’m a fitness nut) have you ever tried group fitness classes? They’re a great alternative to $$$ personal trainers, get you moving in ways you wouldn’t have thought of on your own, and the camaraderie in the classes is great! Just something to consider…
Looking forward to following along with you in 2015 🙂
Girl! You accomplished quite a lot! Good for you.
Oh, you did a great job, that’s impressive! 🙂 Happy New Year!
Love your blog, hope to see you soon on my blog
http://www.beneaththecoat.com
or Bloglovin
or Facebook 🙂
Kisses from Zurich,
K
Thanks Kristina! It was a really great year.
Thanks for stopping by!
Just talking about new years goals tonight with a friend. She suggested we try a verse to be a theme for the year…whatever God leads us to. I’m excited to it. Thanks for sharing. Praying 2015 brings lots of blessings and joy 🙂
I love that Tiffany! What a great way to look at 2015. I pray that 2015 is a wonderful year for you as well!
xoxo
I LOVE your non-resolutions for 2015! Going with the flow and enjoying your time it’s a bold choice 🙂
Haha thanks lady! Going with the flow can be tough for some, me included. 🙂
Happy New Year!
Dang girl, you got A LOT done!! That’s awesome! I’m so with you on the new year’s resolutions. It’s like I have some goals in mind but my MAIN OBJECTIVE is to just be relaxed and make memories like you said! I’m so glad I got to meet you, it was one of my blogging highlights of the year lol. Looking forward to following your blog and cute little family into 2015, hope you guys have a happy New Year!
I was so surprised when I looked back to see what we had done. It didn’t feel like that much at all, but it really was.
I’m totally with you on being relaxed. That’s definitely my goal for 2015. We’ll see if I can do it, haha!
For sure one of the highlights of my year was meeting you too Jessica. I really think it’s so awesome when bloggers get together. I hope you had fun ringing in the new year!
You accomplished so much in 2014! It’s cool how you could refer back to your goals and see what worked and what didn’t. And, I’m seriously impressed that y’all built your fence yourselves! With your passion for YLEOs and your crazy-hard work ethic, I know that your Young Living business will continue to grow in 2015!