I love the new year because it’s like a blank white board. And I like that analogy because I LOVE SCHOOL SUPPLIES. I just do. I always have. The last week of summer was always sad to me, but the first week of school was the BEST because I got to get all new binders and pencils and pens and organize my school necessities. So, the idea of a blank white board is just invigorating to me. And a new year is just like a new white board in my mind. 

2018 gifted me with tons of personal, spiritual, and marital growth, lessons learned through failure and success, good times and bad. My word for 2018 was patience, and I’m still learning the ways God sewed that thought into each day of last year. I don’t have a word for this year yet, but I do have several ideas that are making me really excited and are ways that, I think, will make this year even more healthy and happy!

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GOAL #1 : LEARN MORE || I want to learn more. I’ve always been a learner, but if I let myself, I can become sluggish in this endeavor. So, I want to learn and practice new things! This sounds intangible. But I’ve got some specific ideas: play more guitar/get better at music in general, learn new recipes and MAKE THEM (I find we are constantly in a food rut.. I make the same things over and over again, so I need new recipes that are yummy and easy to add to my “go to” list), read books about business, health, scripture, etc!

Here are my steps to achieve my goal of learning more:

• CREATIVE HOUR || Install time into each day in which I cannot work, but must be productive. I’ve decided that each weekday, my days will be bookended with a CREATIVE HOUR. And I am super pumped about this and I’m already seeing fruit from this discipline. Each morning from 7-8 and each evening from 8-9 I will do something good and productive for myself that ISN’T WORK. I will read a book, write, play guitar, research new recipes, organize my sock drawer, clean out my closet, go on a walk or bike ride, watercolor, write notes to friends, take photos for pleasure, study a topic I’m excited about, bake a cake, write down gift ideas, take a bath, paint my nails… the list goes on. The only rules are NO TV and NO WORK! 
• TV BOUNDARIES || Last year I fasted from TV for a period of time, and it was amazing. I’ve always known I needed boundaries with TV, because though it can be restful sometimes, too much of it ends up not being restful at all. On weekdays, TV is off for me at 8 pm. This has already been so awesome and made me more excited about other areas of my life which makes me choose TV less and less. 
• INVEST IN LEARNING ||  I need to treat this desire of mine to learn more like the dream a little kid has to be an astronaut. Do you tell the kid, nah you dumb kid, you’ll never be an astronaut. NO. You take that kid to NASA and get them all the swag in the world to inspire them! This is what I want to do for myself. I will buy myself new books this year that I’m excited about reading, I will listen to podcasts, I have a goal to go to a photography conference in December and I have already purchased a business course through Katelyn James that I am SO EXCITED ABOUT!! (Love you KJ)

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GOAL #2: INVEST IN FRIENDSHIPS || This one is probably the most important. But since moving to a new town several years ago, it’s been really hard for me to make new friends. I’m just bad at putting myself out there, and I’m an introvert at heart, so really I’m happiest being alone. However, since I work from home my interactions with people are shockingly low if I don’t have meetings or things planned, and this has slowly drained my joy over the last several months. So this year I’m actively going to invest in making new friends. 

Here are my steps to achieve my goal of investing in friendships more:

• Texting a new friend and asking her to meet with me weekly and just BE TOTALLY REAL WITH HER ABOUT EVERYTHING! I need that!
• Creating a list of people I’ve met recently who I’d love to continue to get to know more and hang out with them one on one.
• Go to stuff when I’m invited (And shout out here to all the kind new people I’ve met who invite me to things!) This one might seem obvious. But remember, I’m introverted and socializing with new people can be really draining to me sometimes! But, I need to do it! 
• Invite people to do stuff with me. Likeeee go shopping, go on walks, get nails done, etc. 

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GOAL #3: BALANCE || I desperately need more balance in my life. This is self explanatory. Without a work / life balance, I find myself drained before Tuesday each week. 

Here are my steps to achieve my goal creating more balance. (This one is cool, because the steps I’m taking for my two other goals really serve my desire for more balance!)

• Less TV, more using my brain for things other than work.
• Spending time with friends instead of Mon-Fri working alone in my office and only interacting with Bowie, Howie, Kenton, and whoever I met with (for work!) that week. 
• Better quality rest. I think I do rest. I could definitely rest more. But I’m still learning how to rest constructively. This applies to any day I’m not working, but really applies to my days after wedding days. I’m still learning how to recover constructively from such days where the demand on my creativity and energy is so intensely high.

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So there you have it! This is what I’m working for in my personal life this year and I’m super excited about how these three goals will make my 2019 more healthy and happy!