Dec 31, 2012

2013 Homemaking Goals


Each year I make a small list of intentional and beneficial goals for myself to hopefully achieve throughout the new year. I feel that calling them goals takes all the pressure off and I can accomplish them in practical timing without the sense of failure should I not meet every goal before the next year. Oh, and it satisfies my love for list making!


My 2013 Homemaking Goals are simple and may be added to or taken away from as life calls for. This time last year I'd have never guessed I'd have just moved to Arkansas {the eighth state I've lived in!}. Life changes and no set of goals is worth stressing over instead of going with the flow of those changes.

My goals:

1. Create a blessings and memories jar.

I'd like to decorate a jar and place in little strips of paper or notes that can commemorate cute memories, happy moments, family events, and blessings. I feel it will be a great way to put a little more focus on the positive parts of life.

2. Implement an evening routine that works in my current stage of life.

For our family, I am the main cook and dishwasher {thankfully I have an actual dishwasher and I just have to rinse and load it and then wash a few handwash-only items}. Between varying job schedules and, certainly, misplaced priorities, our evenings haven't always been the most routine or peaceful and that led to too many nights of not leaving a spotless kitchen before going to bed. This is a bad habit that leads to wasted time scrubbing stuck on food the next day. My goal is to create a routine that will be practical for me and practice it every night until it becomes a habit.

3. Grow a small herb garden.

We are renting our very first house and have a lovely front and back yard to enjoy. I don't plan on tilling up the soil to plant a full garden but I do plan to set up some pots and focus on herbs this year. I am not particularly sure what herbs I'll grow yet {besides basil!} but I'm sure I'll get some great pointers from Creative Christian Mama where she lists her favorite herbs to grow.

4. Begin line drying my laundry more often.

Once we get settled, we would like to erect some sort of clothes line {I already have permission from our landlord!}. I see it as a great excuse to get outside first thing in the morning with the children, a way to save on our energy bill, and possibly prolong the life of my clothing.

5. Make better use of my slow cooker.

I already use it to make overnight oatmeal and chicken stock as well as the occasional recipe here and there. My goal is to make it a point to use it multiple days a week to cut back on the dinner time chaos. I would like to make more slow cooker freezer meals which will certainly make me want to use my slow cooker more often.

6. Join a homeschool group.

For the last 3 1/2 years I have participated in a wonderful program called MOPS but I am feeling that it is time for me to leave that behind and become involved in a homeschool group before the fall of 2013 when Sean will be starting Kindergarten and Logan will be my Pre-K student. This will be beneficial to hopefully develop friendships for all of us but also for support in keeping the state regulations in a brand new state to us!

7. Attempt to brew Kombucha at home.

I want to get a Scoby and start brewing Kombucha on our slow journey toward more natural living. I've tried it once before and thought it was better than I'd imagined but perhaps an acquired taste. Sean really liked it! It's cheaper to make at home and I can customize the flavor to my taste so I figured this is the best way to have it around and actually start incorporating it in our diet.

8. Try my hand at baking homemade gluten free bread.

I've been wanting to do this for a long time but I'm a chicken I guess. I hate to "waste" expensive ingredients and I'm afraid I'll spend a lot of time on it only to be disappointed. Well, the desire to serve fresh bread to my family will win out in the end.

9. Prepare some homeopathic remedies {example: elderberry syrup}.

This will first require making room in our budget and then secondly will require I learn how to go about it. There are so many resources on the internet so it will just be a matter of time before I take the plunge. I've heard amazing things about elderberry syrup and any natural remedy surely beats just suffering through a cold and waiting for it to run its course {my usual method}!

10. Pay off debt.

We won't pay off all our debt {hello school loans...} in 2013, but we already have a plan to knock out a nice chunk of it and we would like to implement the "snowball" method of paying off smaller debts and contributing what we were paying to each paid off debt toward the next lowest debt, and so on and so forth. It is a hugely relieving feeling to pay off debt and being low-debt or debt free is very important to us. The key to this goal is focus and intentional progress. It takes work and sacrifice to pay off debt but we're dedicated to making it happen.

Happy New Year my friends!

♥Shari


4 comments:

  1. someone shared this with me since I haven't been able to procure a scoby locally. It's a goal of mine this coming year as well as making water keifer, another probiotic beverage.

    http://www.foodrenegade.com/how-to-grow-a-kombucha-scoby/

    Also, hooray on having a dishwasher finally!

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    1. Thanks Alicia. That sounds interesting!

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  2. Great goals! I love the direction lists like this give me. It helps to keep me focused on the goals/improvements I want to make. I still need to make a list of goals for 2013. (Our baby daughter was just born yesterday so I probably won't get around to writing or working on goals for a few weeks. :-))

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    1. Congrats on your new baby! Rest up and enjoy baby before worrying about New Year goals!

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