March 2014 Goal Update

 

Happy April!
How are you doing with your goals? I'm excited to report that even though I dropped the ball on two goals, I've made good progress on most, and even met a few.  Here's the full scoop:


Personal Goals:

• Get serious about having a regular quiet time. 
  I've settled into a pretty good routine for Bible reading each morning, but I have decided not to continue with the Bible in a Year plan. Instead, I am going through a reading plan from my church. Each passage is connected to the coming Sunday's sermon.
  I was a little disappointed to give up on my goal to read the Bible in a year, but I really think it's the right choice for the moment. First, my sweet sister recommended that my goal may not be best for this season of life and that instead I should focus on smaller passages that I can really digest more easily. That same week, I taught a lesson in Pioneer Girls that said, "It's more important to carefully read one story or a few verses than to hurry though whole chapters of the Bible." Umm... I took that as pretty clear direction that I should do something a little less intense. A bonus is that Hubby is doing the same reading plan, so we can discuss it.
• Exercise at least twice a week. So, other than the three evening walks we when the weather was nice, I completely dropped the exercise in March. April is a new month, so I hope to get back into a routine.
• Re-evaluate my schedule and responsibilities outside the home.
  Goal met, for the time being. I will re-evaluate as activities end in May.

 Household Goals:

• Find a Cleaning Routine that works.
  Maybe this month. :-)
• Purge and organize the basement and garage.
  I hope to get at least one of these done before the end of April. The cold weather is not helping my cause. :)
• Finish the Family Room update.
  We have a rug (for a fabulous price!), so now I just need to choose the accent pieces, like throw pillows, wall art, and mantel decor. Decorating is not my strong point, so this update is really dragging out. My next goal is throw pillows. Hopefully, I will have them on the couch by my April update.

Parenting Goals:

• Read at least one parenting book completely.
  I hope to do this over vacation this summer.
• Choose and memorize at least two Bible verses with Kiddo. 
  I taught Psalm 147:5 NIV to Kiddo last weekend, and he had it memorized in less than 2 days. He melts my heart: "Gate is our Yord, and mighty in powder! His understanding has no yimit. Psalm One-ty-forty-seven, verse five."  :-)
  He did so well, I have a feeling we'll definitely do more than two verses this year!
• Take Kiddo outside to play every day (or if it's too cold or rainy, play an active indoor game).
  The cold weather is working against us. We did go outside several days this month, but definitely not every day. I didn't really do any structured active games on the days we didn't go outside, so this goal was not met in March. I'm excited to get outside more once we hit warm spring weather!
• Have at least one play date a month. 
  We had a few play dates this month. One at a friend's house, one at Chick-Fil-A, and one at the park. Kiddo always really enjoy them. :)

Marriage Goals:

• Schedule an official date night (at home or out) once every month.
  We went to Texas Roadhouse on March 1st. I have photographic proof. :)

• Do one special thing for Hubby each month.
  I got a card and a present for Hubby's birthday, and made him some special treats. I hope that counts! 

Blog Goals:

• Continue blogging throughout 2014.
  So far, so good! We're getting close to my 100th post!
• Monetize. 
  Goal met! I received my confirmation pin from Google Adsense. This means that they have confirmed the address where they'll send my check once I reach the $100 needed to cash out. My earnings slowed down considerably in March, so it will definitely take a while to reach that payout, but it's nice to know I'm earning something. Thank you for your support, friends!
• Write at least 6 "risky" posts.
  No "risky" posts this month, which means I'm still one-third of the way to meeting my goal. I started several, but never finished them. The personal posts are harder to write because they take more time to really think out and fine-tune than a recipe or tutorial. I need to get on top of this goal, though, so I plan to force myself to publish one in April.
• Design at least 2 free printables.
  Goal Met! No new printables this month.
• Write at least 2 blog series or challenges.
  I started Tips & Tricks Thursday, which is a regular series, and now that I think of it, so is Menu Plan Monday. I also did the time-suck challenge in February, and although I don't know of anyone who participated, it helped me think about how to better prioritize my time. This month, I'll be trying a Spring Cleaning Challenge. We'll see how it goes.
  I guess we can consider this goal accomplished!
• Take better advantage of social media.
  Goal Met!
  If you haven't already, connect with me on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, and Bloglovin'! I've made a more conscious effort to participate in link parties. It's been a fun way to connect with fellow bloggers and even attract a few new readers. 

So, this month was far from perfect. I may have fallen completely off the wagon for at least one goal, but I did start working on at least one new goal in March, and I have met or made progress on several others. There are still goals left to attempt, but I have a plan in place for timing on most of them. Overall, I'm really pleased with how things are going. As I said when I introduced my 2014 goals, I'm really not a goal-setting kind of person, but I really have benefited from taking the time to make some concrete plans.
How about you? Did you make goals for the year? How are they going?

I'm linking up at these link parties.