I can’t believe we are in the final few hours of 2016! What a year it’s been. For many, it’s been a mostly negative year. I think I feel fairly neutral about the year as a whole, as it affects me personally. Good things and bad things happened. I’m nervous about some things in the future, and hopeful about others.

I wanted to revisit my goals that I wrote about here and see how I did. I’m pleased with how I challenged myself with #3 and that has made me feel really good about my year as a whole, even if it was just a small thing. I like the idea of setting achievable goals. I am ruminating on some for 2017, so I’ll be back with those. (Maybe. ;-) )

My 2016 goals, and my response to them:
1) Draw closer to Christ.
– This is always a journey and I won’t ever be able to check it off. For this year, I do think I was able to make some positive changes in this area. I have been more conscious about how external influences affect me, and made some changes with this in mind. Hopefully I can continue to do this even more in 2017.

2) Be more present with my kids.
– I completely failed on this one. Some days I do okay, but I still have a lot to work on.

3) Read for pleasure.
– This goal ended up being so empowering! I initially set a goal of 12 books, but when I hit that this summer, I decided to shoot for 24 books – and did it! A few of the books I read were really impactful in my life this year. I picked up several that I’ve always been meaning to read, and I’m so glad I did. I look forward to having this goal again for 2017.

4) Journal.
– I didn’t do very well at this. I did get a journal that encouraged creative writing – giving you just the first sentence, and you finish it. I enjoyed that for a little bit, but eventually it fell by the wayside.

5) Make a budget and stick to it.
– Ha! I have this goal every year, and every year I fail miserably. I did purchase YNAB and I got our budget all figured out, but then I did horrible about recording transactions and sticking to the categories. Last night, Paul and I watched a few YNAB videos and are committed to setting it up and holding to it this year. We’ll see. ;-)

6) Develop good habits with housekeeping.
– Another big fat nope. Ah, well.

7) Learn to crochet
– I actually bought a “how to” book and yarn and started teaching myself. I got the very basics, but then couldn’t figure it out when it got more complicated. I wanted to take a class, but I was basically a single parent for much of the year so that just wasn’t going to happen. But, I’ve a little bit lost my interest so we’ll see. I did pick up cross-stitching again! I enjoy that a lot.