Three years ago, I unintentionally started my own New Year’s tradition. Instead of creating resolutions that would be too easily forgotten or too quickly broken (like giving up fast food completely or working out every single day), I made a list of a few specific, measurable, realistic goals: a list that I could come back to a year later to reflect on and see how I grew. And the idea kind of stuck with me, so here I am, for the fourth year in a row, thankful for God’s faithfulness in 2019 and turning a hopeful eye toward the new year ahead!

MY 2019 GOALS WERE:

• Each night (or as often as I can), write down something that made me happy that day. ✓
  I didn’t actually complete this for the whole year, but honestly, I’m okay with it. I started feeling guilty when I would miss a day (or twelve days), and the whole point of doing it was to bring myself joy, not guilt. So…I quit! And I gave myself permission to not feel bad about it. Instead, I’ve been taking more candid photos – my mom friends cuddling their babies, Daniel and his friends laughing while watching a game together, church friends quietly serving behind the scenes. I’ve still been preserving little moments of joy, just with a camera instead of a pen.
• Plan a “stay-cation”.
  As much as I wanted to make this happen…I waited too long. :( I wanted to try to plan one in the midst of Daniel’s busy season, to give him a breather, but it didn’t work out like I had hoped. But I’m not giving up, and we’re going to do this soon!
• Learn something new – an intimidating recipe, common phrases in a few other languages, maybe a yoga pose. But something brand new to me. ✓
  1. Ear candling! Super weird. Still don’t totally understand how it works, but I always wanted to try it at least once.
  2. Aerial yoga, for Robyn’s bachelorette party – SO FUN! I wish there was a studio near me so I could take classes.
  3. I planned my very first wedding (Nicole and Ben’s) as a paid event coordinator!! One of the most stressful, magical days of my life!
  4. I made my own butter, and it was FREAKING amazing. Just cream + a jar with a lid + salt. Yummmmm.
  5. Kaci Walston taught me how to make her famous pie crust!
• Finish reading through the whole Bible chronologically. ✓
  This took me a little over a year and a half to complete – it’s a carryover from last year’s list of goals. I look back on this experience with so much joy, and I can’t wait to read it all again, and again, and again, until my last breath. ♥
• Do just enough cardio to keep my heart from literally bursting at two of the most anticipated, most emotional, and most exciting weddings of my life: Robyn + Travis // Amanda + Ryan. ✓
  Two of the sweetest, most beautiful, and most fun weddings I’ve ever been part of. 2019 = THE YEAR OF LOVE ♥♥
• Find a fun 5k in my area, train for it, and run in it. ✓
  I did the Color Run in Tulsa with Daniel, Robyn, Travis, Jennifer, and Stacey, and it was a blast!! I surprised myself with how much I ran versus walked.
• Pray for Daniel every single day. ✓
  It may not have been LITERALLY every day, but I made this list to keep myself on track, and it has really helped!
• Have at least one TV-free day per week, and one social media-free day per month. 
  I definitely did NOT do this every week or every month. Again. *facepalm* I think this is something that will always be on my list of things I want to get better at. I’m just going to put it on every goal list from now on until I accomplish it.
• Set specific time aside to do something for our marriage: a weekend away, a marriage conference, etc. ✓
  We had a dinner date alone at the steakhouse while on our friendscation cruise in October, and that time together and our conversation were a breath of fresh air! We also had some really great conversations in the car while traveling for Christmas.
• Host our friends for a full-fledged, multi-course dinner party.
  Between all the weddings, parties, baby showers, and traveling that happened in 2019, I just didn’t have time. This is still on my list for the future, though – it’s going to happen eventually.

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• 2020 •

Continue my streak from last year and spend time in God’s Word every single day.

Go skydiving!

Do a “no-spend” week.

Visit somewhere new with Daniel.

Call my parents, siblings, and grandparents more.

Try something new: an intimidating recipe, learn common phrases in a few other languages, geocaching, maybe a yoga pose. Something brand new to me.

Go to a drive-in movie.

Make some emergency preparedness kits: one for the car, one for the basement, etc.

Have at least one TV-free day per week and one social media-free day per month.

Shop local more: downtown shops, summer farmer’s market, etc.

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I’m also continuing my tradition of picking a Word for the Year! The last three have been Hope, Courage, and Joy. Joy was the absolute PERFECT word to describe 2019, and for 2020, my word is:

D I S C I P L I N E .

I’m not gonna lie, my whole body dry-heaved just typing it. But I feel deeply burdened by my lack of discipline in too many important areas to count, and I am confident, yet again, that this word was given to me by the Lord for a reason. Here’s to another year of learning and growing!

What is one of your goals for this year? Tell me in the comments!