2012 Monthly Goals In Review

For 2012, I made a goal for each month.  Some were successful, and some were not.  Here's the year in review:

January: Make one of these note card journal calendars. And then use it. I have note cards, so if I don't get to making it right away, I can at least start journaling.  I did this one! I love how it turned out, and I actually used it to review for our Christmas letter.

February: Deep clean my refrigerator. It's not a glamorous goal, but it needs to be done. Not a pretty job, but complete.

March: Make a spring/Easter decorative hanger for our door. Or maybe finish the one I started last year...After finishing this, I don't love the color combination (I went with what was in the pattern), but I am glad to have completed an unfinished project.

April: Make a reusable Swiffer duster refill (or two, since I have two dusters). These are really useful, and the kids still do most of the dusting for me!

May: Make at least 2 "busy bag" learning activities for Jonah.  I did get a few of these made, although not until July...

June: Get everything packed up, purged, and organized for our move. It's not a big move. Just back into town. But it is still moving, and all the fun that goes with it. Complete!

July: Get our new place set up, and routines reestablished. A new place, plus the busy-ness of moving, will throw everything off for awhile. Complete!

August: Take $10 and go to the dollar store and/or thrift store and find something to take from trash to treasure in a crafty way.  I had high hopes for this one, and it just never materialized.  Maybe next year?

September: Bake myself a pretty birthday cake (or cupcakes, or whatever I'm in the mood for).  I made myself a yummy chocolate and peanut butter cake.

October: Begin planning Christmas gifts for the year. This last year went pretty well, because I planned early, but I still ended up working on quite a few projects well into December. This year I want to figure everything out and set up a schedule so I can spread the projects out more, and enjoy more free time (and baking!) in December.  First half: successful.  I had everything planned with plenty of time to spare.  Second part: miserable failure.  I didn't start working on most of my projects until mid-December, and this was definitely another stressful time for me.

November: Prepare an Advent calendar with fun activities for each day in December. I wanted to do this last year, but didn't end up having time.  I started the Advent calendar.  And it honestly hasn't gotten much beyond what is in those photos.  But I do plan on continuing to work on it throughout this next year, and hopefully it will be done for next year.

December: Create at least 3 homemade Christmas decorations, including at least 1 with the kiddos. Projects are fun!  Fail.  I had lots of grand ideas, and while we did make some treats together, I spent most of my time crafting presents for other people.  There's always next year?

Overall, I enjoyed this method of making New Year's Resolutions better than just having a general list for the whole year.  I did discover that I need to make sure to actually refer back to the list more frequently, because some goals I simply forgot about because I hadn't looked at it in awhile.  For next year, I haven't decided what I want to do yet.  I have no idea how the addition of a new baby in May, plus another potential move to an as-of-now unknown location will throw things for a loop.

I've also thought of doing a monthly goals post instead of one list at the beginning of the year.  It will be more accurate to whatever our current situation may be, but will still give me something to work towards, which definitely helps me keep my sanity as a stay-at-home mom.

How about you? What are some of your goals for this year?