Oh, hello there! Yes, it’s me! Did you think I had fallen off the face of the planet? Well, I basically did and have been MIA on here for the past couple of months. MONTHS…yes. It shames me to admit it, but will you forgive me? 🙂 We had a little surprise for the holidays and you can find out more about that over on my Instagram.

We are well into a new year so I thought I would share my goals for this year. It’s not necessarily a new year’s resolution thing, but more like goal planning. It’s intentional and strategic. I take some time at the beginning of the year (usually mid-January or February) and brainstorm on exactly what I would like to accomplish for the year.

Since we’ve got some big changes for our family coming soon, I went ahead and had my little goal planning session earlier this week and here’s what came out of it.

These are my top ten goals for 2019:

* spoiler alert on #1 *

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1. Have the nursery ready by June 1^st.

Yup! We are expecting our second baby! My due date is July 1 and I will probably deliver mid or late June so I want to get this done ASAP. We’ve got to do some minor work like replacing the baseboards and painting so that starts in the next couple of weeks.

2. Makeover the guest room/office.

The office / junk room is going to be the nursery so we’re combining the guest room and office. I’ve got to create a little nook in the guest room for a workspace and computer so we’re giving it a little décor makeover.

3. Complete a mini kitchen refresh/facelift.

It’s official. I can’t stand the orange terracotta tile in the kitchen any longer. There are plans this year of painting the tile. I’ll keep you posted.

4. Design photo book for 2018.

I like to make printed photo books of highlights from our year and I’ve been doing really well, but I’m behind now that it’s 2019. #RealLife My goal is to get caught up by the end of February. I’ve got to order the 2017 book and design the 2018 book. Also, I want to work on the current year at the end of each month. Just a better way to manage all those digital photos.

5. Purchase a MacBook Pro in July.

My Mac desktop is old. Like too old to update to the latest software. A laptop is definitely needed. I want to pay cash for it so this means saving $200 each month.

6. Design and order our wedding album by our anniversary.

So, we never actually ordered our wedding photo album and seeing as this year we will celebrate our ten-year anniversary, I think it’s time.

7. Complete this interior photography course.

Since we are having a baby in June sometime, I’m mostly trying to get everything done by then including this photography course. Taking good pics has been one of my hold ups here on the blog so I’m taking steps to improve it! Looking forward to actually knowing how to work my DSLR and taking better pics especially of interiors to share with you here.

8. Publish at least two blog posts per month.

It has been challenging to post as often as I would like, and, as you know, it’s been so sporadic. I really don’t like that! So going into this year, I commit to posting at least twice a month. Hopefully more as I get into a routine and improve my photography skills.

9. Post two/three times a week on Instagram.

Same as above. I want to engage with people more on Instagram and focus on sharing good, quality images in my feed. By the way, do you follow me on Instagram? That’s where I’ll be hanging out more this year.

10. Pay off some small debt.

Nothing huge. Just my Lowe’s card from some recent home projects. Just something that I need to tackle.

Well, those are my top ten priority goals for this year! At least the first six months anyway because come June/July, I’ll have my hands full with a toddler and a newborn. 🙂

Word of the Year

Oh! I almost forgot! I also like to come up with a word for the year. A visionary word that helps bring focus. A simple one-word reminder and sort of an overall “banner” or “theme” for how you want your year to flow.

My word for this year is…

Consistency

With payments, writing, posting, working on rooms and projects, saving, walking…everything.

My word last year was intentional. Some ideas are simplify, purposeful, acceptance, grateful, balanced, committed, connection, faith, focus, exploration…you get the point.

What are some of your goals and intentions for this year? Do you have a word for 2019? Please share in the comments below!

Thanks for reading and sticking around!