organization and general life goals

I commented recently on a post about making realistic goals for the new year that I may have too many goals.  I think that in general the goals I am writing about are not necessarily “this year” goals, and more like life goals in general.  I have been working to move my life into a different, more intentional direction.  After realizing how fast this past year was, and that my 1st baby is almost four, and 2nd baby almost 2, it really put life into perspective.  I need to slow down, I need to enjoy the days more.  Here are my plans to do that this year.

Keep a family binder


When I was pregnant with Jack I started making a household binder.  I really love lists, I love organizational activities, and I was worried that after having a 2nd c-section I would need to pass something to Matt so that he could handle some of my job as a wife/mama without getting overwhelmed.  Luckily I really bounced back from that surgery (which was the complete opposite of my first experience).  I had compiled a great binder, but then through lack of sleep and days that seemed to slip away from me having a toddler and infant, I didn’t use it.

This year, I would really like to make my binder work for me.  I am planning on doing a series on home binders starting next week.  I think the addition of command central has helped me start using my binder as a planning tool for my day.  My hope is that this binder will give a flow to my days, and also allow me to have a place where everything goes.  And if someone ever needed to come in and help my family for some reason, having the information available to them would be a great help I believe.

Have an emergency plan


I am a bit of a doomer when it comes to the goings on of the economy/global warming/world events.  I think it is my natural pessimism.  Not that I am not a happy person, I probably smile more than anyone you know 🙂  But preparing for some sort of problem in the future is something I feel like we need to do.  And I am not talking zombies, but if there was another ice storm like when I was in high school and we lost power for a few weeks, what would our options be?  I want to create an emergency plan for my family, where we would go if we needed to leave the house, and also to have some supplies in the house if we were to need them.  Can I tell you we have only lost power once in our house since we moved here 5 years ago?  And it was for 4 hours…in the middle of the night.  So our supply of flashlights is next to nil and batteries for said imaginary flashlights…also non-existent…or maybe they are being stored in some toys 🙂

Keep Saturday free as a family day


With Matt working 6 and sometimes 7 days each week, having a day to recharge as a family is important.  Back in September I wrote about finding time.  We had been going straight with working, and then having plans on Saturdays was giving me a slight headache 🙂  After our awesome vacation we realized that we needed some more down time as a family.  Then the holidays took hold and we were busy every. single. weekend.  I would like to have Saturday be our family day again.  Not that we will never make plans for a Saturday, but we want to keep them open for us to relax and enjoy each others’ company.  It may sound selfish, but if we are unhappy in our daily life how are we able to find joy in spending time with others and not viewing it instead as a burden?

Extend my “local food” to “local living”


It is relatively easy for me to eat a mainly local diet now.  I have been doing it for so long.  I’m not a purist of course.  Avocados and bananas are currently on my counter.  I would, however, like to extend my local eating to local living.  My little city has quite a bit to offer, and I’m sure that I could find the majority of what I need in town.  I think it is a little too easy to go to the much larger city next door to shop.  And every time I do that, we tend to spend a lot of money.  I think that if I tried to live more locally, I would spend less money, and less time running around.  I wanted to do a year of local living with Matt, but couldn’t get him on board.  Maybe if I show him that it is easy, saving us time and money, he will jump on board.

Write more cards/letters


I love getting mail.  Not junk mail…or bills…but real mail.  The little cards and letters that friends send you randomly throughout the year.  Love it!  In this day and age, it is so easy to write out an e-mail, so letter writing has taken a huge back seat.  I want to send more letters this year.  It is hard to figure out what to say to someone who you may e-mail everyday, but I think that sending little notes of encouragement could brighten someones day.  So I am hoping to really jump on board with writing letters and cards again.

Do you have any general life goals for the year?  Are you trying to steer your life into a new direction?