Goal Check-In: February

Here's a recap of how we did on our goals for the month of February:

Little Miss Boxy:

My biggest goal has been an overall purging and decluttering. I shared photos of where I was a month ago and was hoping to share a bunch of pictures from right now. However, I ended up coming down with something mid-month, plus work was super busy, so I don't feel all that happy with the minimal progress I made. To be fair, I am still in the process of working on other things and we definitely have made progress. I still wish it was more. This is the den from the same location. It's hard to tell much in the picture, but we cleaned everything out on the tables and in the entertainment center, as well as moved items around. It's a lot more organized, although not with the Girl Scout Cookies on my husband's end table (yes, the one with the Minion!).

Our other major goal was eating better. We've been very good at this actually. We shook up the schedule a little bit when I wasn't feeling well, ending up ordering takeout twice that week, but I was good about skipping the following week.

Specifically, in February, I had wanted to work on paying down a credit card, finishing the library (organizing at least), and to recycle more. The credit card didn't really happen yet, although I knew it probably wouldn't. Our bills are much higher during the winter because of heating costs and we have the electricity running more, so I know that's more of a long-term goal anyway.

I didn't finish the library, because I ended up doing some reorganizing in other rooms. However, I'm happy with what we've done in those areas. Now to the library!

Finally, as far as recycling, we're getting better. The problem is that our town only picks it up every other week and with all the snow, they've missed several weeks. Plus there's nowhere to put the bin along with the trash since our driveway is a small strip between about six feet of snow on either end. I don't think it's a good enough excuse, but we did start taking small steps towards being more conscious of it, including filling the bin (which is now waiting for the next pick up) as well as getting one for inside.

Little Miss Crafty:

So here we are at the end of February, and I am not sad to see it go. February has been entirely too cold here for me, and the kids have had too many delays to count anymore.

At the end of February, I am happy to say that I am headed in the right direction with organization and family time. I have been able to purge some things and donate others to help rid my house of random clutter. I am not done yet, though. I really need to tackle bigger projects like the garage and basement, but that will have to wait until the weather cooperates. It is just too cold right now.

I have also managed to organize my time better as well. I suppose you could say I have decluttered in those areas of my life as well. I have had to step back and learn when to say, "no, I just can't do that right now." By doing this, it has opened up my time to focus on what truly matters in my life, which is my family and getting my schoolwork done. I will admit there were a few rough patches through the month when Boxy had to virtually smack me and tell me to get back on schedule. After a long talk with her, we pinpointed that one of my issues is that, when the unexpected happens, I tend to write off the whole day, instead of dealing with the unexpected and getting back on track.

Thanks to a better schedule and organizing my time, I was able to spend time with the family this month more than I had been. I went on a date with my husband, which hasn't happened in years, took my oldest to BINGO, helped out with her Girl Scout cookie sales, and even had time to play some board games with my middle child. I am hoping that throughout the year this continues to improve, and I am excited to be able to work on the costumes for the school play.

My monthly goals were to workout three times a week, and I am sad to say that this didn't happen. I did manage to workout at least once a week, but with school delays, my entire schedule was thrown off and as mentioned above, when I get side tracked that is the end of it. :( I am really hoping to improve this because it is something that will benefit me as well as the family.

My other goal was to do one project a week with the "baby" of the family. He and I have spent a lot of time bonding over the last month. While we didn't accomplish a project exactly every week, we did do some fun things. Some of his favorite things that we have done this month include trips to the craft store. He gets to pick out things like googly eyes and pipe cleaners to make his own creations. He also enjoys taking a bath in the "bubble" tub and we have fun blowing the bubble bath bubbles at each other or giving him a beard. His other favorite activity this month was cuddling under the electric blanket and making up stories with me. Although these things were not exactly projects, it was still time well spent.

How about you? How are your resolutions holding up?