Sunday, February 4, 2024

Crystal's 22 Goals for 2024: January's Update and more...

It's the beginning of February, and I wanted to post an update on how I'm doing on my goals for 2024. If you missed my original post, here are My 22 Goals for 2024. In that post, I share specifics on why I chose each goal + my word for 2024 and how it's ...
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Intentional finance. Intentional family. Intentional business.

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Crystal’s 22 Goals for 2024: January’s Update

It’s the beginning of February, and I wanted to post an update on how I’m doing on my goals for 2024. If you missed my original post, here are My 22 Goals for 2024. In that post, I share specifics on why I chose each goal + my word for 2024 and how it’s my over-arching focus for why I set the goals I did.

Physical Health Goals/Habits

1. Sunlight Before Screens at Least 300 Days – I’m thrilled to say that I’m ahead on this goal as I hit it all but one day in January — and that was the day I was stranded overnight at the Dallas airport!

2. At Least 300 Walks Outside — I’m also ahead on this goal as I hit it all but two days in January!

3. 1000 Hours Outside — January was super cold (at least for TN — we had lots of below freezing days and snow on the ground for 9 days!) and I spent some time in KS where it was below zero some of the time! But I’m super excited to say that I hit my goal of getting at least an hour outside every day — despite the cold! And I ended the month getting 47 hours outside! My hope is to hit 90 hours outside in February… so long as we don’t have another freezing cold week!

4. Only Eat Refined Sugar Twice a Week — I exceeded this goal, too, much to my surprise! I thought it was going to be WAY harder than it was! It probably helps that I did some sugar fasts in 2023. In January, I had dessert with refined sugar once and then refined sugar in items 6 other times. I discovered that Chick-fil-A was one of the few things I caved for!

5. Consume 90 Grams of Protein at Least 300 Days — I also exceeded this goal in January. In fact, it was pretty easy to do and I think a lot of that had to do with me starting working toward this the last quarter of 2023. I hit my goal of 90 grams of protein all but 4 days in January — and two of the days I didn’t hit it were when I was stranded at the Dallas airport/traveling.

Emotional Health Goals/Habits

6. No Screens After 8:30 p.m. at Least 300 Days — This goal has been more of a challenge for me, but it’s been SO good! I’m almost right on track with where I should be to hit this goal by the end of the year, despite it being challenging!

7. Learn a New Skill: How to Make Sourdough Bread — Okay, this was the goal that surprised me big time! I thought it would take me weeks and many tries to figure this out. But I was shocked that my very first loaf of sourdough bread was a success and I’ve since made 7 more loaves and each one gets a little bit better! I’ve also made sourdough waffles multiple times (recipe coming soon!), sourdough English Muffins, sourdough muffins, and sourdough pancakes! Plus, this success has inspired me to now try my hand at making water kefir, kombucha, and sauerkraut!

8. Complete 3 Embroidery Projects — I’m on track with this goal and have finished 1/4th of my first embroidery project!

9. Be Completely Offline 40 Sundays — I was offline 3 Sundays in January, so I’m on track with this goal, too!

Spiritual Health Goals/Habits

10. Go through 4 She Reads Truth Bible Reading Studies — I finished the Ruth study in January and started the This is the Gospel study.

11. Finish 4 Devotionals — I read 1/4 of Embraced by Lysa Terkerst (it has 100 devotionals in it.) I’m really being blessed by it!

Reading Goals

12. Read 1000 Picture Books to the Kids. — We read close to 100 picture books in January, so we’re making good progress here!

13. Read the first 4 Little House on the Prairie books aloud to the three younger kids. — I read 1/3 of the first book to the little kids in January, so we’re right on pace for this goal!

14. Read Through The Biggest Story Bible Storybook. — We read 14 stories of the 104 stories in January, so we’re making good traction here.

15. Finish 75 Books — I finished 6.5 books in January, so I’m right on track! (I’m sharing book reviews in my personal email newsletter now, so sign up here if you don’t want to miss them!)

Homeschool Goals

16. Finish Junior Kindergarten + Preschool — We made some good headway on this in January!

17. Start Sonlight Preschool/PreK

Marriage Goals

18. ABC Date Nights — We did our A date and our B date in January! They were so much fun!

19. 2 Overnight Getaways — As soon as Micah is weaned, we are going to schedule our first overnight getaway!

Business Goal

20. 6 Product Launches/Sales — We launched 10 Weeks of Money-Saving Menus in January and have a big sale coming up this next week for a bunch of other products and it will be the last time you’ll be able to get them on sale ever. So you don’t want to miss it!

Financial Goal

21. Pay Cash for Another Rental House — Haven’t made any progress on this goal yet other than continuing to save and discuss where we might want to purchase a rental house.

Home Goal

22. Get the Main Floor Re-painted — Haven’t made any progress on this goal yet.

How I’m Tracking My Goals

For all of the goals that have a number attached to them, I’m using the Strides app (iPhone only, unfortunately) to track them. You can put in the amount you want to hit by the end of a timeframe (in this case, by the end of the year) and then mark off every time you hit that goal. You can then see in real-time how you are doing and whether you are behind, ahead, or right on track with hitting your goal. I’ve been using it this past year and have found it to be so helpful!

If You Want to Read My Personal Posts and Follow Along With My Goal Progress, Be Sure to Sign Up for My Personal Enewsletter

My personal email newsletter comes out every Saturday and you can sign up for it for free here. Here’s what you can expect from it every Saturday:

  • Bits and pieces from our life — especially behind-the-scenes things that I might not share elsewhere
  • Books I’m reading and really honest reviews — I’m moving my book reviews on the blog to this weekly email newsletter because I felt like that would give me a bit more freedom to share more in-depth and honestly than I feel like I can share in a public space that’s on the internet
  • Things I’m loving — products, hacks, websites, music, etc.
  • TV shows and movies we’re watching — and honest reviews!
  • Lessons I’m learning, things I’m thinking about, etc.
  • Any fantastic deals that I think you might want a heads up on
  • New products we’re working on/launching — we have some exciting new things we’re rolling out in 2024!!
  • Podcasts/interview links and details — If I released a podcast or if I was interviewed on a podcast, I’ll share the links and info in the weekly newsletter

Sign up for my personal enewsletter here.

   
 

Weekly Recap: Kroger delivery, sourdough, basketball, and an interview with Cynthia Yanof!

Welcome to my weekly recap post where I share a little peek into our week, share some links to things I don’t want you to miss, and highlight some things you may not have seen on the blog this week.

This week, after a lot of rain, the weather turned a corner and the sun came out. So we’ve been loving spending lots of time outside in the sunshine!!

It was also basketball playoffs week. Silas’ team made it to the semi-finals and I was so proud of how hard they played and fought!

I also made more sourdough, tried my hand at making water kefir, perfected sourdough waffles (recipe coming soon), and am gearing up to try my hand at making kombucha and sauerkraut! I’m having so much fun learning and trying all these new things!

I consider the mark of a good book one that makes you laugh and get teary-eyed in the space of a few pages. Cynthia Yanof’s book, Life is Messy, God is Good: Sanity for the Chaos of Everyday Life, did that very thing for me. Her ability to bring humor into life’s messiness is beautiful and one we can all learn from.

In this week’s episode of the podcast, we touch on some of Cynthia’s story and lessons she’s gleaned. We talk about her experiences as an older mom with kids in college, high school, and first grade and how foster care profoundly impacted their family. I love her insights into stepping into scary places and learning to lean on God and trust Him — even when it’s really hard.

One of the parts of her book I really appreciated was her wisdom on friendships. I ask her to dive into this on the podcast as I often hear from women who are really struggling to make and keep friendships. We talk about what it looks like to invest in relationships, even when it feels like we don’t have much time and how to really show up well for people in the midst of full schedules. 

If you are navigating the chaos of everyday life (and, let’s be honest, aren’t we all?), craving a good laugh, and looking for encouragement in the messiness, I think Cynthia’s words and story will bless you! Listen in to hear about embracing and seeing beauty in life’s messiness and standing confident in the unwavering goodness of God.

Listen to the episode here.

   
 
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