Summer Goals

If you've known me long, you know that I actually enjoy writing goals. I start out the year with my overall goals and then move ahead each month with a list of goals longer than my arm with the full understanding that I won't accomplish them all but I will (hopefully) accomplish some.  Usually, when I get to summer time, I'm losing steam and tend to fizzle out for a few months.  I'm not a fan of heat . . or sweating . .  .so I tend to do not much of anything throughout the summer.  This year I thought I'd try something new in order to actually accomplish some things.  I'm going to write a summer goal list that covers June, July and August.  (Are you sleeping yet? HA!)  A friend of mine is taking a Facebook break this summer.  She deactivated her account June 1st and doesn't plan to return until September 1st.  I'm not doing that (no way, no how - I need adult conversation) BUT I do want to try and focus more on the things I need to get done and being present in the lives of my kids so I might try to limit my time on there some.  Everything in moderation, right? 

So here's my goals:

The Home
1. The basement.  Lets be real.  I kinda hate dislike my basement.  I've told Darryl that if we ever move, I don't want a basement unless it's a full walkout that doesn't feel like a basement and is completely finished but really, I just want a really long ranch house without a basement and that has a big storage room as part of the house.  That doesn't solve my problem now though.  So this summer I have the huge major goal (that I've had for like 5 years) to complete the basement clean out, clean up, and organization.  Ironically my washer has been broken for about a month so I haven't stepped foot in my basement in about that long and I kinda like it ;-)  Anyway, this is a project I just have to do and it's not something someone can help me with.  I just want it done, set up to stay organized, and cleaned.  I want all of the junk and unneeded items gone, and I want it easy to find stuff once I'm done.
2. The Garage.  Darryl and I tackle this every summer and this year is no exception.  Time to be a little tougher though and really clean out the stuff we don't need.  Plus organize the stuff we do need and just have a home for the stuff that's in there.  Really, this is just a day long project . . or even just an afternoon so it's  not that big of a deal.
3. Deep Cleaning the house.  It's that time of year again.  Time to go through each room and clean stuff out.  I have an overall goal of becoming more of a "minimalist" this year. So, I just keep working on cleaning out what we don't use and need.  The goal by the end of summer is to have gone through every room and make it neat, tidy and efficient.  The biggest challenge?  The boys room and their legos.
4. The Yard.  We've planted our garden and we will see how it grows :-)  I'm currently working on weeding the flower beds and laying down layers of mulch.  I have a specific goal - just 30 minutes a day.  I really don't like doing yard work but like the way it looks when it is done so doing 30 minutes a day is about all I want to do :-)  Once the beds are all weeded and mulched, that 30 minutes should be enough to keep them weeded and looking nice.  

Scrapbooking
1. Get my groove back.  How's that for a goal??  I've floundered for a few years but it's time to get back into whatever I'm going to do.  Order pages, order pictures, buy my photo printer, figure out how I'm going to scrapbook now and plan and prep for a Scrapbook weekend in November.  I'd like to work now towards having photos and supplies purchased so I can just sit down and scrapbook the whole weekend.

Family
1. Weekly planning.  I have an dream (haha) of having a weekly plan with the kids.  I already have it laid out and am working on plans for week one.  It's a fine balance between doing something each day and over planning so we/I get burned out.  I'm hoping to do more stuff with them this summer too - parks, splash pads and even the local state park beach (not my favorite but it is water for the kids to play in!)
2. Fun with the family - Family time is always good.  We have a few camping trips planned and I'd like to get us to the beach some not to mention movies and other events.  I'd like to try and do a few overnight trips too even just to "our" city where we can enjoy a pool and some time away from home. 

Personal
1. Reading.  In a different post I'll share my stack of books I want to work through but I want to read more.  Read for fun and read for learning.
2. Finances.  This is nothing new.  It's just trying to track daily what we spend and save.  We have some big things to save for - a trip to Texas for a wedding; a trip to South Carolina for Christmas; and a tentative trip to California in the future.  Plus I have stuff for the house to save for and just general stuff like that.
3. Bible Study.  I need to get back into my daily Bible study and prayer time.  As is always the case, I do well for awhile and then life gets in the way so I'm hoping to find something new to study and read and move on from there.

Misc.
1. Canning and Freezing.  I'm thinking about canning again this year.  (How's that for a goal?)  I miss having homemade jam here and having to buy it instead.  I also was thinking about some pickles and maybe salsa.  I wouldn't mind a few other "fun" things but it just depends on what I feel like doing :-)
2.  PLan our school year.  There isn't a lot to plan since we will be doing Connections Academy in the fall again but I'd like to add a simple Bible curriculum to our lessons and just be more disciplined in my teaching of the basics.  I was so overwhelmed at the beginning of the year with the online courses that I didn't start the year strong.  Hoping to plan ahead a little on that stuff this year.

That's the basics.  I'm sure I'll think of a few other things along the way but this is what I'm focusing on this summer.  I feel like if I can get a handle on most of these areas, we'll start the school year in September in a better place.  I've learned this year that during the school year, everything else takes a back seat so we can accomplish the boys school work.  If I don't start ahead, I'm behind all year :-)