I’ve been procrastinating about this post because it’s going to be depressing! I set some lofty goals and did not achieve very many. Here’s how it all panned out:
Goal 1: Love Elliott, Lena, and Gil.
Elliott: Encourage him to write. He’s writing a book and wants to have it completely finished by the time we leave Sicily in July 2014.
We did this! I invested in his writing and progress by checking in with him, helping him carve out blocks of time, and motivating him to get started. He gets the real glory, though: he finished his book before we left Sicily! He’s waiting to hear back from editors now.
Lena: Establish a morning “school” period with Lena for 1 hour at least 2xs/wk when at home.
I worked on this goal sporadically at best until about June/July, when we moved from Sicily to the States. I haven’t come back to it, unfortunately. I did manage to write a blog post about 37 Ways to Stay Sane at Home with Your Preschooler, though. I thought Lena might be reading by the end of 2014, but her skill level (ie. she knows her letter sounds and might be able to figure out “cat” and “Bob,” etc.) has not changed all year.
Gil: Read one book with Gil every day.
We did this! Gil loves books now, and we really enjoy reading to him. He is a very interactive reader and loves to comment on everything on every page…
Goal 2: Read, Read, Read
This I did achieve, at the detriment of other writing goals, unfortunately. (See below.) I read 72 books in 2014, and you can see the full list here.
Part 1: Read five classics.
I read five: The Pilgrim’s Progress, Never Let Me Go, Parnassus on Wheels, The Screwtape Letters, and The Giver. Not quite the classics I was aiming for. But I did manage a few “modern” classics-slash-books I have been meaning to read forever, like Unbroken, The History of Love, and The Book Thief.
Part 2: Finish War and Peace!
NOPE. I think I read about five pages? Out of 1300? So yeah…
Part 3: Read five parenting books.
I read six: Mommy, Teach Me!, Honey for a Child’s Heart, The Whole-Brained Child, Grace-Based Parenting, Steady Days, and Playful Learning.
Part 4: Read 3 books about Italy.
I read three: A House in Sicily, Mattanza, and La Bella Figura.
Goal 3: Make contact with my siblings (Eric and Emily) once per week via email, phone call, letter, package, or a visit.
I didn’t do this. I started off strong, but by March or so, I wasn’t making regular contact anymore. I’m sorry, Eric and Emily. :(
Thankfully we were together this summer for awhile, and we have been in a lot more contact since I moved back to the States. I feel closer to them than I did in Sicily. I still need to work on this goal, though!
Goal 4: Write daily in my One Line a Day Journal.
Nope. I think I recorded about 20 days the whole year.
Goal 5: Learn more about and practice the manual settings on my camera.
Nope. Still no clue and so I’m still shooting on my DSLR camera with just the automatic settings. Sigh.
Goal 6: Publish a piece of writing (fiction or non-fiction) in a non-blog setting.
I did get a piece published in a small magazine that you’ve all never heard of called Among Worlds, so that was cool!
Goal 7: Write 12 guest posts for other blogs (average of one per month).
Unfortunately I only did five guest posts, but each one of them was a great privilege, and I have more lined up for 2015! Here are the guest posts I wrote in 2014:
- On Being a TCK (Third Culture Kid) for Communicating Across Boundaries
- A Window into Farm Life in Sicily for Happily Married to the Cows
- A HUGE honor: being a part of Design Mom’s Living with Kids series! I treasure this blog post and the photos!
- And finally, two posts on Courtney Lynn Harris’ blog: Living Simplicity Parenting Part 1 and Part 2.
Thank you for featuring my writing, Marilyn, Alica, Gabrielle, and Courtney!
Goal 8: Study Italian: finish Italian Made Simple before we leave Italy in July 2014.
Noooooope. Did a couple pages, and then sold the book when we moved. I will probably never speak fluent Italian, and I can blame myself for that. Whomp whomp.
——–
So there it is… my half-achieved goals of 2014. Clearly I like to read novels but not camera manuals or Italian primers, and I like to dream big but have trouble making the nitty gritty happen!
Should I try this again in 2015? Still deciding… I might take a different approach this year.
What about you? Did you accomplish any or all of the goals you set for yourself in 2014? Inspire us!
I love your ambition! It seems to me that you did the important things, loving your husband and children. And if you don’t aim at something..you certainly won’t hit anything.
Thank you, Mom, that’s what I’m hoping!
Don’t be too hard on yourself, Becca! When I read your blog posts, I think wow…you’ve done so much…and with two little ones! :) (And it was fun hosting your blog post, too! )
Thank you, Alica! It’s a challenge to get all the essentials done, and when I bite off more than I can chew I often feel like I can’t do anything well. Such is life, though. Thank you again for hosting my post!
You are so brave for putting all that out there! You did some amazing things this year. My favorite part was about not liking camera manuals and language primers. Yes! Me too!
Aww, that’s so very kind of you, Sarah! Glad there’s someone else who understands.
For those who are interested, I just discovered some lovely manual photography tutorials on a blog called Practising Simplicity. They seem like the kind of tutorial I could wrap my head around!
Becca! You did a great job. I don’t even remember if I really set any goals for 2014. I think as the year progresses different situations and circumstances enter your life, and by default goals will change. So, at this season in our lives, I think it’s important to have the ability to alter and modify goals as needed. I’m confident Lena is a bright young woman and despite not doing the amount of school you desired, she was fed in other ways. I continue to enjoy your blog! Oh — we booked a week at Navy Lodge Coronado over Thanksgiving this fall, so I hope you guys will be around!
Nicole, I owe you an email! I am so glad you’re already planning to come to Coronado in the fall! (So much more organized than we are, haha.) I am so grateful for your wisdom and encouragement over the years, and I can’t wait to see you in person soon!
Great post! It’s inspiring to read about your ambitions, and refreshing to see your honest take on how it all went! Also congrats on getting your first writing published!
Thank you, Joy. You are always so encouraging… and inspiring with your 4.5 kids!
It’s been inspiring to me to read some of my favorite bloggers thoughts surrounding starting the new year. It got me to sit down and right down goals and ideas for 2015. One big goal that my husband and I had for 2014 was moving out of NYC and starting fresh somewhere new…and we did it! When I get a little down about all the things I didn’t do, I think about that. That was a pretty major undertaking, especially with two little kids and one I’m sure you can relate to.
Congrats on making a HUGE goal happen and moving out of NYC! (Which is ironic, because one of my life goals is to move into NYC… but probably far in the future.) I hope you have a peaceful and strengthening year as you continue to start fresh in your new life!
I’m glad I’m not the only one who still ashamedly uses only the automatic settings on her DSLR!
Your photos are always beautiful, though! I never would have known! ;)
Haha, thanks for letting me know I’m not alone! I often get mommy guilt over what I COULD be doing with my camera, though. Will I regret it one day? That I didn’t take better photos sooner? And so it goes… ;)
Becca, just catching up on your blog now and I came across this post…I’ve been writing in my Line-a-Day Journal daily for 3.5 years now and the best advice I can give about how to keep it up is to make it a part of your night-time routine. I keep it in my nightstand and it’s always the last thing I do before turning off the lights. Hope this helps! It’s so fun to have this time capsule to look back on. :)
This is what I have TRIED to do but I am so bad about actually doing it! I look at it sitting there and just don’t even pick it up. It’s lived on my nightstand for almost 5 years now. :( However, so far I have written every day in 2015, so maybe this is the start of something new?!