As big ben chimed midnight on New Year's eve, I had already thought of some goals for New Year including some blog goals and some personal goals, these are more general lifestyle goals and ones to work on all year long though. So, when I was tagged by the lovely Laura from Dear Bear and Beany to share the 18 things I would love to do or achieve during 2018 it got me thinking about some of the smaller things I would love to be able to tick off or achieve this year, so here they are...
#1 - Lose weight! This is top of my list this year. I'm so unhappy with how I look and how I feel and I'm hoping feel much more comfortable this summer. I am following the slimming world plan and have joined my local gym to help me.
#2 - Take more family photos that feature all of us! I have quite the skill at dodging the camera, however this does mean there are not many pictures of me and the kids or all of us as a family which I know I will regret when the kids are grown, and I have none to look back on! I think I will join up with the " Me and Mine " linky over at Dear Beautiful to keep me on track with this.
#3 - Get more organised. I have slowly become more and more unorganised and now both kids are at school and preschool with lots of other clubs and after school activities I find myself constantly running around like a headless chicken trying to get everything done. I have ordered a family calendar so I can get everything written down for us all to see.
#4 - Have some professional family photos taken. We have very few family photos together as usually one of us is behind the camera (usually me as I hate having my photo taken!). However, I know this is something I will regret not having when I look back and the kids are grown up, this year that will change and we will hopefully have some lovely family photos to treasure.
#5 - Tidy up the garden! Our garden is only tiny but it's still our own little space and in the summer the kids love being outside. This year I am determined to tidy it up and create a little space the kids and I can enjoy including a nice table and chairs set so we can eat outside when the weather is nice! I also want to get a BBQ this year as last year we used the disposable ones which didn't really cut it.
#6 - Blog more regularly. Towards the end of last year my blog posts became a little all over the place in terms of when I posted, and I felt unorganised and missed out on sharing some fab posts with you because I just didn't get them completed. This year I hope to have posts planned and scheduled at least 2 weeks in advance, so I don't feel so rushed.
#7 - Teach James to bake! I have such fond memories of learning to bake with my nan when I was a little younger than James and I had always promised I would teach James just like my nan taught me. However, things seem to have just got in the way and we have spent less and less time in the kitchen. This year I am determined that will change and I plan on sharing our baking adventures here on the blog.
#8 - Get together some savings. This year I have brought a little tin that doesn't open without the use of a tin opener. I plan on putting at least £5 in per week (more if I have it) until December. I know it won't make millions, but I am hoping it will provide me with a little bit of money to put towards Christmas presents so it isn't such a huge chunk to find in December. Being only £5 per week I'm hoping I will barely even notice its gone but will be such a huge help in December.
#9 - Make some time for me. I am so focused on ensuring the kids have everything they need and want that sometimes at the end of the week I feel so run down I know I could be better if I had made some time to refresh and replenish myself.
#10 - Plan our first camping trip. This is something we spoke a lot about last year as my son definitely got the camping bug when he went with his cub scout group last year. Camping is something my husband has been wanting to do for a long time too so I am hoping this year we can make it happy and plan our very first camping adventure together in 2018!
#11 - Decorate the house and finally feel happy with how it looks. We have at least two half-finished rooms in our house at the moment and it drives me mad! I really need to get my butt in gear and finish of the rooms so they are spaces we all enjoy being in rather than avoiding them as we can see how much work needs to be done. It's all jobs we are able to do ourselves so no excuses and this year they will be finished.
#12 - Get to grips with my DSLR camera! Last year I bit the bullet and brought myself a brand-new Nikon DSLR camera to help me capture much better images for my blog and of the kids. However, I have had it stuck on auto since I got it and I know I could be getting so much more out of the camera and the images if I took some time to learn. I have found a few books and online courses, so I am hoping to work my way through those this year.
#13 - Meal plan. Meal planning is something I always say I will do but rarely actually do it. I know this will make a big change in how much waste we have and our ever-increasing shopping bill which has all increased due to us being so unorganised at mealtimes. I plan to create a weekly meal plan when I do the weekly food shop that I can pin up in the kitchen, so we are all able to see it.
#14 - Find more time for me and my husband, just the two of us. Since we don't really have a babysitter, I'm not talking about going out but even if it's just switching off our phones and devices when the kids are in bed just to spend time together chatting, perhaps playing a game or something without distractions. When you have kids it's so easy to get into a routine and we have definitely drifted into a routine where we spend very little time talking etc so this is something I would like to change in 2018.
#15 - Clear some debt. We don't have any major debt, but little bits all seem to add up and hang over us each month in our outgoings which we are more than aware of could be going into savings. We currently rent but would love to buy our own home in a few years' time when both kids are at school, and I have a full-time job. So, clearing the debt so we can put all our money into saving for a deposit is something I hope we can make a big difference to in 2018.
#16 - Create a pot of ideas for the summer holidays. Every year I have all these great ideas to get organised for the summer holidays and when the kids are home from school but then I never actually do it. This year that will change! I am going to scale the internet, local groups and plan lots of fun activities, days out, play dates etc for me and the kids to enjoy over the summer so we don't end up being bored!
#17 - Visit new places. There are so many beautiful and interesting places to see and visit yet as a family we seem to visit the same places over and over. This year I really want to visit some new places and there are plenty of ideas from the kids so I think we will sit down together and write a list of all the places we want to visit and try and tick them all off throughout the year.
#18 - My final and most important goal for 2018 is to smile more, make more memories and enjoy every moment of 2018 that I get to spend with my friends, family and all the new people I meet along the way.
I'm so glad I got the chance to do this as it made me sit down and put pen to paper on things I want to achieve. I can't wait to look back at the end of the year and see just how many of these I achieved (hopefully all!). I'm now tagging Rebecca from Wishes and Wellies, Kate from Confessions of a New Mummy, Maria from Suburban Mum and Nadia from Scandi Mummy, what are your goals for 2018?
xXx
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