Work, Home and Family - Two Sets of Specific Goals for 2018

These were a new addition to my garden this year - dwarf iris.  SO beautiful!

Over the tail end of 2017, John and I spent quite a bit of time on what we wanted to accomplish in 2018.  We came up with two areas to focus on:

FINANCES and FAMILY

Here's what we're hoping to accomplish in these two areas in 2018:

Family:  More deliberate time together and being intentional in being in touch with our extended family, including my husband's eight siblings.

Finances: To pay off two specific debts that we're starting this year with (something very unusual for us) and to complete a specific list of household repairs.

Breaking it down further, here's what we'd like these things to look like on a monthly basis in 2018:

* One evening per week spent as a family.  We used to do this regularly, but it's been sporadic for the last year or so and we've all missed it!  Time to get back to it!

* At least two dates per month for John and I.  While at home dates are great, we've realized that in this season of our lives, we need to actually leave our home and all the types of noise it offers in favor of someplace else.  These dates don't have to be fancy or expensive (a walk together would be just fine!), but they need to happen regularly.

* Talking on the phone - not via email, text, etc. - to our parents at least once per week and with at least one of John's siblings each week.  Visit in person at least four times this year. Both sets of our parents and all of John's siblings live out of state so four times per year is a do-able number for us without making our lives too hectic.

* Connecting with extended family through real letters, email, text or the internet at least once per week.  Visit with local extended family at least four times per year.  While we do have extended family in area, none are what you would call "close", taking at least 1 1/2 hour each way (most are 3 hours each way) in travel time to visit.  So, here again, four times per year makes this do-able for us.

* Track spending, using excess each month to pay off the debt.  According to our current plans, we should be able to knock one of these debts off with no problem. The other one is going to be tight - right now we're scheduled to pay it off in early 2019.  We'd like to pay that off too but it's going to take careful planning to do so!  We currently have few options for making extra money at the moment, so we need to be careful with what we have and use it as wisely as possible.

* Complete at least 2 household repairs or projects each month.  We have many repairs or necessary replacement purchases and projects for our yard and home we've put on hold since John went into Internship in May 2014.  We simply did not have the money or time to do these so we made do, mended, and went without.  Now that our finances and time have stabilized, we need to catch up!  

That's more than enough, don't you think? 

I do have a few other things I'd *like* to have happen this year, but being deliberate with my time and energy and the above goals should be more than enough to keep me busy.

I'm currently planning on taking the first Wednesday of the month to recap how we did on these the previous month.  Will you all please hold me accountable to this?

What are your goals for 2018?  If you'd like to share, I'd love to hear!