14 in 2014: January Update

Well, we're 1/12 of the way through 2014, and I'm pleased with my progress on these goals so far. I don't actually remember all of them, so this monthly check-in will be a good way to remind myself of what I'm trying to do this year.

1. Eat {more} vegetables.

It's safe to say I consumed more veggies in January than in December. I started drinking smoothies again, which is the easiest way for me to get more fruits and vegetables in my diet. I also made a veggie pizza one night, which looked far better than it tasted.

To be fair, it wasn't the vegetables fault...it was the bad crust. I tried a new kind of yeast and should have just stuck with what I knew worked. The real kicker for me this month was that I brought a salad to our monthly staff luncheon so we could have something healthy.

2. Learn to drive a stick (again).

No progress here this month, but it will come.

3. Read books.

I did really well on this goal in January. Granted, two of the books were started in late 2013, but I finished them in 2014, so they go on this month's list. Dear John was a re-read for me, as I was just wanting something really easy and thought-less to get me through a couple days of cold weather where I just wanted to be curled up on the couch. I forgot just how awfully sad it really is and bawled my way through the last 1/3 of it. It's awful. I mean it. Don't read it. But if you keep it on your bookshelf long enough, you'll forget and re-read it a couple years later and be saying all over again that it was the very last time. For real this time.

4. Print and make albums with the pictures I take in the year.

I needed some new pictures for my desk at work, so I printed several (5 I think?) from our Christmas trip to TX. They were all taken with my phone and so they aren't fantastic quality as prints. I've been thinking lately that I should probably either dig out my old camera or buy a new one and start using it to take pictures if I want some in print form. I am sometimes impressed with the quality of photos I can take on my phone, but it is just not great quality for printing. No matter how clear it is on my phone screen, the prints always come out just a little bit blurry.

5. (Continue to) memorize the book of James.

I didn't get any memorizing done in January. I'll try to work on that in February.

6. Crochet a blanket for Kory

I haven't started on the blanket yet. I need to get Kory to pick out the colors so I can get started and that just keeps getting pushed down the to-do list with other, more important things in our immediate future.

7. Can 3 foods.

This will be more of a summer/fall goal for me, so I'm feeling fine that nothing has been done on it yet.

8. Do puzzles.

I've been working a lot on the 2,000 piece puzzle that Kory got me for Christmas. I had no idea how big 2,000 pieces would be. It takes up pretty much the whole table, so I can't even get a lot of pieces out of the box because I'm out of space. It's really coming together though and I've enjoyed some relaxing evenings working on it.

9. Make my blog prettier. 

Not this month.

10. Read through the entire Bible.

This goal is probably my biggest success for this month, which I'm very happy to report. I've kept up with my daily Bible reading plan and am still going. I got behind for a few days, which I expected, but I caught up fairly easily. This is a chronological plan, so I started in Genesis and am now in Job. It's kind of weird for me because I expected Exodus to be next (I just forgot it was chronological), but I'm excited that I've found something I can stick with and enjoy.

11. Eat more whole foods and, therefore, less processed foods. 

This goal is really just about baby steps for us. I have started grating our own cheese instead of buying pre-shredded. It's a really easy step and saves us from eating the chemicals that they put in shredded cheese to keep it from clumping together. Plus, it's cheaper! I also stopped buying low-fat items like sour cream after learning they contain similar chemicals. After a significant amount of research, I've discovered that the full-fat dairy items are actually healthier for you, so I have cleared our fridge of all the low-fat groceries. We also had some really good coupons for organic meat and produce this month, so I was able to purchase that for the same price or cheaper than regular groceries.

12. Get my braces off.

We're on track to meet this goal. My orthodontist said I did a great job wearing the rubber bands (Woohoo! Glad to know the pain paid off!) and so he took them off this month. I might have to have them again later on, but I'm very grateful for the break. 

13. Brush up on my Spanish.

I did really well using the DuoLingo app early on in January, but haven't used it for a couple weeks now. I realized I kind of gave myself a hobby over-load with these goals, and there are just not enough hours in the day to do all of them all the time. I'm ok with that and I'll just try to focus on different goals in different months.

14. Move out of our house.

After almost a year of bad news about our house, God answered our prayers and gave us some really good news! We had a certified engineer come look at our house and he deemed it structurally sound and safe to sell. He will write us a letter stating that it is his professional opinion that all damage done to the foundation was done in the first 10 years the house was built and no further damage is being done. There will always be seasonal changes because of the rainfall and dry weather, but that is nothing too major. We're working with the realtor now and getting estimates for his charges as well as the engineer's so we can put it on the market soon. We hope to spend the next week cleaning things up and getting it ready to sell before Kory goes to Guatemala for 2 weeks. We are still cautious and know there could be a long road ahead, but we're very grateful to have some good options ahead!