YOSP - 2011 Recap & 2012 Goals (Part One)

So, back at the start of 2011, I posted about having a Year of Significant Progress (YOSP for short). There had been many things sitting for WAY too long on my mental to-do list, or goals that I should have been spending more time working towards. I have a very bad habit of getting easily sidetracked and sometimes don't focus too well (who, ME?).  I thought that by putting these goals out there in writing, it would go a long way to keeping me accountable. 
In a lot of ways, it did. I'm fairly happy with the outcome of the goals below.  I'd give us a C in some areas, A's and B's in others.  We made progress - more significant progress in some, lots less in others.  Time and money...they kinda rule how much can be done in some areas!

So, to recap 2011 and our new or extended goals for 2012:

1. Get in better shape financially.
I wanted to accomplish several things here.  One, to get a better grasp on our spending, pay off some debt and be better with money.  Two, get particulars like our will updated. If I am generous, I will give us a C in this area.  I totally did not get the will updated.  What we did do is stabilize a portion of the income and that has helped budget and planning greatly.  One tool that I found that is fantastic is Mint.com.  Awesome tracking, planning, spending, debt tool and if you have a smart phone, it's all in the palm of your hand.  I can look at what I have in any account at any time right from my phone.  LOVE IT! And CreditKarma.com is another site that I love - track your credit report and score completely FREE!!


2012 goals:
- Get will updated!!!! No later than mid February.  Someone, hold me accountable for getting this done :)
- Pay off a significant chunk of debt.  This means really watching what we spend money on.  We are far from extravagant spenders and shoppers but I definitely get sucked into the Target and Sam's club spending. There is always a way to save and I need to take more time to find them!  Groceries and gas are killing us!

2. Get the house organized. 
The 2011 goal was to get rid of some of the clutter in the house.  To finish the basement and make room for our offices down there plus extra living space, move the laundry room downstairs and create a mud room in the 1st floor laundry area.  I think we get a B in this area.  Maybe even an A considering that this kind of stuff takes a lot of time and a lot of money.  And when you consider our financial goals, both time and money are tricky!  But, the basement is 90% finished.  All that is left right now is to get paint on the walls and flooring down.  We'll then be able to get the laundry room moved down there and most importantly, our offices!!!

This is how it looked in July:

And where we're at now!

We've got a bathroom in the left corner, laundry room and the furnace room.

And then the "living space" that curves around to the left to where there will also be built in storage and bookshelves, room for my wine and a small wine fridge, and then a door leading to our office and back to the crawl space.  No pictures of that space yet - too packed with tools...

I've spent a LOT of time on Pinterest looking at how to do the mudroom area - can't wait!!
My husband is amazing by the way - how he knows how to do all this stuff, and Uncle Tim too...quite incredible!!  Must be all the Natty Light fueling their brains!

2012 goals:
-finish up the basement and move in!
-start working on the kids' bedrooms.  They all need weeded badly and reorganized.
-get the mud room started and completed
-learn the art of clutter control!!
-figure out what we want to do to the front room and do it (Library/sitting area?)

3. Health and fitness...get into better shape!
Okay, this one I rocked (except for getting bike tires...I still haven't done that yet).  I give myself an A+ here.  I went to the Y on January 4th, 2011 as a non-runner (with the exception of 9th grade track because my boyfriend was also in track. I sucked.) and my only goal being to complete the Warrior Dash in June.
I ended up running and completing these races in 2011:

April - the Wilds Ecothon 5k
May - Race for the Cure 5k
June - The Warrior Dash - 3.5 miles with obstacles.  This is the race that started me running!
July - Rotary Club 10k - a little over 6 miles
Sept - Ovarian Cancer 5k in memory and honor of my friend Heather's mom
Oct - Colon Cancer Run - 5k
         Columbus Half Marathon - 13.2 miles!!
Nov - Flying Feather 4 miler on Thanksgiving morning - great run!!
Dec - Jingle Bell 5k with Ella.  So much fun - great run for kids!

I ran about 400 miles in 2011.  That's 400 more than I ran in 2010!  :)

2012 Goals:
-increase my miles and the number of runs that I participate in
-mix in some other exercise, spinning or something different.
-train smarter for the Half in May - I'd like to beat my last time (2:12).
-Check-ups - I need to get all my annual check-ups. I'm way behind!

4. Do more family activities. 
I'll have to  give us a C or B- on this one.  Time flies so fast and it always feels so difficult to get in all that we want to do. Maybe I'm being too hard on us.  We eat dinner together as a family almost every night of the week, we have movies nights, snuggle time (no, Mason doesn't snuggle much anymore!), play games, bake cookies.  I guess I'm thinking things like Indians games, amusement parks, etc.


2012 goals:
in addition to what we currently do I want...

-one trip to Kings Island or Cedar Point
-more family activities like biking and hiking
-family cabin trip to Hocking Hills (or camping finally - that has been on our To Do for 3 years now!)


More later on the rest of 2011 YOSP goals....Part Two coming soon!