A Life In Tune

It’s hard to believe it’s time to look back over the year and review everything we did. It seems like just yesterday I was writing these goals!

Travel: We met all of these goals.

• Winter Wellness weekend in January
• Train ride in French Lick in February or March (this is part of Felix’s Christmas gift from Santa)
• Mumford and Sons concert in April
• Weekend away with the kids – We spent Labor Day weekend camping in Lincoln City.
• Anniversary weekend away – We actually got to spend an entire week in Punta Cana.
• Family vacation - We spent 2 weeks in California, exploring San Francisco, Yosemite, and Santa Cruz.

Reading:

• Read 24 books – I read 38 books this year!
• Read 2 music books – I only read 1 music book but I have started the second music book and plan to finish that this year.

Writing:

• Daily Q&A – I kept up with this throughout the year.
• Writer’s Book of Days – Most months I completed all of the prompts but I did have to skip a few here or there, but it was ok.
• 500 Writing Prompts – I was also able to keep up with this.

Spiritual:

• Do a daily devotional written for Catholic moms - Unfortunately, I felt like the focus of the devotional I was using did not coincide with my goals for myself this year. I actually found it to be counterproductive, so I stopped using it. I have chosen a different one to try in 2017, so hopefully I have better luck this coming year.

Music:

• Create one new Singalong packet for my Singalongs (for work).
• Learn at least 6 new popular songs on the guitar or piano.
• Learn at least 3 new Classical pieces on the piano.
• Start transcribing my original songs on notation software. – This might be the most exciting part of my year. I am collaborating with a lead guitarist and we are slowly, but surely, recording my original music, as well as working on some covers.
• Find at least 5 new songs to use in music therapy sessions.
• Work through Songwriting Without Boundaries - I got about halfway through the third challenge (there are four of them) and I felt like I had a hard time focusing. I put it up for awhile and plan to come back to it to finish it all at a later date.
• Listen to 10 classical music pieces. - I did not do this this year but I have plans to actually do it next year.

Home and Organization:

• Complete Bonus Room Transformation - We have gotten rid of more things this year and moved most of the toys we plan to move.
• Go through Gmail account. – I started off doing really well with this and then just never got to finish it.
• Go through and organize computer files. – I never got around to this.

Family:

• Inflatable Fun Factory – We went to a different inflatables place for a birthday party.
• CMoe – We went to CMoe for a children’s concert a few months ago.
• Putt Putt – We played putt putt in Tennessee last January.
• Game Night – We have played lots of games!
• Movie Night – We have had several nights throughout the year.
• Gatti Town or Chuck E. Cheese – Eric took the kids to Gatti Town a week or so ago.

Financial:

I want to continue to save money and to keep our spending in check.

• Save a specific amount in Travel and Savings Accounts combined. – We saved money this year in both of our accounts.
• Keep track of “extras” earned from apps, credit cards, rewards, etc. – I did this the majority of the time.
• Keep up with a budget as best we can. – I kind of let this fall by the wayside over the last few months.

Service:

• Do at least 6 service projects that may include volunteering, providing a meal at the local Ronald McDonald house, donating items, etc. - We didn’t do as many of these as I had hoped but we did get to provide one meal at the Ronald McDonald house and we donated some of our things.

Miscellaneous:

• Write a new 101 in 1,001 list. The current one expires in May.
• I have started a running list of restaurants I want to try, and I want to eat at 12 of them this year. – We only got around to eating at 8 new places.
• I plan to cook 12 international meals this year or one international meal a month. – I didn’t get to focus on all the countries I wanted to focus on, but we did make 12 international meals.
• Finish travel school. I finished in the spring and started working as a home-based agent in April.

So I didn’t get everything completed that I had planned this year, but one never knows where life will lead. What I am really focusing on is the fact that when I found myself only going through the motions and not really experiencing what I wanted from a specific task, I was able to toss it aside for now, and I made edits as needed. I was focusing on balance, and while I know I still have a ways to go, I have come much closer to finding the balance I need in my life.