5 for Five: Goals for the Week

Five Things to Do LAST Week

1. Recreate Chicken Crepes recipe from work, and blog about it later. 

Nope!

2. Finish my DIY birthday decor project before Chloe's party. 

I did! Pictures and details soon!

3. Make a full breakfast meal one day for the family - bacon and eggs included. 

Nope

4. Eat at least three salads! 

- I ate one, plus quite a few bites of Chloe's at a restaurant Monday night. Progress! 

5. Read at least 10 pages in the book I'm reading: Finding Emma. 

And nope! 

Five Things to Do THIS Week

1. Put the summer clothing bin away, and take the winter one out.

2. Keep up with my $5 budgeting app. Especially come payday. 

3. Bring a real meal to work for lunch twice, not counting today. 

4. Say 'thank you' more. 

5. Organize at least 20% of the basement. 

5 for Five: Goals for the Week

I'm double posting today {gasp!} because I just couldn't pass this up.

Five Things to Do This Week

1. Recreate Chicken Crepes recipe from work, and blog about it later. 

2. Finish my DIY birthday decor project before Chloe's party. 

3. Make a full breakfast meal one day for the family - bacon and eggs included. 

4. Eat at least three salads! 

5. Read at least 10 pages in the book I'm reading: Finding Emma. 

*Note to self: Upon finding that link, there seems to be a sequel. Find that for the Kobo! 

And those are my five goals for the week. Wish me luck! 

Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

I've never known how to answer that question. There has never been a clear answer. There's the 'where I want' to be answer, and then where I actually feel like I'll be. And then there's what really happens. And while it might sound insanely negative, there are no happily ever afters. There's just reality. Whether or not it's your happily ever after is really your choice, or your option to change. 

Let's look at how '5 years later' really ends up. 

My answer when I was in high school

I see myself either in college, or just graduating college. Looking for a job related to my education. Doing everything I can to make a better future for myself. I'm going to save money, and not end up living like my mother did - low income, living from paycheck to paycheck. 

The reality:

Five years later, I graduated from college. I was certified to be a legal secretary, but I doubted my education. I didn't feel in any way prepared. I worked at Wendy's. I lived in another province, and chose to move back home. I couldn't find any kind of full-time job, and struggled to get by with the help of my grandfather as I lived with a roommate. 

My answer when I was in college: 

I'd like to say my answer was optimistic - that I was going to find a great job and go on to do great things, but I was terrified. I didn't see everything as working out. I wanted to find an amazing job and live a great life. I was starting to feel like I was just a mess. No guy would ever truly like me. What a sob-fest. 

The reality:

Five years later, I was single after a long relationship, and that was my choice. I didn't have an amazing job, but I had a full-time job that I loved. It was about this time that I moved into an apartment by myself (kind of), and was finally financially stable for the first time in my life. The most unexpected part? I had a little girl, and not long after that, I met an amazing guy. Funny how things work out. 

My answer now:

I don't know where I'll be when it comes to my career, but I hope when this job finishes, there's another great job waiting for me. The girls will be 6 and 7. In school. And they had better be doing fantastic. I'll be with the same guy, married or about to be. We may have another child, or it might be in the planning stages. A boy, I'm hoping. And we'll all be rich and successful. And we'll all live happily ever after. I really hope. 

Where do you see yourself in five years?

My Goals for the Next 2.5 Years

I am taking part in the Day Zero Project. Which is 101  goals you would like to complete in 1001 days. I've started compiling my list of goals. I started my list on December 28, which 1001 days later brings me exactly to the date of Chloe's 4th birthday. I think that's a sign of something special. I won't be listing all the goals here, but I will be updating periodically with things I've done, and things I'd like to do soon. 

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10 Things to Work On in January

1. Build a snowman
2. Compile my list of 50 must-see movies
3. Complete 1 Pinterest project (Goal is 10)
4. Put a little bit of money back into my savings
5. Be more positive
6. Learn to count to 10 in another language (Goal is 10)
7. Buy a sled
8. Start planning a game tournament
9. Do a jigsaw puzzle (started one January 9)
10. Create a photowall

I'll update at the end of January to see how much I've completed, and pick some goals to work on in February.

Time to enjoy the little things

Happiness.

Isn't that all anyone's ever looking for in life?

We try to find love because it makes us happy. We buy things because they make us happy. We have children because they occasionally make us happy.

But even when we get what we want, we're not always satisfied.

It's always the little things.

With me, if you look at the big  picture, things are great. Things are pretty much amazing.

My daughter is amazing. She's semi healthy. She plays, she learns, she cries. But she also likes to try to get up too early sometimes. She's cranky a lot. And she barely eats. And too much I forcus on the buts, instead of the wonderful things.

I've also got an amazing boyfriend. Some of the things he does still catches me off-guard. Like the day he got off work before I did and had dinner ready, the dishes done, and laundry in the dryer by the time I got home. He picks up the toys when the girls are in bed without being asked. He'll change and dress Chloe sometimes without being asked. But when I get up in the morning with a baby and he gets to sleep in, sometimes I want to punch him in the face.

Okay, bad example because that has more to do with jealousy and not being a morning person. And I kid. I don't want to punch him. I just want to beat him with pillows and make him feel my pain.

But he's not perfect either. And more often than I'd like, I find myself annoyed with the little things when I shouldn't be. The good outweighs the bad times a million.

I am grateful for all the good things in my life, but too often I find myself focusing on those little annoyances, and forgetting the big picture. I want to enjoy the good, instead of alway noticing the bad.

When my daughter got up at 6:30am this morning, 40 minutes before our alarm was due to go off, I was annoyed. But she was in a great mood and it meant that we got to play for awhile. Usually we only play in the evenings, and she's tired and cranky.

In the end, are we trying so hard to be happy that really we're the ones messing it up by not appreciating the little moments?

My new goal is to do exactly that - appreciate the little moments.

And I want you to do it too. Think of a few times today that something bothered you, even just the slightest, and think of something good about it.

If you're feeling really ambitious, blog about it. But if you do, please send me the link.

8 Goals for a Better Life

Lately things have been... a little hard on me, and it's taken awhile to come to terms with all of it, but I'm getting there. I finally got up one day, had my morning coffee, turned on some music and didn't spend the whole day wanting to cry or crawl into a hole. It helped that Chloe finally seems to be over her teething spurt and is finally acting like a semi-happy baby, instead of the spawn of Satan like before. 

In the meantime I tried to brainstorms ways to make myself feel better, and just better my life overall. Now, these aren't huge, life-altering things in the slightest. How many people actually go through with the life altering things? Not very many, I'm guessing. So this is my simple list of things to make my life just a little better. Some, like the eating out one, are to save more money. Others are health, clutter and stress-related. I plan on adding to list as time goes on. 

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Goals for a Better Life

1. Limit Facebook time

2. Take one day off from coffee a week

3. Rid the apartment of all things we don't use

4. Never eat out more than once a week

5. Go for a walk 3 times a week

6. Start up an emergency cash fund, completely separate from current savings

7. Cut back on sugar

8. Put more effort into blogging

Those are just the things I want to start doing immediately. If you made a list of small goals to better your life, what would be at the top of your list?