Making a vision board for my year is something I greatly enjoy doing. Before I move on and create one for 2024, however, I want to review the goals I had for 2023 and see what I was able to accomplish, what things I intentionally set aside, and what things I want to try again with in 2024.
Read 25 Books– I did not read 25 books this year, but I did read 10, and that’s about 10 more than I’ve read in a long, long time. Even though I didn’t meet my goal, I can honestly say that reading has changed my life. My entire approach to rest, for myself, and even my perspectives on the world in general, have been influenced by the books I’ve read and by taking the time to nourish my brain with stories, information, and narratives. If I had to pick one item from my 2023 vision board as the one I am most happy I dedicated time to, this is one of the top two (second only to studying the Bible).
Family Vacation- Unfortunately, we weren’t able to take a family trip this year. This was partially because we had a baby that hated being in the car, and partially because we just didn’t have the time or funds to invest in it.
ASL- We started learning ASL in 2023 as part of our school term and it has been SO fun. We are learning from a YouTube channel and the kids and I enjoy practicing with one another.
1000 Hours Outside- We did not hit 1000 hours this year. However, we did begin to have consistently longer times, racking up quite a few weeks full of 6-10 hour days. I learned more efficient ways to handle outdoor clothes, eating outside, and structuring our days around prioritizing being outdoors, and I call that a win!
Plant a Garden- We planted some things this year…but they were entirely unsuccessful. So half credit? I thought I had prepared my containers appropriately, but we ran into drainage issues and ended up with fungus gnats and rotted soil and roots. We’ll try again in 2024!
Build a Wardrobe- I really hoped to slowly find thrifted items to build up a wardrobe for myself of natural fibers, and clothes that I truly loved wearing. I didn’t make much headway. If I’m honest, I didn’t dedicate a ton of time to looking, but even on the occasions I spent some time perusing thrift store racks, I wasn’t able to find anything. UNTIL….while Christmas shopping, I found a 100% linen dress at a local shop for $7. I’m really excited about it! So while I didn’t acquire many pieces, I did take a step in the right direction!
Hang Pictures- I love walls that are covered in photos and art, and it was my goal to adorn our walls this year. I hung a few things, but not much.
Herbs and Tinctures- I really wanted to learn more about herbal remedies. I hoped to grow some herbs, myself, and be able to make them into tinctures. I was unsuccessful in growing anything (see “Plant a Garden” above) and didn’t really dedicate any time to research, either. I did investigate the plant mullein, however, because it’s good for lung and respiratory health. Since my kids struggle in this area, I bought some dried mullein and we frequently steep it to make tea. I also have a tincture I made with it, but it’s not ready yet.
Make Christmas Cards- It’s been a longtime dream of mine to create Christmas watercolor products, and, this year, I did! This is probably one of my vision board items I’m most proud of. I designed 15 different cards that I sold in three different packs. I participated in an incredibly fun Christmas market and had a successful weekend selling my products. I’m very excited to expand on these for 2024!
Raise Chickens- We did not buy any chickens, but it was actually intentional. There are a lot of big decisions that are kind of up in the air right now for my husband and I, but we agreed that investing time and money into creating too much infrastructure while in our current home wasn’t the best use of our resources until we have a better idea of how long we’ll be here.
Consistency Online- One of my goals this year was to be a bit more intentional about the kind of content I was creating and when I was posting.
I really want to be an encouragement towards beauty, yummy food, and creativity, but I also want to accomplish that without posting a bunch of “filler” stuff that wastes my time, and the time of whoever watches it. I definitely took steps in this direction. There was a lot of trial and error, but I have a pretty solid plan as we move into the new year that includes more concise content, a clearer message, and expanding to other platforms (like this blog!).
First Aid Preparation- My goal here was to gather and store supplies that we might need in an emergency situation. I made zero progress on this one.
Learn to Braid My Hair- I have long hair and I really wanted to learn how to do beautiful, interesting things with it. I got about halfway with this one; I learned how to French braid (yes, finally, at age 35) and that was really fun to figure out and be able to do. But I’m really slow at it, which means I don’t do it often, and that’s about as far as I got with the hairstyles.
Have a Will- A bit embarrassing, to be honest, but we don’t have a will. I think it’s because we’re never really had anything of value that it’s not something that’s been heavy on our minds, but we also realized that we have kids and need to iron out details regarding them, in case anything happens. I’m even more embarrassed to say that we ended the year and I still haven’t done this. I started, but my husband was working at the time and I needed to discuss some things with him, so I never finished.
Workout Consistently– This was a hit or miss one in 2023. I moved my body more than I have in recent years, whether by going for walks, doing pilates on my living room floor, or following YouTube workout videos on the back deck while my kids played nearby. But, while I would have weeks where I was pretty diligent, I definitely was not as consistent as I wanted to be. I don’t have any weight loss goals, but I want to feel strong, capable, and fit, and I still have a long way to go.
School with My Kids– While we’ve taken a very laid-back, unschooling approach to education so far, and it has served us very well, I wanted to do something with a bit more structure this year. It’s interesting that, when I put this item on my vision board, I had a certain idea of what I thought this would look like, and it ended up being completely different, but I couldn’t be more pleased with the experience we had this year. I discovered Charlotte Mason in 2023 (which is a funny story but one for another day) and her philosophies and the ideas I’ve discovered since seeking out information about her have been life-altering in the best kind of way. For our fall term, we followed Ambleside Online, a free online curriculum guide. We bought a few of the required books and got a few at the library. It truly brought us before a feast of stories, ideas, and literature that I would never have thought to pick up on my own. We read early British history, fables, and fairy tales. We read Shakespeare and learned some Latin words and spent time memorizing poetry. We sang folk songs and identified trees and created art in different mediums. It truly was so delightful. Our learning time has become the highlight of my day. We supplement with a phonics/reading program and random worksheets or games for math. While I’m still tweaking how I approach education as we move forward, this year was instrumental in igniting my passion for pursuing what is “good, true, and beautiful” and really gave me a firm foundation to work from, and I am so thankful for it.
Redo the Kitchen- Our kitchen is very tiny, and so at the beginning of the year, I imagined this might be a relatively “easy” project to accomplish. However, like in the paragraph above discussing chickens, my husband and I decided not to allocate time or money to this right now.
Embroidery- This one makes me laugh. My goal for the year was to embroider a piece every month and at the end of the year I have….zero pieces. I made absolutely none. I did buy supplies to make one, but I never actually did it. Probably my biggest flop item on the whole board.
Making Sourdough- This one, I passed with flying colors and I am SO excited at the things I learned and progress I made this year. When I designed my vision board, I had just started making sourdough bread. After being unable to maintain a starter in the past, in October of 2022 I finally kept one alive for more than a week! I made a few haphazard loaves, but I knew I really wanted to develop my skills. So I decided to challenge myself to make all my family’s bread products in 2023. All the bread, rolls, buns, muffins, pancakes, waffles, English muffins, bagels, donuts, pastries, crusts, tortillas…all was made from scratch and most of it out of sourdough. To be honest, this wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be, and it gave me so much accelerated experience. I don’t plan on buying bread anytime soon, either, as you just cannot match the taste (and pricepoint!) of homemade!
So that’s a wrap on 2023. I learned so much, through the goals I met and the ones I didn’t. I feel proud of what I was able to accomplish and have considered new tactics for approaching the tasks I struggle with a bit more. I love dreaming about the future and goals, even if I don’t meet all of them in the time frame I might prefer. There shouldn’t be any discouragement or shame involved when analyzing a previous year’s progress. Some of the items I didn’t complete were 100% because I didn’t try hard enough, and I can acknowledge that, make a plan to improve in the future, and still not hold any anger or guilt for the fact that I didn’t get it done last year. It sounds so cheesy, but allowing myself to wallow in self-deprecation would be counter-productive. I want to take the times I didn’t measure up and allow them to propel me forward, with confidence and hope, not hold me back in negativity. I hope that, if you are creating goals or visions for the new year, you
keep this in mind and allow it to give you the freedom to dream big and optimistically.
Happy New Year!