2017 you were horrible; 2018 here I come...

Here comes 2018.  Where did time go?  Goals again for the new year.  I hope I do better than I did in 2017.  I think it was the most unfilled goals I have ever had.  Optimism.  I am sure that I have learned from past failures and will trudge ahead.  As the sun sets on this year, I am positive that 2018 will be better.

My number one priority this year is my health.  I spent way to much time visiting doctors in 2017.  I will drink more water, eat better, exercise more, and go to bed when I am sick.  

I want to spend a week off with my husband.  Normally, every year we take a week off and do projects together.  Our timing was off in 2017 and it didn't happen.  I missed it terribly.  My husband is my strength.  We have fun together and I look forward to our time with each other.  

Home improvements are again on the list.  This will be our 15th year in the cabin and it is time to spruce things up.  I am hoping to host several visitors this summer and I want them to be comfortable.  I am not going to wait until the last minute and will start in January.

To successfully implement a strawberry bed, more grapes, and add a shrub bed. I haven't had a good strawberry bed since we first moved to the cabin.  I make wine and hardly have any grapes on the property.  Doesn't make much sense.  I need to landscape a road that we took out and I want to do it with shrubs and grasses.  

Add a butterfly/hummingbird garden somewhere on the property.  Hopefully, on the slopes in front of the barn.  I had more butterflies this year than I've ever had and enjoyed them immensely.  I am hopeful my lost hummingbird found its way south before the freezing weather.  I would love to have a buffet for it this year.

Make a barn quilt for our shed.   I have been wanting to do this project for several years and maybe if I write it down I will get on it.  

I have to say that 2017 was not one of my favorite years.  Work was extremely stress filled and I spent a lot of time wishing I was healthier.  I visited the doctor more in 2017 than the last 20 years combined.  A review of my goals will show that it was a sad year for success.  

~Family and friends are always at the top of my goal list.  I don't think I could beat last year with hosting.  We had a lot of company and and loads of fun.  I would like to expand our repertoire things to do while at the cabin including gifts, projects, games, and adventures.  I need more indoor games and kid friendly projects.  I think this was a successful endeavor.  We hosted several people this year and I can say that the card games and game room that Kelly created definitely helped alleviate any boredom.   I hosted the nieces for a week and we kept very busy the whole time.  I was extremely proud at how well the girls did on their birdhouse project.  

~Home improvements are on the list.  I need to update our guest bathroom.  It needs a fresh coat of paint, new curtains, and a new theme.  We have been in the cabin for 14 years and it is starting to look shabby.  The outside of the cabin also needs re-stained.  Thankfully, it is small and shouldn't take long.  It is just it takes some serious acrobatics to get to a few areas.  This was a total fail.  I didn't get the cabin stained and only 1/4 of the bathroom painted.  I thought I could still pull out painting the bathroom, but bronchitis put an end to that delusion.  

~Host a barn dance.  We have a new barn and I really want a barn dance.  Maybe we won't dance.  Food, fun, and wine is fine. The timing was bad and a barn dance wasn't to be had.

~Landscaping.  We have the new barn and there is plenty of landscaping to do around it.  I also want to add hardscapes like trellises and more garden art.  I am satisfied with my garden plants, now I need to include some art to tie it all together.  My sweet husband got me a truckload of compost and landscaping here I come.  I did numerous projects this fall and have one final big one this spring.  I added trellises and garden art.  I am extremely happy with the landscaping of our property and truly enjoyed all the work that it required.

~Gardening goals (this is a gardening blog) are to focus on soil, fertilizer, and water.  I was negligent on my composting this year and it showed.  I need to keep my compost turned so it can enhance my beds.  The clay soil is persistent and it doesn't take long for it to overpower any improvements I make.  I started with a drip watering system in the vegetable garden and then when there were issues abandon the project.  If I don't focus on those little things, all the big things I do won't make a difference.  I also want to include hugelkulture into my beds.  This is the practice of covering wood with soil.  The wood retains water and fertilizes as it breaks down.  I did much better this year at keeping my compost pile turned.  The soil my husband got me will help immensely in improving the beds.  I didn't quite incorporate hugelkulture into the red/yellow bed like I wanted, but that doesn't mean I can't still this spring.  My husband did an incredible job with a watering rotation this year.  It was one of our drier years, but his system didn't miss a beat and the beds stayed happy and healthy.  I used a lot of fish fertilizer and my roses thanked me for it.

~Bring Hygge to my job.  It was a long stressful year at work.  Not just for me, but also for my staff.  I need to take what I learned from Hygge and incorporate it in the education building.  It is easy to get wrapped up in a job where you deal with young emotion filled adults and lots of government red tape.  We need to take a breath and slow down.  Another epic fail.  The government is a fickle beast to work for and instead of Hygge we felt tension, frustration, failure, and worst of betrayal from our superiors.  I love my job.  I love the students whose souls we fight for daily and the staff that give everything because they know they make a difference.  I will keep the faith that what we do means something and hope somebody above realizes it.

~To use a planner at home.  I live and die by my daily planner at work.  It keeps me focused and on task.  I want to experiment and try using a planner at home for meals, cleaning, and projects.  I'll admit I think this goal will fail (great start huh?), but I will give it a try.  This was a huge success.  My husband and I would plan our meals for the week on Sunday.  This gave me guidance when grocery shopping and eased the stress of a long day.  Knowing what you are going to make when you get home does a lot to make life smoother.  Even though it was mainly used for meals it did also help keep us organized when company came.  

I'm afraid that is it.  As I sit on the couch, the dog snuggled up to me, I count my blessings.  I have a great husband, wonderful family and friends, I work with amazing people, and live in a beautiful place.  2017 wasn't the best year, but I am still thankful for it. I have high hopes for 2018.  I wish you all a very happy and healthy new year.