2025 Goals and 2024 Recap

To keep moving forward with our simple homemade lives, lets take a moment to review the previous year and look forward to what we want to accomplish in 2025. I’m sharing how my goals fared in 2024 (spoiler: we’ve got work to do!), and how I see 2025 shaping up to inspire and encourage you to set a few goals of your own.

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I have publicly set yearly goals (intentions, dreams – whatever you want to call them…) here for fifteen years – ever since the beginning of the second year of the blog (yes, I’m a dinosaur in the blogging/influencer world!).

Wow, that’s a lot of time. It had been a while since I’d taken a look at any of my previous goal lists and I found this that I wrote way back in my very first goals list:

“I like to see them as fluid goals, meaning they will be something to work toward in order to feel a sense of accomplishment, but I will not be a failure if they don’t all happen (like resolutions).”

And that is still my guiding principle. I think making a list of things we’d like to accomplish in a year is purely for US – not anyone else, so if we don’t finish one, it’s not something to beat ourselves up over. Give grace and pivot in one of two ways:

1. First, simply move the goal to the next year.
2. Or reevaluate it – is it really something we still want? What caused us to not accomplish that?

Many times something wasn’t done simply because another, better thing came along, or another thing was more in line with what we could get done that year (based on time or finances, for example).

It’s all just life and you can only plan so much of it, right?

I only know that over the last 15 years of writing things down and reviewing them I’ve really made progress in so many areas. And I’m not sure I’d be in the same place without those goals in the back of my mind, spurring me along.

So, as I always suggest, lets start with a little review. I’m changing this up a little this year by sharing a list of some of the things that worked for me in 2024 and a few things that didn’t work, many of which were outside of the scope of my goals.

What Worked in 2024

1. Using our solo stove fire pit more often. Such fun memories of good talks with our people around the fire pit.
2. New schedule with 2 hours writing before anything else. Working from home I’m often distracted by things I see that need to get done, whether that’s in the kitchen, laundry, mail, etc. I’d think, “Let me just take care of this and then I’ll start writing.” And guess what? An hour would go by – or I’d do the easiest things first and then the DAY would go by! Taking the first two hours of my day (after my morning routine and breakfast) up in my office to write has given me the push I needed to be able to really get the things done each day I’ve got on my list.
3. Planning monthly trips or outings. I started this a couple years ago so that every month we have things to look forward to and it’s been the best. I actually do it at the first of the year, penciling in things that we know we will do throughout the year and then filling in with short trips here and there to the coast or a cabin. Sometimes it’s just a day hike or paddling trip. But having it planned and on the calendar means it actually happens!
4. Game nights. I’ve hosted bi-monthly dinner and game nights at our house for years and they continue to really be something we all enjoy.
5. Daily Audio Bible app. I shared this app at the beginning of 2024 (though not in my official goals – maybe it was in my newsletter) as the way I was going to “read” through the Bible this year after two years of reading using paper checklists. It was actually a great way to hear again the scripture I had read previously as well as have a little bit of commentary from the reader.
6. Library – adding Multmomah library. I learned this year that our small, rural library was a part of a statewide consortium and that I could get a library card at the biggest library in the state, Multnomah Library in Portland. We had to go to a branch in the Portland area with my local card, but after filling out a form I was given a card! This opened a HUGE world of books compared to my small local library as well as shorter wait lists for books on hold. You can imagine how much I love this and wish I’d known about it sooner! (It’s called the Oregon Passport Library Program for anyone in Oregon.)
7. Vital Proteins Collagen. I had been taking Biosil daily for years and it had helped my nails some, but when I started with this powdered collagen in my tea twice a day as another source of protein, I saw an even bigger improvement! Specifically, I had two nails that went flat around age 50 – simply flattened out. The Biosil helped with some of the nail splitting and growth, but the collagen gave me curved nails again! Plus the growth was much more. I know there is debate in the science community about whether collagen actually helps or not, but I am a convert since I can see and feel the difference. (And about if this actually “counts” toward your protein for the day: while yes, it’s not a complete protein, neither are beans and nuts and we count their protein, so I always count the collagen now. I just make sure to get different kinds of protein in my diet regularly.)
8. Strength & HIIT workouts 5 days a week. This is the year that these morning workouts truly became a habit during the week. This 30 minutes is just a part of my morning routine and I’m almost thrown off if something happens and I can’t get to it! (I do 3 days of progressive strength training with dumbbells and 2 days of HIIT workouts.)
9. Eliminating more plastic. I feel like I spent a lot of time on this, but I have a ways to go in our kitchen especially. I haven’t used plastic in years for anything hot, but I’m working towards not using it to even store food in the fridge, as well as trying to eliminate it as much as possible from appliances and how we make coffee and tea.
10. Organizing physical photos. This was such a win for me this year – three huge bins of random photos and albums had been waiting for years for me to take care of. I tossed all the duplicate photos (remember when we’d routinely get doubles when processing?) and organized everything into under bed bins for each of our kids and then Brian and I.

What Didn’t Work in 2024

1. YouTube. Brian and I have been on YouTube since 2009! He was very into videos for the longest time and had a lot of fun with them (some of our earliest videos showcase his quirky sense of humor). Over the last number of years, though, it’s become less and less fun – mainly because we have almost 40k subscribers and when we’d post a new video YouTube would show it to…300. We tried so many things from courses, ebooks, and friends to try and get our reach up and nothing worked. So this last year for the first time we uploaded only one new video for the year! We’ll see what this year brings.
2. Instagram. In my mind I have so many things I’d like to share on Insta stories and my timeline, but in the end I just live my life without thinking about recording it! I’m not actually sure this is a bad thing (lol) but it does mean that I showed up less there this year than in the past.
3. Counting macros and eating more for “fuel.” When I first started counting macros, I was shocked at how little protein I regularly ate. It was a good thing to learn and then work on for awhile as I tracked my food to get a handle on what I was actually eating. But then…it became this thing I thought about all.the.time. AND I’d actually eat sometimes when I wasn’t hungry just to “meet my macros!” After a year of eating more because strength training needs “fuel” I wasn’t feeling any different in my clothes. So it’s back to smaller portions and the recipes, tips and tricks I’ve used successfully for years. I’ll still emphasize protein, but not to the point of too much food.
4. Fall plantings (slugs). I was so on top of my fall garden this year – I started broccoli, kale, and cabbage in July and Walla Walla onions in August. I planted them along with spinach and lettuce in September and October. And then…the slugs ate it all. Like even the tops of the onions, which I’ve literally never had happen before! Ugh. Obviously I need some slug control, but I just didn’t think about it since I didn’t have a ton of slug damage this summer. Apparently they were lying in wait for the good stuff.
5. Deer fencing. This is the saddest for me to write. The deer here are SO voracious – they eat almost everything except lavender and the herbs I’ve planted in my deer resistant garden. And they don’t care about netting (push it aside), nasty sprays (only work for day 1), or even the motion-activated sprinkler that works so well for others in my family (just ate away as it went off, hitting them with water). So we put a lot of money into adding high deer fencing to our 4-foot wire fence around the half of our property the deer regularly come in. We close the gate at night. They still come in – either through the fencing or walking around to the areas we haven’t fenced. Every.single.day, in every season. When I say it takes the joy out of gardening, I mean it. Our only option now is to stop planting areas we can’t fence off with giant, permanent wood-and-metal fencing, which is expensive and time consuming. But if I want more berries and our fruit trees to be able to grow, this is what we will have to do.

Goals

2024 Goals Review

The biggest thing you will notice below was that of the three home projects I wanted to finish this last year, exactly NONE where accomplished. Boo. BUT, we did do a makeover of one of our outbuildings into a cute barn, so something got done that wasn’t even on the list! Now do you think I’m even more determined to finish these areas this year? You bet! (Maybe that’s the motivation I needed, ha!)

Personal

1. DONE-Continue Line a Day journal with a focus on thankfulness.
2. DONE-Keep 5x/week strength and HIIT workouts – make them a habit.
3. DONE (3/4 of year)-Consistently count macros for health to get more protein and balance fat and carbs better.

Home/Financial Goals

1. NOT-Finish upstairs landing/hallway and stairs.
2. NOT-Laundry room finished.
3. NOT-Kitchen covered deck started.
4. DONE-Continue funding retirement accounts as able.
5. DONE (sort of – no big trip, but that was okay)-Plan a few smaller trips and one larger trip.

Business Goals

1. DONE-Grow email list by trying different opt-in ideas. (I created two week menus – one for cooler months and one for warmer weather – and grew my list by 3k.)
2. NOT-Watch and implement course on Shopify store improvements, including adding more products.
3. HALF-Plan content quarterly (use the free calendars on clipboards on my office wall).
4. DONE-Site redesign – to improve how easy it is to find things and back-end issues.

2025 Goals

While I usually try and stick to 3-4 goals in each area, this year I have 5, but a few of them are things that I regularly do now and I just want to keep doing them (morning routine additions, monthly trips, etc). These meet my criteria of doable – and you will see that the things that weren’t finished in 2024 are simply moving to 2025!

Personal

1. Listen to the Biblical books in the mornings (start with the Apocrypha, which I’ve never read).
2. Morning and evening prayer from Book of Common Prayer (inspired by Prayer in The Night on my best books list).
3. Add 5-10k steps a day to my daily strength and HIIT workouts.
4. Schedule regular times monthly to meet with friends and family.
5. Work/Life balance: work only 3 days a week – use one day off for creating with hands (sew, decorate, fun projects – I’ve been missing this the last few years).

Home/Financial

1. Stairs and landing finished – need caulking, painting, and some stair rail fixing.
2. Laundry room finished – only needs the counter and sink installed, caulking and touch up painting.
3. Kitchen porch started and completed – I know we will use this area a LOT.
4. Monthly travel planned and maybe 1 big trip.
5. Financial planning and new will – we’ve been meaning to update our will for years, maybe putting on the goals list will get it done!

Biz

1. Revamp and add to Shopify – Watch and implement course on Shopify store.
2. Physical books trial – this has been on our radar for a while, hopefully you’ll see more about this in 2025!
3. Quarterly plan content – I need to be more proactive and not wait until the last minute.
4. Add Monday email – I’d like to send another useful email to my list and am putting together some sort of cooking club idea. Stay tuned!
5. New schedule – work on business T/W/Th with the first two hours strictly for writing with no distractions.

Curious about past goals? You can see them all here.

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