Being5.

Remember that 2011 List I made at the beginning of the year?

I’ve been dreading going back and re-visiting it because I don’t feel like I paid much attention to it as 2011 got busier and busier and BUSIER.

But, here goes nothing…

You can read the original post HERE.

THE MONTHLY CHALLENGES.

JANUARY: Write one thank you note to someone in my life everyday of the month. – I did tackle this project and sent out a huge stack of thank you notes towards the end of January.

FEBRUARY: Learn to sew — by hand and with a machine. – I don’t even know where the sewing machine is right now.

MARCH: Spend one day a week baking. – Funny.

APRIL: Call and say hi to someone in my life every other day. – Who’s laughing at this one?

MAY: Keep a daily journal. – I’m going to say yes, because I blogged every day. That works.

JUNE: Read instead of watching TV during the daytime. – Nope.

JULY: Watch all the Harry Potter movies. – Again, no. I must do this asap.

AUGUST:To be determined.

SEPTEMBER: To be determined.

OCTOBER: Play cards with Josh in the evenings twice a week. – I wish. Although, I just kick his ass anyway, so what’s the point? (wink, wink, honey.)

NOVEMBER: To be determined.

DECEMBER: To be determined.

RANDOM 2011 TO-DOs

Take a week-long family vacation to the beach. – We chose to stay home instead, mainly because we were to exhausted and busy to prep to be at the beach for a week, although, we did take some weekend trips to the beach instead. Read about them HERE and HERE and HERE.

Go camping. – Took a camping trip in Leavenworth with Josh’s sisters and their families. Lots of swimming, bike riding and time with cousins. Read more HERE.

Put as much money into savings as possible. – We’re better off financially than we were a year ago, for sure.

Finally print and hang pictures around the house. – YES! Although, I still have some blanks in our picture wall and I do have more to hang, but progress, nonetheless.

Have friends over for dinner more often. – Not as much as we’d like. This needs to be a priority for 2012.

Have a monthly date night. – Not every month, but I’d say more often.

Finish landscaping the backyard. – Didn’t happen.

Establish an office area in the house. – We did create an office area. Hopefully this nook can be perfected next year.

Read a book every month. – Pretty close!

Go visit Kassie in Portland. – Sadly, no. Although, we were lucky enough to have our Kissy come visit in March for my 30th birthday.

Get Everett a passport. – Putting this on my ASAP to-do list.

Teach Janie to ride her bike without training wheels. – She’s super close.

Participate in the March of Dimes walk for Team Meggers. – In the pouring rain, at that!

Update Josh and my wardrobe. – This will never end. Mine is a little better. Josh’s still needs some work.

Finish the bunkbeds for the girls. – One of the best things about 2011! Read more HERE.

Finish decorating Everett’s room. – I didn’t even try. Although, we did just buy him curtains. Blackout curtains.

Finish decorating Janie & Meg’s room. – It’s almost complete and will be in the next month.

Reach 100 Being5 Facebook followers. – Success! And I’m almost to 150 now.

Get to an average of 500 daily blog readers. – Hmmm. I’ll need to look.

Relaunch Dress Me. – No. And it’s not going to happen. Thankfully, I have some great outlets for writing about children’s style now. And, I get paid to do it. Bonus!

Send birthday cards to everyone in my calendar on time. – Sorry, friends and family. In fact, 100% of birthday presents were late this year too. That’s horrible.

Attend BlogHer in San Diego in August. – I didn’t make it because I chose to take a trip to LA to meet up with friends instead. More on that HERE.

Teach Meg all her letters and numbers. – Didn’t even need to teach her. She just knows them. Cutie pie.

Get back up to running five-miles comfortably. – Not quite. Although, I do feel comfortable running again.

Take one evening a week for myself, out of the house. Have Josh do the same, in his garage. – Because I’ve had to take a lot of time to work, this hasn’t happened. I hope to make this a reality in 2012.

Be a supportive and encouraging wife. – I hope I have been. I think I’ve improved, at least.

Be a patient and kind mother. – I think I’ve been a better mother in many ways this past year and a worse mother in other ways, mostly due to working at home. You win some, you lose some, right?

Do more crafts with the kids. – Not really. But, I’ve tried to be encouraging of their creativity by making sure that they always have the craft supplies they need and not bitching about crafty-messes.

Establish Friday night as family fun night — games and movies and dessert. –No…

Make cafe style curtains for our kitchen. – Definitely no…

Figure out how I can wear my wedding rings again. – My allergy seems to be improving. Time will tell.

Be a more available friend. – Big fail. BIG FAIL.

Establish a chore routine and allowance for the girls. – No.

Communicate with my brothers and their families more. – Maybe a little? No. Not really. I’m not a great sister, honestly.

Take a picture every day and use Project Life’s Digital Book to organize them every week. – Didn’t happen.

Give our kitchen chairs and table a make-over. – Finally, a yes! Josh put new seats on them and they looked great. Until the kids starting spilling food and drinks all over them. I see new, easy to wipe down kitchen chairs in our near future.

Drink more champagne. (as inspired by laura willard.) – I ordered champagne as often as I could.

Get more professional writing jobs. – For the love of god. Yes. So thankful. So busy. It’s fantastic.

Have an amazing 30th birthday. – Many of you were here. It was wonderful.

Have an amazing, fun-filled summer with the kids. – We did. Busy, but fun.

Go to the dermatologist for a full body scan thing. – Oops. No.

Make a recipe binder. – Again, no.

Make a household binder with important info, packing lists, supply lists, kid info, etc. – One more time, no.

Make an emergency supply kit for our home. – I’ve added to our water supply!

LIVE IN THE PRESENT. (again, thanks LW. good reminder. so hard to do. obviously.) – I’m going to say yes on this one. I’ve tried hard not to live with my head in my day planner, to be more spontaneous and to take each moment as it comes.

Well, I don’t really know what to make of all this. There are some things on here that I forgot about all together. My life has taken a 180 since I wrote this list — from the beginning of the year until the end, so at this point, a list like this seems so unrealistic to me. Make a RECIPE BINDER? For the love of god, I just hope I can remember to FEED THE CHILDREN these days. Will I make another list like this for 2012? I’m still undecided. I always have a running to-do list in my head — personal, family, professional and household — but maybe there are bigger things to focus on right now…

Tell me, did you accomplish what you hoped to in 2011? How do  you feel heading into the new year?