2019 Goals

2019 Goals

Family

-Focus on being present in the moment & not being distracted by social media/phones or tv; spending quality time as a family

Financial

-Pile up money to purchase a new car for me (thankful for family to borrow cars in the meantime)

-Build back our emergency fund; we used a big chunk of the EF to make a larger down payment on our new home

-Start throwing more money toward our mortgage balance to knock some years off & interest total

-Use money wisely, thinking about purchases instead of making them with a "just because" attitude; Thought: Will this item make us happier? Will I still be happy I bought this item in six months? Could the money be better used elsewhere?

Professional

-Erin: continue to be the best teacher I can be, but having a good work/home balance as well

-Bret: continue to be a leader and example on the deputy team he works (9Side); adjust sleep schedule to new working schedule to maximize time with family

Birthday Donations

We delivered the donations received at William's birthday party to the Great Plains SPCA. William was excited to see the doggies (and maybe even the cats?) that the donations would be going to help. It was awesome to see how happy the staff was with the donations we delivered. So wonderful to spread kindness!

Host a Swap to Help Others

So I am reading the book 7 by Jean Hatmaker. She used herself as a social & spiritual experiment to find a deeper faith and listen to God. For seven months, she gave something up or reduced it, choosing seven areas of her life: food, clothing, shopping, media, waste, possessions, and stress.


I am just starting the chapter on her 4th month, having read food, possessions, and clothing. And I love the book! I'm not sure I could do what she did (only each 7 foods for a month, give away 210 things in a month, and only wear 7 clothing items for a month), but she is amazing!

One idea she shared did inspire me and I am going to suggest it at work. She suggested to have an item swap at work. Everyone who wants to participate would bring things they do not need/want anymore. Hopefully this would stay above the "this is just crap" line! You can separate the items into different areas of the room: clothing, kid stuff, jewelry, gifts, decorations, etc. People can look through and take what they would like, for free! Then the things you don't need are gone from your house and you have picked up some things you may need. Anything not taken at the end of the day gets donated to a shelter or Goodwill store.

Ask all participants to donate an open amount. This money can be donated to a local charity or wherever your workplace chooses.

I hope this happens at my work!!

To Do: Random Acts of Kindness

One of my coworkers and I were talking about Random Acts of Kindness and it got me all excited to try some! I love the idea of warming someone's heart unexpectedly. That's the best kind, really! Who doesn't love a sweet word that isn't prompted by anything?!

I started some kindness with writing letters/notes. I absolutely LOVE stationary and have lots of greeting cards as well. I find myself "saving" these cards for special occasions, but then never really using them. So I pulled my boxes (yes, plural) out and got started. I looked at both my address book and the employee list at my work. Then I got started. I wrote about ten cards and had fun delivering/mailing them. I was excited for the recipients to get their cards!

Then, I went to Pinterest for more ideas! I mean, of course, I went to Pinterest. Where else do we get ideas nowadays?! Here are some blogs I found about RAKs and a list of some I'd like to try!

It's Hue I Love - this great blogger listed her RAKs and even provided her readers with a freebie RAK card
Katherine Marie - titled "One Year of Kindness", this family celebrated a RAK each week
Baker's Gift - Quick & easy! Doesn't have to be only a Christmas gift, could do this with any oven mitt
Heart Attack (although, you might have to be sure of who you send this to, don't want to make anyone uneasy)

Ideas (created with the help of many blog posts)
-Pay for the drinks/meal for the person behind me in line
-Leave $1 bills taped to toys or other items in a dollar aisle or at the dollar store
-Pay for the groceries of someone who needs it
-Drop bakes goodies off at the post office
-Provide the secretaries at work with surprise Sonic drinks (they do so much for us!)
-Leave a 50% (or more!) tip for a waitress/waiter
-Taking new coloring books and crayons to the local children's hospital/waiting rooms
-Treats to the local library branch
-(completely) Random Easter egg hunt - I think this would be even more fun totally out of season! Fill Easter eggs with treats and coins and hide at a part. Leave an Easter basket and a note telling the finder to have a fun hunt!
-Donate toiletries and diapers to a women's shelter - include nail polish, lotions, etc.
-Pick a name in the phone book and mail them a happy note and a lucky $2 bill
-Donate diapers and wipes to a shelter
-Pick up trash at a park
-Carry someone's groceries
-Buy a pizza and have it delivered to a friends' house, don't let the delivery person tell who it's from!
-Slip a $10 or $20 bill into someone's purse or coat. This could get tricky!
-Pay for someone else's meal at a restaurant
-Send Valentines in August
-Send someone a card or package just because
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...more to come!