A Look Ahead...

I've come to really enjoy this week of the year. I enjoy taking stock of the year that's ending and making plans for the year ahead.

I don't make New Year Resolutions, but I definitely make goals for the new year. I lay out goals for stitching, for reading, for home improvement projects, for travel, for gifts, for family events. Of course, all of these are written in pencil, you know how real life can interfere with plans!

Stitching - {{sigh}} my stitching this year was the pits. I was shocked when I counted up my projects and saw how few I completed. So, in true to myself fashion, I've decided to overcompensate in 2017. I need to stitch six Christmas stockings. I want to finish my afghan. I want to stitch a baby sampler for my soon-to-arrive grandchild. And of course, I have a pile of WIPs to get to.

Quiet Time - if you've read my blog for any length of time you know that my favorite source for daily Bible reading is the Chronological Bible. In 2016, I tried something new. I had a flip calendar of daily readings from Jesus Calling. I really enjoyed that. So for 2017 I bought "Jesus Always". I'm also doing a weekly Bible Study with some friends, which I think will continue in 2017.

Blog - last year I switched to a "Verse for the Week" format. I really liked that and I got a lot of very encouraging comments. So I'm sticking with that for this week. I hope to post a stitching post once a week, but I'll be satisfied if I manage one a month! I did better over on my Christmas blog this year. I published a countdown for all 52 weeks leading up to Christmas and I managed to write all of "Christmas in July". I also posted most of the days in December. Again, this plan worked for me so I'm hoping to duplicate it next year. I already posted "Christmas Countdown: 52 Weeks From Today" on Monday.

At home - we have so many home improvement projects to complete. I made a list of the interior projects and a list of the exterior projects. I'm hanging them on the pantry door and we'll cross them off as we get them done. But as you know, you're really NEVER done with home improvement!

Travel - in 2016 we took the trip of a lifetime to Disneyland. We also traveled to Kansas to visit JD and Janel in September. This year we're tentatively planning to travel to see JD and Janel at least four times. We want to go to San Diego at least three times and we're thinking of going to Disneyland for Christmas. Now that we're both in our 60s we feel the urge to do things we've never been able to do before...

Family - and of course, we're hoping to host many family events this year. As the family grows there are more reasons to celebrate each other!