Happy New Year!

It has been a crazy busy year! We knew that it would be, and it's fun to look back at everything that's gone down. So, time for one of our favorite traditions.

First, 2021 in review:

Family Goals

• Visit Canyonlands National Park. We went in April. We camped and hiked for a couple of days. We enjoyed our visit, but candidly, we prefer Arches!
• Go on 10 new hikes. Super close - we went on 9. I was encouraged to cram one in this week so we could check off the last, but hiking in the snow is not my favorite, and a hard no from my kids, haha. But the nine we went on were awesome!
• Camping Trip. We went camping a few times this year, and our favorite was camping at Taylor River over the 4th of July with family.
• Monthly Family Home Evening. We enjoyed our monthly family nights very much. 

Couple Goals

• Attend the Temple. We made it! Just a few weeks ago, we attended a session while visiting family.
• Make-up anniversary trip. We didn't have the ability to celebrate our anniversary last January like we wanted because of covid, so we postponed. We ended up taking an amazing kid-free trip in October to Glenwood Springs. We went horseback riding, enjoyed incredible restaurants, went hiking, and soaked in the hot springs. It was glorious.
• Weekly Date Night. We had to do a make-up here and there when one of us was out of town or things got too crazy, but we have been on 52 dates this year and we're feeling great about it.

Xander

• Earn yellow stripe. Xander worked very hard to earn his first belt at Taekwondo. In the process, we learned that Xander genuinely does not enjoy Taekwondo, and he has since quit. While that was hard for Mom, it became clear that it was in Xander's best interest. But we were all very proud of his accomplishment!
• Take a painting class. Xander took a couple of different painting classes this year; some were enjoyed more than others. We continue to pursue art at home.
• Monthly date with Mom or Dad. We have come to treasure these dates. Xander says his favorite date this year was "building Legos with Mom."

Joel

• Ride a bike without training wheels. No check. Still in progress.
• Read two BIG books. At the beginning of the year, this seemed ambitious. Now, it seems laughable. Joel reads a couple 300 page+ novels each week, haha. He devoured the Wings of Fire series this fall, and he's currently churning through the Spirit Animals series.
• Cook a meal solo. Joel has mastered grilled cheese sandwiches! 
• Monthly date with Mom or Dad. Joel says his favorite date this year was going to Get Air! with Daddy.

James

• Come Follow Me complete study: Finished this one up nicely! A bit more cramming towards the end than I would've liked, but I finished it. I'm changing this one up a bit this year, though.
• Brick break with punch: Unfortunately, didn't manage to finish this one. I did plenty of conditioning (by punching a brick hundreds, if not thousands, of times), but my technique just wasn't quite there yet. I'm not giving up, though! I'll get it soon, ideally by the end of the month.
• 18 new books: Didn't quite pull this one off, but I don't feel too badly about it. I never want to make reading a chore, and that's essentially what I was doing by forcing myself to read a certain number of books.
• Knit a blanket: This was the easiest one, and it turned out great! It's really nice and soft, and Xander especially loves the feel of it. 
• Ace boot camp: As a reminder, this is the training/demonstration piece that finishes off my basic training for the public defender's office here in Colorado. I won't say that I did everything perfectly, but I did more than well enough to pass, and I did especially well in a couple of areas. Of course, I have a lot more to learn and a lot more room to grow, but I can confidently say I managed this goal quite nicely.

Valerie

• Release "The Seventh Guardian" No check. My work on the book was done last fall, and the book was scheduled for release February 2021. The delay was out of my control. However, I am confidently moving this goal to my 2022 board, and will soon have news on that front.
• Open Grand Valley Taekwondo. This was my biggest, most ambitious, most overwhelming, most far-reaching, most dear-to-my-heart goal that I've ever set, and I nailed it. This year I became a legit small business owner, and while the business side of things is not my favorite (I really just want to teach Taekwondo!) I have to confess to you that I am really proud of what I have built so far. My mission is to help people become their best selves, and opening the school has expanded the reach of that goal. My hope for 2022 is that GVT will continue to grow and that I will be able to make a positive impact on the lives of my students.
• Read 10 New Books. I finished these 13 books, and partially read a few more:
• The Duke and I by Julia Quinn
• The Viscount Who Loved Me by Julia Quinn
• An Offer From a Gentleman by Julia Quinn
• Romancing Mr. Bridgerton by Julia Quinn
• To Sir Phillip With Love by Julia Quinn
• When He Was Wicked by Julia Quinn
• The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins
• Becoming by Michelle Obama
• The Sword of Kaigen by M. L. Wang
• The Reason I Jump by Naoki Higashida
• The Queen's Gambit by Walter Tevis
• Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate
• Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell by Brandon Sanderson
  
  I obviously went through a bit of a Bridgerton craze at the beginning of the year. I've never read romance before, and while I can't really recommend them, I enjoyed the read. I LOVED The Sword of Kaigen. It's Asian-themed fantasy, which I dig, but even more, one of the main characters is a sword-wielding MOM whose story really spoke to me. But the all star this year was Before We Were Yours. Read it.
• 50 Pushups. My goal was to do 50 pushups all in one go. I have worked hard at this goal through much of this year. And while my pushups are not as deep as they should be (my goal for next year) I did it! 
• Weekly Come Follow Me Study. Candidly, this one was a struggle for me this fall. I got out of the habit and then it was hard to get back into it. I hope to do better.

Now, presenting our goals for 2022:

Our purpose with this poster each year is to find things that we want to learn, improve, and do that are measurable and achievable within the year. While we may have other goals, the ones that appear on the poster must meet these qualifications. We seek a balance of intellectual, physical, and spiritual in our personal goals. We want to push ourselves, but we try to choose goals that are realistic within the coming year.

Joel

Joel came up with all of his own goals this year, with only a little refinement help from Mom. He is very excited to work on them!

• Learn the drums. Joel's Activity Days group did a month of music classes, and he fell in love with the drums. We got him a practice pad for Christmas and he gets to start with that and we'll see how it goes!
• Bake cookies solo. The next step in his cooking journey!
• Compete in Weapons at a tournament. James, as you'll see in his goals, is starting up Weapons class at our dojang next month, and Joel is very excited. Competing is a way to push himself and make his efforts in that class measurable.
• Memorize all the Articles of Faith. He's got the first two down already, but he wants to get them all.
• Beat Junimo Cart. This one makes me (Valerie) laugh. Junimo Cart is a video game inside of a video game (Stardew Valley) that Joel has been working to beat for months. He is determined! So much so that it's here on our poster for the next year, haha.
• Monthly date with Mom or Dad. We've loved our dates and they're here to stay!

Xander

• Make a Lego movie. If you know our Xander, you know that he is completely obsessed with Legos. He loves watching Lego videos on YouTube. His big goal this year is to learn how to make a stop-motion Lego movie of his own.
• Monthly date with Mom or Dad.

James

• Start and run weapons: This is the part of the new studio I've been the most excited for! I haven't been able to make the time for it quite yet, what with gearing up for my Master's Test, but I'll be starting it come February. Of course, starting it will be easy; the more challenging part will be keeping the class running smoothly.
• Get to 175: I've been okay with my physical shape the last year or two, but I have a bit more room to go as far as weight is concerned. I'm currently at about 190, but some rigorous calorie counting ought to do the trick nicely.
• Daily scripture study: To be clear, this isn't just about cramming a few verses in before I pass out at night. I feel like my worship has become somewhat rote of late, and I feel that more regular and deliberate study will help my worship become more deliberate and foster a more personal relationship with Heavenly Father.
• 6 complex new bakes: I haven't been baking quite as much this past year, especially the first half, but I've been getting back into it the last few months. Instead of just pushing out a bunch of easy bakes, though, I've decided to up my game and focus on really challenging recipes. I have a few ideas in mind, but I'm not going to spill the beans quite yet!
• Earn 4th Dan: I've been working up to this for a long time now. This will officially make me Master Holley, and it will give me a chance to show off a lot of what I've been working on.

Valerie

• Release The Seventh Guardian. My third book is done, and we should have an announcement very soon. Can't wait!
• Project 52. This goal is to take a deliberate, artistic photograph each week this year. I took a step back from photography after opening my taekwondo school, and I've missed it, desperately. I don't have as much time as I did before, but I think a photo a week is doable, and I think stirring those creative juices will be beneficial for me.
• ?? Pull ups. I have never done pull ups before. Ever. I've ordered a pull up bar but it's not here yet, so I don't yet have a gauge on this. I have left a blank spot to insert a number. I will set a number by the end of January for how many pullups I want to do in one go. it might be 1! Haha. I'm excited to work on this new skill.
• 100 Poomsae Challenge. This is a taekwondo goal: to practice every poomsae I know 100 times this year, with an evaluation after each set of 25. 
• Memorize a new piano solo. Talk about hobbies that have been neglected: I've barely touched my piano this past year. I have not yet picked my music, but this year I want to learn a new song from scratch and commit it to memory. 
• Take a team to State. This goal is dependent on the State Championships actually happening this year, but presuming it does, I want to take a team from my school to compete. Goals like this are tricky, because I can't control the decision or ability of other people to attend an event that is demanding physically, financially, and of their time. However, I feel hopeful that some of my students will go, and at the very least, Joel and I can go. =)
• Journal weekly. I used to be really good about this and I've slacked off. When I try to journal months at once, I only get highlights, and lose a lot of the spiritual value that journaling provides for me. I'm determined to be more consistent. 

Family Goals

• Visit Yellowstone National Park. James has never been, Valerie hasn't been since childhood, and the kids have never been. And apparently it's going to explode soon?? So we're going to make this happen this year.
• Go on 6 new field trips. This is more of a Valerie+kids goal, but we want to go on adventures to new places as part of homeschool.

Couple Goals

• Attend the Temple. We managed once last year, so we're keeping that number. Can't wait 'til our temple is built here in Grand Junction!!
• Weekly Date Night. This will be on our poster every year that we make one. Our weekly dates are a big part of our connection as a couple, to keep our marriage strong. Keeping it on our poster keeps us on track.

We are excited about the year to come!