Looking back on 2019, and looking forward to 2020.

Happy New Year!

It is time for one of our favorite traditions: our new year's poster. Each year we create a poster board with our goals for the coming year. The goals must be quantifiable, so that we can check them off as they are completed, and they must be achievable within the calendar year. At this time we like to assess how we did in the previous year, and look forward to the new goals that we have set for ourselves. 

Family Goals

This past year we did very well on our family/couple goals:

• Successfully move to Colorado: Knocked this one out of the park.
• Family camping trip: We went to Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park in September, and it was amaaaaaazing.
• Go stargazing: We planned our trip to Black Canyon specifically to accomplish this goal. It's a "certified dark sky" area because of the lack of light pollution. The star gazing there is breathtaking.
• Find a new martial arts school: The week after we moved in we joined Academy of Self Defense here in Grand Junction, and we've been enjoying learning Shorin-ryu.
• Trip to Tennessee: We ended up visiting twice this year, in March and December.
• Create a family budget: We did this over the summer and it's been going pretty well.
• Attend the temple twice: We made it three times this year.
• Weekly "Come Follow Me" family study: This goal evolved over the year. We'd been doing something different for our family scripture study at the beginning of the year, so we set the goal to study from CFM once a week. But at some point we dropped our other schedule and moved to CFM daily with the children. All in all we feel we've been doing well with our family scripture study.
• Weekly date night: Sometimes it's with kids in tow, sometimes it's at home after they're in bed, and sometimes it's kid-free. But each and every week this year we have planned and gone on a date. This is a goal we will probably set each year forever!

And our family goals for 2020:

• Attend the temple twice: Two times a year seems the most practical right now, though we wish we could go more. We are assigned to the Monticello Temple, which is about 3 hours from home. 
• Visit Canyonlands National Park: Never been, but this year is the time!
• Invite new friends to our home: We decided we need to be more social. 
• Take Grandma and Grandpa to Black Canyon of the Gunnison: We loved it so much, we want to share!
• Visit Tennessee: We're going in the summer this time, because we want to see all those trees green! And go swimming. =)
• Visit Twin Lakes: This summer we were driving home from Denver when there was a mudslide near Glenwood Springs. We ended up on this horribly long detour (our 4 hour trip ended up being 9 hours!) But there was a bright side, because we ended up going through this incredibly beautiful area up in the mountains. We decided then and there that we had to come back.
• Weekly date night
• Monthly Family Home Evening: We've never really done FHE, but decided we wanted to set aside time for a formal family home evening each month: lesson, activity, treats and all.

James

It's been a long and busy year for both me and our whole family. I got a new job, we moved to Grand Junction, Colorado, and we've all grown a bit older and (hopefully) wiser. However, let's see how that translated into completing my New Year's goals for 2019.

• Daily Spanish study: I count this one as achieved. I didn't quite do it every single day, but I was really aiming for consistency, and I achieved that. I'd guess I only missed a handful of days across the entire year, and it shows. I can now at least mostly understand written Spanish and I can engage in basic communication.
• Daily reading/audiobook: I didn't achieve this one, but I'm chalking this up to a bad goal (for me). It turns out I don't really do well in forcing myself to read everyday. Instead, I do much better when I can find a good book and tear through it over the course of a few days/weeks. This is reflected in my goal for 2020. 
• Settle finances: This was too vague a goal, but I feel that we mostly accomplished it. We set out a rough budget, have mostly kept to it, and have ideas for how to improve it in this coming year.
• Create and follow a personal exercise plan: This was a resounding success. I've been doing Karate pretty consistently since we started shortly after moving here, and I've also started calorie counting with Valerie (turns out it's a lot easier doing it with someone than by myself). I've lost over 15 pounds this year, and I still have a ways to go for my ultimate weight goal.
• Weekly video journal: This, on the other hand, didn't go too well at all. Out of the possible 52, I only got maybe a quarter of those. I'm reemphasizing this for 2020 and will set myself up to do better. I really feel that this is important for me.
• Bake 12 new recipes: I blew past this one only halfway through the year. The ones I have listed on the board that I made are the following: Bloomer loaf, glazed doughnuts, filled doughnuts, maneesh, banoffee pie, sourdough, eclairs, cast-iron pizza, pesto star bread, lemon cheesecake, sourdough focaccia, and cinnamon star bread.

That done, let's look at my goals for the coming year.

• Daily Spanish study: This one just follows on my previous goal. I'm going to continue in Duolingo for this year, but I'll probably have to shift to something else by the time 2021 rolls around
• Read 12 new books: As noted above, I think this suits my reading style a lot more. It will also give me a bit of a challenge and encourage me to find books I like as opposed to books that I can read every day. I'm most excited for Rhythm of War (hopefully it comes out this year)!
• Ace boot camp: Every new attorney in the Colorado Public Defender must do what's called a boot camp after they've completed basic training. What I need to do is find a complex, real felony case and prep it for trial. I then spend a week at this boot camp being grilled on and testing out each aspect of my trial prep. I'm a bit nervous to be honest, but I feel confident that I can do well so long as I'm prepared, and that's really the point of this goal.
• Weekly Come Follow Me: This past year we did Come Follow Me with the family, and it went fairly well. However, I was never really prepared enough, and I want to change that this year. Every Sunday, I'm going to read through all of the material and the thoughts included in each section so I can more readily discuss it with my family.
• Get to 190: I started the year at 215, and I'm down to 200 (even lower than that before Christmas and its attendant feasts). I believe another 10 pounds is realistic and challenging, so we'll see how it goes!
• Bake 24 new recipes: This will be significantly more challenging than last year's. I've run out of the easy recipes that I want to make, and 24 recipes is a lot (especially considering I also want to lose weight...). I'll just have to get more creative!
• Weekly video journal: I'm determined to do better this time around. I'll set a timer in my phone for each Sunday and make sure it gets done.

Those are my goals. I hope to be a better, healthier, wiser, and more experienced man by the time next New Year's rolls around. Wish me luck!

Valerie

I feel generally quite pleased with how my goals went in 2019. Let's examine:

• Earn 5th Dan: In January I completed my Master's Test and earned my 5th degree black belt in taekwondo. It was a ton of work, especially considering that I had a baby in December. It was an achievement I'm very proud of.
• Finish "The Seventh Guardian" revisions: Finishing Book 3 has been on my posters for several years now, so it was a HUGE relief to complete this goal. We'll know how to move forward when we receive feedback on this draft from our editor.
• Project 52 with Clickin Moms: The goal was to take at least one photo each week following specific prompts. This was a fun goal that has set me up for this year's photography goal, see below.
• Journal weekly: I'm counting this one as complete, though I did miss a few weeks here and there. Like James, I was aiming for consistency and I feel I achieved that.
• Learn Photoshop: This was a scary goal for me, but in May I took a class that basically changed my world. I have come to absolutely love Photoshop and editing in general, and view it almost as a separate awesome hobby from photography.
• Read 5 new books: I ended up reading 8 new books this year. I read Assassin's Apprentice, Royal Assassin, The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up, Assassin's Quest, Alcatraz vs the Evil Librarians, Just Mercy, The Orphan Keeper, and Muddy. 
• Finish the Duolingo Spanish tree: I'm suuuuuper close. It doesn't help that Duolingo added a bunch of new content this year! I feel good about this goal even though I didn't quite complete it.
• Take a yoga class: This one just didn't happen. =P

Now for my 2020 goals:

• Write "Allspeaker": This is a novel I've had on the back burner for awhile. I've taken a break from writing for a few months after finishing Book 3. But this coming year I'm determined to complete a draft of Allspeaker.
• Complete Project 365: This is a goal that I'm nervous about. The goal is to take (and hopefully share) a photograph every day this year. I am pretty close to shooting daily as it is, but I want to be more deliberate about it. My hope is to discover more creative perspectives in shooting my daily life, and  to become more consistent in style.
• Plant a garden (and hopefully keep it alive): I have never grown a garden before. I have, at most, planted pots of cherry tomatoes. So this is a pretty big undertaking for me! We redid our landscaping this year, and included a garden space. I have a lot to learn but I hope to find at least some success!
• Attend Insta-Inspire: In April I will be going to a photography retreat in Phoenix. I am super nervous about it. I am purely a hobbyist photographer so I have a bit of impostor syndrome! But I hope that it will be fun and that I will learn a ton.
• Referee at the Colorado State Championships: What with our moves and having babies, I've been out of the referee circuit for a few years. I want to start getting back into refereeing taekwondo, so I've set a modest goal of working this one event in 2020.
• Read 10 new books: Five was easy last year, so I'm pushing myself a bit more by setting my goal at 10. I've found it hard to make time for reading since having children, but I'm a lot happier when I do.
• Weekly Come Follow Me study: My plan is to dedicate time each Sunday to actually study the scriptures for the coming week. We do pretty well at reading scriptures with our children every day, but my own personal study has been lacking, and my goal this year is to take the time for myself.

Joel

When James and I started talking about our goals for this year, Joel jumped in and said that he wanted to set some goals too. So we talked about it with him, and these are the goals he decided to set.

• Ride a bike without training wheels: He's pretty close, I don't think this will take him long.
• Read a chapter book solo: He's become such a good reader, so this will push him to the next level.
• Run faster: Joel was adamant about this goal. I don't like vague goals, but we haven't figured out how to measure it yet, so we're putting it up as is.

Xander

• Read and write the alphabet: Xander surprises me with the things he picks up all the time, but the alphabet has been slow in coming. So we're determined to master it this year!

2019 New Years Goals

Happy New Year!

Every year we create a poster with our goals for the coming year. This is one of my favorite traditions! The rules for the annual poster are A) the goals must be achievable in one year, and B) they must be quantifiable, as in, they have to be things we can measure and check off. 

First, I like to review how we did on our goals for the previous year. To be perfectly honest, we didn't do so hot this year. 2018 was a year of upheaval for us. At New Year's we didn't know where James would be working post graduation, so a lot was up in the air. As things coalesced, some of our goals changed or fell by the wayside. 

James:
Did marvelously with his Duolingo study this year, he's been making great progress in Spanish. He did read (or listen to an audiobook) every day. He did obtain a post-graduation job. He did not practice the piano every day.

Joel:
Learned to read! Of course it's still a developing skill, but we love to hear him read beginning books to us, it's awesome. He's still working on his roundhouse. =)

Xander:
His goals were ones that we neglected this year.

Valerie:
I did not work on my novel "Allspeaker" this year. (Although I did make some progress on "The Seventh Guardian" fortunately.) I did pretty well with my photography challenge. Duolingo totally fell by the wayside for me. I did finish my poomsae challenge in time for my black belt test in October. Bike riding didn't happen as intended. But I definitely got pregnant!

Family goals:
We successfully moved to Utah, a location which meant we didn't need to find a new martial arts school, haha. We went on one of the two camping trips we'd intended. James and I did attend the temple three times. We are still working through the Book of Mormon together. We're terrible about walking our dog, but at least we've been on a date every week!

And now I present our goals for 2019!

James:
-Daily Spanish study
-Daily reading/audiobook
-Settle finances
-Create and follow personal exercise plan
-Weekly video journal
-Bake 12 new recipes

Valerie:
-Earn 5th Dan
-Finish "The Seventh Guardian" revisions
-Project 52 with Clickin Moms (ie weekly photography project)
-Journal weekly
-Read 5 new books
-Finish Duolingo Spanish tree
-Take a yoga class

Family/Couple goals:
-Successfully move to Colorado
-Family camping trip
-Go star gazing
-Find a new martial arts school
-Trip to Tennessee
-Create a family budget
-Attend the temple (number of times to be determined when we know what part of Colorado we're moving to)
-Weekly "Come Follow Me" family study
-Weekly date night

We also want to add "Plant a tree" if we end up buying a house this year. But we'll have to see!

We decided not to set goals for the children this year. We've decided  to wait until they're old enough to set their own goals. We feel like we shouldn't be forcing our ideas of what their progression should be, but should let them discover their own interests. Of course we'll be working on things together, but it's a little different when we're setting up checkboxes on their behalf. So we'll revisit those in later years.

We are excited about this coming year. We've got some big changes ahead for our family. Hopefully our move will go well; we are looking forward to settling down at last and hopefully not moving again for a while! =) 

We wish you a happy New Year and a great 2019!

2018 New Years goals

Hello, dear abandoned blog. I hadn't realized until I pulled up the blog just now that I haven't posted since June. Ooops! But, it's time for our annual New Year's post, so here we are.

Every year we create a poster with our goals for the year. This is one of my favorite traditions. The rules for our poster are A) the goals must be achievable in one year, and B) they must be quantifiable, as in, they have to be things we can measure and check off. Let's review our goals from 2017:

I will take a photo of our checked-off poster when I get back from Utah.

James:
He has not yet obtained a job for after graduation, but is in process. He has been applying, has had some interviews, and will be having more. We're still waiting to hear back from some of his first interviews. It's an involved process! James did not meet his weight loss goal. He did, however, complete Camp NaNoWriMo (twice)--he wrote 22,000 words of a story that he plans to complete after graduation. =P He has nearly finished his book-reading goal, and gave himself a grace period to complete his last book (he has a long flight this coming week with no kids!) He did not create something to donate. He has been very diligent about his daily scripture study.

Kids:
Joel potty trained this year! Yay! We tried early in the year, and it was a struggle, so we put it on hold until this summer. The timing was right at the end of June, and he did it! He night trained at the same time, which was extra awesome. He has not learned to read yet, but is in progress, and we are renewing that goal for this year, and doing the same for Xander's ABCs. Given that Xander is still learning to talk, that one turned out to be a bit ambitious for this past year.

Valerie:
I did indeed complete the first draft of "The Seventh Guardian" over the summer, which was a gigantic triumph. I did not meet my weight loss goal. I have also not completed the 100 Challenge yet, but I gave myself until Black Belt Testing in two weeks, and I'm on track to complete it. I did read the New Testament this year, and I won National Novel Writing Month in November. I completed a 52-week photography challenge, and I did read 6 new books this year. Yay.

Family:
We did not create a budget this year. =P We did go on a camping trip, to Falls Lake in September. James and I attended the temple 5 times this year. We did not walk Shadow twice a week, though we definitely have been walking him more than we had in the past. (We're terrible fur-parents.) We did go on a date every week this year. We did not practice taekwondo 2 hours every week, but we came pretty close.

Presenting our goals for 2018!

When we get back from Utah, we'll make an actual poster and update this. =)

James:
-Meet daily Duolingo goal
-Read 10 minutes daily
-Get a post-grad job
-Practice the piano 1 hour a week
-Secret goal that I (Valerie) am not allowed to know about yet

Valerie:
-Write the first draft of Allspeaker
-2018 Photography Challenge
-Finish Duolingo Spanish course
-New 100 Poomsae Challenge
-Weekly bike ride

Joel:
-Learn to read
-Learn to roundhouse kick

Xander
-Learn the ABCs
-Play a (very short) song on the piano

Family
-Move to: ?
-Find a new martial arts school
-Camping trips x2
-Attend the temple x3
-Read the Book of Mormon (nightly companionship study)
-Walk Shadow at least once a week
-Go on a date each week


We definitely have some repeats. Some, like walking our dog and going on dates, are important for us to maintain, and having them on our poster helps keep them a priority. We've dropped the number of temple attendances this year since we have no idea, as of right now, where we'll be living during the second half of the year and what our proximity will be to a temple.

Despite the uncertainty that our future holds right now, we are excited for whatever 2018 will bring! We hope that you also have a wonderful new year. =)

New Year Poster 2017

Welcome to our annual New Year's event at the Holley House!

Every year, we create a poster, and upon said document, we enumerate various goals that we hope to accomplish in the forthcoming year. (2016, 2015, 2014, which also lists 2013's goals.) The rules for our poster is that the goals have to be achievable in one year, and that they must be quantifiable--they have to be things that we can measure and check off. Let's review our goals from 2016:

James:

He obtained jobs for both his first and second summer (we're excited to be spending this upcoming summer in Utah!) He read 9 new books this year, so he's increased his goal next year to make up for the one he missed. He successfully changed the oil in both our vehicles, he read the Book of Mormon, and he joined the Duke Journal of Constitutional Law and Public Policy, which he is thoroughly enjoying.

Valerie:

I did not referee at the state championships this year (it was an overwhelming logistical nightmare, with a breastfeeding baby at the time, so I gave that one up). I read more than 5 new books this year. I successfully posted a photography blog each month this year. I read the Book of Mormon and taught Joel the alphabet. I also won NaNoWriMo and Camp NaNo in the summer, which was awesome.

Family:

We went on two family camping trips this year, as well as our trip to Washington D.C. We totally failed on making handmade blankets. :( We took Joel and Xander to two different zoos. We went on a date every week this year. We did attend the temple three times each, though one of those visits a piece were solo trips.

And now, for our 2017 goals!

Yes, it's blue. It was the only posterboard I could find at the time.

This is our first year including the children on our poster. We did talk to Joel about his goals, as far as he understands, but Xander's is definitely something we've chosen for him. It will be fun to include them more in this process as they get older. Presenting our goals:

James:
-Get a job for after school
-Lose 20 pounds
-Camp NaNoWriMo
-Read 11 new books (at least 3 non-fiction)
-Create a handmade item to donate to charity
-Daily scripture study of at least five minutes (He has committed to tracking this elsewhere.)

Joel:
-Read a book
-Potty train

Xander:
-Learn the alphabet

Valerie:
-Complete "The Seventh Guardian"
-Lose 20lbs
-Complete the 100 Poomsae Challenge
-Read the New Testament
-Win NaNoWriMo
-Complete a 52-week photography challenge
-Read 6 new books

Family:
-Create a budget
-Family camping trip
-Attend the temple 5 times
-Walk Shadow twice weekly
-Go on a date each week
-Practice taekwondo at home 2 hours per week


Obviously we have some repeats. Some of our goals, like attending the temple and going on dates, are so important for us to continue and hold ourselves accountable for. Some of our goals come from things we find ourselves slacking on, like walking our dog and losing weight. And some of our goals are true aspirations that we hope to achieve in the coming year.

For me personally, I'd consider my "big" goal of the year to be finishing my book. It's been a long time coming. If you look through our posters of yester-years, you'll see that it's been a goal of mine for a long time. Between new motherhood and post-partum depression, my progress on the book has been wretched, up until the past six months or so. But I am now ready and committed to finishing "The Seventh Guardian." I've set the goal with Sam, my co-author, to finish the first draft by summer. It's going to take a lot of my time and energy over the next few months, and I am excited for the challenge.

Photography Observations - January

One of my goals this year is to improve my photography skills. The way I made that quantifiable was to post monthly about what I'm learning and capturing.

While I do intend to branch out, naturally I expect to post a lot of photos featuring my children. They are my favorite subjects, after all!

Let us begin with some photos I have featured before:

There are many similarities between these two photos, which were taken within moments of each other. The big, open-mouthed smile is my favorite feature in both, and in fact I like Xander's smile more in the top one. However, in the first photo, Xander is centered, directly facing the camera, while the second better obeys the rule of thirds. The angle of his body is also a bit more aesthetically pleasing. (But I still like both!)

Next: Attention to detail.

I was capturing images of tummy time with Xander. I love his expression in the top photo, which was the first I took. But then I realized that you couldn't read his bib! And it's so cute! So I smoothed it out for the next few photos. I was so proud of myself for noticing this detail. Then after Xander told me--very loudly--that he was done with tummy time, I looked back through the photos, and realized that the backdrop is a cluttered mess: baby gate, playmat, burp cloth, carseat. Next time, I will declutter first!

Exposure and lighting are a constant experiment for me. Firstly, most of the photos I take are indoors right now, because it's been cold. Secondly, most of the photos I take are of my children, and in Joel's case, he never stays still for long!

These two photos were taken within moments of each other, in my bedroom. In the first, Joel is facing the window, and I had a higher shutter speed (I often do when trying to capture the wiggly monster). In the second, he is to the side of the window (getting some of the room light as well as the window light) with a lower shutter speed. I keep practicing!

I've also been working on my editing skills. I don't edit most of my photos, and the edits that I do use are typically pretty minor. But it's a valuable skill, and so I've been practicing. The photo above I am particularly proud of. In the original (see below) the kicking targets were blurry. They were blurry in every kicking shot we did, so I decided to see what I could do about that.

Original

 What I did was take the targets from a still photo:

 Crop the targets:

And then blended them into the kicking shot. You can tell, if you're looking for it closely. But I felt pretty proud of how it turned out.


So, not anything super profound. Hopefully I'll be able to get some more focused practice in February. But for now--more cute pictures I took this month of my boys. Ciao!

Please don't hate me for posting this, when you're older. But goodness, that laugh!

Bring on 2016

We are a little late this year with our traditional New Year's poster. What with our trip to Utah and then getting settled back in afterward, we waited until tonight's FHE to assemble our goals for the year.

Each year, James and I set individual goals, and we set goals for our family. We require our goals to be quantifiable--they have to be things that we can check off. We also try to create a mixture of mental, physical, and spiritual goals.

First, let's review the past year. Unfortunately, I threw out our 2015 poster before remembering to photograph it with the accomplishments checked off. But here's the photo from the beginning of our year:

We were about halfsies on our goals this year. James started law school, earned his 3rd Dan, and read 6 out of his intended 10 new books. As a family, we moved to Durham and went on a family camping trip. James and I went on a date every week, and met our temple attendance goal. As for me, I earned my 4th Dan, read 5 new books (+started a sixth) and learned to make sushi (simple rolls, at least). Plus had a baby!!

This year, I feel like our goals (mine, at least) are a bit more modest, and at the same time, a bit more realistic. I present our 2016 poster:

For James:

• Obtain a 1L job (aka legal internship this summer)
• Obtain a 2L job (for next summer)
• Read 10 new books
• Change oil in car
• Read the Book of Mormon
• Join a legal journal

For Valerie:

• Referee at the NC State Championships
• Read 5 new books
• Create a photography portfolio, utilizing monthly blog posts
• Read the Book of Mormon
• Teach Joel the alphabet
• Win NaNoWriMo (aka write 50,000 words)

For our family:

• Family camping trip
• Washington D.C. trip 
• Donate 4 handmade blankets to a charity
• Take Joel & Xander to the zoo
• Go on a date every week
•  Attend the temple at least thrice

It promises to be an interesting year! Candidly, the main focus of my life right now is my children. Mothering is a full-time job for me, so anything else I get done on the side is a major accomplishment. Still, I look forward to 2016. I can't wait to see what it offers us.

Out with the Old, In with the New!

Another year has come and gone. This weekend, James and I will be celebrating our second anniversary! The time has flown by, it seems. In keeping with our tradition, we mark the New Year with a poster outlining our goals for the coming annum. But first, let us review our accomplishments from 2014:

Apologies for the shadow, this poster lives on the wall next to a bookcase

Our family goals we met 100%. We had a baby--go us! :) We went on a family camping trip (a couple, actually). We started preparations for our Black Belt Testing, which is coming up at the end of January. We took Joel to the zoo. We planted a fruit tree, an apricot which shot up like crazy over the summer. We went on a date every week this year. We visited the temple at least once a month, including a trip up to Brigham City.

Our individual goals were a little more hit-and-miss. James has indeed graduated from BYU (we're still waiting to hear on a few grades, but he's on track for magna cum laude). He has just completed his goal of reading 10 new books this year. Weight loss goals for the both of us didn't quite happen, unfortunately. He didn't learn to do a popup, though it's something he's still working on, and Joel has not yet learned any ASL. However, James met his goal of getting at least a 168 on the LSAT by scoring a 171!

I did referee at Nationals, and earned my B2 referee certification. I have not yet completed The Seventh Guardian (sequel to The Tale of Telsharu and The Scourge of Narak) but it is in progress, at least. Pre-baby weight is close, I'm hoping within the month. I did compete at the Utah Summer Games. I am nowhere close to learning how to do a back walkover, although I did learn how to do a headstand! :)

Which brings us to our goals for 2015:

For James:

• Go to Law School
• Earn 3rd Dan
• Successfully change oil in my car
• Read 10 more new books
• Prepare for and run a Ragnar

For Valerie:

• 4th Degree Black Belt
• Write The Seventh Guardian
• Compete at the State Taekwondo Championships
• Read 10 new books [I liked James's goal, so I copied it for myself]
• Learn to make sushi 

For both of us:

• Move to ___________ [We'll fill in the blank once we know where we're going for law school]
• Go skiing/snowboarding
• Family camping trip
• Teach Shadow to sit
• Go on 1 date per week
• Visit the temple monthly prior to the move, and at least once during the fall semester

We are excited about the coming year. While there promise to be some pretty major alterations to our lives, we look forward to the adventures and challenges ahead. In the meantime, we look forward to enjoying life with our little family!