The Rehomesteaders’ 2016 Goals

We will open the book. Its pages are blank.We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year’s Day. ~Edith Pierce

It’s one of my favorite times–the New Year! There’s something about seeing the calendar roll over, like it’s a fresh start and full of opportunities. I try and review our list of goals regularly, but on January 1st, I sit down and take a serious look at what I hope the year will produce. Most goals, I know may take a lifetime to accomplish and I’m perfectly okay with that. Some, like family portraits or planting a garden, are reoccurring. Others, like taking the girls to a leadline class, will only last so long before the children are grown, so I try in particular to enjoy them. Then there are goals that may never make it onto the list at all–as you’ll see, skydiving is still not on my list of things to do. And, of course, this is an incomplete list–character traits I’d like to work on or develop, sacred experiences I’d like to have or slightly more mundane, daily goals are kept personal. Though I’ve had the occasional assumption from readers that I’m trying to cram too much into my life, I can assure everyone that I take time to push kids on the swings, keep up with close-by and far-away friends, sit down and watch television, serve in many capacities, get eight hours of sleep, play games with the family, take a daily nap, and otherwise have plenty of downtime. It’s one of the perks of being a stay-at-home mother, haha!

Personal (mostly just for fun!)

• Correctly make croissants from scratch
• Make pasta from scratch
• Go on a cruise
• Visit Yellowstone
• Take a helicopter ride
• Be a participant on The Amazing Race
• Learn to paint with oils
• Index 1,200 names
• Make a custom bed frame
• Visit a white sand beach I want to go back! PCB, FL 27 Aug 2016
• Visit a black sand beach
• Visit all 50 states
• We’ve lived in Nebraska, Iowa, Texas, and Indiana and have recently visited Kentucky, Illinois, Michigan and Ohio. Recently, we visited Tennessee, Alabama and Florida! More to come soon (I hope!)
• Learn to water ski
• Visit every continent
• Make shoes
• Attend a filming of a game show
• Enter an art competition
• See the redwoods
• Donate hair Long hair be gone! 12 Sept 2016 Pros and Cons
• Become a better knitter
• Get professional family portraits Thanks Amy! Fall Family Photos 8 Nov 2016
• Master watercolors
• Enter a writing competition
• Build a porch swing
• Construct a bird bath
• Build a teeter totter
• Sell something on Etsy
• Build food storage shelves
• Go canoeing
• Blow glass
• Take the girls to Disney World
• Downhill ski
• Take a train ride
• Learn to crochet
• Take a family vacation to Table Rock Lake in the Ozarks
• See the Northern Lights
• Build a piece of furniture
• Be a contestant on Wheel of Fortune
• Take up photography
• Go back to Montreal (and swing by NYC since we’d be close anyway!)
• Enter something in a State Fair
• Paint a portrait
• Be an extra in a movie (preferably on horseback)
• Attend a major music concert (other than MoTab)
• Go to the Rolex Event…again!
• Take up pottery
• Take a tropical family vacation
• Restore Jack’s Mustang
• Invent something functional and useful
• Visit France (and I suppose the rest of Europe looks pretty fascinating too, haha!)
• Rock a short hair cut 12 Sept 2016 Pros and Cons
• Sign the girls up for art camp
• Take another self-defense class
• Make or buy a dressform
• Go on a family bike ride
• Design and sew an outfit
• Sew a quilt
• Renew passport So excited to use it! 17 Dec 2016 Globetrotter
• Go to a theme park We had a blast! 18 May 2016 Holiday World
• Digitize mission and family photos
• Have a year of food storage
• Make the girls dresses
• Start the girls on piano lessons
• Make homemade yogurt
• Make homemade cheese
• Be able to do the splits….
• Prepare at least a four generation family history chart

Home Improvements

• Redo girls’ room
• Carpet or flooring
• Curtains and bedspreads Got some good deals at the store!
• Etc
• Redo our room
• Trim
• Carpet
• Bedspread
• Etc
• Redo master bath It’s all done! Woohoo! 2 May 2016 Master Bath
• Shower
• Tub
• Tile
• Paint
• Vanity
• Closet
• Etc
• Kitchen Guys, guys, guys! The Kitchen Is Done 3 Aug 2016
• Paint
• Cabinets and counters
• Tile
• Electrical, plumbing, etc
• Build a kitchen table It’s so beautiful! A Kitchen Table 3 Dec 2016
• Great room
• Paint
• Flooring/tile
• Trim
• Windows
• Stair rail, etc
• Downstairs guest bath
• Redo shower
• Tile
• Paint, etc
• Exterior
• Side Back
• Paint Back
• Roof It was a beast but it’s done! Hooray for Hail 17 Sept 2016
• Columns
• Office All finished! Le Bureau 21 Dec 2016
• Floor
• Ceiling
• Paint, etc
• Nursery
• New door
• Replace flooring Thank goodness for kind people who give away their flooring for FREE! 11 April 2016 Free Floor
• ETC, ETC, ETC

• Ride a horse on a beach So MAGICAL! Beach Riding 22 Aug 2016
• Rim ride at the Grand Canyon
• Trail ride in Yellowstone
• Purchase a trailer
• Take Stoney and Dancer on a trail ride
• Dye, spin and knit an item from homegrown wool
• Hatch more chicks Done a few times over, thanks to Licorice, the broody hen! Cute Chicks 15 April 2016
• Install automatic waterers for the horses
• Get some goats! Or maybe sheep…
• Get a harness and cart for the horses
• Take the girls to a leadline class
• Plant a garden Got it in! 17 April 2016 Slice of Heaven
• Construct a wood shed
• Build a greenhouse
• See wild horses
• Plant a berry patch
• Plant an orchard Why didn’t we do that earlier? 5 Sept 2016 An Orchard
• Get another hive Just needed another queen! 21 April 2016 Queen Bee
• Teach Stoney and Dancer to pull a cart or carriage
• Get pigs
• Breed Dancer
• Cut cattle
• Run barrels
• Go on a cattle drive
• Get a milking cow
• Get a beef steer
• Finish constructing the pasture
• Build a barn
• Ride/Work horses 52+ times in a year
• Build a goat/pig, etc enclosure
• Build a riding arena or round pen
• Ride an elephant (for more than three minutes…)
• Feed sharks
• See the salmon run
• Watch a cheetah chase down prey
• Swim with dolphins One of the coolest goals EVER! 30 Dec 2016 Swimming with Dolphins
• Take a whale watching expedition
• Be in a dog sled race
• Ride an ostrich
• Ride a camel

• Lose baby weight Well… 😉 17 Oct 2016 The Past, The Present, The Future
• Run another 5k 
• Run a family race
• Run in a Fun Run, Color Run, etc We’re going to have to do another one soon! Fun Run 14 June 2016
• Run a 10k
• Run a half marathon
• Run a full marathon
• Complete a triathlon
• Take Dancer to a show
• Compete in a dressage show
• Compete in a jumping show (either show jumping or hunter classes)
• Compete in a two-day horse trial
• Compete in a three-day horse trial
• Compete internationally (a girl can always dream…)

• Pay off credit cards
• Pay for next car in cash A neat car buying experience! 21 Feb 16 Miracles
• Pay off Rachael’s student loans
• Pay off Jack’s student loans
• Build a $1000 emergency fund
• Build a one month emergency fund
• Build a six month emergency fund
• Open a savings account for Henry Easy, but time consuming! 26 Feb 2016 Henry’s Savings
• Pay off mortgage