The Rehomesteaders’ 2017 Goals

Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year.  ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

While I know a lot of people grumble about New Year’s resolutions, setting and reviewing goals is one of my favorite things to do on January 1st. For goals to be effective, there has to be a time frame, so why not the beginning of the year? Though I know my list is hefty (I’ve been told a time or two that I’m trying to do too much), I like to write things down to remind and inspire myself to work harder and am well aware that some things won’t be done this year, and realistically, if ever. I still think it can’t hurt to have goals. And, while it may look like a lot, many of the most important items (like spending time with family, being a better wife/mother/person, volunteering, flossing more often, etc) are kept personal for me to work on and evaluate. There’s still a lot of down time and areas I know I could work harder and be more efficient and effective but life isn’t all about checking things off a list. My hope is that this helps keep life interesting, more fulfilling and focused. So, what are some of the goals you have on your 2017 list?

Personal (mostly just for fun!)

• Correctly make croissants from scratch
• Make pasta from scratch
• Go on a cruise The first goal of the year! Boy, was that fun! Cruisin’ 4 Feb 2017
• Visit Yellowstone
• Take a helicopter ride
• Be a participant on The Amazing Race
• Learn to paint with oils
• Index 1,000 names
• Make a custom bed frame
• Visit a black sand beach
• Visit all 50 states
• We’ve lived in Nebraska, Iowa, Texas, and Indiana and have 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
• Become a better knitter
• Get professional family portraits Check out Imzadi Studios if you’re in Indy! 19 Nov 2017 Slice of Life
• 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
• Donate blood Had another chance to help! 6 Dec 2017 Busy Birthday
• Bank or donate cord blood
• Blow glass
• Take the kids 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 haircut
• 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
• Go to a theme park Made it a couple of times as a much-needed break from moving! 29 July 2017 Finally Summer
• Digitize mission and family photos
• Make everyone a personalized stocking
• Have a sugar free week It was hard but I did it!
• Have a year of food storage
• Make the girls dresses
• Visit an observatory
• 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 What is done is done! Projects completed when we moved from our Indiana Mansion to New Harmony!

• Redo girls’ room
• Carpet or flooring Done! Soft, Fluffy Carpet 29 June 2017
• Replace Door
• Etc
• Redo our room
• Carpet Done! Soft, Fluffy Carpet 29 June 2017
• Bedspread
• Doors
• Etc
• Kitchen
• Replace windows
• Lights over kitchen table
• Great room
• Flooring/tile
• Trim
• Windows
• Stair rail, steps, etc So pretty! The Grand Staircase 15 April 2017
• Downstairs guest bath
• Redo shower
• Tile
• Paint, etc
• Storage Room
• Repair shelves
• Paint
• Exterior
• Side Back
• Paint Back
• Paint/repair sheds
• New mailbox
• Put in patio
• Repair driveway
• Replace gutters
• Redo playground footing, add slides, etc
• New garage doors
• ETC
• Nursery
• New door, new door knobs
• ETC, ETC, ETC

• Gallop a horse on the beach
• Register Dancer
• Rim ride at the Grand Canyon
• Trail ride in Yellowstone
• Purchase a trailer
• Get a tractor Yes! Hard work is going to be a lot easier! Bonafide 9 Mar 2017
• Professional horse portraits They’re so pretty! Equine Photography 26 Dec 2017
• Take Stoney and Dancer on a trail ride
• Dye, spin, and knit an item from homegrown wool
• Build a bigger chicken coop Moving made that a necessity! #LightTheWorld  17 Dec 2017
• Enclose chicken run
• Get a peacock and peahen
• Install automatic waterers for the horses We have one at the new house!
• Get some goats! Or maybe sheep…
• Purchase a child’s saddle
• Get a harness and cart for the horses
• Take the girls to a leadline class
• Plant a garden
• Construct a woodshed
• Build a greenhouse
• See wild horses
• Plant a berry patch
• Get another hive
• 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 Sooner than I thought but why wait?? Dolly 10 Sept 2017
• 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…again!
• Take a whale watching expedition
• Be in a dog sled race
• Ride an ostrich
• Ride a camel

• Lose baby weight
• Run another 5k  Ran on Thanksgiving so I could fit in an extra piece of pie Counting Your Blessings 26 Nov 2017
• Run a family race The girls ran with me in the Black Hat Dash 30 Oct 2017
• Run in a Fun Run, Color Run, etc
• 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 Selling our house took care of that!
• Pay off Rachael’s student loans
• Pay off Jack’s student loans
• Build a $1000 emergency fund Another goal met by selling our house!
• Build a one-month emergency fund
• Build a six-month emergency fund
• Open a savings account for the new baby
• Pay off mortgage