For the Love of Lists

I wrote earlier this year about our goals as a household/couple...but they were pretty broad. As the first month of the year came and went, my brain has been reeling with all of the things I want/need to accomplish in 2014! Does anyone else get like this at the beginning of the year or am I the only one who is this crazy?

This list mostly consists of projects I'm hoping to complete around the house with some of my Boersma Lawn Care marketing responsibilities thrown in. I've left the exercise/weight loss/Bible-reading/marriage goals for another blog another day. :) You'll also notice that the months where Josh is working more, I made sure I had plenty to keep me busy with bigger, time-consuming projects...which means I have fewer projects and more fun stuff in October, November, and December. :)

This is, perhaps the most boring/uneventful blog I've ever posted, but I'm writing it, mainly for accountability. I love lists and organization...but something about having this list of goals on my iPhone makes them easy to ignore. Last year I just made one big list of tasks, and it seemed pretty overwhelming (although I did manage to cross quite a few of those tasks off by the end of the year!). This year I'm taking it month-by-month.  And of course I'll blog about my progress, what I failed at and what I accomplished. :) Listing things this way also made it easier to map out some of the bigger purchases we're hoping to make this year (vacuum, table, deep freeze) so we can plan to budget accordingly.

It's possible I added things to my January list that I completed, JUST so I could cross them off. I mean no I didn't do that...

JANUARY:
Take down Christmas
Decorate for winter
FINISH FARMHOUSE
BLC New Year's Cards
Meal Plan
Finish Josh's t-shirt blanket
Get quotes for BLC marketing materials
Organize/email tax stuff
Organize/purge closets/drawers/cupboards
***the last two things on this list technically happened on February 4th, but hey, they still got done!***

FEBRUARY:
Take down winter decor
Decorate for Valentine's
Organize/label basement storage/totes
Order BLC signs/hoodies/shirts, etc.
File 2013 bills/taxes
Sort 2014 files
Make homemade detergent
Purchase ironing board
Paint new house numbers
Paint green living room wall gray/touch up's
Finish crocheting mom's birthday blanket
Finish painting chalkboard doors for gifts

MARCH: 
Take down Valentine's decor
Purchase new fan/lighting for kitchen
Sand kitchen cupboards outside
Sand cupboards inside
Stain kitchen cupboards
Send BLC spring mailer
Deep clean kitchen/dining room
Tackle crock-pot meal plans with mom

APRIL: 
Decorate for spring/summer
Purchase new fan for living room
Deep clean living room/cloffice/hallway
Touch up black paint on furniture
Sew buttons on duvet
Finish odds and ends sewing projects
Schedule window-washing
Clean/prep Josh's truck for summer
Price check window air conditioners

MAY: 
Paint Josh's bathroom
Deep clean Josh's bathroom
Plant flowers in pots outside
Start crafting summer wedding/shower gifts
Vacuume/clean my car
Laminate Josh's college posters, store downstairs
Purchase a small deep-freeze

JUNE: 
Deep clean guest bedroom
Clean washer/dryer
Sew curtains for guest bedroom
Re-paint side and front steps white
Sew pillow cases for outdoor pillows
Buy a new vacuum for anniversary gift

JULY: 
Touch up paint in spare room/hallway
Deep clean spare room
Touch up dark gray on all exterior doors
Move filing cabinet to guest bedroom closet
Deep clean master bedroom
Touch up black paint on headboard, bed frame
Book tropical vacation for November/December

AUGUST: 
Re-paint zebra bathroom
Deep clean zebra bathroom
Purchase new shelving for living room
Rearrange living room

SEPTEMBER: 
Plan fall trip to Haven, orchard, Manson Pumpkin Days etc.
Sew Christmas pillows
Decorate for fall (after Sept. 15th)
Catch up on scrapbooking
Send BLC fall mailer
Get carpets cleaned

OCTOBER: 
Add Halloween decorations around the house
Plan to host Thanksgiving/send invites
Go through clothing drawers and closets/send stuff to Goodwill
Build/buy dining room table/chairs/bench
Vacuum/clean my car
Schedule window cleaning
Undecorate Halloween

NOVEMBER: 
Undecorate/Fall
Paint/glitter/craft house Christmas décor
Decorate for Christmas
Plan Christmas gifts/shopping/budget
Create/prep/send Christmas cards
VACATION!!!

DECEMBER:
Read this list and pass out from an immensely productive and organized, 2014.

After writing this list, three things have become even more clear to me...

1. I'm obsessed with gray. I hope I feel the same about it in five years when I realize I've painted every single surface in our house 50 different shades of beautiful gray...I'm confident I'll still love it because IT'S JUST THE BEST COLOR and IT GOES WITH EVERYTHING.

2. Please don't comment on my perfectly-planned out decorating schedule. I know it's bad, okay? I think I have the most severe form of OCD known to man. I can't help that I love leafy garlands in October and dried green hydrangeas in June and silver glittered pine cones in January...I think somewhere I have a DNA strand that's coded with all things HGTV, Better Homes and Gardens, Pinterest, and Pottery Barn.

3. My husband is a saint.

MmB