Next Steps

Chad and I have written our mission statement as a couple. We are going to be working towards being prepared. I know it is a scouting thing, but it fits in with our goals as a couple and helps calm our fears. We are going to go back to our homesteading goals we started work on 2 years ago. We know that our yard is not big enough to do it all, but it is big enough to get a good start as we pay off our debt and work towards getter jobs or the possibility of owning our own business. 

After watching several YouTube videos, we made a garden plan and bought some seed for a few items that we learned needed to be planted in January inside because they have a longer germination time. We will also be clearing out some of our backyard for raised garden beds over the next few months and deciding what we will be starting as seed and what we will buy as starters. All I know is that I do not see a time of me ever trying to plant tomatoes from seeds again. I was really successful with the starter I got last year and am hoping to duplicate that result this year. As we wait for our garden, we will be buying extra canned fruit and vegetables to build up our storage. 

I am also going to finish some of the unpaper towels that I started a few years ago. I like the group that I made 2 years ago, and I don't know why I stopped midway in the batch I was making that had a towel on one side and fleece on the other side. They will be completed soon. To go with that, I am also working on making some hot pads to replace my old, ratty sets and an apron to match. When I finish all of that, we will see if I still feel like sewing. Unlike my daughter, I don't always love sewing. 

Of course, bread making will always be a summer hobby for both Chad and me. We are currently working on baking twice what we need for the week so we can freeze some to have in the summer when it is too hot to bake. 

Lastly, we were given a 10-gallon water drum a few years ago when a friend of ours was moving. We will be filling that when the temperatures get warm enough that we feel comfortable hooking the hose up to the house. Then, we will look into other options for water storage. 

Things are getting scarier and more uncertain. Every day the news is filled with horrifying images and stories. The only way to combat the fear is to prepare for the worst. This is our start of that preparation. 

Trying to Write Mission Statements

Chad and I have been reading 7 Habits of Highly Effective People together. He has it on his Kindle, and I bought a 30th Anniversary Edition on Ebay a few months ago. Since we were each in the middle of other books, we agreed to wait until January 1 to start. Since then, we have been reading about 10 pages a day. At times, I have to read more because the anniversary edition has some bonus material at the end of each chapter, but I don't mind because it gives more clarity to the concepts.

Earlier this week, we read about mission statements when reading about the second habit, begin with the end in mind. The point of a mission statement to give you, your family, or an organization direction. It helps set priorities that will guide you. We both read this concept and just kept reading on thinking we could get to this step later. As we moved on to reading about the next habit, put first things first, and it became obvious that we needed to work on our personal mission statements. I finished mine but was not completely happy with it. Chad didn't finish his because he got overwhelmed and didn't know what direction he wanted to go with it. As we talked about our issues with trying to wright our personal mission statements, we realized that we have similar values and goals (no wonder we are so good together). We have decided that tonight or tomorrow after church, we will sit down and decided a couple's mission statement. The hope is that aby working on a mission statement as a couple, we can make personal mission statements that we are happy with for a while. 

I'm not sure if we are doing this properly. All I know is that we need to have focus as we continue on our journey self-improvement. We let so many things go in the wrong direction over the years (finances, cleanliness of the house, our weight). It is time to get things cleaned up our lives and environment. 

French and Ukelele Learning Update

Learning French again is a lot harder than I thought it would be. I am working in a workbook I bought from Amazon after Christmas. It is set up to help people learn in 30 days, but I have to do it a bit differently because of my schedule. I am working on French 2 days a week for now. Once I get into the swing of things with one of my commitments, I will hopefully be able to work on it at least 3 days a week. Right now, it is kicking my butt, though. It's a bit discouraging to know that I used to know this stuff and not be able to access that information in my brain any longer. I know that the lessons I am doing were spanned over about a week when I was in school, and now I am trying to cram it into one evening. I'm doing it, but I have to go back sometimes because I know I didn't learn everything I needed to the first time. Thankfully, I unlocked some bonus materials by finishing the first chapter and will be able to practice with some recordings and flash cards. I think this workbook is going to take me at least the first quarter of the year to get through. Then, I will decide where to go from there. My plan is to get to the point where I can read the Book of Mormon in French. 

I knew learning the Ukelele would be hard. I have learned a few songs a while back when I got my ukelele (when Sean was still in school), but that has been too long. I am starting all over on this subject, too. Chad gave me a book for Christmas to help with this goal. Most of it has been how to pick one out and how to tune it. I read it, but I already have one and have the app to help me tune it. I have also been reading a book about the history of the ukelele from the library that I have to finish this weekend so I can return it. I am working on this two nights a week as well and may need to add another day, too. A few nights ago, I finally got to the chapter about chords and learned the first one. Today, I veered off my plan a bit and found the YouTube videos I was learning from back in 2021 or 2022 and spent about an hour learning "You are My Sunshine" and "Riptide." I still need to get better at my strumming and the G cord to move on to the next lesson, but I know I can do this. My goal is to have at least 6 songs that I can play well and have memorized. 

January 2026 Bullet Journal and Planner

 

I had way too much fun making my bullet journal spreads for January, but I had fun making them. I basically spent New Year's Eve on them. For the most part, I decided to go with a general winter theme. I have one page that is still winter themed but doesn't use the same materials. I love the way it turned out, but I wish it matched the others a bit better. I have been tracking with them since the first. I've already missed some tasks, but I never said I was perfect. I am better at working towards my goals when I do this in combination with my day planner, though. 

I used my day planner as a to do list of sorts. I have found that using a standard day planner to write down my daily tasks helps me to keep track of what I have and haven't done as well as motivates me to do it. Now that we aren't watching as much TV, I am finding more and more time to get things done and feel like I have really accomplished something with my days. I'm not going to copy my planner pages into this blog each week. It will basically look the same each week up to our trip at the month. 

Goodbye 2025, Hello 2026

I definitely saw some big ups and downs in 2025. Mentally, it was a tough year for me mentally. I struggled with a lot of what was on the news. At times, it felt like it couldn't get worse. Then, something else happened. I also struggled with my cousin's death more than I thought I would. I didn't even know him and couldn't even remember the last time I saw him in person. Eventually, I realized it brought back memories of when my mom would lay in my bed crying telling me it would be easier if she would just run her car into a tree and end it all. (It was one of these interactions in which I learned that her telling this to professionals was the cause of her being admitted to mental hospitals multiple times.) Trying to work through my feelings of my suicidal mom and her eventual death in a different way than ever before has been a whole new experience. 

It wasn't completely a horrible year, though. I had may good experiences as well. I went on my first cruise with one of best friends. This trip included many first such as my first time in Florida, first time really seeing the ocean, first time in the Bahamas, and my first time snorkeling over the coral reef. I hope to be able to experience something like this again. I also finally graduated from BYU Idaho after 10 years of taking online classes. It was a long journey, but I am glad I kept with it. (I am so thankful to be married to a man that supports me in my efforts to improve myself.) Chad and I also took a trip to Colorado Springs for our anniversary and another one to Grand Junction in which we hiked Rifle Falls and went to the Grand Junction Temple open house. 

I am determined to make 2026 a good year. I can't do anything about newsworthy events. I don't see the awfulness calming down anytime soon. I can control what I do, though (hopefully). Chad and I are going to visit our friends in Florida for our anniversary this year, and we will go camping over the summer. We are also going to make a better effort to do our Come, Follow Me studies regularly. Personally, I will be working on relearning French, learning to play the ukelele, cleaning and organizing the house, and get back to running. 

Christmas 2025

 

This year, we had a good Christmas. Eric came over around 9am, and we opened presents together. I think everyone was happy with the gifts they received. I know that I worked hard to try to make sure to buy things that Eric, Sean, Noel, and Chad wanted or needed. We also do a not-so-secret-Santa, and I think everyone did a good job finding something for the person they needed to buy for which was decided in a drawing of names on Thanksgiving. My favorite reaction of the day was Noel when she opened her ironing board. I got her a small tabletop ironing board that she could easily tuck under her bed or in her closet because she doesn't like mine when she is sewing. Who knew that was exactly what she was wanting. Eric seemed to be most excited about the Dune box set. He lost his love of reading in elementary school, but he has found it again now that he can really choose which books he reads. Sean was happy about the video games he opened, but he also got a chuckle out of the shirts I gave him. Chad was excited about the cookbooks he got because they are not only filled with recipes, they also have the historical content behind the recipes. One of them even has the historical recipe and modern recipe. I was most excited about getting Elenor Roosevelt's autobiography. After presents, we played Clue for a while and ate a roast dinner before we went our separate ways. (Eric went home. Sean and Noel went to their dad's house. Chad and I took a nap.) 

Christmas Day 24

 

“And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” Luke 2:10-14