2025 Reading Goal

 At the beginning of 2024, I set a goal to read 6 books through the year. Little did I know, I would  end up in a self-help deep dive. Between nonfiction and fiction reading, I achieved my goal by the middle of the year and upped my goal to 10. As I spent at least 10 minutes a day on self-help, read my fiction series when I went to bed, and found other moments to read here and there, I finished the year having read 14 books. I know this isn't a lot to some people, but it's significant to me. 

This year, my goal is to finish at least 15 books. I think I can go over that goal, but I will be happy to have read more than last year. Right now, I am working on three books: Fast Like a Girl, Garters and Gargoyles, and Standing for Something. My bag of books has 7 more books in it that I will finish by the end of the year. I also have books here and there around the house that I read a few chapters from for classes but didn't finish that I will pick up and books in my Kindle that I will start when I finish my fiction book to get me to and past my goal. 

I have the goal of not buying any new books this year unless I have read everything I have that I haven't read. I don't think I will be buying any new books. Although, there is a possibility that I will get a library card...

KFC Bowl Knockoff

 

First of all, I need to give credit where credit is due. I got this idea from Aggressive Tutorials on TikTok. Noel and I both saw the video, and thought it would be interesting to try. She didn't want to make it her night of cooking, so I did. 

To start off, I made mashed potatoes. My family prefers real potatoes over the flakes. That's easy enough. I just washed and cut potatoes and boiled them until they were so soft that they were almost falling apart. Then, I put them in the stand mixer with milk and butter and mixed them while working on everything else. 

Then, I put the chicken nuggets in the air fryer.

While waiting for those, I mixed two packets of brown gravy. (She did two types of gravy, but this is what my family likes.)

While that simmered, I opened a can of corn, drained it, and put it in a bowl in the microwave. 

Once everything was heated up or cooked, I put it all out on the table along with some shredded cheese for my family to build their own "bowls." (I sat out plates instead of bowls.)

Each person built up what they wanted. I think it was a success and will be trying it again. Maybe next time I will make it with baked potatoes. That sounds delicious! 

No New Subscriptions

One of our no buy rules is "no new subscriptions." This is kind of hard this time of year because there are a lot of apps trying to get our business for the new year. A podcast that I listen to has print outs and stuff to follow along with the scripture study with a yearly subscription, there are crafting apps with yearly subscriptions, etc. It feels like everywhere I turn, there is another subscription looming in my face with the promise of making my life better or easier in some way. 

Here's the thing, though. I know me. I would sign up for the app, do whatever program for 2 or 3 months, and abandon said program. I'm a joiner, but I'm not great with the follow through. Hence the rule. 

I know this rule has already saved me money. The temptation to join a new flashy whatever will dissipate eventually. In the meantime, this is hard. 

Celebrating Eric

Eric's birthday was last week. He came over for pizza (his choice for birthday dinner), presents, and monkey bread (his choice for dessert). I love this kid and love celebrating special occasions with him. I love watching him continue to grow mentally and emotionally. He amazes me on a regular basis. I am so blessed to be his mom.

Noel took pictures this time around because my phone had died.

Tonight, Eric and I went out for our yearly Mom and Eric day. Given several choices of things to do, he chose dinner at Fat Shack, a strange restaurant that serves very odd sandwiches. He loves this place but hasn't been there since moving back to our part of town. We had weird food and good conversation. It's nice that he still wants to spend this kind of quality time with me.

Bowling with the Family

In the past, we had a tradition of going to a movie as a family for New Year's Day. It has had to change here and there for a few reasons. This year, it looked different because we couldn't all agree on a movie. Instead, we chose to go bowling. Since Eric and Noel both had to work on the 1st, we chose to go New Year's Eve. I don't know if everyone had fun, but I do know that I love any chance I get to be with all of my kids. I hope they never feel too old to hang out with Mom. 

Dinner Calendar

 

At some point over the past 10 years or so (I don't remember when), I decided that I would use a wall calendar for meal planning and to write down things that need to be picked up the next time we go to the store. For my family, this has been the best solution for meal and grocery planning. 

For a while, we used promotional calendars I would get at work. Then, we would just try to find one we liked. We have had a good variety of calendars over the years. 

This year, I chose an obscure holiday of the day. It's been fun to look at each day to see what obscure thing could be celebrated that day. 

January 2025 Bullet Journal

I am determined to make this month more productive than last month. I won't be disobey trying to make Christmas magical for my adult children, and I hopefully won't be so sick that I land in the ER with asthma issues. I will, however, be working daily on my goals. I have made spreads in my bullet journal to do this. 

First, I have a page that lists my goals of the month and has a tracker to mark off the days that I have completed them:

Then, I have my Miracle morning tracker. On the opposite page is my affirmation for the month. 

Next is my "no spend" tracker. I could be more of a low spend type thing, but Chad and I came up with rules that we both agreed on that we feel will lead us in a better financial path. 

My next spread is for cleaning. This of course is the bare minimum. I hope that everyone else will pitch in. We'll see. 

The only other tracker that I am using is one I made last month for the book that I want to finish and implement what I have learned soon. 

I will be keeping track of my hobbies without a tracker, and the conference talks are being marked in the book.