2011 Accomplishments and Disappointments

[NikoSan999]

2011 has ended and I'm sure everyone had some accomplishments in the year gone by that they are proud of. Also probably some disappointments on some things that they had hoped to accomplish but didnt' make it for whatever reason.

What things in 2011 are you proud of/succeeded in doing that were a goal?

What things didn't work out that you hope to be able to do in the new year with better results?

[nuisance26]

Goals achieved:
~stayed under budget for the year by $500
~met savings goal of $10K
~made time to try new homesteading stuff, very proud of my first fish catch and cleaning!
~grew a beautiful, organic square foot garden
~purged almost 4000 items from our home, yard and shed
~homeschooled with a complete, involved curriculum which more than doubled my time to school. It has been an extremely hard transition for my ds which makes it hard for me as the teacher and mom. I'm happy with the increased structure and results though.

Came up short:
~reading the Bible through. Once again, I didn't finish. I've spent two years now on reading through this version and I'm still not done it. Urg. I'm learning that I need to fine quiet time to read, even if it means getting up very early or staying up later. I just can't seem to concentrate to absorb anything with all the chaos of the kids and all the daily stuff that needs to be done.
~I stopped planning in new recipes around April/May. I've made a few here and there but not regularly like I wanted to.
~I rarely make it to 7 servings of fruits and veggies daily. I seem to average 4 servings.
~Blogging. I wanted to make about 50 posts over the year and I came up with less than 20. I have to sew to have projects to post and my toddler is, well, a toddler. She loves to "help" me sew.
~Running. I keep trying to build up to running a 5K but I'm just not consistent with training. I keep getting discouraged at my slow progress and then I find reasons to not go out. I'm very healthy and reasonably fit but I just can't breath when I run. The distance is no problem. I could walk a marathon tomorrow without a problem. I could hike 10 miles of mountain trails, no problem, no pain. I've just never been able to do more than sprint, even when I was a kid. I just can't breath through the pain in my lungs. I did work up to running for 3 minutes this year so I guess I'm capable of at least that. Running a 5K is kicking my butt and I don't like it one bit.
~home projects. We didn't get to any I had planned. Every room in the house has a project or two that needs attention. Now we'll have to rush through them all like crazy before we move. We had so much time to work last year and we wasted it.

[oheoh's momma]

This year was a big year of change for us as a family. We really did not accomplish a much as I wanted.
accomplished:
everyone sees the value of a stock pile
Grandma has quit complaining about the dryer rack.
Grandma and I are getting along better
Came short
working on my spiritual side
exercise
savings
we have a very long way to go and so much to accomplish more than I feel like writing down.........
baby steps...

[gottadance]

Accomplished:
Got my wood floors put in my upstairs, having saved for years
Had a great year at work
Work gave me Blackberry to use for work and personal - they're paying the fees
Renewed relationship with estranged bro
Canned more foods than ever before
Planted more in my veggie garden
Tried new recipes
Did a lot of organizing
Painted guest room pumpkin spice
Found a great antique cabinet cheap to make into jewelry armoire
Got a great deal on a one year old king-sized bed
Saved enough to get flannels and quilt for bed
Participated in spring CSA, as well as the usual summer & fall
Adopted a new kitty

Disappointments:
Rhubarb died
Didn't get placed with baby via adoption
BF still waffling on whether he wants to parent again
Didn't manage stress as well as I should have - ended up getting sick twice with bad colds and got Bell's Palsy for a short time
Gained weight
Didn't work out enough
Didn't eat healthy enough
Had to put down fairly young cat due to urinating around the house for 2.5 years and not able to find solution
Did a terrible job of keeping house clean

[RaineyDaye]

2011 review:
Continued to eat more healthy foods.
Keep up my walking program from January through November. (Then, for various reasons, slacked off almost completely in December )
Lost 10 pounds in 2011, then gained 3 back in December
Tried lots of new recipes in 2011, and found some to add to my regular meal rotation.
Got started on some home improvement/home maintenance projects.
Completed a few craft projects.
Did not do any sewing projects that I had planned.
Did not get into bicycling as planned.
Did not do some things that I really needed to do.
Went over budget for groceries.
Was successful in learning to compost, but garden was pathetic in 2011.

[MTS04]

2011 accomplishments:
Lost 30 lbs
Made a new friend
Quit my job!
Got a job that I love
Learned a new skill
Installed a cork floor

2011 Disappointments
Fell short on my weight loss goal
Didn't replace the back deck
Lost a friend through bad communication
Didn't budget all of my time wisely.

[hmcart]

Hmm lets see.
The good:
-adopted 2 kittens(our first pets in yrs)
-became jr hgh youth leader for our church
-finished a few projects around the house
The not so good
-did not see as much budget improvement as I wanted
-even though I am not in horrible shape I need to exercise more
-would like to cook at home more this year

[gapeach]

Our biggest accompolishment for 2011: we finished building our home and moved in.What we didn't accomplish: all the landscaping around the new house.

I think all in all it was a good year for us.

[Cedar]

2011 Accomplishments:

Ran my 1st 5k
Started learning how to sew
Made a few small changes to my eating habits
Lost 18 pounds
Reached $10k savings goal
Finished Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University
Switched to natural hygiene products

2011 Disappointments:

Did not get around to opening an IRA (must do this year)
Failed at reading through the whole bible
Exercise routine was not regular at all
Chores are not completed regularly
Took in more junk than I tossed

[daylily]

2011 Accomplished/Good Things
Read the Bible through

We made our own maple syrup start to finish for the 1st time

Took part in the local Christmas Bird Count

DH is finally getting needed dental work done

Attended a Sustainable Prepardeness Seminar--learned lots, made new friends.

Started berry patches-blueberries, strawberries, thornless blackberries

Got lots of good food put up for winter

Attended some free small business seminars with a friend

Mom's CT scan was clean

Not accomplished/Not so good:

didn't get very much done on the house

lost a cousin and DH's uncle to death

didn't do very well on getting my flower beds in order

didn't get a good cleaning/maintenance routine established

didn't declutter as much as we needed to

[nessarowdy]

Accomplished:

Started going to church regularly again I can't tell you how wonderful this feels!!

Paid for Christmas without using credit cards.

DH finally got his deployment.

Made new strong friendships with co-workers.


Fell Short:

I didn't exercise like I wanted to.

I ate out too much and cooked too little.

My garden tanked because I was lazy this summer.

My home was extremely unorganized and stressed me out.

-Vanessa

[ncarr]

Accomplished:
-graduated with my Master's in Education without taking out a single loan!
-Paid off EVERYTHING- debt free except for the mortgage
-fully funded emergency fund in place
-took on a second job as an adjunct education professor


Disappointments
- did not get healthy enough from my lupus to get the go ahead to get pregnant (you all are probably sick of hearing about this )
- we were unable to sell our upside down condo so we are stuck here
-accumulated TONS of clutter- ugh

[gottadance]

2011 Accomplished/Good Things
Read the Bible through

We made our own maple syrup start to finish for the 1st time

Took part in the local Christmas Bird Count

How hard was it to make your own syrup and how did you learn how to do that? Do you have a lot of maples on your property? What kind of maples? Do they have to be a certain kind?

I also sometimes do the CBC!

[gottadance]

Disappointments[/U][/B]
- did not get healthy enough from my lupus to get the go ahead to get pregnant (you all are probably sick of hearing about this )

My empathy and sympathy to you - went through infertility treatment for 2.5 years; when you want to be a mom and something's holding you back, it stinks. I won't be sick of you mentioning it - as long as you don't get sick of me mentioning that I'm STILL waiting for a placement of a newborn via adoption.

[pollypurebred39]

2011 Accomplishments and Disappointments

Accomplishments of 2011

~paid off quite a bit of debt
~decluttered a good bit

Disappointments 0f 2011

~that there's still debt to pay off
~that there's still clutter to declutter
~that DH STILL does not have his job back.

Wow, everyone has these great what I did 2011. We are decidedly the most boring people EVER!