In January I listed my 2016 goals out there in the blogisphere in hopes that it would motivate me to complete some of these tasks!
Now that 2016 is over, here’s how I did!
House:
- Redo downstairs half bathroom – UPDATE: It’s done! See the makeover here!
- Paint/semi makeover of master bedroom – UPDATE: Pretty close to done! Look for it in 2017 as another room in the Nehil Home Tour!
- Update family wall gallery in living room – UPDATE: It’s done! I used my favorite Deco Art paints to turn some old, mismatched frames into a coordinating gallery of our favorite family photos! See the before and after transformations on this post!
- Tackle toy clutter in the living room – UPDATE: We bought this Tot Tutors Toy Organizer
unit and its been working out thus far. Each morning Hailey comes downstairs and Brielle brings her a tub full of her toys. Like most babies, Hailey loves the tub more than the toys! This unit looks like it will hold up but I’ll let you know if I change my mind down the road.
- Develop a solution for the lack of a mud room. UPDATE: After much discussion, we updated our foyer/home office room and instead of adding a couch, added a fauxdenza and a small row of hooks as a makeshift mudroom. I consider this task COMPLETE and plan to share the updates in early 2017!
Personal:
- Develop a personal style. UPDATE: Still a work in progress as I’m not sure who I am or want to be! I can’t commit to a style but am slowly but surely collecting new clothing pieces to fill my closet. I am undecided on what you actually call my style. It’s a momiform nonetheless!
- Try at least one new recipe a month. UPDATE: I didn’t do one every month but tried the below new recipes (with my comments on the results):
- Crockpot Orange Chicken – Delicious! This was my first ever crock pot recipe and I loved how easy it was! This is officially added to my rotation and the week after I was able to make shredded BBQ chicken sandwiches in the crockpot with left over BBQ sauce purchased for this recipe!
- Made from scratch Yellow Cake and Buttercream frosting. I’ve never made either of these two cake types before but was happy to take them when making our Easter Bunny Cake back in March!
- 16 Minute Shrimp Scampi – Good recipe but mine took more than 16 minutes!
- Creamy Chicken Piccatta – Another recommended recipe. I think I had too much lemon in mine. I recommend letting the sauce sit for a few minutes to thicken up before pouring on top but otherwise, yummy!
- Grilled Shrimp Tacos – No recipe here folks but we marinated shrimp in Lawry’s for a few hours, grilled it and included them in tacos. This has for sure been added to our recipe rotation as it was so delicious and easy!!
- Lasagna Roll ups – These were labeled that they were freezer friendly but I wasn’t making them for that purpose. Derek and I both agreed they were missing the ground beef element, which I will for sure include next time. Otherwise, we both would prefer stuffed shells to this style as the noodle to cheese ratio seemed off since we are both not big fans off too much cheese.
- Balsalmic Roasted Pork Loin – Made this with potatoes and broccoli and would have again! In the future I’ll baste more often than I did the first time around.
- Practice patience more with the girls. – UPDATE: After a rough first half of the year, we got better on track once the nicer weather hit. Then my oldest turned 3 and now it’s a whole new type of patience I need to grow!
Marriage:
- Go on more date nights. UPDATE: You know we didn’t succeed in this the first half of the year. But come August, we tested the waters of Derek’s dad babysitting the girls in August when attending a concert (along with his bestie so not really a true date night). In October we had another successful babysitting adventure with my parents when attending my friend Cherylin’s wedding. We’ve made use of many times that Derek worked from home on days the girls were in school for lunch dates, but hopefully the grandparents are wanting to babysit a little more often than once a year going forward. HINT HINT!
Blog:
- Participate in more group activities. – UPDATE: My friend April and I attended a NJ Blogger’s meet up in February where we met a few new local bloggers whom I now follow socially! Looking for more opportunities like this!
- Consider sponsored content wisely. – UPDATE: There are lots of sponsored posts that sound appealing but don’t make sense for my content type but I feel like I’m choosing to partner with products and brands that work with my family’s lifestyle. This was one of the yummier ones we got to experience and liked.
Thanks for following along on this 2016 making journey! In early 2017 I will be launching a new type of goal seeking list!
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