I hope your new year is off to a wonderful and stress-free start! We celebrated the dawn of 2022 with a few of our close friends (all vaxxed and boosted, of course) who came over to play games and share in entirely too much bubbly with us. It was the perfect way to ring in the new year, and we followed it with a weekend of much-needed R&R — and a deep clean of the house. (Never mind the errant pine needles that’ll pop up over the next few months!)
If the last two years has taught us anything, it’s that even the best laid plans will have to pivot and adapt to uncertainty. I’m sure 2022 will be no different, but I’m still a fan of outlining a set of goals to keep us on track for the new year. Here’s what I hope to accomplish this year:
1 | TRAVEL SOMEWHERE NEW (MUNICH!)
Traveling to a new destination is a perennial goal of ours and one that we’re always happy to check off our to-do list. Assuming the pandemic eases up this year, we’re planning to visit Munich for Oktoberfest this year. We already have our hotel reserved and are researching the other place(s) we’d like to visit while we’re abroad. It feels a bit surreal to be planning an international escape after the last two years, but I’m hopeful that we’ll be able to travel safely and responsibly later this year. And, if not, well, the hotel is refundable.
2 | SHARE MORE HOME CONTENT WITH YOU + HERE’S WHAT’S ON DECK
Our bathroom renovations are scheduled to begin on Feb. 15 and I can’t even begin to tell you how excited I am to see our vision come together for the spaces — and to bring you along for the ride! In addition to that huge project, here’s what else I’d like to accomplish this year: repaint our main bedroom’s accent wall (I’m no longer in love with its current color), hang curtains in our bedroom, finish the guest room, continue honing my budding green thumb with more plants and flowers in our yard this spring, find the perfect armchair for our upstairs office space, finally organize the basement and workbench, and close up the inoperable door to the original porch of our home (you can see the door on the right of the opening image in this post).
3 | SPEND LESS, SAVE MORE — AND PARE DOWN IN THE PROCESS
First off, I should be able to pay off my student loans this year! That loan felt insurmountable post-graduation and I can barely believe that I’m in the homestretch! Additionally, I have a target number to increase my savings account by this year. It’ll essentially have me saving twice as much each month as I did in 2021. It doesn’t seem unrealistic, but it is going to require that I actually make a budget and stick to it. I think this will be good and will help me continue to strive for fewer better things. I want to be mindful of my purchases and ensure that each one is something that I’ll either use regularly or that will spark joy. Along those lines, I need to do a real purge around the house. We have boxes in our basement that we haven’t opened since moving in four years ago. Some are old photo albums and will stay, along with the prettiest Kate Spade dessert plates and cake stand I just don’t have a home for in our kitchen. (I resolve to bring out the cake plate for special occasions this year!) Other boxes are full of miscellaneous things that don’t have a place in our lifestyle. I have a difficult time letting go of material items because I feel so guilty for having spent the money in the first place, but it’s not doing us any good in a box.
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