BEDKNOBS & BAUBLES

2020. Was. A. Year.

I know we can’t let out a sigh of relief just yet, but turning the calendar to 2021 feels like we’ve hit a major milestone in leaving behind the worst of year of our generation. (Fingers crossed.) And, yet, there was some good that came out of our collective “gap year.” We learned to slow down. We grew green onions on our windowsills. We lovingly raised sourdough starters. We relished the simplicity of walks. We watched so much TV (and still raise an eyebrow when Carole Baskin comes up). We cherished family and friends, and cared for them by social distancing. We supported the restaurant industry by ordering contactless pickup and delivery. We stayed home to ease the burden on healthcare workers. We masked because we cared for more than just ourselves. We pushed the reset button on our lives and identified our priorities.

It was a tough year, but in some respects, a year we needed.

I was thinking back to a year ago when blogs and Instagram accounts were littered with ambitious to-do lists, grandiose travel plans, and annual one-word mantras. No one knew what 2020 had in store for us and how it would force us to adapt to change and live more intentionally. While I’m thrilled to finally have 2020 behind us, I hope to bring some of that flexibility and thoughtfulness to the new year. In 2021, I’m approaching annual planning a bit differently this time around and taking it one quarter at a time. (I was dangerously close to a Fast and the Furious reference there.)

Here are my goals for the first quarter of the new year:

• Office makeover! Working from home isn’t my favorite and it doesn’t help that I have a terribly uninspired room that I’m working in — one that still has an unpacked box from when we moved in. That’ll be changing shortly and I’ll be sure to share some before photos (maybe after I move that box…) and the direction I’m going in soon!
• Lose 5.5 pounds. I have a goal of losing 21 pounds in 2021. I might document this; I might not. I struggle with my weight and even just putting a number and time frame of my hopeful weight loss is a bit daunting. I’m excited, though!
• Paint the bathroom ceiling. As you may recall, I gave the bathroom a mini refresh last fall. I swapped out the old florescent light fixture in favor of a smaller, schoolhouse-inspired one and I was left with a pockmarked ceiling that was only partially painted. I need to get around to finishing that.
• Paint the guest room. I painted the guest room grey when we moved in without adequately testing paint swatches. It turns out, the grey I picked looks lilac most of the day. I hate it and I really need to do something about it.
• Contractor quotes. I’d like to do some contractor research and narrow it down to three to give us quotes on a full bathroom remodel as well as quotes on redoing our original-porch-turned-sunroom. I have no idea what this will cost and I’d like to get a better idea of what we’re saving for.
• Get in the habit of doing the dishes every night. I tend to let them sit for a day. I know.
• Read three books. For those who are voracious readers, I realize reading three book isn’t an impressive goal for the first three months of the year. I used to read a lot (one of my majors is in English literature!), but haven’t prioritized it lately. I’d like to start reading a bit before bed each night and rediscover my love of the written word.

What’s on deck for you in 2021? Are you looking at the year as a whole or breaking it down into smaller chunks?

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