Goals for 2015 {Lots of Lists}

Happy almost new year everyone! I’m not really big on New Years Resolutions, but this time of year I like to look back on what I accomplished in the previous year compared with what I set out to accomplish, and make a list of all of the things I would like to do in the coming year. Unfortunately, this year it doesn’t seem like I got too much done around the house, but I am giving myself a pass because I got a whole lot accomplished on a personal level.

This year I want to share with you my personal goals as well as my home-related goals to help keep myself accountable for everything!

Looking back...

Here was my list of things I wanted to do around the house in 2014 with an update on where they stand today:

1. Install kitchen lighting. Complete! I added under cabinet lighting, which you can see here and a pendant over the kitchen sink, which I have yet to take a picture of!

2. Complete the study. Complete! You can check out the room reveal here. There were a lot of DIY projects in this room too, including the built-in desk and bookshelves, a fabric covered corkboard, a craigslist desk makeover, and a file cabinet makeover and a home-made pillow to match the corkboard.

3. Complete the guest room. 0% complete…. Whomp, whomp :(

4. Paint and install decorative trim the foyer. 0% complete. I still can’t decide whether to hire someone to do this or attempt it ourselves.

5. Install trimwork in first floor doorways. 0% complete. Not that I would have gotten to it anyway, but we decided to push this off until after we put hardwoods in the living room and dining room.

6. Paint master bathroom. Complete! Check out what color I picked here.

7. Build landscape/retaining wall. 0% complete. This was the ONE thing I REALLY wanted to get done this year and we dropped the ball. Hopefully we can do it in the early spring of this year!

8. Plant more trees/shrubs. 35% complete. This will probably be on my list for the next 5 years. We have a huge lot (1.5 acres), that was completely bare when we bought, so we have a lot of planting to do to fill it out.  This year we planted 5 crepe myrtles, an oak tree, a red maple in honor of the baby we lost, another Japanese red maple, and a purple plum.


Moving forward to this year... In 2015 I would like to complete the following house-related projects:

1. Build landscape/retaining wall.
2. Install hardwoods in the living room and dining room.
3. Re-paint the morning room with a darker color.
4. Paint and install decorative trim in the foyer.
5. Remodel the laundry room.
6. Plant more trees.

I also have the following personal/profession goals that I’d like to accomplish in 2015:

1. Lose 20 lbs.
2. Complete 3 real estate transactions.
3. Actually learn how to blog… to make this a more measurable goal, I’m going to aim to do the following:
    a. Double my followers this year.
    b. Create an editorial calendar.
    c. Read up on and practice connecting with other bloggers.
    d. Read up on and practice how to take better blog photos.
4. Create at least 10 new products for my etsy store.
5. Participate in two craft shows.
6. Do a strict pull-up and 5 unbroken toes-to-bar (crossfit).
7. Rx a workout (crossfit).

It's not going to be easy, but I think I can do at least most of the things on my list by this time next year.  Thank you in advance for all of your support along the way!!


What are your goals for 2015? How did you do on your 2014 goals or resolutions?

And to close out the year, here were my top 5 posts from 2014 (click on the photo to go to the post):

DIY Giant Chalkboard Calendar

9 Pieces of Advice for Buying a New Construction Home

Home Office Reveal

DIY Fabric Covered Corkboard

Built-In Desk and Bookshelves

Merry Christmas!!!

I seriously can’t believe that Christmas is in two days (really one day for me because we’re having Christmas Eve at our house tomorrow). Please tell me I’m not the only one that is completely slacking on holiday prep this year! We just decorated our tree and house this past weekend and I only put out about half the decorations I usually do. I still haven’t finished food shopping for Christmas Eve dinner tomorrow, and I haven’t even started cleaning the house. Oh and I’m going to happy hour tonight with my old co-workers instead of going straight home to clean after work. I am crazy!! But the craziest thing is that I’m not even as stressed as I usually am about the holidays. I have been making a concerted effort lately to worry less about the unimportant things and just try to enjoy life. It’s a work in progress, but I definitely think I’ve made some positive changes toward that goal in the past few months.

I think part of the reason I am not as worried about the holidays this year is because I am so excited for 2015 to begin. 2014 sucked for me and Greg, and I just have to believe that better things are on the way for us in 2015. If it were up to me I would skip Christmas this year and head straight to New Years Eve (sorry MIL, I can just hear you gasping at that comment… the queen of everything Christmas ;)). In the spirit of trying to be more positive, I’m going to skip all of the bad things that 2014 brought and instead reflect on the good things that happened this past year:

1. I quit my stressful job in the city and got a new, less stressful job that pays more and is closer to home.

2. Greg got a promotion at work and continues to be super-successful at his company, especially for how young he is.

3. I got my real estate license.

4. I finally pursued a passion of mine and opened an etsy shop and participated in a craft fair.

5. Greg and I were both honored to be asked by my two little cousins to be their confirmation sponsors. What a humbling feeling to have an almost-teenager respect you enough to want you next to them at such a special event and guiding them through their spiritual lives.

6. We took awesome trips to Jamaica, California to visit friends, and Virginia this year.

Visiting some good friends in Cali!

7. The old adage “Absence makes the heart grow fonder”… for us this year is was “Adversity makes the heart grow stronger”. We already had what I consider a great marriage, but the past year has brought us even closer and forged our bond even stronger. I am so thankful every day to have such a loving and supportive life partner.

What’s the best thing that happened to you in 2014? Are you looking forward to 2015 as much as me??

Best wishes to everyone for a blessed and merry Christmas and happy and heathy New Year!!

How to Add Exterior Lighting {Tutorial}

We finally got around to doing our exterior lighting for the house and I LOOOVE it!!  I seriously can't believe how easy it was and what a difference it makes in the way our home looks!

When I say it was easy, I mean it.  It took Greg and our neighbor about an hour to do the whole thing.  It could easily be done as one man (or woman) job in just an hour or two.  If I had known this before I would have done this the day after we moved in!!  I encourage you to learn from my mistake and just do it!! 

How To Install Exterior House Lighting

So, here is what you need to light up your house:

1. Low voltage lighting cable like this: Coleman Cable 095041008 14/2 Low Voltage Lighting Cable, 100-Feet (affiliate link)

2. Malibu Power Pack
3. Malibu LED Spotlights:  We used three 50 W spotlight (which can reach up to 20 feet) for the front of the house and three 20 watt (which can reach up to 10 feet) for the garage.  Note that the those wattages are the halogen equivalent with respect to brightness; the LED lights actually pull a lot less power).
I couldn't find links for the lighting stuff online anywhere, but they sell it all at Home Depot. Here are some pictures of what you will want to get:

4. PVC pipe (optional) or rebar & sledge hammer to bore under sidewalk (if applicable)

5. Something to mount your power box on/with (read on to see how we mounted ours).

Step 1: Lay out your cable along the front of the house, making sure to leave a good amount of slack throughout and extra cable at both ends in case you ever want to add on.  I forgot to take pictures while we were fishing the cable under our walkway, but you basically dig small trenches on either side of the walkway, then place the rebar under the concrete and bang it through the soil with a hammer or sledge hammer.  Then we attached the end of the cable to the rebar with a ziptie and fished it through.  This is a pretty good video on how to do it, but I think our way is a little simpler:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBHqIGuhmQk.  After we had already fished it under, we thought about using a large diameter PVC pipe under there so that we could run an extension cord for our Christmas lights through the pipe too.  If you use decide to use the PVC pipe, just put a cap on the end and use your hammer to bang it through, then it's super easy to run the wire through.

Step 2:  Cut some of the wire coating off of the ends of your cables and attach to the power pack as shown.  Plug your power box into your outdoor outlet.  (Note that this is all in the easy-to-follow directions that come with the products as well, I am just giving your our personal take on them :)).

Here's what the inside of the box looks like.  It's super-easy to program and has a lot of different timing options.  Our neighbor had attached his box to the side of the concrete stoop and plugged it into the outlet next to the front door.  We actually have an extra outlet in the front of our house, so we plugged it into that and just made a makeshift wood stake to attach it to and hid it behind a bush.

Step 3: Set up your lights where ever you think you want them.  We did this in the daytime so we just guestimated, then fine-tuned them at nightfall.  We originally started out with four large lights for the front plus three smaller ones for the garage, but we wound up getting rid of one of the large lights.  These things are BRIGHT, so you don't need a lot of them to make an impact.

Each light has a short wire attached to it with a plastic and metal fork-like thing at the end, that looks like this (see this is why your need my supplemental directions so you know these technical terms like "fork-things" :)):

(source)

  You simply snap the "fork" onto your cable and your light is lit!  (Make sure you read your instructions to see whether your power box should be disconnected for any of these steps.  We connected the lights while the box was on and had no problems, but that probably wasn't the best way to do it thinking back.  Safety first my friends!!)

Step 4: Wait for darkness, then adjust your lights around to get them exactly how you want them.  Then grab a beer and a chair and sit in the front lawn and enjoy your handiwork!!

I honestly don't think these pictures do justice to what a difference the lighting makes in how our house looks at night.  This was by far our biggest impact project for the smallest time and money investment.  Like I said, it took us less than two hours and the total cost was about $300.  I had heard quotes around $1,200 to have a professional do it for you, so that's a big savings!  Seriously, if you are debating whether to try a project like this yourself, I highly encourage you to just do it!  Feel free to email me if you have any questions... I am by no means an expert, but I'll do my best to help you!

A Few More Tips for DIY Outdoor Lighting Installation

1. Use LED lights!  The new LED lights don't have that weird blue-ish tint and they last sooo much longer.  The Malibu ones that we got from Home Depot actually come with a lifetime warranty, so as long as you keep your receipt they will replace them for free.

2. Malibu's website has some good tips for easy self-installation.  I recommend checking it out before you start to see what your options are and what things to think about with your lighting layout.

I am linking up at these great parties!

The Party Bunch
Creativity Unleashed
On Display Thursday
Think and Make Thursdays
Hit Me With Your Best Shot
Moonlight and Mason Jars
Work It Wednesday