Blog Goals 2012

Well, 2011 flew by.  As it seems, have a lot of my goals, bye bye!  Well, some were sort of accomplished, but I feel like this year I can do better.  I actually was pretty realistic last year, but at the same time I think that over the last 2 years I have pondered and learned a LOT, about my life and balance…

I started this blog in June of 2007, posted about 4 times, and didn’t post again until January of 2008, and from that point on I blogged every now and then mostly to show my family (across the country) what we were up to. But I didn’t really get into blogging until my first daughter Etta was born, all of a sudden I had a lot of cute pictures to post!

Before that I didn’t know you could schedule posts… and once I learned that, a whole new world was opened up to me… of course the truth of the matter is that I have never actually gotten ahead… in fact the most I’ve ever really gotten done in advance is about 3 days… and I squander those days like a child wasting time in the summer.

Besides the laundry – that seems to multiply whenever it thinks I am not looking, and the dishes that refuse to clean themselves… my biggest blogging stumbling block is worrying that what I do from day to day isn’t good enough.  Compounded with the fact that in the past, I have felt that unless a project is done, and perfect I couldn’t show it to you… Well, in my world projects take months and occasionally years to finish… not so gratifying to the blog reader, but the truth nonetheless…

And my biggest insecurity… is that I am NOT a decorator!  When it comes to design, I can pick out fabrics, colors and furnishings, I can design a mean floor plan (oh how I love floor plans! I kid you not) I can install molding faster than you can sneeze, and I LOVE to organize things, but when it comes to decorator items? Yikes, ..bikes (I still love that movie!)!   I just don’t like a lot of stuff.   I am SO cheap when it comes to buying that type of stuff, if I don’t’ have a use for it, I don’t like buying it (which is probably why I have 80,000 dishes, cuz, I use those all the time, so I feel like I can get a way with buying too many to use in one life time more!)  ALSO, I don’t have a lot of crafting time, so I can’t make things at the moment,  at least until Lydia decides that playing is more fun that demanding Mommy hold her, every. second. she. is. awake!!!!!

Okay, so what does all this stuff have to do with goals?  I guess I am just trying to figure out my plan, and explain a little of my thinking to you all..

1.  Try to post daily.  (Monday – Friday)  I just really want to be a recognized part of my own blog.  Sometimes, I feel like people don’t think that I work on projects and that this is just a feature blog.  Mostly because my time is so limited with two babies, that I haven’t had the time I needed to post about the projects that I have worked on (and for other reasons, see above!)

But over the past two years, with the (very barfy.. sorry for the mental picture) pregnancy and birth of my second child, I knew I couldn’t do it all.  When things get busy, I do rely on features, to keep the blog up.  It is something I learned early that having my wonderful blogging friends help can keep us all going through the hard times, without giving up!  And I LOVE it when someone has their day made by a feature… I know it makes my day, when I am featured!  I appreciate every feature that has ever been submitted so I will still honor that with a single feature post a day, because inspiration comes from everything.  But I want to have a stronger presence in my blog.

2.. Be more personal. This was one of my goals last year. The year before that this wasn’t the case at all, since I posted about what ever the heck I wanted to.  But then I got a little to subject narrow. I have felt like I couldn’t really blog about my family, and stuff that we are doing that isn’t remodeling.

Then as I have thought more about it, I realized, that I did not name this blog Remodelaholic”s” but rather Remodelaholic, after myself.  Because I like to redo things, no, I have an addiction to changing things for the better… home related, food related, clothing… whatever, I just feel like doing at the moment.  I am the Remodelaholic. I am SO glad that other people feel that they are Remodelaholics too (it is good not to be alone!). But I hope you don’t mind me being exactly who I am… even if I tends to be a little random or personal?!

3. Which brings me to my next goal, keep up to date with projects… even if they don’t work out, and even if they are not finished.  I think this will really help me to feel some good pressure to finish a project.  And show that not everything I do works out, or that occasionally I get caught up in a fad, that I LOVE, but doesn’t work for my house, and then I have to change it later.  (we all do this right?)  Keeping it real!

4.  Get my blog out there a little bit.  and by “out there”, no I don’t mean that I am going to go all Gothic on you.  I mean that I would just like to get a little more involved.  To a certain extent, I am perfectly fine with being a home body,  and not getting involved.  But I do really want to have some growing opportunities…

5. Do some fabulous projects… OH BOY! I am excited about some of the projects that we have lined up this year.  In no particular order…

• Faux Mantel…!  (we are already started!)
• The kitchen – say goodbye to our (not cool, even though I usually like the color) orange theme!
• Finish the half bath already… I started two weeks before I got pregnant, then rather than remodel the facilities, I was busy using them.  She is almost 1, it is about time I finish!!
• The Master Bathroom!  Actually get started, I ripped out the carpet, (shudder) painted the walls and floor, and covered the monstrous window that faces the street on ground level… oh the awful planning of this house… but I have never done anything permanent… and I have plans!
• Finish Etta’s Room…
• The Master Closet (maybe)  I just want to fix a few problems… but we may not have time for this one.

The biggest looming change in our future for this year, may ultimately be a move to a new house (maybe not till next spring… we still have a lot of finishing to do on this house).  My husband just found out before Christmas that his job is moving to the Dallas office, instead of Fort Worth.  I am NOT into commuting…even if I am not the one that has to do it.  I want my husband home, not 12 hours a week on the road, that is a huge pay decrease if you think about the time wasted getting to and from work.  So, as long as the job is stable in a few months, we will see if we can find a house closer to work.

6. Answer your questions… If you guys have questions, I have been trying to answer them in the comments section of the blog. I used to email people back, but my inbox became a thing I tried to avoid at all costs… it was SO overwhelming. Nowadays, I am trying to just reply to comments, on the actual post. But also, since I do have guest features, this becomes a little bit of a problem, since I can’t answer for my features. If I can answer it I do. But if you have a question, and it is a guest feature, you might have to stop by the authors blog to get your answers! (sorry!)

7. Balance.  Seek to really get this down.  I have spurts of balance, and believe me, I have been racking my brain for months about how to gain this.  I know more clearly that I can’t do it all!  I am going to get help for the things I can’t, and do the things I LOVE and want most to do.