2014 Goals and their outcomes

in 2013, my neighbor across the street, Ben, had come up with goals for 2013 - not really resolutions, but actual goals that you could check off the list.  He didn't tell anyone about these goals until January of 2014 and it was really more of an update on how he did on his list.  I thought it was a good idea so I decided to make a list of goals for myself as well.

On the first weekend of 2014, I came up with the following list of goals:

1. Complete Book BINGO cards (i.e. get bingo in each one)
2. Complete at least one back yard project
3. Read more - goal of 15 books (see book bingo goal above)
4. Volunteer more - goal of 2 hours a week
5. 50 swims
6. 100 runs
7. 50 bikes
8. Track my garden better - use a journal
9. Blog more (one post a week)
10. Partake in Wide Angle every month
11. Partake in Bloom Day every month
12. Partake in Foliage Followup every month
13. Create Front yard plan
14. Work on Yard cleanup at least once a month
15. Spread Compost 2 times a year
16. Spread more mulch
17. Try new recipes at least 1 time a month
18. Create a chart for rainfall and temperature
19. Take more time off work

Sadly, I didn't do nearly as well as I hoped.  Rather, I went gung-ho on some and it totally blew everything else out of the water.  For example, reading on the weekend usually cuts into both volunteering and gardening time.  Really, I think I just need to invest in some time management skills.  Which could probably totally be solved if we didn't watch so much TV - use the week to read books, use the weekend to volunteer and do yard stuff.  Hell, if I could just get Shawn to volunteer with the cats at the shelter, we could get that done during the week as well.  Or we could just do fostering more frequently since that really racks up the volunteer hours.

1. Book Bingo cards: Success!  Not only did I get a bingo in both of the cards, but I got Blackout on one card (YA reading), and read 20 of 24 books on the other card (grown up reading).
2. Complete one back yard project: Fail!  I did not complete any back yard project.  I totally meant to work on the projects, I just never did.  Some of that is because I can't really decide what I want to do - for the asiatic jasmine stuff, I know I want to remove it, but I don't know what I want to put in it's place - for the rock bed removal, I know I want to remove the rock, but I don't know if I want to put a hardscaped sitting area in it's place, or if I should put down mulch and make it a sitting area that way, or if I even want it to be a sitting area - what about a hammock? I did work on the grass corner and I did a bunch of work on it, but then I lost my zest for it when I had the snake incident, but the only grass that's left to remove is the bermuda grass.
3. Read 15 books: Success! I read 48 books.  My goal for 2015 is specifically to read less than that.
4. Volunteer 2 hours a week: Mixed - I was volunteering more, but the problem with volunteering more is that you get burned out quicker, so I ended up taking a 2 month break from volunteering in any capacity, and then I started back up by fostering kittens - which I loved.  
5. 50 swims: Fail - 37 swims
6. 100 runs: Fail - 92 runs
7. 50 bikes: Fail - 26 bikes (most from spin class - the original goal was to do some tandem bike riding with Shawn, but he always wanted to go much further distances than I did, so he ended up going by himself a lot).
8. Keep a garden journal: Success! I got a notebook and I used it.  I didn't track things as comprehensively as I would like, but then, I have a feeling that I'd love to be like Thomas Jefferson in my note taking for plants, but I just don't have the time for it.  I also would like to track the ornamentals in the yard too, not just the edibles, but the edibles are really what I end up taking care of so that's what I track.
9. One blog post a week: Fail - hahahaha!  I was lucky if I managed to post once a month, so thank you for sticking with me through my lackadaisical blogging.
10. Wide Angle post every month: Success! I think I managed to do a wide-angle post every month.
11. Bloom Day post every month: Fail!  I don't know that I did a bloom day post at all in 2014. Okay, I went back and looked - I did 6 out of 12 - better than normal, not as good as I would have liked.
12. Foliage Followup post every month: Fail! I don't think I did any foliage followups.  Okay, I did 3 - but 1 was combined with bloom day, and 1 was combined with wide angles.
13. Make a Front Yard plan: Fail!  Like, how hard is it to make a plan?  I even have the scaled out front yard and everything - I just need to make circles on the paper.
14. Yard clean up once a month: Mixed - I know I did more yard clean up than normal, but I don't think I did it every month.  I know it's enough that Shawn didn't have a chance to complain about how I never maintain any of the beds I install.
15. Compost twice a year: Mixed - my goal was to put compost in every bed, but I only managed to do the edibles - still, 2 times a year for that is more than I normally do - it also meant that our compost bin got emptied out more frequently.
16. Mulch, mulch, mulch: Mixed - again, the goal was for the entire yard (which means a trip to pick up a pickup bed of mulch), but I only managed to do the edibles and the grass bed.
17. Mixed - we have tried different recipes, but I don't necessarily think it included a new recipe every month - but I'm sure there were some months where we tried 2 new recipes
18. Temperature/Rain charts: Success! I really just threw information from Wunderground into a spreadsheet and created a graphic for your viewing pleasure - you can see it in one of the tabs at the top of the page.
19. Take more time off of work: Fail! - I took time off when my sister came to town, and when we went to France.  Otherwise, I only took off time when I had to so I didn't lose it.  The original plan was to take time off to specifically do yard projects because it's amazing how much work I can get done when Shawn isn't around - but unfortunately, I end up using the first day he's not around to clean inside the house, and it would be the second day that I'd do yard work and I just didn't take any 2 days off in a row unless except for the times mentioned earlier.