The Journey of Parenthood…

Year End Review: 2015

I love goals and while it may seem like I go a little overboard with them, I enjoy the chance to look back over my goals for the previous year and see how I did. I also think it’s an awesome list to have on the blog each year as I can see areas where I’ve grown and changed over time!


Here are my goals for 2015 and how I did with them:

  1. Really focus in on making Jesus my #1 priority each and every day. For my family, for myself…across the board in all areas of life. : I REALLY worked on this during the year. I started devoting the first 30 min of nap time to reading my devo and praying and I started keeping a prayer journal and have seen SO MUCH growth in my walk with the Lord! Plus I started up a devo with a couple good friends and have just worked on showing Christ’s love for me in every area of my life. 
  2. Implement family bible time as well as a bible curriculum for Kye: We did this with Kye by starting nightly devos we print off from Be Kids. It’s been AMAZING. I want to do better with family bible time. Even though bedtime is crazy, there is no excuse!
  3. Wake up at 6 ish each morning. Get ready for the day (look my best for my husband!) and have private time to study my bible: There is no way I’m gonna get up extra early. I have found the best balance is to do my bible time during naps. I have, however, started getting up about 20 min or so earlier than I used to and I get FULLY ready just about every day. I have noticed it makes ME feel better about myself to be fully dressed and have my hair and makeup fixed and I think Zach likes it too 🙂 But I’ve also learned that if I don’t get up before the kids to make this happen…then it won’t happen!
  4. Update our will as well as our life insurance. Also price compare for our insurances to make sure we have the lowest rates/best coverage: Both were NOT done in 2015 but WERE done at the beginning of 2016. We have a fully updated will AND are working on new life insurance plans!
  5. Have at least 300 blog posts this year: It may not appear that way based on the sidebar…but I had to move about 88 posts to draft for now (more on that, hopefully, later) so the number was actually over 300!
  6. Engage on the blog Facebook Page daily: I have started to post an article each day on the FB page and it’s been HUGE in my growth! 
  7. Aim for a bedtime of 10:30 for myself and spend 10-15 min in bed reading before falling asleep: I got into a good routine of this by the end of the year and need to get back at it now that I’m out of routine from the holidays. Zach likes to read too and it’s nice laying in bed together ending our day with reading and prayer
  8. Really focus on instilling first time obedience with the kids: I don’t think this is an area where I’ll ever be FULLY satisfied but it’s a good work in progress!
  9. Make the BEST choice for Kye as well as our family with where we will send him for 1st grade.: I fully believe God was ALL over that situation. Zero regrets, so far, on where we chose  to send him and his teacher is truly a blessing from the Lord!
  10. Become more involved with our church family, especially fostering friendships for our children: Still a continual work in progress but with Tess more flexible towards the end of the year we were able to get more involved and it’s been awesome to make closer bonds with our church family
  11. Limit the use of any screen time during family time for Zach and I (texting included!): I feel like this also improved but I’d like to make a deal where we completely put the phones UP from dinner time till we go to bed!
  12. Continue on the Advocare “nursing plan” and do the full 24 Day Challenge once I wean Tess. Get in those goal jeans!!! Stay committed!: I’m still a couple pounds above pre-pregnancy weight but I’m sticking to the plan and not stressing it!
  13. Get down on the floor and PLAY more! I suck at getting down on the floor and playing. I’ve made my peace about it and instead find other ways to bond with my kids doing things we both enjoy (talking over a snack, playing board games, crafts, etc)
  14. Continue to work on our marriage and forming that deeper connection together. Have Zach truly be my #1 person! More than anything THIS was what 2015 was ALL about! We hit some rough patches but WHEW we came out SO MUCH STRONGER!!! So, so thankful for my husband and how far we’ve come and will continue to go together!
  15. Explore all possible options for my foot to get to a place of peace and healing if possible. : Whoop whoop! Such a blessing to say that this one is DONE! 🙂
  16. Learn new ways to style my hair! Master the curling iron 🙂 No curling iron…I can’t possibly master that beast but I love my hair style right now. I feel like I have a good groove about it!
  17. Raise Tess in a similar way that we raised Kye and Britt.  Hard to do with a 3rd kid but I think we’re doing a pretty close job!
  18. Make the blog more Pinterest friendly and do more with Pinterest as a blog tool.  With having to remove so many posts I haven’t pinned as much as I need to! Something to have on the list for next year!
  19. Get our goals with the Dave Ramsey lifestyle completed: 6 months living expenses in savings, meet with a financial advisor to set up retirement savings, and make best choice for how to save for kids.: We will be done with our 6 months living expenses this month (Feb 2016) and we also met with a financial advisor just last week and have plans for investing for the future!
  20. Focus a little more on earning income through Advocare. : Ehhh…I earned a LOT more through the blog than I have in the past so I’m not stressing this!
  21. Explore all options to help Britt completely wean from sucking fingers.: SO proud of BRITT to say that this is def in the past and DONE!
  22. House Goals: backsplash in kitchen, trim around under cabinet lighting, kitty litter moved, new shower.: Of these things all we got done was the backsplash in the kitchen. We have changed our minds for the kitty litter/shower situation! 
  23. Complain less, be more positive and encouraging to others: Speaking in kindness is one of my daily goals, I’m getting there!
  24. Find ways to earn more revenue from blogging without compromising my purpose: Readership continues to grow so I’m pleased with where I’m at and REALLY have enjoyed working with The Blogger Network on the income side of things!
  25. Print off pictures and have some sort of organization for them. : FAIL
  26. Focus on reading with my children, especially quality reading time with Kye.: Did pretty good with this? Of course Kye now reads completely independently so my time is spent listening rather than reading!
  27. Respond in a timely manner to emails, FB messages, etc.: I TRY but am not always that quick in my responses…sorry!
  28. Have more time for ME. Try to do more with friends and find things I enjoy. : Yes! I found a good balance and REALLY try to get out and do something for myself once a week. I can see a big difference in myself when I don’t get that “me time.” I LOVE the friends I have and am especially excited about new friendships I’ve developed!
  29. Do a better job of time management each day. Have a system in place and stick to it. : I feel like I’m in a good groove here too!
  30. Limit junk food for our family, focus on healthy eating: I’ve cooked MORE healthy food in 2015 than EVER before!
  31. Don’t feel the need to always be “plugged in”: In our culture this will always be a goal and I’m doing better with it I think?
  32. Really try to have a more servant heart and show appreciation to those who help me. : Another always work in progress but the opportunity we had over Christmas to give to others was HUGE and really showed me that we can MAKE TIME to give back! I’ve enjoyed working in the soup kitchen but that’s been more of an end of 2015/beginning of 2016 thing!
  33. Spend more quality time with Zach, be more intimate more often together. : YES! Done done done! And it’s been AWESOME! 
  34. Do my best to have at least a few minutes a day of solo time with each child.  Hard to achieve but our solo trips this year with the big kids were awesome and so perfect for Britt and I. I love spending quality time with my babies!
  35. Continue to foster strong friendships and be a good friend to others! I feel like 2016 is going to be a great year with friendships as the beginning of it is starting off strong! I’m so thankful for my friends and think 2015 was a wonderful year together. Hello…two girls’ trips? Can’t get better than that!
  36. Exercise 3-5 times a week for at least 30 minutes each time. : Haha. I suck at exercise. Good goal though! Maybe next year 😉
  37. Pray over my children, allow them to hear these prayers and do it during the time when I tuck them in at night so it’s private and special just between us. : I found that praying in the car with them has worked SO well for us! We do prayer requests every morning on the way to school and pray for each other. I love that time together!
  38. Speak words of affirmation to my family. Let them know how much I appreciate them and cherish them. : I think I’m growing a lot in this area. I’m really, really working on my tongue and am trying to vocalize my heart more often. I think I’ve improved on this!
  39. Find a solid cleaning routine for myself and a chore routine for the kids. Including a “house check” each night: We did start chores with the kids, but again that was Jan of 2016! I don’t have a set chore schedule for myself but do think I’m keeping the house cleaner overall!
  40. Try to be present in the moment. Give my full attention to others, including my children. : Again, a cultural work in progress but for me it’s a struggle to SIT and not be busy doing other things. Like I hate going in the playroom with the kids b/c I can’t get a lot done around the house while I just sit there! I need to work on this more as I don’t want my kids to look back at their childhoods and remember mommy being too busy for them!
  41. Shoot my gun and feel comfortable and confident using it. : Need to go shoot some more especially since I just got my conceal and carry license!
  42. Visit Dad and Audrey and focus more energy on those relationships.: I tried really, really hard to make that happen. So I wouldn’t said I failed in this goal even though we didn’t see them for the entire year. It wasn’t for lack of effort and I have to have peace about that and pray that 2016 goes differently 🙂
  43. Find teachable moments everyday to show Christ to my children and to raise them to be a light in this world.: I think the closer I’m getting the Christ, the easier and easier this is becoming. I read (and am still reading) an AMAZING parenting book (Don’t Make Me Count to Three) that’s really helped me parent through a Christ perspective!

Overall I think I rocked out in 2015! I had some big goals that I achieved and several things that I knocked out at the start of 2016 which leads me to think that 2016 is going to be a big year of personal growth and achievement and I’m excited and ready for it!


You can see my past years reviews here: 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, and 2008

Emily Parker
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