2022: New Year + Fresh Start

Happy New Year!

I know I know, I’m just a little late. I’ll go into more details in my next blog post, but I ended up taking most of December off of writing (unintentionally) and all of January off (intentionally). I’m back now with weekly posts every Wednesday and Saturday! I pray you all had a wonderful holiday season and start to the new year!

Wow, 2022 is HERE. We are about to enter year 3 of the COVID 19 Pandemic, which is kind of crazy. I honestly just googled when they declare a pandemic “over”, because I have no idea. Will it end this year? Who knows!

2021 was such a good year, a year that went by so quickly. A year that had so many good small moments and for a change of pace in my personal life, no massive moments. 2020 was such a huge life changing year for me, it was nice that the last year was “normal”. I feel strange saying it, but I don’t care to reflect on the past year in too much detail. Why? Well the first 6 months were a BLUR that I struggle to remember unless I look at photos. Secondly, reflecting makes me feel sad because I am at a point where my babies are now toddlers and my heart aches that I won’t get to hold them as tiny babies again. I am so thankful for their growth and the many sweet memories with them. It’s just best for me and my emotions to focus on the sweet firecrackers they are NOW. Motherhood is so bittersweet!

I LOVE the new year. I’m not necessarily a New Years “resolution” gal, but I love the fresh start a new year brings. It’s the same reason I love the changing of seasons and Mondays! A new planner, a whole world of opportunities and adventures and growth awaiting. I love setting goals and dreaming and praying about what I want the next year to include, and envisioning the surprises and provisions God has planned. In 2021 my goals were only to get a hold of motherhood. I unintentionally reached a few different goals too, which was fun to reflect on! Even if I set goals I don’t necessarily meet, the goal mindset and intentionality of goals helps start the year off on a good note. I just pray that with each passing year I become a better person and strengthen my walk with the Lord, whether my goals are reached with perfection or not.

This year I want to be better about checking in with my goals and seeing how I’m doing. I think a good way to do this is to place my goals somewhere I will see them every day! I’ve made this free printable for you so that you can also write your goals down for 2022 and place them somewhere they will always be top of mind. I know it’s February but it’s not too late to set a goal or two! How I am going about goal setting this year is by writing down different categories and setting a goal in each category. Because that’s a big bite to chew right off the bat, I will look at those main goals at the beginning of each month and set one small goal that will help me reach the big end goals. Kind of like slowly stacking legos on top of one another to build up to one big structure. You don’t sit down at a pile of legos and build the entire piece in one swift move. Instead you take time, you stack one brick on top of another until the structure is finished over time. I think this helps keep the big and small pictures in the right perspective and it doesn’t feel overwhelming.

Here are the categories I’m setting goals in this year:

• Finances

• Writing

• Home

• Personal / Marriage

• Physical Health

• Spiritual Life

I would LOVE to know if you are a goal setter or if you just go with the flow! Me and my husband are opposites and I think we help balance each other out. He keeps me realistic and I push him a bit. If you are subscribed to my newsletter that goes out on the first Monday of *most* months, you will receive a freebie template to print out so you can write down goals for these categories and pin them up in your home to see everyday! To subscribe, simply click the "home" button on my website and enter your email. You will get it in your inbox on Monday!

Along with setting goals I like to set a word + verse of the year. I had chosen one and the other day the Lord was like, “Actually, Kaydee, how about you focus on THIS?” So here is my word of the year + the verse to go with it.

I have no idea what this next year will hold. But I know that in the past several years of my life I have seen God work distinctly in amazing ways each year. I know that isn’t going to stop this year and I am so thankful for that!

I pray that this year is full of goodness, peace, growth, and revelation.