To be honest, April was a really hard month around here. There were a number of very unexpected, stressful things that happened that stretched Jesse and me far beyond what we felt capable of. It was exhausting, draining, and all around discouraging.
There were some bright spots in the month, though…
Like our trip to Maine with all of my extended family.
And getting our air conditioner fixed — finally! {It only took 3 repair visits and 3 weeks to get it taken care of!}
And getting all caught up on the laundry — and actually staying caught up (going on two and a half weeks and counting!!)
The past week, I’m incredibly grateful that things have started to really look up. We’ve seen some really discouraging situations completely turned around, we’ve experienced some huge answers to prayer, and there’s just been a boatload of encouraging things happening. I’m so grateful, because I was oh-so-ready for some good news! 🙂
My 12 Goals for 2015
Marriage
- Read 1 book per month on marriage.
- Read in January: 52 Ways to Wow Your Husband
- Read in February: From This Day Forward
- Read in March: For Married Women Only
- Read in April: 50 Frugal Dates
- Write at least 1 love note to Jesse each week.
- Done in January
- Done in February
- Done in March
- Done in April
Motherhood
- Read at least 1 book aloud to the kids per month.
- Read in January: James the the Giant Peach
- Read in February: The Imagination Station Book 15, The Cricket in Times Square
- Read in March: The Imagination Station Book 16, Thoughts to Make Your Heart Sing
- Read in April: Caleb’s Story
- Write 1 love note to each child every month.
- Done in January.
- Done in February.
- Done in March.
- Done in April.
Myself
- Complete all She Reads Truth 2015 Bible Studies + memory work.
- Done in January — I absolutely loved the John study.
- Done in February — I really enjoyed the Esther study.
- Done in March — I’m almost finished with the Lent study — so, so good!
- Done in April — I’m loving the Timothy study!
- Read 1 fiction book per month.
- Read in January: What Alice Forgot
- Read in February: The Cricket in Times Square (read aloud to the kids)
- Read in March: Lizzy & Jane
- Read in April: Dear Mr. Knightley
MoneySavingMom.com
Hire a local personal assistant.
- Done! And I’m so grateful! My new assistant, Ashley, is amazing!
- Launch 2 courses (we’re planning one for spring and one for fall — stay tuned!)
- In April, we finalized all of the course materials and post-production. We’re now getting the finishing touches done, setting up the site for this product, and sending it out to a handful of folks to review. The launch is set for the first week of June. Look for more details soon!
- Launch our new product line (slated to soft launch in the summer).
- Release my third book (slated to come out November 2015).
- We finally landed on a cover design that we all love. We’re in the middle of gearing up for marketing and publicity. Can’t wait to tell you more about this book in the coming months!
Money
Increase last year’s overall giving totals by 10% in 2015.
- Part of my going to South Africa was to investigate the possibility of our family personally supporting the work of Take Action. After coming home, we both felt this was the direction we were supposed to take and our partnership with them will allow us to meet this goal. We’re so thrilled with what God is doing there in South Africa and, for those who have joined us in this through the #TenDollarTribe.
- Finish funding our Rental House #3 Savings Account.
- Yay! We moved from 44% to 60% — thanks in huge part to ending up not having to pay as much in taxes as we thought we might have to (yay for deductions!) and being able to then put that tax savings money we’d set aside as a precaution into our rental house savings instead. So excited to see a lot of significant traction here this month!
How are you doing on YOUR goals for 2015?
If you set goals for this year, I’d love to hear how you are doing on them! Leave a comment telling us about your progress on them or leave the link over to your blog post about them. Here’s to a year of living with purpose, intentional, impact, and meaning!
Chrissy says
Great job!! Quick question: where did you find your bedspread? It’s exactly what I’ve been looking for!
Amy @ DebtGal says
April was just an okay month for my goals, and it was a rough month financially. We had over $1,100 in unanticipated expenses, thanks to two propane bills being due in one month, and a $550 vet bill for my geriatric cat. I’m so glad May is here!
http://www.debtgal.com/2015-goals-check-in-4/
Jennifer says
How do you do the yearly membership on SheReadsTruth? When I click on Black Envelope it just takes me to a $2 charge. I would love to sign up for the year long membership!
Crystal Paine says
I think it was a special offer that they were only offering for a few months. I’m guessing they’ll probably bring it back near the end of the year again.
Emily Moye says
Way to go on your goals! As the weather starts to warm up and the days are longer, I always find it easier to get motivated and get going on my goals.
Here’s my April update for my 2015 goals:
http://traditionallymodernmom.com/goals/april-goals-update/
Laura Rogers says
I posted my progress, or lack there of here:
http://mrsrogersfrugalneighborhood.blogspot.com/2015/05/april-goals-post.html
Cris says
Crystal, any chance of a Arlington reader meet up? If not, are you having a booth set up at the conference that we could meet you at since they have a shopping only fee for those not attending the conference? Would love to have the chance to meet you.
Crystal Paine says
We won’t be having a reader meet-up because schedule is already completely booked for the trip, unfortunately. 🙁 We will have a booth at the conference and I know I will be at it for sure after 4 p.m. on Saturday. I’m not completely sure what time(s) I’ll be there on Friday morning/afternoon or Saturday morning as it will depend upon my speaking schedule/other responsibilities at the conference.
Cris says
Thank you for responding, hopefully I can make it there on saturday!
Sarah @The Teacher's Wife says
I’m so glad that you have had some encouraging news! Even though it might have been a tough month, it sure sounds like it was a productive one from a goal perspective!! 🙂 This is totally none of my business, but I was curious if y’all were planning to continue renting while you save to purchase your third rental home? Will you eventually save to buy a personal home in TN? Totally not my business, so feel free to not answer, but I was just curious! 🙂
Crystal Paine says
We’ll probably plan to continue renting. We can buy three houses in Kansas for the price of one house here, so at this point, it makes more sense for us to continue to invest in rentals there and then use some of that income to rent here and invest the rest into more rentals. That’s our plan at the moment, though we’re doing lots of research and investigation to decide whether it’s a wise plan long-term.
Brandy @ Our Thrifty Home says
Ooh, this is a good one. Goals are always a challenge I suppose. If they were easy I guess they wouldn’t be goals.
My goal is to grow my blog I started back in February. It’s very slow going, but I’ll keep plugging along.
Thank you for the post. Congratulations on getting closer to some of your goals.
Pam says
Great job! You are totally on track and rocking your 2015 goals.
Kristina says
Okay, this comment is off-topic, I’m really curious about your bedspread! I love the clean, look of your bedroom. Where did you get your bed covering?
Crystal Paine says
We got it from a sale on RueLaLa. I love it — and it’s reversible!
Sarah@TheOrthodoxMama says
It’s always so fun to see your progress! I had a pretty good April as well. I’ve written about it here:
http://www.theorthodoxmama.com/2015-goals-may-update/
Victoria says
I am sorry it was such a hard month for you. I hope May goes better. I think you should do an evening course after your mornings course. I am an early bird but I feel like I don’t do much productive at all with my evening hours. I walk around like a zombie for the last hour or so that I am up, a good plan of low energy items to work on would probably help. I did fairly good with my goals in April. I finished ahead in my running goal for the year, but am behind in my reading goal http://snailpacetransformations.com/april-goal-update-for-2015-goals/. My healthy habit goal for the next two months is really going to stretch me….cutting back on sugar…..ugh. I don’t want to but I know it will help my health.
Angie says
Love this idea! I struggle with evenings as well!
Crystal Paine says
Oh, that’s a GREAT idea! Thanks for suggesting it!
Swapna says
Here’s my April Update – http://adventuresinsuburbs.blogspot.com/2015/05/april-update-on-goals.html
Sorry to hear you had a rough April. It was pretty hard on us too with a death in my husband’s family and lots of being sick and other major family changes.
Hope May goes better for you!
Crystal Paine says
I’m so sorry it was a rough month for you, too! 🙁
Leah says
Thank you, thank you for being real that life isn’t all roses for you and that you do have discouraging times. (although I would never wish that for you)
There is a comfort and encouragement to know that there are others who are going through tough stuff too. Here’s to being brave and persevering through – there is always, always, always something to be thankful for.
Crystal Paine says
Thanks so much for your encouragement and kind words!
Joyce @ My Stay At Home Adventures says
April was super tough for us personally. We had some major events that were discouraging and sad at times. You know life is not always roses and we have to face sometimes the brutal reality. That being said, how we came out of these outcomes its what encourages us and give us strength.
Reading about your laundry being caught up, I was chuckling because yesterday I spilled every single last drop of my detergent and said if this is how May is going to be I take it!
I am glad your are seeing the positive in things and your faith keeps you going. I can’t wait to read more about your courses since I just wrote about looking for new courses in my goal update for April.
Thank you. I guess I wasn’t the only one that had a bad April.
Crystal Paine says
I’m so sorry you had a rough April! Here’s to hoping May is much better for you all!
Jasie says
This isn’t about my own goals, but I’m super curious about your rental houses. Did you buy those in cash and the savings fund is a “rainy day” fund in case of issues arising? Or did you mortgage the 3 houses. Don’t mean to pry, I am extremely interested in doing this myself one day and just wanted some insight since I feel like our money habits are rather similar
Crystal Paine says
We bought two with cash (no mortgage) and are saving to buy a third with cash. That’s what the savings is for.
Jasie says
Ah I see, that’s my goal as well! Glad to see it working so well for you!
Emily says
Here are my May goals & an update on April: http://www.morningmotivatedmom.com/may-goals/
Sorry you had a rough April. Hang in there and lean on your Savior!
I made a laundry change recently that has kept me way more caught up! Yeah for laundry victories! 😉
Liz @ Wonder Woman I'm Not says
Even though it was a tough month for you it looks like you were able to get quite a bit accomplished. Congratulations on persevering 🙂
I was quite sick for a lot of the month as well but did make some progress which always feels good.
http://www.wonderwomanimnot.com/2015/05/2015-goals-update-2.html
Leah says
Can’t wait to hear about the “make the most of your mornings” course!!
Roma says
Great job, Crystal! Even in the midst of trials you persevered!
Laura Vanderkam says
Can’t wait to hear more about the book! My goals: we became a family of 6 in January, and I feel like we’re finding our groove. The book in on track to come out in June. I signed up and am training for a half marathon. I set a goal to sign up for voice lessons, but that didn’t happen. Oh well!