Goals not resolutions

Before I get to my post about New Year's goals I would like to share with you my morning. It definitely did not go the way I had planned which goes along with one of my favorite sayings. "If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans." Today is my first day back to work after being on Christmas break and the school had a 2 hour delay so I was called in to work part of the morning shift. I only work the afternoon shift except when someone from the morning shift needs the morning off or if the school has a delay. Around 15 minutes before time to leave I went out to warm up the truck but it would not start!! My wonderful sister came up so we could use the jumper cables but either through user error or mechanical issues we could not get the truck to start so she left for work. I let my employer know I would not be in and then I went to get the charger off the tractor so I could hook it up to the truck. I know that I will someday be laughing at this but at the time I was not in the mood to laugh and the darn turkeys were sitting right beside me not knowing how close they were coming to being in a pot pie. I could not take the extension cord that the charger needs plugged into because it was encased in a frozen pile of turkey poop!!! Seriously!!!???? After dear old Doug stopped laughing when I called him he told me where to find another extension cord. The charger is hooked up to the battery but I still cannot get my truck to start so my mom will be taking me to work this afternoon.

Now onto the topic of my post. I have said this before and I am still a firm believer in making New Year's goals and not resolutions. For me it is alot harder to give up on a goal then it is to decide not to do a resolution. Everyone is different and if you like resolutions then I am glad that works for you but for me I need goals. Here is a list of the goals I have planned. This list is subject to change throughout the year (probably by adding more) but this is what I have so far.

1. stick to my read the bible in a year plan                          

2. learn to be content in all situations                                   

3. prioritize what is most important                                      

 4. lose the last 9 pounds I need to lose to hit goal                 

5. be a better wife                                                                 

 6. read more, electonics less                                                  

 7. the most important one rely on God more and myself less

 8. save money                                                                        

 9. eat less sugar  (goes along with weight loss)                      

10. love myself more and not worry about what others think  

I also have a goal of getting our farm running even better by the end of 2018 and other goals with the animals, garden, etc but I didn't want to bore you with a long list. Have a wonderful 2018 putting God first. God bless you all!

Psalm 90:12 Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. 

~April

How we bring in the new year.

Here at Why the Simple Life we started an annual tradition of having a game night to bring in the new year. Last year was the first year we did this and we had so much fun that we have decided to do it every year. Last year my son and daughter came with their families but they were unable to come but my sister and her family were able to come again this year and so did my mom for a little while. Last year once we decided to play Taboo we never got to any other game so we decided to play some other games first and this year we ended up never playing taboo because we got into a cutthroat game of Monopoly which my husband won but not for lack of trying on my sister, niece and my part.

I was the lucky one who got to have a partner in every game. See that little cutie sitting beside me? She loved playing the games with us.

I was the banker but of course Doug had to sit and watch over my shoulder to make sure I was being honest with the money.

I was so excited when I landed on Park Place and was able to buy it. My sister and I thought we had the win in the bag working together but it just was not in the cards.

Grace did not play with money or properties but she had fun moving her little doggie around the board.

If you look in Grace's hand you will see the very very good cowboy cookies I baked. We had cookies, chips with salsa and veggies with spinach dip along with some pop and a couple wine coolers. Don't worry I do not make a habit of drinking them. I just had one since it was New Year's Eve but ended up realizing that I would of rather drank a pop. The wine cooler tasted good but it made me really sleepy.

My oldest niece Tomi, she is a teen and actually had fun with us old adults. She was the only one that came close to beating Doug and she hung in really well clear until the end but in the end Doug won.

The guy closest to the camera is my brother in law, as you can see in the back that Doug was reading the directions to the game. Something probably was not going the way he wanted it to. lol

I love that my family can have a good time without having to load up on alcohol or do anything other than have some good old fashioned fun together. If you would like I would love for you to share how you rang in the New Year in the comments.

I am wishing each and every one of you a happy, wonderful, blessed 2018. Please remember to keep God first. God bless everyone.

~April