Goals for 2013. How'd we do?

At the beginning of 2013, I created a set of goals for myself. Some of these goals were achieved and some were derailed. But, all in all the year involved many opportunities for learning and growth, something I truly enjoy.

Regarding Food Goals, I set out to attempt:

• Two recipes from the Southern Living Annual Recipes per month (preferably vegetable based)While they were not all vegetable based, The Mister and I made a total of 33 recipes from the Southern Living Annual Recipes books. Three other food related posts were recipes gathered from other websites. 
• One biscuit recipe a month. Out of the 36 recipes, 9 recipes were biscuit related. Looking back at the list, they also mark the progression of The Mister's diet moving from white flour to wheat flour and then to no carbs. The biscuit recipes included: Quick Buttermilk Biscuits; Baking Powder Biscuits; Flaky Biscuits; Honey Angel Biscuits; Whipping Cream Biscuits; Rye Biscuits; Wheat Germ Biscuits; Biscuits with Wheat Flour; and Whole Wheat Biscuits)
• Bake and decorate three cakes for the year. As for decorated cakes, Ella's Hungry Caterpillar Carrot Cake and Hawkeye's Cake made it on the list.

2013 Food Goal Summary: It looks as if our search for a biscuit recipe continues as will my attempts to improve on cake decorating. After all, my little niece's birthday is quickly approaching. :)

One of my favorite snack recipes: Caramel popcorn

 Regarding House Goals, here's what we set out to do and what we accomplished,

Outdoors

• Finish building the privacy fence (Yes! 100% complete. We accomplished this and documented it in an eight part series: Why do we want a fence anyway?; What Type of Fence should we select?; Tree and Shrub Removal; Determining Fence Placement; Placing the Fence Posts; Installing the Rails; Installing the Pickets and Angled Corners; Dressing up the Fence; Constructing the Gates)
• Seal the fence (30% complete. We started to do this but were interrupted with having to work on our former home and our work travel schedule.)
• Lay pine straw around the perimeter of the property
• Build garden boxes  (Yes! 100% complete, although The Mister wants to expand the garden and build a few more boxes.)
• Plant vegetables and herbs (Yes! 100% complete. We even tallied our harvest and planted a winter crop of carrots, broccoli and turnips.)
• Plant trees (Yes! 100% complete. We planted two honeyberry bushes, two cherry trees, two hazelnut trees, and two fig trees. Let's hope we can keep them alive through the winter.) 
• Clean up front flower bed (ongoing)
• Build a small greenhouse (Yes! 100% complete. Although not the prettiest structure, it has worked very well so far in keeping our citrus trees happy.)
• Bonus! We built a compost bin and filled it with fall leaves. Hopefully the composted leaves will be ready to distribute by spring planting.) 

Indoors

• Sand and paint the dining room built-in cabinets (Yes! 100% complete. I am so happy to have the dining room built-ins painted white. It has made a world of difference!)
• Sand and paint the hallway
• Add insulation in the attic
• His bedroom closet redo
• Hers bedroom closet redo
• Pantry/Appliance closet redo
• Install doors in the master bedroom
• Build a shoe cubby - A definite for 2014!

2013 House Goal Summary: While we accomplished quite a lot on the exterior of our current home, the list for the interior projects remains (and is growing!). I am brimming with ideas, but we will plan to continue completing these projects a little at a time.

Fence is installed and garden boxes are built and stained

Where do we go from here? For 2014, I plan to continue trying new recipes and finishing the list of house projects. I also have some sewing and organizing projects up my sleeve. I am also planning to take a photography class to better understand my new camera. I can not wait to get started!