12 in 2012 | The Finale

I’ve totally given myself grace with my 12 in 2012 goals. I decided on most of them just a few days before I found out Max would be joining our family in 2012 and let me tell you, babies change things. Always for the better, but not always for a boost in productivity, lol. Either way, I couldn’t be more thrilled with how this year has ended.

1. Recipe Book – Complete my Tastebook this year, order it, and continue adding to it as we discover new family favorite. Totally did it! I think my initial goal was to complete this in March and I didn’t actually get it done until November. My how the year can fly by. I love how it turned out and totally recommend Tastebook as an awesome venue for organizing your recipes. I’ve already started a list of new favorite recipes that I want to add to my book and I’m doing much better at photographing the recipes I plan to incorporate into my Tastebook as I’m sure you’ve seen via my Instagram (find me @that_mama_gretchen) :)
2. Canning – Join my mom and sisters in their summer canning project. We assessed our canning stock shortly before Max was born and determined that we had over-canned in 2011, so we only made and canned applesauce this year. I was there for the whole process, documented it, and actually have a post to share all about our process. Stay tuned!
3. Offer Support – Find ways to support families who are actively fostering or adopting. I took a few small steps to show my love and support to fostering/adopting families this year. Dominic and I were able to make some financial contributions to a few friends, I purchased an adoption necklace from the lovely Carina, Abbie shared her foster to adopt story, and together we made Christmas very special for two foster girls.
4. Read – Finish 20 books. My initial goal was 6 and I started off the year super strong and upped my goal to 20. Bad idea. I finished the year with 14 complete reads and 4 in progress.

5. Become More Green – Find 10 new ways to make our lives more green. I don’t think I hit 10, but I tried my very best :) Here’s what I did accomplish: My sister and I made produce bags out of old t-shirts, I switched to homemade laundry detergent, I have hardly purchased any new toiletries and rather used my stash so when I do need more I can purchase more environmentally friendly options, I purchased all our homebirth bedding/towels from a huge garage sale one of the retirement centers hosts each year, I’ve switched to e-books to save space and trees, made a TON of cloth napkins for my new kitchen,
6. Buy Second-hand – I want to thrift more, especially for necessities and things I would otherwise run to Target to buy. I rocked this! I’ve been buying most of my crafting fabric used and almost all of our plastic totes for moving were thrifted from Valued Village, Goodwill, and The Salvation Army. Of course, sometimes usually I stumble on things I don’t need, but will use so I know in the coming year I need to tame the want/need balance when thrifting.
7. Exercise – Start yoga. Fail. I attended three weeks in my first trimester and then life happened.
8. Blog About Fashion – Begin sharing style file posts on my stay-at-home wardrobe. It happened … often … Style File success!
9. Make Rather Than Buy – I’ll be starting with making my own soap from this recipe. I didn’t make that recipe, but that’s only because we were gifted enough baby soap for both Jemma and Max for the next while. I made produce bags and cloth napkins which I mentioned above and I’ll be sharing my second round of Homemade Christmas soon.

10. Pursue La Leche League leadership. It’s in the works. My progress slowed since Max was born, but it’s in the back of my mind often. I’ve gotten settled in the group in our new town and they’re super sweet.
11. Quilt – Complete a quilt for Jemma (or the new baby … maybe both!). Well, I wouldn’t call it a quilt, but I did make a minky owl blanket for Jemma.
12. Date Night – Monthly date night with Dominic. A total win here – we had our first overnight trip away from Jemma in February to celebrate an early 5 year anniversary and then again in March for a marriage retreat, we saw a handful of movies (Avengers and Hunger Games), went to an outdoor concert (with Max in tow), visited the driving range, and mastered the art of Happy Hour :)