When I shared my Word of the Year last week, I commented that I’m very behind on all of these “new year” type posts. Oh well. Maybe it’s not so bad- there’s overload on the internet of that kind of stuff in early January, so I’m just helping to spread it out a little. 🙂
Today is also 2/22/22! The kids were supposed to have some special activities at school to celebrate this special date, but school was actually cancelled due to an ice storm! Pretty sure a no-school day trumps whatever the school had planned, anyway. 😉 (I think they are going to move celebrations to tomorrow, so that’s good.)
But with all the “2s” in the date today, I figured I’ll go ahead and share my 22 for 2022 list today! (Disclaimer- I did REALLY BAD on my 21 for 2021 list. So I don’t have super high hopes for this one. lol. But, I jotted some ideas down when we were in Mexico in January, so, we’ll see….)
Here they are, in no particular order, with some random notes/ideas mixed in:
22 for 2022 List
1- Continue/finish my photo backup storage project. (Backup old photos to new external hard drive/ weed out duplicates, etc in my cloud service). Set up some kind of schedule to do this regularly? Also, order travel prints to put in newly hung basement frames.
2- Make progress on basement storage room clean out! Schedule time blocks (x per week/month) to chip away at this big project. Also clean out basement closet to better utilize that space!
3- Complete lingering kitchen remodel tasks! (carry over from…a couple years ago now!) Hang window blind, get glass insert fitted and installed in cabinet above microwave. Fix chipped paint at front door.
4- Get big ash tree in yard taken down, plant new trees(s)!
5- Watch 1 movie per month with Ivan, and have 1 “date night” per month at our own bar in our basement rec room! (goal to use the bar more!)
6- Read at least 6 books with the boys. (very quickly outgrowing any “reading with mom”, but still will….for now….if I initiate it.)
7- Have the boys help cook at least 20 times (check off boxes in planner). (goal= create future men who know how to cook and are not useless!)
8-Make a new recipe 1x/ month.
9- Figure out a way to get back into regular meal planning!!! Didn’t do much meal planning in 2021. Find a recurring/ set day/time to do this. (*I have some leads on this/ a good start- more in future post.)
10-Read 30 books. (Currently 3 done, working on books 4 & 5 now.) Make a new quarterly reading list (done!). Read at least 2 books in Spanish.
11- Experiment with social media use. Going to try to make one big “change” per month and see what works the best for me for controlling time spent/overuse, in a sort of regimented trial/error documented process? (e.g. Fixed # of checks per day, or time limit method, etc.)
12- Stick with exercise routine. Plan= 3x/ week strength train in gym, 3x Beachbody full body/cardio at home + 1 rest day/yoga/stretch.
13- Find a tall end table to set next to the hot tub to put my book/phone on!
14- Eat a vegetable with every meal I control (home cooked/meals I serve myself)
15- Use my facial gift card + get a massage! (I never ever get massages…)
16- Keep the floor clean in my bedroom next to my bed (lol…this is a problem…I have a spot I always tend to “drop” clothes/socks/what have you…and then a huge pile eventually builds…needs to stop.) Lay out clothes at night so getting dressed in the dark while Ivan is still sleeping is easier! (Minor yet daily annoyance that could be easily solved!)
17- Track “deep work” blocks in planner. (Schedule them in Google Calendar, track in planner when complete to see how many blocks per day/week I achieve.)
18- Make a “home declutter list” (a la Spring Cleaning list) and work through it. ESPECIALLY drawers and file cabinets!
19-Start some Google Docs for recurring events/lists that will make life easier in the future (example- packing lists, pre-vacation shopping list, recurring Thanksgiving/ other holiday meal lists, etc.).
20- Walk at least 6 times per week! Aim to walk somewhere “special” at least once a month (i.e. not my neighborhood!). Meaning like a different park/ nature preserve/hike, etc. Track steps again? (Would require finding my currently misplaced Fitbit…. 🤔) *Currently big fat fail on this one. Walking has not been happening much (I blame Wisconsin weather). We’ll see if I feel like remedying this, or not. Ha.
21- Re-arrange some financial stuff after some recent income changes- need to up savings rate accordingly in some accounts, etc. Get my kind of messy financial spreadsheets cleaned up/ better organized!
22- Keep track of “family fun activities” in monthly grid Quarterly Pages in planner. (Sometimes feels like as the kids get older and more independent (or spend more time w/ friendds), we don’t spend as much quality family time as we used to. Jotting down things we do do, like “movie night” or “family walk” or “lunch out”, will help me keep tabs on this and notice any droughts- OR realize we actually are spending more 1:1 quality time than I thought!
So there you have it! My 22 for 2022 list. I’ll admit I didn’t spend oodles of time putting this together. I mostly just wrote things down as they came to me. I feel like it’s decent though! A mix of “household stuff” (which is nice to check off) and personal/ family items.
Like I said in the intro though, I’m not super optimistic that I’m going to knock this out of the park. haha!!! No harm in trying, though, right? 🙂
Daily Gratitude:
I am grateful for the ice day/ no school day today! After dreading school closures for the last 2 years, I think we are FINALLY at the point (after consistent school/ no closures since September) that a surprise day off actually feels welcome. I have to work, anyway, but this lazier morning has been nice. Kids are still sleeping, I think?
GRATEFUL KAE 
I’m over here from the link in SHU’s blog and just wanted to say thanks for the detailed trip reports! I was in Isla Mujeres with my husband January 9-15, and we’re heading to New England with our 3 kids (Boston, Cape Cod, Portland ME, North Conway NH) this summer so I’ll be doing a deep dive into all your posts!
(And I am grateful to be able to TRAVEL again! Didn’t realize how much I missed it!!)
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No way!! That’s crazy! We probably passed each other on the street and didn’t even know it! How did you like Isla Mujeres? Had you been there before? It was our first time!
And definitely feel free to reach out/ email me if you have any specific questions on Portland or North Conway! We loved every place we visited on that trip. It was just amazing. You’ll have the best time!! We found some amazing “hidden” spots in the White Mountains that were awesome and I’d be happy to share more. (Although my trip recaps are already pretty obscenely detailed, I suppose! lol!! 😆) You have to do the Lost River Gorge and Boulder Caves with your kids!! That was a #1 highlight for my boys- sooooo fun!
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This was our 2nd trip to Isla… love it there! The first time was in 2016 and we stayed in a condo on Playa Norte, and this time we stayed at Izla Hotel which is midway down the island because I wanted a much, much quieter vibe (it was my 40th bday trip). We also went to The Joint, but during the day when it was pretty busy and I was not a fan. My biggest regret from this trip (if you could call it that) is that the beach our hotel was kind of blah – not one you could swim in, and didn’t have crashing waves – so if we went back I’d want to stay either further south, or on the northeast corner (a little off playa norte to avoid crowds – kind of near where the island hotel you mention in one of your posts is). I did overall love our hotel though, the service, pools, rooms and the food etc were great. It wasn’t really close to much but you could walk into the town and we did that a few times and rented a golf cart for a day once too.
I will for sure reach out for New England recs after reading through your posts – my kids are 6.5, 10 and 12 so I think fairly similar to yours??
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Oh, I’ve heard of Izla Hotel- I mentioned that one to my husband and thought it looked nice. We really wanted a very private/ quiet location to sort of “get away from it all”, which is why we chose a small hotel on the south side. For this trip, it was perfect! But we also didn’t have a great swimming beach right at the hotel- which I was okay with, this time. Had it been a whole family trip with the boys, I’m sure I would have felt differently. I wasn’t looking to swim in the ocean anyway, so I didn’t care! I just wanted to look at it. 😉
My boys are newly 12 and 13! So not too far off from yours!
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I haven’t done a list like this since 2019. I had mixed success with that. Maybe next year I will feel motivated? I did do most of something called “The January Cure” which Apartment Therapy hosts every January. Part of that program had you make a list of projects for all of the rooms in your house. I have crossed some items off but there is a lot of things to do and some requires Phil’s help and he is not a to do list guy… But hopefully by the end of the year everything will be crossed off!
But bottom line, if the list pushes you to do things you wouldn’t have otherwise, I think you can call it a success. I can’t remember how many items I checked off our list but it was over half and it did motivate me to try a new recipe every month and go on a quarterly date with Phil.
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I love your 22 for 2022! Eating a vegetable with every meal sounds like an excellent goal that I may have to adopt! And I hope you will share your Declutter list, because that sounds like something I NEED to get on board with. 🙂
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First I need to make the list!!! baby steps…. hahaha. 😆
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I love that you did this today, because I love beginning-of-year posts and am always game for reading them at any time 🙂 Plus your timing was excellent with the 2/22/22!
I really like your ‘walk somewhere special’ goal. Since I’ve been so limited on exercise for several years now thanks to a back injury, I’ve figured that walking is as good a chance I have at an exercise that won’t make it flare up again, but it’s sometimes hard to make it interesting enough to actually follow through on. Definitely going to ponder stealing this idea for myself! 🙂
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Yes, walking is so great!! Feel free to steal the idea!! I’m hoping as the weather starts to warm up I can get back into regular outdoor walking. I just haven’t been feeling the “freezing cold” walks here in WI this winter. I have a treadmill though that I could/should be using, but just haven’t much lately. I’m also hoping the idea to go to new places will inspire me to get out there, ideally with my husband or the boys. 🙂
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I love your list. few things we have in common, movie with hubby as part of date, try new recipes, workout routine (although can you share your gym routine? do you follow a program?), declutter (i’d be forced to do when moving to another country). I like the idea of tracking fun things with the kids, please share how you do it (tracking it in the planner), recurrent list/event (i have one for packing as we travel often), meal planning (I semi-do it but keep it lose, if you do please share here in the blog, i’m always looking for new ideas).
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I love that you are still reading with your boys! We read tons and tons of books together up until a few years ago, but had dropped the habit, so I made a goal of reading one a season together this year. We have done The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe so far. My boys are 10, 12, 13, and 15. I think we could get through more if we didn’t include the 15yr old, but he wants to be included (I think more for the feeling of being included than the actual activity).
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Great list! And better late than never 🙂
I started writing out a 22 in 2022 list but didn’t get far. For some reason, one of the only things on it was to watch Hocus Pocus 2! LOL
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Not sure if you listen to the Happier podcast, but i love when they review the year and it turns out Elizabeth has hardly done anything on her yearly list- I love her! But maybe this will be your year- at least you have a list. I thought briefly about making one but never did it. I guess I still could- it would have been a good activity for 2/22/22 if I had thought of it in time!
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