Righteous Resolutions for 2014

Happy New Year 2014!

We started off 2013 with our righteous resolutions posted on this blog. I wanted to let you all know how we did on our resolutions and what our new ones are for 2014!

Our resolutions for 2013 were:

1. Read from the Book of Mormon every single day - We made it about 9 months doing this.
2. Read the entire Book of Mormon as a family - We almost made it through!
3. Have FHE each Monday, no excuses - We did our FHE on Sunday nights, every single Sunday this past year! One goal we accomplished!
4. Family prayer each morning and night, on our knees - Aside from a few crazy days and nights, this is another goal we accomplished!
5. Be full tithe payers for the entire year, 100% - Not quite... which is hard for us to admit. But we have talked about it and have been diligent the past few months about it.
6. Do our Home Teaching/Visiting Teaching, 100% - Nope... 
7. Go to the temple two times - Nope... 
8. Make a budget each month - Almost every month this year! Things got a little crazy/hectic near the end of the year.
9. Pay off some debt - Another goal we accomplished!
10. Save money for emergencies and Christmas - Another goal we accomplished!
11. Build up our food storage - Not as well as we had hoped, but we did add to our food storage.
12. Continue eating healthy and working out - Another goal we accomplished!
13. Finish the upstairs remodel, especially the girls' room - All rooms but my craft room/office! We moved everyone upstairs a few days after Christmas! Best. Christmas. Present. EVER!
14. Keep up on housework, especially the kitchen - We slid a few times, but kept up on it!
15. Go to bed early, early to rise - Not really for Charles, but for Carie and the girls. 
16. Put God first in all aspects of our life - No. We did let the cares of the world before God in some aspects of our lives. We realized it, too, and changed.

We did very well with keeping most of our practical goals! But again, we did fall short. We didn't beat ourselves up about it, though. We got proactive and changed our ways immediately. We have all grown SO much this past year. We have learned that disappointments and let-downs are going to happen. We aren't always going to be a shining example of a Latter-day Saint family. But we have SO much love within our family. And that is one thing that we are a shining example of. We are working on the other things, but we have made sure to let our girls know that they are loved and cared for every single day. We are setting a lot of the same goals for 2014 because we want to do better. Some goals have changed and some are new! We look forward to the challenges and triumphs that will be associated with each goal and resolution! So here are our new resolutions and goals:

Austin Family Goals 2014

1. Read from the Book of Mormon every single day. No exceptions.
2. Finish the Book of Mormon as a family. 
3. Family prayer every morning and night, on our knees.
4. Be full tithe payers. No exceptions. No excuses.
5. Do our Home/Visiting Teaching every single month.
6. Go to the temple once a month.
7. Make a budget each month for bills and food.
8. Pay off some more debt.
9. Save money for emergencies and Christmas.
10. Build up our food storage.
11. Healthy eating, healthy choices, and exercising.
12. Finish the craft room/office remodel before the baby comes.
13. Make a chore chart to help keep up on housework and laundry.
14. Early to bed, early to rise.
15. Purchase a new, used van before the baby comes.
16. Put God first in all aspects of our life.
17. Prepare for Baby #4: purchase newborn size cloth diapers, new diaper wet/dry bags, and cloth wipes.
18. Have a safe, healthy labor and delivery.
19. Less time on the computer/Netflix while our girls are awake.
20. Have a date night at least once every two months, budgeted.

2014 is already shaping up to be a very exciting year for our family! With the pending arrival of our fourth baby in early July, we are excited to have a new upstairs to welcome him/her home to! I know that he/she won't realize it, but there are five other people in the house that will! I am so proud of Charles and all the hard work that he has put into making finishing the upstairs on his own time and our budget. It hasn't been easy on us. But things are looking up now that we have a nice, new area to sleep and play in! Hard work does pay off!

Our home still has a long ways to go! The downstairs bedrooms need to be remodeled as well, but we're not sure that this is the right year to start that project with the new baby and so many things changing this year. We are thinking about starting it in 2015. But again, it's still up in the air!

We hope to stick to our goals and resolutions! We post them here to remain accountable!

We wish you all the very best this year!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!