You can find my 2020 goals here, my 2020 mileage totals here, my 2019 mileage totals in this post, and my 2019 goals in this post, back in January 2019.
I set a lot of goals because they help me accomplish things. In the past I've set some unrealistic goals, but I'm getting better at pinpointing things that are both important to me and achievable. Having something to work towards motivates me to keep moving and not turn into a vegetable on the couch, even when it's really tempting because I'm so dang tired all the time.
Thoughts about how things went in 2020
2020 was a tough year in many ways, but it also was a good year in many other ways. After everything shut down in the middle of March, I realized that I used to spend a lot of time driving the kids to different activities, and the time I saved not doing that gave me a little more leeway in my schedule. Time that I used for exercising and focusing on my leatherwork. As an introvert, I didn't mind staying home.
Jeremy got to work from home most days, which was nice. But he ended up doing a lot of his work at night after the kids were in bed, which wasn't so great for our schedule in general.
My mileage totals were almost twice what they were in 2019, and I hit my goals of 52 hikes and 365 miles.
I narrowed my focus on my businesses and I feel like I finally hit the sweet spot of inspiration, ideas, and focus. I did struggle a bit to balance family, church, scout, and business obligations while also getting enough exercise and sleep, but I am making progress.
Mileage
I'd hoped to hit 365 foot miles and 365 bike miles, and I came close with 300 foot miles and 310 bike miles. I feel really good about the mileage I was able to get in, and I'm really enjoying trail running, whether it's by myself or with Max.
Hiking
I more than hit my hiking goal, but it was only because I was counting my trail runs as hikes. I did hike during my runs, but I don't know that that's really the point of the 52 hike goal. The kiddos only did a handful of hikes, since the majority of my hikes were when I was running, which they aren't interested in/able to do.
Running
I did a lot of running in 2020. Most of it was trail running, and I was even able to achieve some significant goals. Only one race was run in person before everything shut down for the year, the rest of my races were virtual races. I liked the flexibility of running them on my own time, but I missed running different courses and meeting new people.
I found a new paved path fairly close to home that I can run when the trails are muddy, which has been super helpful in making sure Max gets enough exercise. It's also cemented the idea that I enjoy trail running a lot more than road running. Which is actually funny, since my first efforts at trail running were not great and even a bit traumatizing.
Running in the summer was an issue, as I really struggled with how the heat affected me. I'm currently seeing a doctor and trying to figure things out, hopefully before this coming summer.
Business
I had a lot of successes on the business side of things, and I made some long overdue decisions regarding what I'm focusing my time and energy on. I made some pretty drastic changes and I'm feeling confident about where I'm going with my businesses.
Goals for the coming year
Yearly Mileage
I've tracked my mileage using the 365 mile program for the last four years. It's been super helpful in helping me be more consistent over all, especially as I started exercising again after I broke my foot in 2018.
But now it's time to change up my goals.
This fall I came across the 1000 Hours Outside initiative, and knew that this was what I wanted to focus on in 2021. (check out the site- they have free trackers you can download and use to track your hours!)
The idea is to work towards spending 1000 hours outside in a year, which averages out to 2.75 hours a day. I have no idea if we'll hit it, but it will most certainly help us be more intentional about spending time outside.
I feel like this will be a good program for us on several levels. We can work on it just by going out to our back yard- no travel needed. This will make it so much easier for the kids to work on it, which hasn't been the case with the hiking goals. The boys are pretty good about getting outside and playing but Sunshine and I don't just go outside and play. But there's lots that we can do outside, we just need to get in the habit.
I think I will still track my miles, just because old habits die hard, but I'm not setting a specific goal for 2021. Max will make sure I get regular exercise :)
Hiking
Over the last four years, the 52 Hike Challenge has been instrumental in helping me get outside on a regular basis. But I've had to leave the kids behind in my quest to actually hit 52 hikes a year, which was not the goal. Taking away mileage and number goals and focusing on the amount of time we spend outside should turn that around.
Races
I had planned on doing a half marathon the first weekend in June 2020 and maybe a Ragnar trail run, but like so many things, those didn't happen.
Despite the pandemic craziness, I was able to run 11 races, one of them a 50k. I never would have attempted a 50k at a regular race venue, but because I knew the trails and planned my route and had what I needed in the car, it worked. Running an ultra marathon was a stretch goal that I thought I might do, someday in the future. Actually achieving it felt really good.
While I did run a 50k, I didn't train properly for it. This was partially because the weather was warming up and it was impacting my energy levels and partially because the long training runs were starting to wear me down.
I'm curious to see if I can train for an April or May half marathon without having those same issues. There are two local half marathons in April, and I'll probably go for the one later in the month. I actually signed up for it 5 years ago, but that was the spring Jeremy left on his last deployment, and I wasn't able to train for it and didn't end up running it. There's also two half marathons to choose from in December, which I should be able to train for even if I have to take most of the summer off again. I'm thinking I'll do better this spring since it will be after building up my mileage base since fall. It'll be interesting to see how it all works out.
This year's race calendar will be flexible, by necessity. My main goal for the year is to build up my base mileage and hill work so that I can improve my race times in 2022.
Business
2020 was a year of growth for one of my businesses. The others, not so much, and that's completely ok.
1. I officially closed my Amazon business with the state in November 2020, when the renewal came up, though I think I still have a couple random toys in a warehouse that need to sell. In 2019 I somehow got credited with a box of toys I didn't send in. I let customer service know and they removed it from my account, but some time in 2020 it showed up again in my account.
2. I will be officially closing a second business in January, when it comes up for renewal. I had my personal finance blog under that business, but neither really went anywhere and it's time to simplify and streamline my life.
3. In the summer I decided to switch my focus from my travel blog to my leatherwork. I stopped writing posts for my travel blog and it is currently on hiatus. I will write more when we start traveling again, but I was running out of material with how little we were able to travel in 2020. It took a pandemic to make me realize what I really wanted to focus on, and it was a difficult decision, but it's a relief to finally focus my energies on just one business. In the meantime, I am thinking in the back of my mind about what I want to do with it long term. I have ideas, but no firm decisions will be made till we have a better idea of our timeline.
4. I've come full circle, back to the first business I started, back in March 2016. My leatherwork took the front seat in 2020. I expanded the lineup of products I make, I bought a leather sewing machine, and I bought a variety of leather sides and rolls of waxed canvas to work with. I reorganized the basement room to better accommodate my supplies and built a larger work table.
As planned, I added products to my Etsy shop and I built out my Shopify site. I had wanted to get my notebooks into 1 or 2 local shops, and when a lot of shops shut down for awhile, I thought this wouldn't be a goal that I'd achieve. But shops re-opened and I was able to get my canvas buckets (which weren't even thought up at the beginning of the year) and a leather tote into a local shop. I have a line on another shop to take some totes to, but don't have the time to focus on that aspect of things right now. I'm working on being more diligent with social media, but that's a work in progress.
Aside from coming up with new products, the big thing I accomplished was finally coming up with an idea for a course, doing all the research for the products, and getting started on it. I signed up for a course to help me learn how to design and launch and market my own course. One of the things we did at the beginning was find accountability partners. I connected with a lady who lives about half an hour away, and she has been super helpful in helping me stay on track and motivated, as well as giving me marketing advice (she has a boutique marketing agency).
In 2021, there will be a lot more growth in my business.
1. I'm launching my course in February (with a planned re-launch in September). I'm also teaching leatherwork classes to various local groups (as long as restrictions allow): leatherwork merit badge for our Scout troop in January, leatherwork basics at our homeschool co-op in March, and leatherwork projects at YW camp in July. If there's interest after my online course ends, I will also launch a project of the month subscription box for people who have completed my course.
2. If restrictions allow, I'll attend at least one, hopefully two, homeschool conferences in the spring to drum up business for my course.
3. I'll add content to the blog on my Shopify site so that I can take advantage of search engine optimization to drive traffic to my site.
4. I'll continue to add products to my Etsy shop and my Shopify shop. These products will be both current designs as well as new designs. I want to add more waxed canvas items, which I've sketched the designs for, but haven't yet had time to make the patterns and prototypes. I'd like to reach the point where I need to hire a seamstress to help me sew products to keep up with demand.
Scouts BSA
Sunshine is in Scouts BSA, currently at first class rank. We'd like her to earn her Eagle by the time she turns 16, so we're focusing on merit badges and rank advancement. I'm registered as a merit badge counselor and am helping the troops (we have a boys troop and a girls troop) as the health form coordinator. At some point I might take a larger role, but I don't have the time right now. I do go on as many campouts as possible, since they are usually looking for a trained female leader so the girls can attend.
Campouts and service projects have been a challenge with all the restrictions, but we're still confident that Sunshine can finish everything she needs to.
Health
In 2020, I continued to struggle to stay low carb. I feel a lot better when I eat low carb, but it is a challenge when there's so much that's food-oriented around the holidays and other events, and I have a terrible sweet tooth.
I've tried a variety of supplements and other things and have a fairly good routine going. LCM amino acids in the AM, don't sleep in, eat as close to keto as possible (the higher fat content makes it much easier than just low carb), judicious use of low doses of caffeine as needed, Plexus supplements, 7 hours of sleep, Frankincense essential oil sublingually (not topically like I used to), a weighted blanket, regular moderate exercise, and glycine (another amino acid) before bed. I also use the Biomat and an infrared light to help with energy and the blahs. I'm much more functional than I used to be, though there's still room for improvement.
From a mental health perspective, I've struggled to balance all my commitments, which has been stressful, especially when I've been sleeping worse than usual and am not feeling well physically. If I'm feeling better physically and mentally because I'm rested (for me; I will never truly feel not tired), I am much better at handling whatever I'm trying to juggle. The current medication I'm on (see next paragraph) has helped reduce my feelings of being stressed out, which is nice, but kind of weird. I still know that I have all these commitments and responsibilities and deadlines, I'm just not super stressed about it all.
I'm also seeing a doctor to see if we can't figure out why I struggled so badly with the heat this past summer. We think it's my PCOS, but it's only a working theory at this point. I've ignored my PCOS for far too long and it's past time for me to be more proactive about it.
Accepting the limitations I now have has been a challenge. Despite popular mantras, there are limits, and pushing past them can hurt you---. This year it's hit home that this the case for both Jeremy and I. Applying for the NP Access Pass forced me to have an internal dialogue/ face what I've been ignoring for too long. This is my life, and while I can push, I will most definitely pay the price if I push too hard. Jeremy received his initial VA disability rating (he still has some evaluations to do, which will probably increase his rating), and I, at least, realized that this isn't going away. When we move, we need to factor in how far away the nearest VA medical center (not just clinic, they won't be able to care for his back) is from the property we want to buy. We've know for awhile that if he pushed too hard or did too much he'd be flat on his back for at least a day or two and in pain for several more days. I think the combination of everything really hit home this year.
A recent realization/thought I had: it's good that I started my first business five years ago, rather than right now. It took me that long to figure out what I really wanted to focus on, as well as learn the skills I need. If I were to have started just this past year, trying to build a business that would allow Jeremy to quit his job, I would be much further behind, and the stress level (the need to succeed, and soon) would be a lot higher.
Family
In 2020, we still struggled to use the Come, Follow Me curriculum to its fullest. I've realized we're still in survival mode, and have been for far too long (as in, years). Limited time, low energy levels, stressed out parents, high energy children, irregular schedules; they've all combined to make it difficult to get everything done that we want to and to establish consistent habits (consistency is the key here- we really, really struggle to be consistent).
Church at home was good, as is church via Zoom. We made the decision to keep Ocean at home since he touches everything and sticks his hands in his mouth all the time, so even when church started meeting in person again, Jeremy and I took turns taking the older two kids to church while one stayed with Ocean. I do worry about how he's going to adjust to sitting still for church (it doesn't happen at home, despite our efforts), but every time I think about taking him to church, I remember the few times we have taken him places and he's touched everything, despite our warnings.
Adding Max to our family was a big step, at least for me, but it's been less stressful and less work than I thought it would be. While she does have some quirks (chewing on everything), she has settled in and has even learned how to play with the boys without hurting them. It took her awhile to learn that using her teeth on them was not a good thing, even if it was fine with other dogs. While I've taken on the exercise duties, Jeremy usually bathes her and we take turns feeding her. We do have to be aware of what she's doing (to make sure she's not chewing on something she shouldn't be), but she's doing better than she was.
River turns 8 this year and will be old enough to be baptized. He and I have started reading the Book of Mormon (well, I read it to him) with the goal of finishing it before he turns 8.
We've been able to pay off some of our debt and plan on paying off more in 2021. We had hoped to start our adoption paperwork in 2020, but it's just as well we didn't. I'm sure we wouldn't have made much progress with the paperwork, with so many things being shut down, and even if we'd been matched, we wouldn't have been able to travel. We still hope to start the paperwork in 2021, though.
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