My Goals // 2018 Review

Hey y’all!  Every year I like to write a goal/resolutions list, and then review it at the end of the year to see how I did!  You can see my goal review from 2016 here and my one for 2017 here.  Let’s see what I got accomplished this year...

Read 20 books

Way to start on an embarrassing note… but I read a grand total of 6 complete books this year that I kept track of.  There were several books I started but didn’t read in entirety, as well as one or two I probably forgot to add to the list.  I’m going to try and make reading a little more of a priority this year.  You can learn so much from books!

Try 20 recipes.

I didn’t accomplish this either.  However, I did try a couple simple, yummy things, and I also got to help my mom make Thanksgiving dinner, which involved learning to make cornbread dressing and a couple other things.

Write 3 hymn arrangements.

Not only did I write double this amount of hymn arrangements (2 completely written out in sheet music, and the other 4 videotaped/recorded), but I also *arranged* How Far I’ll Go from Moana and the Hamster Dance. :)  Several of these are up on my YouTube channel, and you can click below to watch them:

Hamster Dance (piano solo)

My Shepherd Will Supply My Need (kalimba + piano)

What Child Is This? (erhu + piano)

I plan on uploading more of my own arrangements and song covers in the future.  I’m also having a ton of fun arranging for all my different instruments and can’t wait to do videos with different combinations of those instruments, to offer some unique sounds.

Play an original hymn arrangement for church.

I wrote an arrangement for piano, violin, and guitar and had my brother and a friend play the main instrumental parts while I accompanied.  I spent a lot of time writing out each part, including analyzing chords for guitar, which was something I’ve never done before (writing for guitar, that is.  I’ve analyzed chords before).  I told my piano teacher that I definitely got in my theory for the summer. ;)

Upload 10 YouTube videos.

I stopped counting after 10. :)

Memorize 100 Bible verses.

I was originally planning to take a break from Bible quiz this year, but I ended up quizzing after all, which gave me more than enough material to memorize to complete this goal.

Give more TLC to my hands/nails.

I will consider this one accomplished.  The first part of the year, I was pretty consistent with giving my nails attention, and the second half I slacked more with my hands to focus on my feet.  By “focusing on my feet,” I basically just mean I wore socks more.  I hate wearing socks and only wear them when I need them to wear sneakers or boots, or for volleyball.  However, I have very obvious circulation issues with my feet, so I’ve been wearing socks way more often to keep them warm.  I came to a realization though: I don’t have very many pairs of socks!  Fuzzy socks especially.  I could definitely use another pair of those!  I shall have to rummage through my mother’s collection… ;)

Start running.

HA.

Hahaha. 

Haha. 

Ha.

Yeah, nope.

Go hiking.

As I’ve shared in a past post or two, my brother and I got to enjoy a hike at a state park early one summer morning this year.  I’ve never been to the top, but I must say, the view from the bottom looking up is quite spectacular!

Journal more consistently.

I journaled occasionally in my prayer and spiritual journals throughout the year, and more recently began general, daily journaling again.

Do a study on a minor prophet.

For some reason, I had checked this one off earlier this year, but I can’t remember doing any serious study on a minor prophet.  However, I do recall reading through and illustrating Zephaniah in my journaling Bible, so that might be what I was thinking.

Do a study on women in the Bible.

I did a fairly short study here on the blog.  It wasn’t as consistent or as long as I was hoping, but I did get a lot of study in on these 4 women.  Click below to read the posts.

Ruth

The Bleeding Woman

Dorcas

Proverbs 31 Woman

I have been considering picking this series back up as I am able, and doing occasional Women of the Bible posts again.  I’m not sure if that’ll happen, but it is definitely something I’d like to do in the future.

Write out Scripture more.

I was very bad at this, but if this is not the most helpful or effective way to study the Word for myself personally, I am OK with that.  Some things work for some people, and not for others.

Improve at photography.

I checked this one off earlier this year, but I’ve honestly done very little photography this year.  As for “improving,” though, I didn’t really go backwards or anything, so that can kind of count as improving, right? ;)  Here were a couple snapshots I did manage to get…

Play flute for church.

I am very thankful to have gotten many opportunities this year to play my flute for church!  I was able to play in several small groups, the orchestra, and an offertory duet with a violinist friend of mine.

Play erhu for church.

Not yet.  I’ll have to see how y’all liked WhatChild Is This before I even dare think about playing that thing for church. ;)  As it is, uploading What Child Is This was a very scary and vulnerable thing, because I know my erhu playing doesn’t have a great sound yet.

Be able to play erhu in keys of F, Bb, and Eb (Major).

I spent a lot of my erhu playing time working on What Child Is This and Great Is Thy Faithfulness (which y’all will hopefully get to hear eventually), so I didn’t really work much on learning new keys. :(

Blog 50 times.

Yes!  Should I am for 60 in 2019?

Add a recommendations page to the blog.

Yes!  I’ve had that up for a while now, and updated it recently as well.

Create a bigger vision for the blog.

I didn’t do this as much as I was hoping, but for the time being I’ve chosen to stay where I’m at with blogging.   I did create a Pinterest account for Grace Notes fairly recently, so if you haven’t, make sure you check that out!

Complete a sewing project.

My mother’s sewing machine is currently buried under a myriad of books, so no, this did not happen. :)

Disciple a younger girl.

How I did on this really just depends on what you view as discipleship.  One big thing I learned this year was that I have a passion for counseling.  I learned this as I was able to come alongside a couple different people on a spiritual level and encourage them.  I also have continued to work with our church children’s ministry on Wednesdays and an afterschool ministry on Fridays.  I’d love to lead a younger girls’ Bible study this coming year.

Head up a church youth music special.

I was able to do this multiple times!  I was very overwhelmed with just how blessed I am to work with such amazing musicians.  They were all very flexible and willing and their musicianship was awesome.

Ride every rollercoaster at Dollywood.

I rode every coaster but 1. ;)

That’s a wrap!  Overall, I was pretty pleased with how I did.  I can’t wait to try to improve even more over this next year! :)  Goal setting is one of my favorite things ever and there’s nothing like completing a New Year’s resolution!

Come back tomorrow to hear my highlights from 2018!