It's New Year's Eve, and it's time to reflect on all the things that we've accomplished this year...or, more accurately, what we didn't accomplish this year. Some of you may recall that I set out a lofty list of 40 goals for my 40th year.
Long story short, I didn't succeed. I managed to get a number of them done, but it would be accurate to say I overstretched myself to the point of impracticality. Therefore, I have decided to use my 40th birthday powers and decree that I have until my actual birthday to keep working on my list. It's only fair considering this list was supposed to be for my 40th birthday year.
Never be ashamed to pivot. Sometimes you have to make adjustments.
Now that that technicality is done, let's review what I did actually manage to accomplish.
- Learn to shingle and reshingle the shed--Failed. I did watch a couple videos and measure my shed, but this project will bleed into the new year.
- Gravel the backyard--Failed. No time for shoveling 6 tons of rock. Another 2026 bleed-through project.
- Blog 2x a month--Closer than expected. I'm 18 published, 19 with this one. About two dozen drafts waiting to be finished.
- Read 12 books--Finished! And then some--but that's another post.
- Write 1 book--Absolutely failed. Try again next year.
- Paint 2x a month--I have in fact painted. I'm sitting at about 14, with various muse paintings saved on my phone that I will eventually get around to doing.
My personal crest. A white she-wolf with 8 stars on a royal blue background, with the motto "I will answer."
- Stop swearing--90% successful. I've done better than I expected, given everything that's happened this year.
- Learn to use a chainsaw--Failed. But my chainsaw is broken, so that's not really my fault.
- Learn violin--Failed-ish. I watched a couple lessons, I practiced a couple of weeks, and then got happily distracted by other things. A good friend and professional violinist once told me it takes about a year to sound tolerable. Well, that won't be this year. I can't stand that E-string. Maybe I'll try piano instead, or get an actual teacher.
- Whitewater rafting in Santa Fe, either solo or lady-friends trip--DONE! And absolutely one of the highlights of the year.
- Run a 5k--Does it count if not all the Ks are connected? Probably. I have yet to run the complete 5k, but I averaged 2 days a week at the gym over the last year, and have run 37 miles, which is 37 more than I've run in the last 10 years put together. That's something.
- Bench press 75 lbs--Failed. I made it to 45 lbs, but was not consistent enough to make my goal.
- Get a pedicure and facial--Somehow, I managed. Not my usual, but nice.
- Learn Spanish--365 days on DuoLingo. Do I speak Spanish? Not really. I took four years of French and don't really speak that either. Still, I did at least 10 minutes a day and I read more Spanish than I did a year ago.
- Build a piece of furniture--We built a dog-gate that should have been made three years ago. It still counts. This was a lesson for me about the Dunning-Kruger Effect--namely, that I didn't know anything about building so I was very confident that I could do it. Luckily Rick is a carpenter's son and stepped it when it was clear my confidence exceeded actual skill.
- Break my phone addiction and lessen non-educational screentime in general--not a total win, but not a total loss. Definite improvement made.
- Do a Savage Daughters photo shoot with my girls--Still in the planning stages. It was hot, then we were busy, and then it got cold. We'll get there eventually.
- Read the Book of Mormon all the way through (done this previously, but still a good thing)--Done. And Saints, and the D&C, and we are ready for the Old Testament next year.
- Read scriptures every day--Shockingly, did it.
- Pray every day--Unexpected victory.
- Lose 15 lbs--Totally expected fail. But I made it to the gym, and getting healthier is not just a number so we're going to stick a pin in this one.
- Sew a t-shirt quilt--Planned and started. It’s not gonna be pretty, but should be done by my birthday.
Need to kill some more shirts...
- Paint 12 model horses--painted more than 12, but they still need their details.
- Learn to fence--I managed a couple of lessons. Then I whacked Rick with the sword a lot and he got exasperated with me.
- Refinish kitchen cabinets--Ha! Did it! And they look better!
- Practice pistol and rifle marksmanship 1x a month--Yeah...sooooo did not happen. I made it out a couple times, though.
- Complete a gunsmithing course--Nope. Rick taught me how to break down, clean, and reassemble a couple of guns. Then I got bored and wandered off.
- Repair the shed siding--totally did this one. Then the kids shot arrows into it.
- Save $250 a month--Success.
- Archery 1x a week--More like 1 time every few months. But I did go out occasionally. (And I didn't put new holes in the shed.)
- Build an outhouse on our Alaska swamp with Tom Nixon (if circumstances work out)--circumstances did not, in fact, work out. Disappointment of the year. We'll hopefully have another chance.
- Go to the temple at least 2x--I made it once.
- Go to an El Paso Rhinos Junior Hockey Game--Made it, and it was loud, full of swearing and fistfights, and utterly delightful.
- Repaint kitchen to match rest of house--I have the paint and good intentions. 2026 project.
- Recaulk tubs--Got the right tools and they look so much better. 10/10 recommend for feel-good project.
- Learn Irish stick fighting--pretty much like fencing. Watched a couple videos, practiced a couple of times, then hit Rick when he wasn't looking and he got annoyed.
- Belly dance 2x a month--Nope, nope, nope, with a little shimmy on the end. Try again next year.
- Get Leah's driver license--Ha ha! Victory! And we did passports too! All the paperwork!
- Take a tax preparer class--Nope. Found one, just need to sign up and do it. Maybe 2026.
- 24 dates with Rick--Honestly, I lost count. We went out, we did things, we probably ate food.
Unexpected achievements:
- Learned Chess. I'm not good, but I'm not terrible either.
- Refinished and repainted the living room doors that didn't match anything. Now they do.
- Sanded and oiled my battered dining table. Now it doesn't look like it's been tortured by small children for a decade.
- Worked on my cursive.
- Made a Beef Wellington with Leah after some ill-informed choices. It was okay.
- I refinished some walking sticks.
- I'm not sure if this one counts since I haven't *technically* done it yet, but I'm going to switch out some electrical outlets tonight. I'm hoping for a reverse Dunning Kruger thing where I'm pretty sure I can't do it but turn out to be really good at it. I'll settle for not electrocuting myself.
So now we go onto new goals. I'll figure out what I want to do and get that undoubtedly optimistic list out next week. In the meantime, I'm going to celebrate the wins. Rick likes to remind me that I didn't do everything I wanted, but I did so much more than I would have otherwise. That's a nice way of saying I'm a failure but not as much of one as I could have been. I'll take it.
And now it's time to celebrate whatever wins we've scraped together with a cup of cider and some kabooms. See you on the other side.
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