First of all, thank you SO much to everyone who responded to my survey! I’m truly grateful for your feedback, encouraging words, and honesty. It was also so much fun to see both familiar names (hey friends!) and unfamiliar names pop up in the comment section–if we haven’t gotten to chat before, I’d love for you to comment more! I respond to every blog post comment and cherish getting to know you on an individual level. The biggest takeaways I got from all of your feedback were that most people enjoy personal posts about life and family, home and decorating posts, and the posts where I share an assortment of favorites and finds (Love Lists and miscellaneous style posts). Conveniently, most people also really like reading monthly goals, which is great since I have every intention of sharing them consistently this year :)

It’s really funny looking back at my 2016 goals because when I wrote the post sharing them, I was pregnant but didn’t know it yet! Our year looked completely different than I had anticipated it would, which was a good lesson to me that even though it’s wonderful to set intentional goals at the beginning of the year, life can change any time, and drastically. I have an idea of how I want my 2017 to look, but God KNOWS what my 2017 is going to look like. If there is one thing I feel like He has to teach me again and again and again, it’s that His plan and timing are perfect. So, the disclaimer with these 2017 goals is that my number one goal is to stay open, to always be discerning God’s will for my life, and to follow where He leads me.

My inspiration board for the year! I’ve never made one before, but my friend Emily‘s take on them inspired me :) Credits below!

All that said :) Here are the goals I’ll be working toward this year. I used a six-month PowerSheets set to decide on them (they’re sold out, but may be restocking later this year–I’ll keep you posted!), and loved the process this year more than ever!

1. Grow deeply in my relationship with God.
Some action steps: start every day with 15 minutes of prayer while I’m feeding Charlie (usually looks like five minutes reading my Blessed Is She devotional, listening to one or two praise and worship songs, and then spending a few minutes praying for specific intentions or about the day ahead), do a monthly holy hour, do a yearlong “women of God” study (more on this soon!)

2. Love and care for my family well.
Some action steps: happy hour dates, no phones in bed, put Charlie above work even when I’m busy

3. Grow the healthiest and strongest I have ever been.
Some action steps: train for and run a 5K in the first half of the year and a 10K in the second half (eek!), go to barre classes twice a week, add 10 healthy recipes to our go-to list

4. Pour into our local community and friendships.
Some action steps: Host a couple for dinner at least once a month, throw a group baby shower in the spring, host a monthly women’s rosary (email me if you’re local and want to join!)

5. Read 12 great books.
Some action steps: Find books :) Read a little bit every day!

6. Continue to share my joys and the cause of them on Something Pretty and social media
Some action steps: Go through survey feedback and make a list of post ideas based on it, batch write or pre-write posts when I can

January Goals
1. Get into a rhythm of working and taking care of Charlie
2. Run 2-3 times a week and go to barre twice a week
3. Start my women of God study
4. Explore new website hosting options and make a decision
5. Finish reading Wild and Free

I know I’m super late on the goal posting train for the beginning of this year, but if you posted your 2017 goals somewhere, let me know–I want to check them out and get inspired by you! :)

Inspiration board credits, clockwise from top left: In Honor of Design, Monika Hibbs, Gal Meets Glam, Tone It Up, Jessie Webster via 100 Layer Cakelet, Hello Glow, Sophie Epton via Style Me Pretty Living, unknown, Lindsay Madden via Wedding Sparrow, Ryan Ray from my wedding :)