I turned 46 on November 24th, exactly 8 days ago. And Quest46 began on that day. If you’re new to my blog, Quest46 is a group of 46 goals I gave myself for the next 365 days (or 357 as of today). You can read about it here.
There was so much excitement leading up to the actual start day that the last 8 days have just slipped by. In an effort not to let the next 357 ‘just slip by’, I’ve assigned flexible start dates to all my activities and put those dates on my calendar. Prior to starting this project, I did map out all the activities on a master calendar, but because judging how long things take is not one of my strong suits, I’ll be making adjustments along the way.
I’ve written the entire list along with current progress. I call this accountability. 😉
1. Memorize Psalm 91. Copied the chapter to index cards. Made several sets and put them in various rooms of the house as well as my purse and jacket pockets.
2. Lose the rest of my weight and increase my fitness. Working on increasing mileage of daily walks and watching portions.
3. Find and implement new ways to honor Mike daily. I’m learning that when I’m too focused on my stuff, this one goes by the wayside. I’m making sure I’m finished with all my work by 5pm every night so I can focus on him.
4. Make albums for each dog. Will start this in the new year.
5. Crochet a Ripple Blanket. Will start in the new year.
6. Plant a vegetable garden. Sometime in spring.
7. Journal 52. Want to do this on Friday’s. Already 1 week behind. Will play catchup this week.
8. Read 24 new books. Have chosen 15 of the 24. Here’s the 15: The God Ask, Manage Your Day to Day, Handmade Market Place, Lore of Running, Outlander #1, The Pilgrim’s Progress, Yarn to Go, Jock of the Bushveld, Dear Mr. Knightly, How to be the Leader of the Pack, The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference, Animals Make Us Human: Creating the Best Life for Animals, Lady Susan, The Scent of Water: Grace for Every Kind of Broken, White Fang
9. Make a scarf for Margaret. Found the pattern, now just need the wool.
10. Make birthday cards for family and friends. Finished November, now working on December.
11. Send two “thinking of you gifts” every month. Gift #1 goes out next week.
12. Complete 6 online classes. First one scheduled for January 14, 2015.
13. Start a 5 year – daily, one-line journal. Started and love it.
14. Learn how to make paper. Next year sometime.
15. Make Christmas stockings. Hopefully this Saturday, December 6, 2014.
16. Learn 12 new recipes. #1 complete. Pumpkin Pie (low carb)
17. Learn how to weave. Next year sometime.
18. Record 12 card making video tutorials. Start this in the new year.
19. Make a smaller soap box and make different scented soaps every month. Need to make a batch soon. We’re almost out. Mike has requested Cinnamon Spice.
20. Paint Kitchen Cabinets. Looking to do this in June, 2015.
21. Learn how to dye with natural ingredients. Waiting for springtime.
22. Work 52 items off “My Todo’s” Board on Pinterest. #1 complete. I made paper beads using old books, bead cores and Utee Ultra Thick Embossing Resin. Blog post to follow.
23. Make mini-albums of dogs for Christmas presents. I’ve modified this to framing a picture of each dog. If I was doing this for next Christmas I might have enough time, but not with Christmas 23 days away.
24. Make Mike a Dr. Who Quilt. Starting in March, 2015.
25. Start a fairy garden. Going to wait for spring.
26. Paint patio furniture. Scheduled for July, 2015.
27. Plant a cutting garden. Spring, 2015.
28. Make dog biscuit gift bags for Christmas. A wonderful friend sent me a recipe book full of dog biscuit recipes. Scheduled for next week.
29. Complete all the achievements of the 7 Minute Workout. Need to start this.
30. Beat my time in the Urban Cow Half Marathon. Increasing my walking mileage then beginning running training after the first of the year.
31. Finish Central Park Hoodie. Step 1: Find where I put this project. I’m in the process of doing that.
32. Read through the Bible. 1 chapter per day. Starting this on January 1, 2015 with Mike. Until then, I’m reading through the Psalms.
33. Make birds for wall tree. Will start after the first of the year and the Christmas decorations are down.
34. Declutter and decorate Master Bedroom. Waiting for the new year.
35. Make Cloth Art Journal. Scheduled for the next couple of weeks.
36. Learn to knit socks. Found the pattern and the class. Will wait until Central Park Hoodie is finished (31).
37. Work on Project Life every week. Trying to carve out Sunday afternoons for this. Keeping track of journaling throughout the week.
38. Transcribe Da’s tapes. In the new year.
39. Make dog beds. Finished 1 last week. Want to complete 5 this week.
40. Pray for my nieces and nephews. Everyday. I’m really enjoying this.
41. Add a new item every month to Etsy shop to build variety and inventory. Dreaming up what the next item will be. Look for it by the end of December.
42. Put together a team for the local SPCA Doggie Dash in June. Will begin in January, 2015.
43. Photo-a-day using the Collect App. Love this app. Here’s November, 2014.
44. Read Pride and Prejudice. Will begin this in the new year.
45. Knit 1 square per week for Knit-a-square. Halfway finished with last week’s square. Will catch up this week. Pictures to come.
46. Be a better blogger and blog-reader. Post consistently. Comment regularly. Work on this everyday.
There are moments when I look at this list and get very excited. There are other moments when I start to hyperventilate. Then I remind myself I have a whole year and it’s only been 8 days.
Until tomorrow,
Don’t hyperventilate mom. Remember we’re all in this together. Well — you’re doing all the work, but we’re here to watch you work and walk with you when you need to get some fresh air. No worries.
While Walking My Dogs 
Wow, that is a lot of goals and such a good idea! “Thinking of you gifts” sounds especially cool, I want to do that! Also I’m totally going to frame a picture of my friend’s dog, so thank you for that idea! There’s so many things on this list I want to do, that daily one line journal sounds awesome. I assume it’s what it sounds like, you write one line each day about what you did or felt that day or something?
I’m not much of a planner, so I’m not sure how something like this would work out for me, but this just sounds really cool. I was honestly confused before now about what all those Quest46 things in your previous posts were hahah.
Well I was debating on whether to do a wrap up post on quest 46 but now I’m really glad I did. Lol. It’s my way of being more intentional about finishing things. There have been too many times when I’ve said to myself, “I really should do that and then don’t”. I thought I would have trouble coming up with 46 but as it turns out I’m already halfway finished with coming up with my quest 47 list. Actually with the journal I answer a question every night or finish a statement from some lists I found on a blog. It’s a five-year journal so each page has space for five entries, one for every year. For instance, today’s entry is finishing the sentence “I wish…”
I love that! My birthday already passed, but maybe I could do something like this for the new year! I’ve never made a resolution before, and I know how notorious they are for not being kept, but maybe if I kept it realistic like “one thinking of you” gift a month, or writing at least 500 words every day. Now you’ve gone and inspired me.
Here’s the link for where I found the 5-year journal info: http://debbiehodge.com/2012/01/5-year-journal-01/
I totally agree about the New Years Resolutions. I make them every year and then inevitably forget about them by February. Hopefully this little venture will somehow play out differently. At least this time, I’m starting out better prepared and a little more realistic than I’ve been with my goals in the past. I also love the idea of writing 500 words every day. That needs to go on my Quest47 list! That makes me think of http://750words.com/. Have you seen this website? They prompt you (if you want) with an email everyday to write your 750 words. Then after you’ve been doing it awhile, they’ll send you emails containing words you wrote say a year ago or 3 months ago. You can download your writing or just keep it there. It’s pretty cool. I’d love to see your activities if you do a Quest-like list.
You are an ambitious lady! Your love and devotion to Mike is admirable, reminds me of the 50’s when housewives cleaned up before hubby or daddy got home. Such a nice couple.
Thanks Ed. Mike makes it really easy! What makes him even more awesome is that he’s never requested that I do this. He’s very patient with my crazy ideas. lol.
(Apparently I reached the reply limit so to continue down here – thank you for the links! I really love that journal idea, I may try that! And I’ve never heard of the 750 words one! That looks cool. I’m generally very bad with prompts though, they make me feel stifled. But I always have something I want to write but I always tell myself “I’m too busy, I’ll get to it later.” Maybe even setting aside a certain time limit a day, like spend 30 minutes writing, would help.