Happy New Year!

Happy New Year from Have Dog, Will Drive! I hope you had a safe and meaningful NYE last night (if you're reading this on January 1) and a great start to 2018!

Yesterday, Grace and I went to our favorite beach in Malibu to watch the last sunset of 2017, and then we went over to some friends' house to ring in the new year. It was also our first time taking Bean to the beach! He LOVED it and it was so much fun seeing the beach and ocean through a puppy's eyes.

I want to share a few photos from last night and also some thoughts on 2018 goals generally.  I'll probably write a January goals post in the next few days, but for now I'm still working through them.

Bean's first time touching the ocean! So funny

Rather than strict goals for 2018, I'm setting guideposts and then making those overarching ideas happen through monthly, daily, and weekly goals. Some of my "guideposts" for 2018 are:

• Dream and pray about big, "impossible" ideas
• Celebrate each quarter (4 times a year do something really special to celebrate what I've accomplished in that period)
• Marry Grace in a way that points to what matters most
• Take better care of myself physically, using small steps to start
• Get back to careful budgeting and financial stewardship (I used to be really good about this but have gotten lazy!)

And, a big area of goal setting and achieving for me is in growing this blog! Having only been blogging for 8 months, I'm really inspired and encouraged by the process and I've learned so much. I also have been LOVING reading the responses I've gotten to my Reader Survey! (You can still take it if you haven't already). Thank you so much if you've already taken it. My next post is going to share some of the results I've gotten, which are really interesting and insightful. I can't wait to make 2018 HDWD's best year yet :)

I'd love to hear about your 2018 goals, guideposts, or dreams! And now, back to pictures of doggos and sunsets:

Wishing you a sweet new year with the people and animals you love!

November Goals + October Recap

The fact that I'm writing this November goals post on the actual first of the month (albeit late in the day) is a small miracle. This past month has challenged me SO much, but there's been a lot of really good things happening. Just like last month, I'm keeping my goal list small for November--depth rather than breadth. For those following along, I'll go over my October goal progress and then share my November goals. If you set monthly goals of your own, I'd love to hear about them!

October goals:

• Start my new job well--yes
• Check a few preliminary things off my wedding planning to-do list--we booked our venue and officially set our wedding date! This is more than I dreamed we would accomplish in just one month of getting engaged, so I'm super happy about this
• Become more involved at St. Aidan's--yes; we volunteered at the annual Harvest of Hope and I also officially got Confirmed as an Episcopal :)
• Make some home/living space changes that I am excited to share more about SOON!--so the cat's already kind of out of the bag through social media, but Grace and I found our first little house together and have been slowly decorating it and getting settled! We are so beyond grateful for our new space and Willie loves it too. I can't wait to share a blog post all about the house and our process of making it our own, but it will probably be awhile until it's photo-ready!

And now, November goals:

• Slowly start being active and incorporating exercise after work on days I'm not working late
• Enjoy a sweet time at home with my family in North Carolina later in the month
• Celebrate Grace's and my mom's birthdays (2 days apart)
• Take photos with my real camera

Super simple goals compared with what I used to try to accomplish back when my life was less hectic, but each one represents something really important to me. 

Wherever you are reading, I hope you have the sweetest November.

xoxo

September Goals + August Recap

If you have spent any amount of time with me in the past year, you know how excited I am for September 2017 to begin. Last year on Labor Day Weekend (for those outside the US, the first couple of days in September), Grace and I went camping near the Sierra Nevada mountains in the Eastern part of California, and we spent the whole time talking about driving to Alaska in exactly one year. Dreaming about where we'd go along the way, how much Casper would love it, and (real talk) how/whether we could afford it. In a lot of ways, that camping trip feels like just a few weeks ago, and I cannot believe that September 2017 is already HERE. But of course, the past year has changed us, too. We have grown and adapted and one member of the Alaska trip dream team is no longer with us. And Mr. Willie has joined us.

A few days ago, less than a week before leaving for Alaska, I bawled my eyes out when it suddenly hit me afresh that Casper isn't coming with us (physically) on this trip. I probably looked incredibly psycho as I cradled his cedar box of ashes and just lost it. Why I am writing this down? Just to try to convey all that this trip means to us. A year ago when we dreamed this trip into existence, I thought, this will be FUN. I will get AWESOME PHOTOS. We will be CAREFREE. Now, I think about it differently. The trip will be meaningful. We will get to know each other more deeply and grow in our relationship and in faith. We will see beautiful places on this earth and stand in awe of it. I want my goals for September (which look very different from my typical monthly goals) to reflect that.

I don't often talk about spiritual beliefs or faith on this blog, but this past Sunday we received a beautiful traditional Celtic blessing at our church that was so perfect for our upcoming journey that I just had to share it.

“Deep peace of the running wave to you.
Deep peace of the flowing air to you.
Deep peace of the quiet earth to you.
Deep peace of the shining stars to you.
Deep peace of the gentle night to you.
Moon and stars pour their healing light on you.
Deep peace of Christ,
of Christ the Light of the World to you.
Deep peace of Christ to you.”

So, how did I do on my August goals?

• Simplify and prepare my work/home/heart for ALASKA! Yes. I feel so ready.

• Match quiet nights to read, journal, and rest with early mornings to exercise (on nights that I stay in, I wake up early the next day!) Not the best. Why is this so hard?

• Leave my job, and my replacement hire, equipped and with a clean slate. Yes! Today is my last day at my current job, and though it's hard to give up the reins, I feel I left everything in a good place.

• Set up my new phone to sync with my car bluetooth, transfer notes and photos, and set up my email (this could probably take some people an afternoon . . . but these things are challenging for me so it has to be a monthly goal, haha!) Amazingly yes.

• Host Grace's sweet parents for a week in LA. Yes. One of my favorite weeks of the summer!

• Spend at least a few minutes of each day in silence (inspired by this article I read recently) Yes.

And now, my September goals!

• Be active as much as possible, especially on long car ride days

• Find ways to serve Grace throughout the trip

• Keep up with journaling, reading, and some blogging from the road

• Take in moments with my eyes, not just my camera

We leave tomorrow morning bright and early! I have never used the Instagram Stories feature before (grandma status), but I am planning to start using it during our trip in case anyone is curious to follow along and see some of the parts of the US and Canada we'll be driving through! You can follow along on my Instagram here :) Happy September!

June + Summer Goals

Rabbit Rabbit! Sweet June, my favorite month of the year, has arrived. Goal setting is one of the things I am most passionate about in this life. I set yearly goals/guideposts, monthly goals, and I also have a 2.75 year list of goals (something called 101 in 1001--it's 101 goals you try to complete in 1001 days, roughly 2.75 years. I plan on sharing my whole list, started in fall 2015, soon!). 

All of that to say, I like to set big and small goals, with long and short timelines to complete them. My monthly goals tend to be more bite-sized action items aimed to further my more overarching yearly goals or 101 in 1001 goals. Something I haven't done before is set seasonal goals, which I guess is because I felt a little overexposed when it comes to setting goals. But for summer 2017, I'm going for it.

Why? Because this summer marks the last time for me that a lot of things will feel constant, and after the summer, there will be a lot of change. I'm switching jobs, I'm taking the biggest and wildest trip of my life, and just generally in my mind things will feel different after September. There is a lot I want to get done, take advantage of, and not let pass me by. So I know these aren't the actual precise dates of summer, but I'm setting my goals below for June 1 (today) - September 1 (the last day of my current job). On September 2, Grace and I leave for a 7000+ mile road trip North and across 2 countries and 12 states/provinces. There's a LOT happening, but I know the goals I'm setting will help me feel ready for it!

Summer 2017 Goals

• Take a day trip somewhere we've never been before
• Finally finish a personal writing project I've been working on for the last 2 years
• Reincorporate exercise into my life on a consistent basis
• Take at least one weekend getaway sometime in July or August
• Blog here on Have Dog, Will Drive at least once a week
• Meet all of my pre-Alaska financial goals I set earlier in the year
• Get together with Grace's and my close friends in a fun way before we leave town for a few weeks in September
• Meet all of my work goals and leave my replacement in a great position to start

And my June goals, below, are a combination of action items to meet my summer goals and other things that I know need to happen this month.

June 2017 Goals

• Journal about and intentionally work on becoming a better listener
• Exercise three days a week and put it on my calendar
• Switch over to my own health insurance (hello, 26th birthday)
• Celebrate my 26th birthday
• Take care of some Casper to-do list items, such as scheduling his vet visit for before we leave for Alaska, making an appointment to have some of his teeth removed (he's an old boy and has some dead teeth), researching food options for the road trip since Canada has some rules about what pet food you can bring into the country, and getting him a new warm coat that actually fits

I am planning on writing a goals post on the 1st of every month, so in July, you can look for my new monthly goals as well as a recap of how I did in June. If you set June goals or 2017 goals, I'd love to hear about them!