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Investing in 2014

Published on January 2, 2014 By Emily. Updated on January 2, 2014

Last year I choose a theme word instead of a specific goal as my New Year’s resolution.  This was, of course, in addition to working on the 101 tasks I’ll be completing before the end of this September.  As I wrapped up my year of being intentional, I began thinking about what word I should choose to shape 2014.  Let me share a bit about where my mind’s been the past few months.

For some reason, discussions about self-care have been popping up everywhere lately.  It came up at the Healthy Living Summit.  My grad school professor mentioned it several times this past semester.  It’s in people’s blog posts.  And it has been crossing my mind that I don’t always do what’s best for my body and soul; I like to overcommit and I pride myself on being busy.  Self-care is not something I’m intentional about.  I knew it had to be part of my 2014 goal.

I am also very conscious of the fact that I’ll be turning 30 this year.  I’m not unhappy about it or scared or upset or annoyed or anything, just sort of fascinated.  Me? 30?  Really?  I often feel closer to 17 than 30.  Maybe no one ever feels grown up, despite appearances?  At any rate, I’d like to meet my own definition of 30 a little more closely.  And with 30 being kind of a big deal, I’ve also been thinking about what I want to be at 40 and 50 and 60 and so on.  As the famous quote goes, “Tomorrow you’ll wish you started today”.  This year I want to develop worthwhile habits and skills with long reaching benefits on a number of fronts.

Last year’s goal was all about being intentional – doing things on purpose.  But I feel like so much of that goal was wrapped up in doing as much as possible, in as little time as I could manage.  I  wanted to make lists and check things off.   I was all about spending every moment of my time being productive.  But after a year of that, I’m realizing that it’s important to focus on achieving quality and not just quantity.

So this year, instead of getting things done for the sake of doing them, I’m going to invest.  Some of the things on the following list are very similar to the items I was intentional about last year, but now I want more depth than breadth.  I want to grow, develop and strengthen the things that really matter.

invest 2

I want to invest in:

  • my relationship with God, as a relationship, not as a daily task
  • my relationship with Brian, through meals together, dates and better communication
  • our house, by thoughtfully making improvements and purchasing furniture
  • friendships, through letters, emails, texts and in-person visits 
  • long-term skills, such as sewing, organizing, writing, and of course cooking
  • finances, by continuing to monitor all our spending, getting serious about paying off student loans, putting more into my retirement and making some decisions about future goals
  • myself , because sometimes the best thing you can do for you is put your feet up and rest, paint your nails or go for a walk
  • this blog, with more quality posts and original content
  • my body, by getting back on the long-neglected fitness train
  • causes that matter, such as local organizations and church, where I often talk about being involved but don’t do much in actuality
  • my students as people, because there are more important things than checking off all the Department of Education standards, but I sometimes forget that 
  • my nephews, Brian and I now have nephews on each side of our family so there’s a lot of spoiling to get started on
  • the present moment, whatever it is, because life is short and I don’t want to miss it while staring at my to do list

Related Posts

A Look Back on My 2016 Word: Connect
Investing in January and February
2010 Resolutions in Review
Investing in March and April
Did you enjoy this post? Share it!

Filed Under: life Tagged With: goals, invest 2014

« Final Thoughts on My Word for 2013: Intentional
Kicking Off The Year: January 3-16 Menu Plan »

Comments

  1. Katie says

    January 2, 2014 at 11:45 pm

    I love the idea of Invest. It may be a word of mine in the future. Right now there is too much uncertainty in my life so my word is “peace”

Trackbacks

  1. » Investing in January and February says:
    March 5, 2014 at 8:15 pm

    […] the beginning of the year, I chose invest as my focus word for 2014.  As tends to be the case with goals and […]

  2. » Investing in March and April says:
    May 1, 2014 at 8:02 pm

    […] a post every 2 months to reporting about how it’s going.  Want to catch up? Here’s my introductory post and January and […]

  3. » Investing in Summer–Blog Updates, Home Improvement & Lots of Work says:
    August 28, 2014 at 9:23 pm

    […] that time that I made “invest” my word for 2014?  And then I wrote a nice summary of how that was going at the end of February and again in […]

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photo of EmilyWelcome to Relishments! Follow along with my adventures in cooking and eating in the Berkshires of Western Massachusetts.

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Emily
Last week Brian and I finally got around to hiring Last week Brian and I finally got around to hiring a sitter for a rare night out. We went to dinner at @publicna and took advantage of the opportunity with drinks, appetizers and dessert.

Pictured:
- Citrus Braised Beef Tacos
- "Chicken and Waffles"
- House Fries with Garlic Aioli
- Fried Chickpeas
- Blood Orange Cheesecake
It was no surprise that Public was close to full on a Wednesday night - everything was so good. 

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#igers413_food #igers413 #BerkshireFoodies #InTheBerkshires #EatLocal #WesternMA #WesternMass #Berkshires  #VisitTheBerkshires #NorthAdams #NAmazing #PublicEatAndDrink
New year, new theme word! This year's word is "enr New year, new theme word!
This year's word is "enrich" and I'm really excited about it.

I've written more about this year's theme on the blog. Click in the link in my profile or follow the link below to read the post.
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https://www.relishments.com/blog/my-2023-theme-word-enrich/
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#YearlyTheme #MyOneWord #2023 #enrich2023 #NewYearsResolution
It's not New Year's Eve without a Top 9 post. It's It's not New Year's Eve without a Top 9 post.
It's almost all #Berkshires content this year, which is great.
1. A pasta salad reel that took longer to create than the recipe took to make.
2. A reel from North Carolina where I could have watched birds all day.
3. The @thelazygenius book giveaway.
4.@plantconnector 
5. @berkshiremuseum 
6.@sculpture.now at @themountlenox 
7. @massmoca 
8. @mountainviewfarm413 
9. The #AshuwillticookRailTrail
New on the blog: My 2022 reflections on last year' New on the blog: My 2022 reflections on last year's theme word - resume. 

I was able to get back to many activities that were meaningful to me this year and I'm calling this theme a success. Follow the link below or click the link in my profile to read more.
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https://www.relishments.com/blog/reflections-on-resuming-in-2022/
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#resume2022 #newyearsresolution #myoneword #yearlytheme
New on the blog: My Favorite Recipes of 2022. For New on the blog: My Favorite Recipes of 2022.

For the fourth year, I've recapped the best new (to me) recipes I made this year in the hope that they'll give you some new dishes to try. This year's list is short, but delicious. It includes @budgetbytes My Favorite Recipes of 2022
Published on December 30, 2022 By Emily. Updated on December 30, 2022

It’s hard to believe that 2022 is basically behind us. Though overall this year found me getting back to the person I want to be (post-babies and “post”-pandemic), I did not try nearly as many new recipes this year as I used to. In fact, I was pleasantly surprised to see that I’d made note of any new-to-me recipes I wanted to share in this post. This year’s list is short, but delicious. It includes recipes from @budgetbytes, @smittenkitchen and @howsweeteats.
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Read the post by visiting the link in my profile or 
https://www.relishments.com/blog/my-favorite-recipes-of-2022/
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#RecipeRoundUp #BestRecipes2022 #FavoriteRecipes
@coastalmainebotanicalgardens continues to be one @coastalmainebotanicalgardens continues to be one of the highlights of all my return trips to Boothbay and their annual Gardens Aglow event continues to impress. It was great to be back to walking the gardens instead of the pandemic drive through and there seemed to be more lights than ever.  I'm already looking forward to next year.
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#Boothbay #BoothbayMaine #CoastalMaineBotanicalGardens #GardensAglow #BotanicalGarden #MidcoastMaine
It has been a while, but there is finally a new CS It has been a while, but there is finally a new CSA menu plan on the blog! Visit the link below or in my profile to see how I plan to make use of some of the @mightyfoodfarm produce seen here.
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https://www.relishments.com/blog/welcome-to-winter-farm-share-csa-menu-plan-148/
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#MightyFoodFarm #EatLocal #EatSeasonal #VermontGrown #CSApickup #CSAshare #KnowYourFarmerKnowYourFood #MenuPlanning #MealPlanning #igers413 #igers413_food #BerkshireFoodies
Fall in the Berkshires is always incredible, but t Fall in the Berkshires is always incredible, but this year we've had weather that has also been outstanding. The past 2 weekends have included time at Jaeschke Orchards, the Greylock Glen, and the Ashuwillticook Rail Trail as well as stopping to photograph any random foliage I see. 
Check out the last slide for video of some feathered friends we saw on a walk.
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#igers413 #InTheBerkshires #EatLocal #WesternMA #WesternMass #Berkshires  #VisitTheBerkshires #FallFoliage #FallColors #autumn #AshuwillticookRailTrail #JaeschkeOrchards #GreylockGlen
@freshgrassfestival continues to be one of my favo @freshgrassfestival continues to be one of my favorite events each year, and it doesn't hurt that it's just minutes away from home. Enjoying the festival with my kids is definitely a different experience than without, but it's still a good time. The weather was especially cooperative today which was great for all the laps I did around the @massmoca campus pushing a stroller. I'm already looking forward to next year.
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#igers413 #InTheBerkshires #WesternMA #WesternMass #Berkshires  #VisitTheBerkshires #NorthAdams #NAmazing #FreshGrass #FreshGrassFestival #MassMoCA #MusicFestival
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