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The Saturday before the new year. Historically, this is the day where I lay out my vision and goals for the year to come. I officially decide on my "word for the year" and start to build some specific goals around that word. The last three years, my words (phrases) have been "simplify", "be intentional", and "be present". This year, I've had four words that keep coming up as possibilities.. Gratitude. Grow. Joy. These are all wonderful words. They encompass all that I want for myself and my family.
And as I have written these goals out on paper and dreamed about what my life will look like in December of 2019, one year from now, I am realizing that all of my goals revolve around inspiring others to live their best lives.
So...I think that's it. My 2019 Word of the Year...Inspire. Setting goals and making plans at the farmhouse on this final Saturday of 2018, Hannah ❤️🏡❤️
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2019 is coming. In fact, we have ONE WEEK left of this year. The day after Christmas is always when I really start planning and thinking specifically about the year to come. We take down our Christmas decorations and get the house "back to normal". I go through my calendar for the entire next year and fill in various events, reminders, and appointments. I sit down with a piece of paper and I start to dream about what's to come in the new year...things I want to accomplish, dreams I have, and specific goals. This week, I thought I would go through each piece of my planning process for anyone that wants to follow along. Some of the things I'll cover are:
One of my big goals for 2019 is to stay in touch with my readers more! So with that in mind, I've started working on an email list! I'm currently in the middle of a chat conversation with my email provider to figure out how to turn off my subscription form for those of you who have already subscribed...for now, just click the "X" when it pops up, if you're already a subscriber! Thanks in advance for subscribing and following along with us during the new year!
Prepping for 2019 at the farmhouse, Hannah ❤️🏡❤️
Near the middle of December, I begin to think about my goals for the new year.
In the past, I have written down my annual goals on paper or typed into a document. To be quite honest, it just wasn't too effective. I wrote the goals out, sometimes shared the goals with a few close friends, and then I taped the paper in the back of my planner...never to be looked at again. The intentions were good, but there was no inspiration in a checklist of "things to accomplish in the year ____". No inspiration. No long-term motivation. No real accountability. So although my resolutions were good ones that would have helped me to become more organized, more healthy, and more financially fit...there was often not as much follow-through as I would have liked. In December of 2017, I was introduced to the concept of the "vision board". I was intrigued and started seeking out inspiration online.
These are three of the images I saved at the time because they just "spoke to me".
THIS. This was inspiring to me! I started to think about where I would keep a vision board and realized that I might want to have a separate one for the different areas of my life because I had very specific goals for each part...home, faith, school, photography...the list goes on and on. However, making fourteen different vision boards sure didn't seem practical.
We have worked hard to pay down our car debt and the truck is now paid off, with the Yukon coming soon.
Mr. Farmhouse is still working towards being a full-time farmer, but we are on the right track. I have pages like this in my vision book about many subjects...
When December 2017 came around, I looked back through my vision book and took stock of all the things we had accomplished that year. I added a few new goals for 2018, but I decided not to start a new book...just continued right on with a refreshing perspective. And I'll do the same thing this week as I dream, plan, and prepare for 2019. Doing some goal-setting at the farmhouse to celebrate Christmas break, Hannah ❤️?❤️
Back in January, I made the goal to read 30 books in 2018.
Well, it's mid-April and I am in the middle of books number SIX and SEVEN. Book number six is The 7 Experiment (Jen Hatmaker). And book number seven is The Principal: Three Keys to Maximizing Impact (Michael Fullan). I will post a completed list at year-end, but for today, I would love to talk to you about the book I finished just last week, The 12-Week Year: Get More Done in 12 Weeks Than Others Get Done in 12 Months (Brian P. Moran & Michael Lennington).
I immediately downloaded it and started listening to it that night.
Wow. The concepts in the book were so obvious and yet, I needed to hear them so badly. How many of us wake up on January 1st every single year with so many hopes and dreams for the year? We make goals (New Years' Resolutions, if you will), whether on paper or in our heads. There are so many things we want to accomplish by December 31st, and yet by the time February hits, adequate progress towards most of our goals has not been made. We don't have to work too hard in January and February because December is still SO...FAR...AWAY. We push through March and April, making excuses as to why we are not moving towards our goals. It's so cold. When it warms up, I will get to work on those goals. I promise! When the school year ends, I'll have so much more time to focus on my plans. There's still PLENTY of time to meet my goals before the end of the year! We're not even halfway through the year! May, June, and July come and go. The summer is just so busy. When school starts, I'll be able to focus more. It's too hot! Summer is for rest and relaxation. By the time we hit August and September, we are ready to get the kids back into the routine of school and get to work on those "New Years' resolutions"! But it's just crazy when everyone is trying to get back into the grind of school. On October 1st, it hits us...we only have three more months to reach our goals. We start to get a glimpse of the urgency that is needed if we're going to hit our goals before January 1st, but by this point...it feels like it's too late. We'll try again next year. I knew I couldn't continue this cycle forever.
With all of the changes coming in our life over the next six months, I knew that I needed to get it together.
I'll be starting a new job on August 1st and life will be different at the farmhouse at that time if we don't start to mark some things off of our giant to-do list. The basic premise of the 12-week year is that we get rid of our "annualized" thinking when it comes to goal-setting and working towards making our vision for our life a reality. We start to think of each 12-week section of time as a year. Instead of putting off tasks until the end of the year when the urgency starts to take over, we keep that sense of urgency year-round, while setting realistic goals and focusing on the execution of daily tasks to help us reach our desired result.
"If you want to know what your future holds, look at your current daily actions. Those are the best predictor of your future. Not your hopes and dreams and visions. Your daily action. Because daily action is what moves a person forward."
We can have the most well thought-out vision and the most wonderful plan in the world. However, if we don't execute well...none of that matters. So remember as you think about your vision, your goals, and your plan that we need to also think about the effectiveness of our execution. We have to DO the hard work every stinking day. Even when we don't feel like it. Just do it.
We are in Week 2 of our first 12-week year and we are LOVING the results we are seeing.
I'm going to take you through the process of how Mr. Farmhouse and I set up our first 12 weeks. This is, in no way, a substitution for you reading the actual book and following the plan. But I'm hoping it can at least inspire you to get started! 1. Write out your personal vision for your life 10 or 15 years down the road. Be specific! Close your eyes and picture the life you've always dreamed about! There's no goal too lofty. Just write it all down!
2. Based on that vision, think about what parts of that vision you could work towards for the next three years.
We are zooming in at this point. We're taking that lifelong vision and breaking it into more measurable and attainable chunks. We went through our vision and wrote some attainable goals. I'm not going to share every single part of our personal family vision because your vision should be your own. However, on our long-term vision, we wrote that we want to be completely debt-free in ten years. So for our three-year plan, we want to work towards having everything paid off except for the farmhouse and my student loans. 3. Based on your three-year goals, set goals for the next 12 weeks. We are zooming in even farther at this point. What can we do to move ourselves closer to meeting that long-term vision and that three-year goal in the next three months? At this point, we broke down our 12-week plan into fourteen very specific, small, and attainable goals.
It includes blogging goals, a plan to get my classroom completely cleaned out before I move into an office next year, and a plan for our first garden here at the farmhouse.
On this step, be specific. Be detailed. And be realistic. 4. Create a weekly plan including activity that needs to be completed every week to help you reach your goals. We did this on the Sunday evening before we started into our first week. These are very specific tasks that will move you toward your 12-week goals. Here's an example of this from our 12-week year. We want to finish the wall and closet for the fourth bedroom. During week 1, we needed to measure the closet and wall space and make a materials list. We needed to order the supplies from Sutherland's. These are the only two tasks for that goal that we could realistically finish in Week 1. But we finished those two tasks and moved farther along in the process than we have in the last six weeks. We aren't putting that task it off any longer because now it seems manageable. It seems attainable. We can do this! 5. Every single week, check your progress from the previous week and plan the next week. This part is crucial to the success of the 12-week year. What daily action did you carry out regarding each goal? How much progress did you make towards your goals? Were you diligent in doing the hard work every single day? If not...OWN IT and vow to do better this week! After checking your progress, make a new weekly plan! In the book, Moran talks about three different blocks of time we need to religiously schedule each week. Strategic Blocks - 3 hours of protected time early in the week where you knock out a lot of your weekly activity work (1 time per week) Buffer Blocks - 30 minutes to one hour blocks of time where you do those mundane yet necessary daily tasks like checking emails and social media (1-2 times per day) Breakout Blocks - 3 hours of time later in the week where you BREAKOUT of the work cycle and focus on pouring back into yourself (1 time per week) I tried this schedule this week and could not believe how much more I was able to accomplish during that first strategic block when I wasn't distracted by emails, my phone, or other daily (sometimes meaningless) tasks that I spend so much time on each week. Week 13.
Week 13 in the 12-week year is for reflection and celebration!
Because you're not thinking about the annual goals that are looming over you, you are able to be more focused on a few attainable goals and the tasks that will get you to the end result you desire. I would encourage you to grab the book or at the very least, try to plan your own 12-week year soon. You won't be sorry. Happy Windy Saturday from the farmhouse, friends. Week 2...here we come! ❤️?❤️ Every single Sunday, I find myself worrying that people think I'm texting or checking my Facebook during the sermon. Granted, I do reply to a text message here and there. But usually, I am looking up the scripture that Brother Matt is referencing or taking notes on my phone. I started taking notes on Google Docs in January of 2017 and it has been amazing.
Brother Matt is in the middle of a sermon series entitled "Second Chances" right now. He preached his first message on Easter. It was amazing. You can check it out here. Today was week 2. The message was from Acts, Chapter 2. Acts Chapter 2 was after... Palm Sunday, the betrayal in the garden, Christ's crucifixion, His resurrections, and 40 days of traveling and teaching. In Acts 2:38, we read these words that Peter had said when the people asked him what they needed to do to make Jesus Lord. "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." I grew up in the Church. I can't even tell you how many times I have read that passage or heard that passage read aloud during a sermon or Bible study. And yet today...I got a fresh perspective on it. Repent means I'm turning AWAY from my sin. Baptism is when I'm turning TO God. When we choose to leave behind those behaviors that are not pleasing to Him, we choose to leave behind those feelings of guilt and remorse. The feelings of not being good enough. The feeling that we are "broken by our own mistakes" (good words, Brother Matt!). We choose to turn towards Jesus and the feeling of hope that He brings. So we stop repeating our bad behaviors, turn towards Jesus, and He sends us the Holy Spirit to help us to keep ourselves out of the situations we have been in for so long. It's like a lightbulb popped on for me. So I took notes and journaled about it this afternoon.
Sometimes, my pages are a lot more detailed. But today, this was fine. Turn away from sin. Turn to God. The stain will be removed and a Helper will be sent to you. True story. If you enjoy art and would like a creative way to connect with God's Word, I would recommend the art of Bible journaling.
Happy Sunday from the Farmhouse, friends.
Stay warm. ❤️🏡❤️
Uh. Okay. This was supposed to be a checkup. Sure, I was full-term and sure, Claire's head was NOT small. But still. I had expected to leave that appointment, do a little shopping, grab some Starbucks and go home to snuggle my Harlee-girl for a few more days. But that just wouldn't be Claire's style, now would it? Claire Bear did things her own way then and she does things her own way now. She is precious and kind and beautiful. She is independent and stubborn and smart. She has what we call "second child syndrome". She often learns things the hard way. She loves others with her whole entire heart. She would rather wear a dress and high heels than shorts and a tshirt, yet she's not afraid to get her hands dirty working hard inside or out. Our life wouldn't be complete without our sweet, sweet Claire Bear. Happy 9th Birthday, sweet girl. ❤️
"Truth."
"Preach." "Yes. This." "Same." I hear myself say these simple phrases over and over in a day...even if only inside my head. "Monday mornings are hard sometimes." "Truth." "Too bad a Starbucks caramel macchiato isn't good for you." "Preach." "Our best requires rest." "Yes. This." "I break into songs at random times throughout the day." "Same." The joy I find in knowing that someone else relates to me on various topics is inspiring. Just a few simple words of affirmation can speak love and encouragement into my life. I do think it's wonderful that we have freedom to form our own opinions and share those opinions with others...to be able to disagree with our friends and still BE friends. I think it's great to have our own thoughts and ideas and judgments. In fact, I know for certain that I do not agree with every single thing that even my oldest and dearest "best friend forever" thinks and believes. But sometimes, when we agree on the little things, there's a feeling of support that can carry you through. And that's the #truth. Happy New Week from the Farmhouse, friends. This week, let's focus on finding those things we DO agree on and spread the love. ❤️🏡❤️ This is a big one, folks. This post will be unlike any post I've ever written. Yesterday, a student asked me about the situation and I decided it was probably time to let the cat out of the bag. My colleagues and my family, along with some friends, already know my big news. However, I feel like posting it on the blog makes it public knowledge and that can only mean one thing... This is really happening. After thirteen years as a teacher of one kind or another, I'll be leaving the classroom.
I wanted to be the reason that a student with special needs felt successful in the general education classroom. When my former students were asked later in life who their favorite teacher was...I wanted to make that list. I wanted my kiddos to look back on their time with Mrs. Newkirk as their teacher and say, "She played a small part of who I am today." I'm hopeful that I've been able to make a difference like this in the lives of kids and families over the last thirteen years. However, the Lord has also given me a passion for people with special needs. My parents opened up a group home for adults with disabilities when I was in upper-elementary school. What started out as four adult women with various needs living with us in our home from then until my high school years has now grown to three separate group homes in our small town, where we provide housing and community habilitation services for twelve ladies. Growing up in the group home led me to pursue a double-major in college...elementary education and special education. In fact, I started my career in the special education classroom and only transitioned into the general education classroom because of a series of crazy events that I believe the Lord orchestrated to give me general education experience, to allow me to meet and work with some of my very best friends in the world, and to give me an opportunity to touch the lives of many children over the last ten years. Almost nine years ago, I graduated with my masters degree in Education Administration. My plan was to continue teaching for several years and then hopefully find an elementary principal's job to finish out my career...but not for a looooooong while. And then, a few years ago, my principal (a mentor and friend to me) said, "Have you ever thought about going into special education administration?"  Well, I hadn't really considered that and honestly didn't even want to think about going back to school. (Okay, in the interest of full disclosure...I didn't want to think about PAYING to go back to school.) However, the administrative team encouraged me to not dismiss the idea immediately, but instead to call and see what classes I would need to fulfill the requirements necessary for a job in special education administration. So in April of 2016, I called. And I needed two classes. Two. I needed one class that was offered only a 45-minute drive away, over three weekends that next summer. Three weekends that were open on our family calendar. I also needed an internship class that I could do right there in my home district with the Director of Special Services. And we could pay for them both in cash. No more student loans. That seemed easy enough. So I signed up, thinking it would be good to have options for my very distant future. I finished up the class over the summer of 2016 and finished the internship in the spring of 2017. Fast-forward to this past August...the beginning of this school year. Our superintendent calls me into his office to tell me that our current Director of Special Services is retiring at the end of the year and he would like me to be ready to present to the school board about the possibility of stepping into that position for the next school year. WHAT!?! Like NEXT YEAR!?! His idea was that I could be trained during this school year...to shadow our current director, to prepare to take that role the following August. Long story short, Mr. Farmhouse and I prayed about it. A host of family and friends prayed about it with us and for us. We had lots and lots of conversation about it. I talked for hours about the possibility to my current teaching partner. I contacted friends of mine who are special education directors for support and answers to my questions. I presented to the board. They offered me the job. And I accepted. I believe that I will be able to use my leadership skills, my passion for education, and my knowledge and experience working with my students and the adults in our group home with special needs in this new role. I believe that this is just another place that God can use me to make a difference in the lives of children and families. There are things about this transition that will not be easy.
With any transition, there will be some sorrow...some difficulty. But there will also be joy, excitement, reflection, and new ideas. I am so thankful to be able to stay in my current district. I've grown so much as an educator and met so many people who are near and dear to my heart. I'm grateful to my principal for pushing me to go back to school, our superintendent for encouraging me to move forward, our school board for giving me this opportunity, our current special education director for training me, my mentor special education director from my alma mater, my colleagues (current and former) for believing in me, the two fourth grade teachers in my building that make up the other half of our team for offering so much encouragement this year, my teaching partner for all of his support through the years...especially this year, my friends, my family...our parents, grandparents, and siblings, my dear Mr. Farmhouse and our three sweet girls. I'm grateful for my students & their parents through all of my teaching years. For the life lessons that I have learned standing in front of that classroom. For the opportunities to grow and develop into the educator I am today. I'm just so very grateful. Life will be different here in the farmhouse in just a few short months. For now though, I'm going to enjoy the time I have left this year with my darling third graders...shaping young minds. Laughing with them and cheering with them. Helping them along and making sure to let them know how much they help me along, too.
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