Now is the time of year that everyone starts looking toward the holidays and the end of the year.  As a blogger, I look ahead, not to the holidays or the end of the year necessarily, but to the New Year.  Now is the time that I get to start planning for the New Year; trips, blog posts, ect.  I’ve taken time off from blogging due to family life, COVID and not being able to come up with good topics.  Now though, I have a lot of things that I would like to say, do, plan for, ect.  So, now is the time for my 2022 goals.

1. Travel somewhere new.
   That somewhere new is likely to be Louisiana.  I was there when I was young, however, none of my kids have been there, and we have family there who we don’t get to see as often as we would like.  This is going to be our Spring Break trip this year and we are looking forward to it.  I can’t wait to be able to share it with all our readers!
2. Make it to FL during the summer.
   Yes we are likely to go to Clearwater Beach, but I really want to find somewhere new to visit as well.  I’m asking my readers, what are some of your favorite places in the Tampa Bay area (or elsewhere) to visit?  I really, really want to travel and explore Florida. 
3.  Work toward financial freedom!
   We are no longer “struggling” to meet our bills and wondering where we are going to get the money to pay for things that come up unexpectedly.  Now, our goal has become saving.  Making sure that we have the money for emergencies and planning out our next steps in our plan to move to FL and being able to start putting money into our “move fund”.  I want to be in a situation where, if I want to work, I can, but also I can travel and put more into the travel portion of this blog.
4. Encourage every family member to become more health conscious.
   I’ve been on a “health kick” for more than 2 years now.  I’ve had spells where I’ve gone back to old eating habits, just because… sometimes out of boredom or because I just “crave” the things I used to enjoy.  Some of my kids eat fairly healthy, and others don’t.  Sean doesn’t eat as healthy as he should.  A lot of times, we eat whatever can easily be thrown together or be picked up in a hurry.  None of us exercise or work out the way we should.  I want to find a way to encourage everyone to be as healthy and active as possible and that includes my own family.
5. Find ways to volunteer more and help others.
   This has been weighing on me for a long time, and we haven’t been in a situation where it was possible to take time to even think about helping others when we were worried about our own financial issues.  This is no longer the case for us though and we want to help others learn how to be financially free.  We want to help those who are stuck in situations that they can’t help.  We have already kind of done this by sponsoring 2 children through a company called Compassion International so that they can have their basic needs met.  We recently did a volunteer opportunity with Compassion International as well and are signed up for two more in November.  If you have never heard of them, they help provide basic needs and education for children in need.  For $38 a month Compassion International can provide these children with food, medical checkups, education and mentoring.  If you are looking for a way to give and change the future, you could consider this as one way to give God’s blessings to others as well as changing a child’s life.
6. Learn something new.
   I want to FINALLY complete my Travel Agent certification.  I’ve been studying for 2 years and want to take the test to become certified.  I’d also like to take some courses in leadership to help better myself. This is something that I’ve been sitting on and thinking about and now is the perfect time to do so.

As you can see, I have a few good goals to pursue for 2022.  How about you?  What are some of the things you would like to do or accomplish this next year?