Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Stefanie Ackerson's Goals & Projects for 2014

January: Contribute weekly to 72-hour kits – Paul and I just got married last year and don’t have any kind of food storage or emergency kits yet, so we want to start assembling 72-hour
kits for each of us, following a 52-week plan for weekly contributions.

February: Wedding DVDs – My brother and I both got married in 2013 and I have tons of wedding footage on my digital camcorder. I am finally going to load them onto my computer and turn them into DVDs. I’ll make one of my wedding as a Valentine’s gift for Paul, and one of my brother and sister-in-law’s wedding for my sister-in-law’s birthday present.

March: Make a date jar – This month will be getting close to our one-year wedding anniversary and we’re already running out of ideas for creative weekly date nights! So I’m going to make a
date jar for us to contribute fun date ideas to “keep the romance alive.”

April: Update memory book – Way back in high school I started a memory book for a class project with a chapter for each of the major events in my life to that time. I’ve added a couple of things over the years since then, but for our wedding anniversary I want to add some chapters on my memories of dating Paul, getting engaged and married, and our first year together as newlyweds.

May: Daily scripture study with “My Affirmations” journal – One of my good friends from my college days (who also happened to be my visiting teacher and Relief Society president for a time) once challenged me to do this and it was the most meaningful year of scripture study I’ve ever had. I want to do it again this year. I’ve already started on it a little bit, but May is going to be the month I really dedicate myself to it and report on how I’m doing.

June: Update scrapbooks – I’ve never been a very cutesy scrap booker, but I do love collecting things – special notes and cards, awards, theater ticket stubs, all kinds of things that document some of my most treasured memories. It’s been over a year since I last pulled them out and I have a huge mountain of things to add. So when I’m finally free of work for the summer, I’m going to tackle this huge project!

July: Make a scrapbook for Paul – This project is hush-hush! I don’t want Paul to find out, but I want to put together a scrapbook for him with memories from growing up, mission, college life, etc., for a Christmas present. I did this for my two younger brothers as a mission homecoming present, and it meant a lot to them. Paul is a sentimental guy and has a huge tote full of stuff that I want to go through and organize into a more accessible book for him. So none of you sisters better tell him! I may be burned out on scrapbooks after June, so I may have to put this project off, but this is the plan for now.

August: Update photo albums – I have a lot of envelopes stuffed with photos from the past year that need to find a home.

September: Organize recipes – I love to collect recipes; I have shelves full of cook books and recipe card boxes! But I have tons of random recipes I’ve collected over the years from Relief Society activities, newspaper clippings, printed off the internet, copied out of library books, from my mom and other friends and relatives that are piling up in an old grocery sack because I never seem to have the time to organize them into a binder. It must be done!

October: Freezer Crock Pot meals – This one is one of my sister-in-law’s ideas. She loves Crock Pot cooking because you can just throw things in a pot and come back a few hours later to a nice hot meal. We were going to get together over Christmas to make a bunch of meals and freeze them for the spring when we’re both busy with work and/or school, but we didn’t have a chance. But we’re going to try again this fall!

November: Update collection of spiritual thoughts/stories/quotes – Another ongoing project of mine that piles up during my busy working months that needs to be updated and organized into binders. I want to get this one ready before Christmas so I can find and enjoy reading the neat stories I have on Christmas and the Savior over the holidays.

December: Something Christmasy – Either weekly Christmas devotionals or some kind of Christmas service project, maybe sponsor a Sub for Santa family. I haven’t decided exactly what it will be yet.

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