Every New Year, there's an inspiring urge to finally accomplish all that you've been meaning to do. As someone who tends to get caught up in the everyday, I love this motivation to see the big picture and write down what I'd like to accomplish the coming year.

First, lets look back at all the great things that 2017 brought!

The biggest blessing of 2017 was definitely adding to our family with the birth of our second daughter at the end of the summer. The pregnancy and new baby stage kept me pretty busy throughout the whole year, and so Birch Landing Home took a bit of a backseat for 2017. Nevertheless, highlights for BLH this year have included being quoted in Parenting New Hampshire Magazine and adding another wholesale account to our roster. I also got the opportunity to work with some of my favorite international brands including L.L. Bean, Nûby, and Safety 1st as well as many wonderful New England-based companies including Hills & Trails, Woodboogah, and Cobalt Sky Studio.

Goals for 2018

I have a lot of professional and personal things I'd like to accomplish or improve for 2018 - here are some of them:

Grow Birch Landing Home More

This past year, Birch Landing Home was put on the back burner while I focused on family. Family always comes first, but this year I want to get back into the working groove and grow BLH more. I have some great ideas for new products to add to the Etsy Shop and DIY projects to share on the blog. I'd also love to do more work with both international brands and New England-based buisnesses.
(I also have an incredibly exciting collaboration lined up for the spring that I can't wait to share with you all!)

Get Back into Running

While I ran throughout my first pregnancy, this time around I just couldn't so I stopped running and haven't gotten back into it since. I don't know if another Half is on the books for this year with the new baby, but I'd love to at least get back into a regular running routine and do a few fun 5Ks.

Clean House

Going through the house and systematically purging everything in the beginning of the year is something I really look forward to. It's so refreshing to go through everything and donate or sell whatever you haven't been using for the past year. Now that we have two kids the amount of "stuff" has exploded and I'm looking forward to getting it under control.

Make More Time for Family and Friends

We've been so busy with work and our own family we haven't had the chance to visit enough with family and close friends this past year. We're way overdue to visit some great friends and you can never spend enough time with your family. This is an important priority for us in the new year.

Get Up Early

Getting up early before the rest of the house really helps me get a jump on my day. This was something that had been part of my routine but has fallen by the wayside over the last few months. There's just something so motivating about getting up before everyone else, enjoying a cup of coffee in the peace and quiet, planning out your day, and getting a jump start on your to-do list. Days when I get up early are so much more productive and let me focus more on the kids and other important tasks the rest of the day.

Get Outside More

I'm really looking forward to more hiking and camping trips with family and friends this year. There have been a couple of hikes that have been on our "to-do list" forever and it's high time we finally do them! There's nothing better than getting outside to recharge.

Explore New England!

One of our favorite things to do as a family is day trips and weekend trips around New England to explore all the great things this area has to offer. Usually we do a couple trips every year and this year I'd love to do even more if we can - especially in Maine and Vermont. I'd also like to share our knowledge and put together more New England Travel Guides for the blog.

What are some of your goals for the New Year?

Photo from Free Nature Stock