My pun-loving self couldn't resist that title. ;) I've always enjoyed the process of setting goals at the beginning of each year, and for the last few years I've put them out there publicly on this blog to keep myself accountable. Does that mean I always accomplish those goals? Nope. But having a vision for where I want the year to go, helps me to make decisions throughout the year...and hopefully gives me a better chance of success. Of course it's hard to know what opportunities or situations will arise (a year is a long time), so sometimes my goals change or get postponed. Last year, two of my goals were to get in shape and to save money for a real estate investment property. Thennn I got pregnant, and we decided to remodel our kitchen. I don't regret either of those decisions one bit, but they definitely derailed my original plans. So guess what? In 2020, I'm re-setting some of the same goals from 2019. We'll see if I can stay on track the second time around!

1. Lose the baby weight: I have now been pregnant three times in the last four years (and nursing babies in between)...so my body has gone through a lot! I've also felt unmotivated to really focus on losing weight in between pregnancies, because I knew we wanted at least three kids and we wanted them close in age. We still might have one more baby, but for the first time I feel like this could be it. And regardless, I'm ready to get serious about losing the weight. I'm tired of feeling fat and out of shape! My plan is to start running again, cut back on sweets and snacks throughout the day, and cook healthier meals for dinner (which would probably be good for our whole family anyways). I don't plan to do anything too drastic since I want to nurse Audrey for a year like I did with my other kids...so I am giving myself nine months to hit my goal weight!

2. Buy our first investment property: There are lots of different things we COULD put our money into, from the stock market, to gold, or even cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin. But one form of investment that I've always been interested in is real estate. Historically, the real estate market has been a great way to gain equity and wealth in the long-term, while earning a "passive" income in the short-term. Real estate investing also appeals to me because houses are something I actually understand (bitcoin, not so much). Over the past year, I've been listening to podcasts and audiobooks, reading forums, and trying to learn as much as I can about the basics of investing in rental properties (everything from buying right, to adding value with smart renovations, to selecting good tenants). I am hoping 2020 will be the year we take action and make the leap from learning to actually investing. Of course, one of the biggest hurdles will be finances...so this year, one of the first steps will be figuring out what loans we can be approved for. Visio offers two loan options, and speaking with various lenders will help us get a better idea of what's realistic for us.

3. Travel with our family: It might sound contradictory to goal number two, but our other focus for this year is fun experiences with our family. Looking back on the past decade, we realized that (besides the births of our kids), what really stood out as high points were all the trips we took. So although we want to buckle down and save as much as possible for buying a rental house, we also feel good about spending some money on travel. We may not go on an epic trip around the world, but getting out of Spokane and experiencing new things together always leads to fun memories. It's truly been our experience that we never regret the money we spend on travel, plus we have a ton of credit card points that we've been accumulating so we should be able to travel this year without setting back our savings too much.

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