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Embracing ‘Selah’: Reflecting on 2015 Challenges and Charting a Course for 2016 Personal and Blogging Goals

Happy New Year, friends! As 2016 unfolds, I find myself reflecting on the past year with a mix of emotions. I had genuinely intended to publish this recap and goal-setting post earlier, perhaps on Saturday alongside our usual ‘Three Things’ update or a goals review. However, as you may have noticed, neither appeared. Sometimes, life simply demands a break from the digital world. I spent valuable time with my daughter before she returned to college, enjoyed some board games, and settled in to watch the new Sherlock episode. While I did squeeze in a few photography videos, the thought of tackling this extensive blog post felt like more than I could manage in those precious moments away from the keyboard.

Why the hesitation? Looking back at last year’s yearly recap, I had genuinely hoped that 2015 would surpass 2014. Yet, upon closer inspection, I realized it hadn’t. In many significant ways, it proved to be far more challenging. Thankfully, the blog itself saw positive strides in 2015. We experienced a steady, albeit gradual, increase in page views, secured some fantastic sponsored post opportunities, and I found a comfortable blogging rhythm that helped me avoid feeling perpetually overwhelmed. This stability on the professional front was a genuine blessing.

However, on a personal and financial level, our family navigated an emotional rollercoaster. Both Brian and I have been deeply involved in caring for our mothers, who are facing major health issues. This responsibility has led to difficult decisions regarding living arrangements and complex financial matters that are both hard to navigate and emotionally draining – a reality I know many of you can sadly relate to. Following Brian’s period of underemployment in 2014, we had high hopes for an improved year. Unfortunately, the prolonged silence from numerous job opportunities was disheartening to witness. Brian dedicated immense heart, soul, and countless hours to developing a course that seemed incredibly needed and timely, only to see it not gain traction. And, perhaps most profoundly, we’ve been dealing with the pain of parental heartbreak as we watch our son walk a difficult path, much like a prodigal son.

I know this isn’t the typical ‘rah-rah’ style post you might expect from a blogger, right? In fact, when I mentioned needing to write this, my daughter, with her characteristic wisdom, asked me why, stating, “It’s your blog – you can do what you want.” And she’s absolutely correct, of course. But here’s the thing: I constantly hear from readers who express frustration with bloggers who seem unreal, unrelatable, or whose lives appear just too ‘perfect.’ That’s a perception I actively strive to avoid. My aim is to be transparent and authentic; I don’t just talk about imperfection – I live it, just like each and every one of you.

But no matter what challenges life throws your way, here’s a crucial lesson I am continuously learning:

Don’t Give Up. Don’t Give In. Find Your Anchor.

I understand that An Oregon Cottage (AOC) primarily focuses on recipes, DIY projects, gardening, and a dash of everyday life. However, I firmly believe that even when life feels anything but lovely, you can still find solace and strength in cultivating a nourishing environment. You can prepare healthy, comforting food that soothes your soul. You can create a home that brings a smile to your face, perhaps from a small corner you’ve redone or a touch of beauty you’ve added. You can get your hands dirty, planting a few seeds and watching beauty and food emerge. You can tap into your creativity, not just for yourself, but to give to others. These small acts of creation and cultivation are incredibly powerful.

In fact, I would go so far as to say you NEED these things.

When times are tough, it’s tempting to neglect your well-being and environment – to succumb to binge-eating junk food and endless lousy TV shows. While this might offer a brief escape or a short-term reprieve by living vicariously through someone else’s story, I’ve found that, in the long run, it often exacerbates feelings of helplessness and makes things worse. True resilience comes from engaging with life, not withdrawing from it.

I’ve discovered that I need to feel in control of something – anything, really. And my time, arguably, is the one thing I can assert some control over. Engaging in activities that provide a sense of accomplishment is HUGE for my mental well-being. This could be anything from creating handmade gifts (which offers a dual benefit: saving money and exercising creativity!), to baking a fresh loaf of bread, whipping up a quick batch of refrigerator pickles, diving into a good book, engaging in meaningful conversations with friends, or even taking short trips to recharge my batteries.

Furthermore, for me personally, it’s absolutely imperative to focus on two core principles: maintaining a positive outlook and shifting my perspective to think more about God and others, rather than dwelling solely on myself. This outward focus has been a profound source of strength and comfort.

My Word of the Year: Selah

With these lessons firmly in mind, I decided to choose a ‘word of the year’ for 2016, a practice I haven’t engaged in for a couple of years. Interestingly, I wasn’t even actively searching for a word; it found me during a She Reads Truth devotional. The word emerged from a comment within the vibrant SRT community (I often find as much insight there as in the reading plans themselves), and it now proudly graces our January chalkboard, as you can see above: Selah. While the exact meaning of this Hebrew word, found extensively in the Psalms as a sort of musical or contemplative ‘break,’ is debated, I am embracing the commonly held view of “pause, praise, & ponder.” For me, Selah signifies a conscious decision to pause amidst life’s relentless pace, to praise God despite difficulties, and to ponder deeply on lessons learned and the path forward. It’s about intentional reflection and spiritual recalibration, which I believe is precisely what I need this year.

With that powerful intention set, let’s take a moment for a quick recap of my 2015 goals before we enthusiastically dive into the plans for 2016:

Work on to-do list for the house to get ready to sell: We made good progress on this front, laying much of the groundwork. However, the intensity will need to significantly amp up over the next few months as we move closer to putting the house on the market.
Explore business ideas to replace income: While the exploration phase was completed, the desired outcome of generating substantial new income didn’t materialize as hoped. Despite this, we’re genuinely excited about some fresh ideas that have emerged in the last few months, and the positive response from a couple of Brian’s clients has been very encouraging, sparking renewed hope for these ventures.
Read 1 book a month: This is unequivocally the goal I am most proud of! If you’ve been following my ‘Three Things’ posts, you’ll know I far exceeded this target. I absolutely blew this goal out of the water, concluding the year with an incredible total of 31 books read – more than double my original objective! A significant factor in this achievement was my discovery last summer of a fantastic library audiobook app, which I continue to adore. I’m eagerly looking forward to sharing my complete reading list and my top 5 picks with you all very soon.
Blogging – new weekly schedule, recipe theme months, schedule, write ebook, course & do videos: Overall, this area saw pretty good progress. The implementation of a new weekly schedule proved effective, though I’m already tweaking it for the new year to optimize workflow. The introduction of themed recipe months genuinely helped me cover a broader range of categories, diversifying the content. We also successfully added more videos to our YouTube channel, even if not quite as many as initially hoped. Developing my personal time-management system was a year-long process, culminating in a new framework that I absolutely love and cannot wait to share with all of you! As for writing more products to address your needs? Well, that ended up being a big zero. Some wins, some losses – that’s just the nature of it. 🙂

Charting the Course: My 2016 Goals

This year, my approach to goal-setting is deliberately focused on creating easy, highly achievable objectives across four key areas. Many of these aren’t ‘big dreams’ in the traditional sense, but rather crucial tasks that simply need to happen. This reflects where I am in life right now, and my priority is to set goals that I genuinely have a high chance of accomplishing, fostering a sense of continuous progress and reducing overwhelm.

Personal/Health Goals: Nurturing Well-being and Growth

Maintaining physical and mental well-being is paramount, especially during challenging times. My goals in this area are designed to integrate more self-care and personal development into my daily routine.

Move more! With blogging being a predominantly sedentary job, I’ve become acutely aware of the need to increase my physical activity. My plan includes incorporating regular standing breaks throughout the workday, consistently adhering to my 3x/week workout routine, and adding a 2x/week walk or bike ride with Brian. These intentional efforts will make a significant difference.
Read 2-3 books a month. Building on last year’s success, I want to elevate my reading habit. This year, I aim to more intentionally balance fiction and non-fiction. While I love an engaging novel, I also want to ensure I’m consistently reading material that fosters personal growth and deepens my understanding as an individual and a child of God.
Continue morning routine with She Reads Truth devotional + add a prayer journal. My morning devotional has become a cornerstone of my day, providing spiritual grounding. This year, I plan to enhance this practice by incorporating a dedicated prayer journal, allowing for deeper reflection and a more structured approach to my spiritual life.

Relationships: Investing in Meaningful Connections

Nurturing relationships with loved ones is incredibly important, offering support and joy. These goals are about being more intentional with the people who matter most.

Monthly date nights. Believe it or not, this is a new and exciting goal for Brian and me! Life often gets in the way of intentional connection, so carving out dedicated time each month for just the two of us is a priority to strengthen our bond.
Monthly kid dates. Similarly, setting aside intentional time for individual ‘dates’ with our children is a new initiative. As they grow, these one-on-one moments become even more precious for fostering strong, individual relationships.
Make time for friends – coffee dates and being more intentional with dinner invitations. Friendships are vital for support and companionship. I want to be more proactive in scheduling coffee dates and extending dinner invitations, moving beyond casual promises to genuine, planned interactions.

Home/Finances: Strategic Planning and Security

These goals address major practical and financial undertakings that are critical for our family’s future stability.

Get house ready to put on the market this year. Wow, yes, I just wrote that! This is a monumental task and one of the primary reasons I’m so intensely motivated to “KonMari-ing” the entire house and tackling our extensive to-do list with renewed vigor. There are countless smaller tasks that naturally fall under this overarching goal, and whether I formally declare it or not, it’s something that absolutely has to happen. It’s a huge undertaking, but one we’re committed to.
Fund a 6-month emergency fund. This is a big, ambitious goal, signifying our belief in positive financial growth this year. Establishing a robust emergency fund will provide crucial financial security and peace of mind for future uncertainties.
Save for a used car to replace our 20-year-old jeep. Our trusty jeep has served us well for two decades, but it’s time to plan for its replacement. Saving diligently for a reliable used car is a practical and necessary financial goal for the year.

Professional/Blog: Serving the Community and Strategic Growth

My blogging goals for 2016 are deeply informed by your feedback and designed to provide maximum value to the AOC community, while also ensuring the blog’s sustainable growth.

Provide products to meet some of the needs you guys shared with me in our first-ever reader survey. I absolutely loved having your input this year in shaping our blog goals! The overwhelming theme that emerged as your biggest challenge was TIME. Therefore, my heartfelt promise to you this year is to develop and provide more free and minimally priced products specifically designed to help you manage and find the time to accomplish the things you want to do. We’re already planning exciting new menu plans, a highly anticipated planner that I’m SO incredibly excited about, and various other resources tailored to free up your precious time.
Improve photos & update old ones for Pinterest presence to focus on where I’m already getting traffic from. Visual appeal is critical online. I plan to significantly enhance the quality of my photography and strategically update older photos, particularly for Pinterest. This targeted effort will capitalize on existing traffic sources and amplify our visual impact.
More videos, including the time-lapse recipe videos for Facebook. Videos are an increasingly powerful way to engage and educate. My goal is to produce more video content, with a special focus on creating engaging time-lapse recipe videos specifically for our Facebook audience, making recipes more accessible and enjoyable.
Better, more personal newsletter. I want our newsletter to transform into something truly useful and eagerly anticipated. My aim is to make it a valuable resource that you guys can’t wait to open, offering exclusive insights, tips, and content that resonates personally.
More emphasis on recipes. According to our reader survey, the majority of you visit AOC primarily for recipes. In response, I plan to increase our recipe offerings to two new recipes per week. Gardening, which ranked second in the survey, will feature twice a month, and DIY crafts and gifts will be shared approximately one to two times a month. In between these specific content types, we’ll be consistently talking about time management strategies, empowering you to actually DO all the wonderful things we share!

I genuinely hope that looking forward to these plans is as exciting for you as it is for me (even in my seventh year of blogging!). The process of writing all of this out and thoughtfully looking towards the future has done wonders for my outlook. While the last few years have undeniably presented their share of difficulties, I’ve grown immensely through the experiences, and many truly wonderful things have also happened. Here’s to staying positive, embracing challenges, and making the most of 2016!

Our 2015 Review and 2016 Outlook