Growing New Goals

We posted on October 31, 2012, how pleased and thankful we were to reach over 2,000 visits in one month. I remember how I danced around the kitchen in the glow of happiness. "Thank You To You!" Post   This morning re-reading that entry, I smiled all over again. Though, this blog is many things for us; a diary of this venture, a way to connect with you, a place to learn and grow, when I see the number of new visitors and readers, I feel a sense of accomplishment- that we are not in this alone. So, when we ended December with 3,572 visits and gained our 50th reader (Welcome, Stephanie!), my happy dance was pulled out all over again. (Mentally this time, since I have succumbed to Sean's flu and leave the couch only for bare necessities.) Again, I send my grateful thanks to those of you keeping us company on this journey.

"You must have long term goals to keep you from being frustrated by short term failures."

- Charles C. Noble

With the start of a spanking new year before us, once more we look ahead to growing. The landscape is all of what we want to accomplish, among these are a completely constructed, painted, and usable barn, garden plots enough to feed the many, and a breeding program that supports our working for ourselves. The landscape is vast and far off still.

Details are where we live today. How many eggs have we collected from the coop? How can I continue to grow in the sales of our products? How can we attract visitors, gain readers, and keep them coming back? I don't know that there is a magical formula for any of this. Most days, I feel like Dory, "just keep swimming, just keep swimming" along.

One thing I am certain of is how motivated I am to continue on, as I reach for small goals. The first month I began writing, I was surprised to have been visited by over 1,000 people. I set the goal to keep that number steady. After a few months, living around 1,500 visits, I challenged myself to try to reach over 2,000 people. The thought of ever reaching over 3,000 people, was just a dream in my eyes. But, months later, here we are! So, my new goal is to hold onto those 3,500 visits each month and by the end of this year, I hope to hit the 5,000 visits mark. Completely candid? I want so badly to edit those words and reduce that goal. It feels a little overwhelming right now. But, I remind myself, 5,000 visitors is landscape. Today, I only have to focus on the details of living this day and recording what adventure lays in store for it alone.

So, to that end, it is time to visit the barn and coops, open the doors to allow the animals their freedom to roam or not, feed and water the critters, and check on their health. Then, if nothing dire presents itself, more cold medicine, a warm fire to thaw my body, and perhaps, a movie afternoon with our family- just swimming all the while.

Thanks for a wonderful first year. I can't wait to see what 2013 holds in store for us.
Sonja ♥

PS: I have added a new page element, tracking all the eggs we collect from our coop for the whole year. You will see the counter change regularly in the top left corner of the blog home page. This morning, we started the year with 2 eggs and more to come.