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A few weeks before our husbands deployed, I got these cards from Modern Rosie to give out to some of my friends on his boat.
On the back of the cards, there is a space for you to write out your Deployment Goals. For me, deployment has always been a time to take care of myself. I always joke with Nick that he never knows what he’s going to come home to. One time I emailed Nick over deployment to tell him I was starting grad school!
So, having personal goals that I normally wouldn’t take time for is really important to me during deployment. I will update this each month with my progress! I don’t usually make New Year’s Resolutions or anything like that, but I think that having goals will make deployment go faster.
Another reason why these goals are so important to me: I want to look back on deployment fondly. I don’t want to sit home counting down the days. I want to live my life.
1. Do a pull-up.
I’ve been working out pretty consistently with my friend and she has helped me so much. She has always said it’s important to have fitness goals so you have something to work towards. I’ve always wanted to do a pull-up and she’s given me specific exercises to strengthen my arm muscles.
Progress: It’s hard to see progress on this since I still can’t do a pull-up, but I have been doing the exercises my friend gave me and I already feel like I am getting better at them.
2. Crochet a blanket.
One of my friends is teaching me how to crochet and I’m currently working on my first blanket! I got the main idea down but I still need her help. Plus it’s a fun excuse to get together.
Progress: I have a few rows done and it’s looking really good!! I tend to do a little bit at night when I am watching TV. I really like crocheting because it’s a fun thing to do at night when you’re watching TV. You get to relax but you also feel productive. It’s one of those things that I have always wants to do but just never got around to.
3. Catch up on my scrapbook.
If you have read my blog for a while you know that my tradition is to make a scrapbook each year and give it to Nick on Christmas morning. This usually involves a lot of scrambling in October and November. This year, we will have a big gap from deployment so it won’t be as full. But I plan to get as much done as I can over deployment. I pretty much just have the holidays, our trip to the Big Island, and the few things we did before deployment.
Progress: Photo prints ordered and in my possession! The hardest part is going through my million pictures and deciding which ones to order.
4. Save money for our move.
I’m actually hoping to write a blog post about this soon because the cost of moving to Hawaii is definitely something to consider when putting Hawaii high on your list of duty stations. We do get some money back from the military, but we would like to save some money in advance so that we don’t have to worry about it. We are moving in about a year so we want to put some of the extra money we will have over deployment towards our move so we have less stress.
Progress: I haven’t put any money aside for it yet. I am hoping to start in May.
5. Project Life Deployment.
One thing that I always do for Nick when he is deployed is take tons of pictures. Nick loves pictures. I print out the pictures and put them in an album. When he comes home, I show him everything I did over the deployment. I got a Project Life album years ago before deciding it wasn’t the way I wanted to scrapbook, but I think it will be perfect for documenting deployment.
But this album is more for me than it is for Nick. It helps me focus on the positive aspects of deployment.
Progress: Week 1 is done! I am going to work on it every Monday by filling in pictures from the week before.
6. Get outside/explore Hawaii.
If your spouse is going to be deployed, I 100% believe that Hawaii is the perfect place for it. There are so many things to do. Hiking, going to the beach, and exploring always make me feel better so Hawaii really is the perfect place for me to be right now. I want to explore as much of this island as possible so that I feel like I’ve done everything when it’s time to leave. I also love being outside and I know that being outside will always make me feel better.
Progress: I have spent the past two weekends exploring, going to my favorite places, and even going to two new places. It looks like April will be filled with exploring too since I have two sets of visitors coming!
7. Email Nick every day.
The boat doesn’t always have communications, but I like to send him an email every day. It helps me feel connected to him even though I know it will be a while before he reads them.
Progress: So far, so good! Even if I am tired, I will email him a thought or something that happened that day.
8. Learn vegetarian recipes.
This is kind of a funny story. My plan for months has been to eat meatless meals when Nick was deployed because we eat a lot of meat at home. Other than burgers, I’m not really a huge fan of meat and I am getting sick of it. Inspired by Nadine from Life by Nadine, I made this recipe for Honey-Lime Sweet Potato, Black Bean and Corn Tacos
I mentioned to Nick that I had made it but that I didn’t think he would like it since he is a meat and potatoes guy. He told me that it’s been on his mind how much meat he eats and he would really like to eat less. He even has a couple of vegetarian cookbooks. So, now I have a goal to get some meatless meals in my repertoire that I can make for Nick when he comes home. I won’t become a vegetarian, but I like the challenge of making meatless meals and I like that it’s better for the environment.
Progress: So far, I’ve made those tacos as well as this amazing Thai Red Curry with Vegetables recipe. I changed our the vegetables she had – I used butternut squash, red bell pepper, mushrooms, and zucchini and I loved how it came out. The curry sauce is awesome!
9. Re-read the Harry Potter books
Since writing my college thesis on Harry Potter, I haven’t read the books. That was 9 years ago! I have a huge pile of books that I want to read, but I have been wanting to re-read the books for years and deployment sounds like a good time to reconnect with my favorite books.
Progres: Haven’t started! I have a couple books out from the library and then I think I will start. I have to get them from the library because I still haven’t replaced them from our moldy move.
10. A secret goal.
I have one other goal that I just don’t want to share on my blog because it’s so big and important to me. It’s something I have always wanted to do and I have started to make it happen. I might share more in the next month or so depending on how close I get to achieving it!
I will update this post again in the beginning of May! Wish me luck! 10 goals seems like a lot but I think they are mostly achievable and they will get me through the next several months.
I am pinning that thai red curry recipe! I am trying to instill meatless Monday at my house. I can go days without meat, not sure about my husband though haha. Best wishes on your secret goal and all your others!
I love this! I think it’s so important to have tangible goals during a deployment. It helps to have something to focus on. 🙂
Yesss!! You go, girl! Get after those goals! I love the mix you have here- exercise, getting out and about, staying in to read and scrapbook, things for you and things for Nick and things for both of y’all. Perfect list! I’m super curious to hear what your secret goal is! I love that you have one, though!!
Get it girl! I love that you’re using this time to get things like these done!
I love the goals you have set! I like making goals and looking back to see all I accomplish! I was searching through old blog posts and found a comment by you. I decided I better visit! You and Nick and all those he deployed with will be in my thoguhts and prayers. Enjoy your evening. I really love the cards you send. HUGS
Thank you so much for your blog!!! Loved learning the Othaka poem too!
I love all of your goals!! I am a big goal person so these really speak to me. I’m trying to do a pull-up, too–they are HARD!! But you will get there, you’re working hard it for sure. I also love the idea of the Project Life album–I printed pictures for Andy and sent them in cards that he took on his ship and has opened them on different days over the last 3 months and he really loved them, I didn’t think he would love them as much as he did. Pictures are so special, I’ll have to remember just taking pictures of everything I’m doing and compiling that for him in the future!! I can’t wait to hear more about your progress 🙂
Why are you moving? Where to?
Those are great goals! Your blanket is beautiful! I want to learn to crochet!
Girl, I’m still trying to do a pull up! Even at my strongest and fittest, i still couldn’t do one! I give up! HAHA But I love your attitude towards this deployment!! It’ll fly by with all of your goals!! Have fun! 😉
You go, girl! I love that you’re setting goals for yourself and steadily working towards them (and I also love that so many of your goals involve memory keeping). Wishing you so much luck on all your goals, especially your secret one!
I am fairly useless at remembering to set goals, but I think I do need them to give myself focus. So I like reading other people’s lists to give myself some inspiration! I think you’ve got some great ones, and I wish you lots of luck in achieving them. I have no doubt you will!