what I want to do this winter

03 Jan, 2026

Every season, I make a checklist of things I want to do. I try to make them season-related, but other things often get added too. It helps me remember what goals I'm trying to achieve and to actually cross things off the list.

Here is my fall list, the things I crossed off in October, November and December. And if you scroll all the way to the bottom you can see my winter list for January, February and March.

autumn goals

✔ go on the yearly weekend trip with our friends group
Every year we book a weekend trip with the big friends group. For our autumn vacation in October, the trip was in Zeeland. We stayed at a holiday park in Nieuwvliet.

✘ finish the lymfedrainage course
I started with the course and then forgot about it. Oops. With the busy end-of-the-year stuff, I didn't really find the time to do the course. I will see if I'll still finish it, because I found another course that sparks my interest more...

✔ finish level 30 Duolingo German
Check! I tend to open Duolingo for some days in a row and get a streak going... and then forget about it for weeks. The owl is looking more angry by the day :X It's slow progress like that, but still progress.

✔ get a tattoo
At the beginning of the October, I spent 3.5 hours gritting my teeth. Well, especially when the tattoo artist was working on the back of my knee #ouch. But I'm soooo happy with the result!


✔ perfect my matcha latte recipe
Autumn is, of course, the perfect time to drink lots of warm matcha lattes. Hmmm! I can check this one off.

✔ de-fuzz all my sweaters with the lint remover
I've done a few sweaters, but gosh, it's a lot of work! It takes quite a while to get a whole sweater lint-free. Something that has stopped me from de-fuzzing my entire wardrobe :') I've done the worst cases, and I'm trying to keep up with it. Goal achieved, I think.

✘ build the room divider or create a small office in the bedroom
None of these goals came to fruition. We did order a bathroom cabinet, though (which was also on the to-do list). It wasn't necessarily needed right now, but we couldn't pass up the bargain. We have given a lot of thought to the hall cabinet and drawn up plans for it. As a result, the room divider and bedroom office projects have been pushed into the background a bit. Let's see what we can get done in the coming period!

✔ read i guess i haven't learned that yet
This one was a success! I read half the book during my weekend away, and then it wasn't difficult to read the other half. But that's mainly because the book is very easy to read.

✔ do the last 4 (of 10) qi gong workshops
I managed to do the 4 workshops that were left! I have recently changed qi gong teachers, so I'll mainly focus on doing those classes a few times a week.

✘ build up to rowing 5 km and focus on good technique and posture
Oops, I started rowing with great enthusiasm. But, I had to be careful not to overdo it, because I'm quite prone to injuries on exercise machines. Due to vacation and focusing more on qi gong classes, I haven't really continued with it... I will see if I continue with this. Because my wrists have been acting up in December (due to work). It might not be the best idea to put more pressure on them with rowing, hmmm.


✔ make an autumn table with my daughter
This is a fun project that I really enjoy doing with the daughter every year. When leaves start to fall, we begin to collect them. On our walks we pick up acorns, chestnuts and pine cones. And all of our autumn treasures are put on a plate on the dining table. A candle on it and we immediately have a cozy atmosphere on the table!

✔ buy a good raincoat & winter coat
This goal was also successful! I found a raincoat that holds up to 15000mm. I had to use it just one time on my bike to work. And I found an extra long winter jacket with a double zipper that is perfect for winter biking.

✔ finish number 60 of the 100-day project
This one was a success! The progress with classes classes went in waves. One week I managed to do three classes, and there were also weeks with zero classes. But the average was two classes per week. I made it halfway, on to the next half!

✔ take an autumn walk around the castle avenue
This one was also a success! In October we made a walk in the avenue with 100+ year old trees. One of my favorite spots to hike. That Sunday the weather was very mild for the time of year. It was 18 degrees!

✔ drink hot chocolate with whipped cream
This goal I combined with the hike around the avenue. It was a bit strange to order a hot chocolate with whipped cream on the warmest and mildest October Sunday of the month! But the hot chocolate tasted good anyway!


✔ find a fun advent calendar for december
Check! This year, I went for a puzzle calendar again. It's not officially an advent calendar, but you can use it as one. It contains 12 puzzles with 80 pieces each, which you can either do on the 12 days leading up to Christmas or, like me, 3 puzzles a week in December.

✔ complete 3 puzzles to achieve my goal of ‘one puzzle every month in 2025’
Success! In October, I completed 2: A Year In The Garden & Elena Essex Moths. In November, I completed another one by Elena Essex, Cornucopia. And in December, I made the Bopster Christmas puzzle.

✔ have a movie night
We turned movie night into 'cozy movie afternoon'. The husband and daughter baked Brookies (a mix between brownies and cookies, very tasty!), we wrapped ourselves up in warm blankets on the couch and watched Frozen. Our daughter has become a big fan of it : D

✔ make sure that date with my friend E happens!
In October, we planned a date for November. We see each other about once a year on average. Because with households full of children who have school and other things to do + the distance... it's not easy to arrange something. But we managed to do a quick coffee catch-up! Yes!

✔ take the time to send a card or letter
I was a bit afraid that I would completely forget about this goal. But in December I saw a snail mail challenge by a blogger: sending 2 people a Christmas card/letter. And I took the chance to sign up for it and to complete my goal.

✔ cook an autumnal soup
I managed this in the first week of October! My parents came over for dinner, and I made pumpkin soup with orange, ginger, carrot, and apple. It tasted great!

✔ take an acupressure course
This is the new course I wrote about earlier. I found a course online that happens to be from my new Qi Gong teacher. So I didn't have to think long to order it. So far I did 2 sections and it's very interesting!

winter list: january, february, march

#2026 #blog #goals