2013 Goals

I'm doing goals this year.  Written, published goals.  Not resolutions, because well, I just don't like the sound of that.  Plus a goal sounds like something you can check off when it's reached.  And I like checking things off.  Which is why I usually put brush my teeth on a daily to do list since I know I can then check at least one thing off and feel accomplished.  Don't lie, you do the same thing.  

1. Finish the music room -- I started this project in August of 2012 when R was away at a band function.  We need to install crown molding, get the pictures rehung on the wall, and figure out how we are going to display the music boxes, etc.  All in all it shouldn't take long to finish, but considering there are still moving boxes cluttering the space, it will take some planning.  I'd like to say 1 room of the house is done though and then move on before starting another project.  


2. Read one non-fiction book per month -- I am the queen of reading fiction.  Give me something mindless to read and I'll read it.  Quickly too.  But I have a bookshelf (literal and on my ipad or Kindle) of non-fiction books which I need to read.  So I am committing to one per month.  


3. Organize the office -- This is where I should be spending most of my day since I work from home.  But since I don't have an office chair yet and there are boxes and piles of papers were are "merging" everywhere, it needs a little help to make it feel like a sanctuary that I will enjoy sitting in for 8 hours each day.  


4. Lose and keep off 5 pounds -- Yep, that's it.  Just 5 pounds.  If in 365 days I can be five pounds lighter than I am now I will consider this year a success.  Would more pounds be nice?  Of course, but I am tired of setting unrealistic goals for this so I figure that is less than .5 pounds per month to lose and maintain.  I can do that.  


5. Run a 5-k -- True story, I have never run an official 5k.  I have run them in training for half marathons, but I have never run the whole 3.1 miles in a race.  It always seemed too little.  Ridiculous, I know.  So this year I hope to complete this.  


6. Unplug for a weekend, preferably at a cabin on a lake -- I can read a paper book.  I can play board games or card games with my husband.  We can take walks.  We can cook together.  We can do a puzzle or watch a movie.  But no phones, iPads, etc.  Just quiet and rest.  I know it would do me a world of good.


7. Plan a garden that will feed us beyond the growing season -- R has a garden in the back yard but it always needs a lot of work during band season when he is really busy.  So this year I want us to sit down together and map out the garden with things we will actually eat (no we don't need 4 square feet of onions) and grow a garden which will feed us yummy fresh vegetables this summer and provide other foods for freezing and canning to eat the rest of the year.  


8. Cook a new recipe and eat off the good china, at least once a month -- I love dishes.  I have Fiesta for my daily china and I own Pfaltzgraf Winterberry for Christmas. I inherited my granny's fine china and R has his grandmother's set.  And we both like to use the good stuff.  It doesn't sit idle by through the year, but I want to make it a point to use it more regularly.  We have too many pretty plates to just let them sit in boxes.  And I love to cook new food . I have a Pinterest board of items I have cooked this year and another board with >100 recipes to try.  So this will happen.


9. Send snail mail -- I am horrible at this.  I'm horrible about communication at all.  But I want to be better at this so I've listed it as a goal.  Plus I love receiving a real piece of stationary in my mailbox so I assume other people like to know that more than Citibank and Visa are thinking about them as well.  


10. Sew something -- I have a sewing machine.  I have had it for more than 10 years. I have completed zero projects on it.  You read that right.  Zero.  Doesn't mean I haven't started projects, I just haven't finished them.  So this is the year I do that.  I hope.  Again, goals not resolutions.  


11. Pray more, and with a purpose -- I like to pray.  I'm just not consistent with it.  So my goal for this year is to create a plan that works for me.  How to pray consistently for myself (I have the hardest time with that) and for others.  Whether it's a journal, a visual board, etc. I'm not sure, but I plan on finding a process that works for me.


12. Memorize 24 verses -- It's doable.  I am no going to sign myself up over with Beth Moore to do this, that seems like too much pressure/work/etc. but I do want to commit to this.  I am still searching for where to start, but my goal is to complete this in 2013.

So there you go.  12 months, 12 goals.  I'll try to keep you updated.  And we'll definitely review in 365 days to see if I checked any or all of them off.  May 2013 bring you more than you had ever imagined and my all your days be merry and bright.