Resolution time! Oh boy, first ... accountability for 2014. Here are links to last year's resolutions in case you really care to see (post 1 and post 2). Um, it was lousy. At least if we are going by a strict, did I do these to 100% standard of accountability. In my defense, this past year involved a new baby, a failed adoption, a job change, selling a house, buying a new house, and remodeling. So, yeah, it was a crazy year. So here is what I want to say about accountability for my 2014 resolutions: they helped me do better than I otherwise would have. No, I didn't read scriptures every single day. But I did read the entire Book of Mormon this year and quite a lot of the Old Testament, too. And while we didn't do FHE every week, we did it WAY more than ever before and on a pretty consistent basis to the point here I honestly think we can achieve a goal of weekly FHE for 2015. I read quite a few really excellent books but I didn't keep track very well so I can't say for sure whether I met my 2-books-a-month goal. My guess is that I was close but not quite there. We did lots of date nights and special family outings so I'm going to say that we accomplished those goals. Anyhoosier, enough about 2014. Let's move on to 2015 resolutions.
So, first off, I want to say that these resolutions are not about overhauling my life. I don't want a life-makeover at this point or anything. Most of these are more about tweaking and refining some practices that I am already working on. Not that I am saying I am so great or anything: I just don't think making unrealistic goals that I have very little hope of achieving is going to do me a heck of a lot of good at this point in my life.
Spiritual:
* Go the temple quarterly. I would love to say monthly, but, well, let's just say I'm hoping to take an underpromise and overdeliver approach to this goal.
* Daily scripture study. Yes, daily. I really, really want to get that one down.
* Weekly FHE.
Physical:
* I think I've got the exercising 3+ times a week thing down pretty well. But it is always in the gym. So I want to set a resolution to get some exercise outdoors at least once a week. It doesn't even have to be a workout. I want to do Saturday morning runs outside some weekend or going for family walks in the evenings now that Clara has got some speed under her using her scooter or go hiking or play tennis or something.
* Lose weight. I'm not going to be more specific about this on the blog.
* Look into braces. If I could change one thing about myself, it would be my smile. Its super embarrassing to admit, but totally true. This has a significant financial aspect to it that might make it a non-starter from the get-go, but I'm hoping 2015 is the year to get going on this.
Family:
* Date night with Paul 2x/month (or more - hopefully more, since we love date nights). We are hoping to do more of these in SF and try out some of the amazing restaurants there. We have had a bunch of recommendations from friends and are excited about this one. It is so easy to get so caught up with parenting and work and life and forget to set time aside for each other without any distractions (not that I think of the girls as distractions, but you know what I mean) and it is important to us to maintain and nurture our marriage by taking time for the two of us to connect in a meaningful way.
* Travel outside the U.S. with the girls. This has been on my resolutions list for years, really, and hasn't happened yet. But because of that we have got some decent travel rewards accrued AND if we are going to do this it would be nice to do before Rose turns 2 and we have to pay for her airfare also, so maybe 2015 is the year to make this happen.
* Remodel the kitchen, living, and family rooms.
Personal:
* Read at least one book each month, maybe two. And read a variety of literature - something classic, some non-fiction, a play, YA, etc.
* Find other avenues to expand my mind and talents - practice the piano more, listen to podcasts, try something new (I learned to do handstands in 2014 and LOVED it), learn to make panna cotta, go skiing, see play, swim in the ocean, etc. I know this goal is way underdeveloped and loosey-goosey, but I want to keep it flexible while I am figuring it out and seeing what I can do while maintaining other priorities and taking care of my little family. I like how this approach worked in 2014 because it opened me up to new possibilities of things that I otherwise might now have done, like performing in the Nutcracker.
* Get more sleep. Seriously, I need to focus on this goal. I need start going to bed before 11:00 on a regular basis (10:00 is the goal). In order to do this, I have a couple of other sub-goals that need to happen - watch less tv, do dishes, laundry, living room clean up earlier in the evening so I don't end up staying up late to clean the kitchen/laundry/living room because it is driving me bonkers.
Showing posts with label Resolutions. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Resolutions. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 30, 2014
Saturday, December 28, 2013
Resolutions for 2014
I never blogged about New Year's resolutions last year, which is sort of a bummer because I like looking back on them and evaluating how I did. Or how I didn't. My guess for this past year is pretty lousy. Oopsy.
Anyway, for 2014 here are the resolutions I am thinking about:
Physical
- Run a legitimate race like a 10k or a half-marathon. One where I actually pay an entry fee and get a t-shirt or something like that. I did really well this past year working on my overall fitness and have consistently been going to the gym 3-5 days a week the entire year (not that I lost a lot of weight or anything in 2013 - I lost some but I have an unfortunate tendency to feel like I can eat anything I feel like just because I put in some mileage or did a kickboxing class that day). I haven't done tons of racing in the past and I know I am crazy slow, but still, I like the feeling of race days. I like being with other people, feeling athletic, and being a part of something. Not sure when and where and how I will accomplish this goal, but 2014 is the year I am going to make it happen. Maybe I'll even get really gutsy and do two races.
- Get some control over my sweet tooth. I'm not about to "give up" anything but I'm going to scale back on desserts. I started down this road last year and did great for the first three months of the year before backsliding. What seems to work well for me is to save the sweets for the weekend. I don't know why I seem to think that every meals requires some sort of dessert to be complete because it totally isn't true and I know that, but I don't live it. Time to make that lifestyle change and stick with it.
Spiritual
- Read the scriptures daily. For reals though. Not just like, "oh, I'm going to do this" and then I bail on it because I find myself going to bed late or on vacation or whatever. I plan to do it Every. Single. Day. I set this goal every year and then do okay for a while, then slack for a while, then get really good again, etc. It is a vicious cycle and we all do it, but I always feel more patient, happier, and more capable of handling the stresses of life when I am studying the scriptures on a daily basis.
- Go to the temple at least quarterly. Before Clara was born we made it every month for a long time, but we have really struggled to get to the temple since she has come along. Maybe we can find a group of friends in similar situations (parents who struggle to get to the temple because of young kids) and work something out to help each other with this goal.
- Do family home evening every week.
Financial
- Revamp/overhaul our budget and then stick to it for at least 3 months.
- Set better savings goals as part of that budget.
Mental
- Read 2 books each month. At least 4 books this year have to be non-fiction.
- Be a better patron of the arts. Go to at least two musical/theatrical/operatic/symphonic productions in 2014.
- Develop a talent. Enroll in a photography workshop or practice the piano and/or guitar on a regular basis or write more. The sort of thing that requires learning and stretching and challenging my mind. I'm still brainstorming this and how I want to accomplish it.
Personal
- Print blog books for 2011-2013.
- Keep a journal. Even if it just a little something in addition to this blog. Somewhere that I can record more of my personal feelings than what I put on display for the internets and blogospheres.
Family
- Do date night with Paul at least twice each month. We did a pretty good job with this last year thanks to an arrangement with our neighbors to swap nights for babysitting but I want to make sure we keep it up this year too. I don't know that we can commit to weekly date nights what with all that is going on for us right now but if we can do more than twice per month that would just be a bonus.
- Plan special family outings once a month (vacations count or going to the movies or a picnic in the park or going to the beach or something like that - just something that is different from the routine that we all do together).
For Clara
- Learn to count higher than 12 and to recognize the numbers 1-10 by sight.
- Figure out how to "ride" her purple balance bike that Santa brought her for Christmas.
- Start a new activity in addition to gymnastics - maybe soccer and/or ballet after she turns 3.
- Help out with household chores. She is already good about helping to set the table and clear the table so I think we are going to add in unloading the dishwasher (at least parts of it), picking up toys (we probably should have started focusing on this one a lot earlier), and maybe some others (not sure what chores are exactly best for a 2 1/2 year old to 3 1/2 year old but I'm wondering about teaching her to wipe counters or sweep the floor - all suggestions would be appreciated if other people have had success implementing chores for tots.)
- Continue to work on foundational reading skills (i.e., recognizing letters and the sounds they make).
- Learn how to properly hold scissors and crayons/pencils.
I think that all of the above is good for now. I might add to this list as we go on in the next couple of days but I figured I would post this now in case I just don't get back to it.
Oh, and I do still plan to blog about Christmas and post photos, etc. It is just going to have to wait a bit since we are still too busy enjoying our vacation time to bother with uploading pics and such.
Anyway, for 2014 here are the resolutions I am thinking about:
Physical
- Run a legitimate race like a 10k or a half-marathon. One where I actually pay an entry fee and get a t-shirt or something like that. I did really well this past year working on my overall fitness and have consistently been going to the gym 3-5 days a week the entire year (not that I lost a lot of weight or anything in 2013 - I lost some but I have an unfortunate tendency to feel like I can eat anything I feel like just because I put in some mileage or did a kickboxing class that day). I haven't done tons of racing in the past and I know I am crazy slow, but still, I like the feeling of race days. I like being with other people, feeling athletic, and being a part of something. Not sure when and where and how I will accomplish this goal, but 2014 is the year I am going to make it happen. Maybe I'll even get really gutsy and do two races.
- Get some control over my sweet tooth. I'm not about to "give up" anything but I'm going to scale back on desserts. I started down this road last year and did great for the first three months of the year before backsliding. What seems to work well for me is to save the sweets for the weekend. I don't know why I seem to think that every meals requires some sort of dessert to be complete because it totally isn't true and I know that, but I don't live it. Time to make that lifestyle change and stick with it.
Spiritual
- Read the scriptures daily. For reals though. Not just like, "oh, I'm going to do this" and then I bail on it because I find myself going to bed late or on vacation or whatever. I plan to do it Every. Single. Day. I set this goal every year and then do okay for a while, then slack for a while, then get really good again, etc. It is a vicious cycle and we all do it, but I always feel more patient, happier, and more capable of handling the stresses of life when I am studying the scriptures on a daily basis.
- Go to the temple at least quarterly. Before Clara was born we made it every month for a long time, but we have really struggled to get to the temple since she has come along. Maybe we can find a group of friends in similar situations (parents who struggle to get to the temple because of young kids) and work something out to help each other with this goal.
- Do family home evening every week.
Financial
- Revamp/overhaul our budget and then stick to it for at least 3 months.
- Set better savings goals as part of that budget.
Mental
- Read 2 books each month. At least 4 books this year have to be non-fiction.
- Be a better patron of the arts. Go to at least two musical/theatrical/operatic/symphonic productions in 2014.
- Develop a talent. Enroll in a photography workshop or practice the piano and/or guitar on a regular basis or write more. The sort of thing that requires learning and stretching and challenging my mind. I'm still brainstorming this and how I want to accomplish it.
Personal
- Print blog books for 2011-2013.
- Keep a journal. Even if it just a little something in addition to this blog. Somewhere that I can record more of my personal feelings than what I put on display for the internets and blogospheres.
Family
- Do date night with Paul at least twice each month. We did a pretty good job with this last year thanks to an arrangement with our neighbors to swap nights for babysitting but I want to make sure we keep it up this year too. I don't know that we can commit to weekly date nights what with all that is going on for us right now but if we can do more than twice per month that would just be a bonus.
- Plan special family outings once a month (vacations count or going to the movies or a picnic in the park or going to the beach or something like that - just something that is different from the routine that we all do together).
For Clara
- Learn to count higher than 12 and to recognize the numbers 1-10 by sight.
- Figure out how to "ride" her purple balance bike that Santa brought her for Christmas.
- Start a new activity in addition to gymnastics - maybe soccer and/or ballet after she turns 3.
- Help out with household chores. She is already good about helping to set the table and clear the table so I think we are going to add in unloading the dishwasher (at least parts of it), picking up toys (we probably should have started focusing on this one a lot earlier), and maybe some others (not sure what chores are exactly best for a 2 1/2 year old to 3 1/2 year old but I'm wondering about teaching her to wipe counters or sweep the floor - all suggestions would be appreciated if other people have had success implementing chores for tots.)
- Continue to work on foundational reading skills (i.e., recognizing letters and the sounds they make).
- Learn how to properly hold scissors and crayons/pencils.
I think that all of the above is good for now. I might add to this list as we go on in the next couple of days but I figured I would post this now in case I just don't get back to it.
Oh, and I do still plan to blog about Christmas and post photos, etc. It is just going to have to wait a bit since we are still too busy enjoying our vacation time to bother with uploading pics and such.
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