Saturday, January 14, 2012

Goals for the Coming Year

I'm not a big resolution setter, but I like the idea of goals to keep one motivated to accomplish things. And I like lists so that I can look back and see what has been accomplished. I like being productive and I don't like wasting time (although I'm certainly guilty of it at times!)

Here's a handful of things I'd like to accomplish in the coming year. Some are one-time things, while others are ongoing things that I'd like to work on. There are a couple of personal ones that I'm keeping to myself.

- Read 12 books - I literally went several years without reading books. I've now managed to fit in a little time for it here and there - and what do you know, I enjoy it! I mostly enjoy novels/fiction and non-fiction that inspire me or encourage me to live my life better and leave me able to sleep good at night (nothing scary or too suspenseful!).

- Have a Neighborhood Block Party (summertime) - We seem to have a great neighborhood, although I don't feel like we know people as well as we'd like. Would love to initiate and host some sort of summertime event that would get people mingling more. We've talked about it the last 2 summers. Let's make it happen!

- Have people over to our house for a meal at least once a month - Sometimes we're good at this and other times we just get busy and don't take the time to invite people over.

- Get Tate potty-trained - I don't need to explain this. I hope it's one of his goals for the coming year though also.

- Schedule 10 minutes to pray every day - I'm a natural multi-tasker and I pray throughout the day...in the shower, while driving, when I exercise, while doing laundry, etc. While that is nice, I'd like to make sure I'm setting aside time to talk to God and hear from Him - and ONLY doing that. I'd love to do more someday, but 10 minutes seems do-able to me at this stage in life.

- Go on an overnight getaway with Adam - (NO kids!)

- Take care of the grading issue on the north side of our house - On the north side of our house, the ground leads TO the house rather than away from the house which causes water to seep into the basement on this side of the house. It's a project that will most likely involve hiring someone and having the yard and landscaping torn up. We've been putting this off the last 2 years. AND if money and time allow, we'd love to get the driveway re-done (also needing to hire someone and have things tore up for awhile).

- Sew something - I've got a sewing machine. I've even got a project lined up....just have to remind myself how to follow the pattern and actually do it!

- Grocery Budget of an avg. of $45/week - I'm somewhat close to this usually, but I plan to use cash now to help keep track of my weekly spendings. This includes diapers, cat food/litter, hygiene products, cleaning products, and food.

- Get up by at least 7:15am 5 days a week - You might be rolling your eyes at this, but our kids sleep until 8 am and we've gotten used to this as well! Neither of us have to get up early regularly for work schedules. And we stay up until at least 11/11:30 pm most nights. I know that I need 8 hours of sleep to function and feel well. Adam needs a little less. But I also feel great about having some extra time in the morning when I do make myself get up - so I'd like to do it more often!

- Paint the Laundry Room - I've had paint for the walls for over a year now. Obviously this entails getting all of the laundry caught up (which I'm usually on top of) and moving the machines out of the room for a week. I'm also considering painting the cabinets a fun color...just not sure what yet.

Well, there's a few things that I'd like to get done in the coming year. Hope there's a few things that you are striving for also!