My 2010 New Year's Resolutions

Image by katehra

It’s that time of year again, isn’t it? In the past week, I’ve read post after post about New Year’s resolutions. So of course I’m going to join the party.

Would you be surprised to know that I have a two-page typed document with my goals listed out with various strategies and tactics for achieving each one? Right. No. I know.

Don’t worry. I know your eyes are still bleeding from yesterday’s crazy long post. So I’ll keep this short and sweet. Here are my goals for 2010:

1. Read the Bible all the way through. I’ve never done this, so I finally did what I’ve said I should for the past couple of years: I bought a One Year Bible. Granted, it’s now the 8th and I’ve just gotten started. But I have gotten started.
2. Obtain and maintain a healthy weight. I started a water aerobics class on Monday, and I’m still a member of Weight Watchers. This is the year I will get healthy.
3. Improve our finances: live within a budget, save more and pay off some debt. I’ve already increased the amount automatically deposited to savings each month, and I’ve allocated extra paychecks to pay for car maintenance, gifts and vacation. Now it’s a matter of sticking to my revised monthly budget and figuring out how to pay for birthdays and Christmas.
4. Go on monthly dates with Mark. I’ve got most months mapped out. I’ve already bought concert tickets for April, and we’re hoping to take a trip to Chicago in May. Most months will be smaller affairs, though, like a movie or a trip to Target. You know how I love both of those outings!
5. Roll with the punches in our life with a toddler. In other words, potty training, moving to a big girl bed, working on our bedtime routine and possibly starting piano lessons. Yikes, that’s a lot of big stuff!

I’d also like to take a photography class, increase my blog traffic by providing better content and community, start a cooking club with my girlfriends, read some good books, stay fairly caught up on my scrapbooking and get a new job. But I’m not putting those on the main list. Short and sweet, remember?

Now, what about you? Have you blogged about your New Year’s resolutions and/or 2010 goals? I’d love to read it, so link up below!

If you aren’t going to blog about it, I hope you’ll still share your goals in the comments!



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That day, for no particular reason, I decided to go for a little run.

I’ve been thinking lately that I should do an update on my 2009 goals. So here are the short answers:

• Quiet time – not so daily, but I’m still working on it.
• Finances – have paid off some debt and have saved some, too. We’re going to be sidetracked for the next year, thanks to Uncle Sam. But I’m still working toward sticking to our budget and moving forward (instead of backwards!!).
• Quality time with the kiddo – yep. She doesn’t always want to read before bed, but we’re getting in time doing something fun each day.
• Recycling – our trash service doesn’t offer recycling in our neighborhood. I have bought bins and identified nearby drop-off locations. But . . . I have to admit that the bins haven’t been put to use yet.

The long answer, of course, is about my never-ending quest to lose weight. Let’s see . . . where to start?

First, I quit Weight Watchers, because I wasn’t going to meetings and it was really a waste of money. (However, let me state here that the problem was me, not the program! The program definitely works when you follow it!)

Second, I’ve considered various options for exercise, from jazzercise to Curves to water aerobics at my local gym.

I haven’t started any of them.

And then there’s the latest craze being talked about like, well, crazy on the internets: Shred. For about four seconds, I considered trying it out.

Until I remembered the stack of workout tapes and DVDs that already live in my house.

Have I mentioned that we’re now just eight weeks away from a trip to Florida? Where I will, presumably, be forced to don a swimsuit?!

So last night, I set the alarm to get up early. To use one of those workout videos. Which I would have done, had I not hit snooze about six times. Luckily, the day didn’t end there.

After work, Annalyn and I headed to the park for a walk. The weather today was beautiful – about 70 degrees, and no rain. Sure, we’d all like a nice sunny day. But when it’s rained almost every day lately, I take what I can get.

Anyway, I plopped her in the stroller – the regular kind from Walmart, not a fancy jogging stroller, mind you – and headed out. My original plan was to take the trail twice, for a total of one miles.

But something happened on that trail. And it sounded like this, “Do you want Mommy to go fast?”

Yeah. I decided to try running. I’ll tell you some other time about my previous relationship with running. But suffice it to say it’s not been a good one. And it’s been quite a while since we even met, running and me.

I don’t know what came over me. But as Annalyn and I made our way around the slightly hilly half-mile trail, I decided to try running a few yards at a time. Turns out it wasn’t as hard as I would have assumed. Then again, that could be due to the fact that I ran for, literally, a few yards at a time. Three times.

We spent the rest of the time huffing and puffing and wondering why I left my inhaler in the car. Or . . . maybe that was just me.

Annalyn spent the rest of the time playing with her phone and greeting the other walkers and one tiny dog.

See? We do fun stuff together!

** Extra credit to anyone who can name the movie I got the title quote from! **

Sounds like someone has a case of the Mondays.

Well, here we are. Full-fledged into January, embarking on another new year. Twelve months of opportunity, staring us in the face.

Uh-huh, staring. Waiting, expectantly. Blinking. Waaaaaaaiting…

Does anyone else get a little overwhelmed when starting something new? Despite talking around the issue for almost two weeks now, I've had a hard time really getting revved up about my New Year's resolutions. After all, will it really work? Is there even a point?

Now, you know I love me a good list. And I love setting goals and making plans. But (as I may have mentioned a time or twenty), follow through often proves difficult for me.

Largely because I so love my quality time with the TV, and partly thanks to my ever-growing obsession with the blogosphere.

But no matter the reason (and oh yes, there's always a reason), I have left pages of lists and plans and yes, resolutions, behind me over the years.

Here’s where my case of the Mondays comes in. Or the Januarys. Or really, any time period that allows me to start over.

Of course, we don’t have to wait for any magical day. We can start over at any time. Lamentations 3 – one of the most encouraging books I’ve found, with its barefaced admission of pain and bittersweet recognition of God’s mercy even in those valleys – reminds us that God’s compassion and love is new every morning. And with his love comes forgiveness and a clean slate.

Every morning, we’re given another chance. One more opportunity. Hmm...that's a whole post in itself! But for today, I'm focusing on what that means for January and resolutions and me.

So with that in mind…

This year, I believe, will be different. I’m setting tangible, measurable resolutions and committing to detailed plans to achieve them. And the icing on the cake? I’m even asking for accountability from you all. Right here. Right now. After all, if Tam and Mandy can do it on their blogs, surely we can do it here, too. (But please, for the love of all things musical, do not expect me to write you any songs!)

In 2009, I resolve, commit, determine to…

• Embrace a healthy lifestyle with the help of Weight Watchers (losing weight along the way, of course!).
• Return to a daily quiet time by subscribing to Proverbs 31 Ministries devotions. Also, continue working through three-year Bible reading plan at home.
• Improve personal finances by paying $50 extra toward debt each month and saving $1500.
• Spend quality time with Photobaby each day by reading a book to her before bedtime. (This might seem obvious and easy, but since I work full-time, PB and I often run errands in the evenings, making the night-time ritual rushed and chaotic.)
• Start doing my part around here by signing up for recycling service by the end of January.

I’m not even putting floss on there. Because really, I’m not sure you all want to be my accountability group for that one. And besides, I’m setting myself up for success this year with attainable goals and all that.

Those are my goals for this year. Do you think they sound do-able? Will you help me stick to them by reading updates every now and then (and asking for updates if I fall back to my typical slacker ways)? Is there anything I can keep you accountable for in 2009?