chutes-and-ladders

Saturday, January 07, 2012

12 Things I want to accomplish this year...


2012 -- 12 Things I want to accomplish this year (in no particular order) --

1. learn how to make really great soup
2. take the girls to paint pottery
3. find a charity I really believe in and volunteer there
4. try 3 new family owned/non-chain restaurants
5. have a family picnic in a park
6. go away with G for the weekend without the kids
7. try a new exercise class (maybe zumba or spinning - not sure yet)
8. visit a farmers market or join a vegetable co-op
9. read at least 3 books by authors I haven't read before
10. find a red lipstick I love
11. see a band play live
12. teach the girls to bake 1 thing

I plan to track these through-out the year and really try to enjoy my free time, not worry so much about the big stuff, but focus on the little things that make life fun.


Recap of 2011 Goals --

Last year I only had 5 goals, which should be totally doable but I guess life got in the way and I really was only successful on 3 of the 5. I got busy with work and kind-of forgot about them outside of my "one little word" mantra of simplify. Even so, it's good to look back and see how far I've come in the past year.

1) simplify - success
We donated a lot to Goodwill and Charity Clothing last year, got rid of the stuff we just don't use anymore, cut down on the trips to Target and overall the purchase of stuff. We also started visiting stores/restaurants closer to home and spent more time just hanging out at home. This goal is bigger, more of a life goal of being happy with what we have and not over complicating things.

2) take a group photo once a month - success
I took a lot of group shots of family, friends, Brownie and Daisy troupes, cousins, birthday parties, etc. It think I got more than 12 without even trying but I must say this wasn't accomplished because I tried to take group shots but because I take a lot of photos.

3) eat at home more -- fail
This one is a constant struggle, we do pretty well for a while and then work and activities get busy and then we eat out all the time. We'll continue to work on/struggle with this again this year and probably the next 12 until the girls move out and then we'll just eat out all the time and not care about it.

4) exercise at least 3 times a week -- fail
I've been a slacker with exercise this year. I started out walking/running 3 times a week but then my feet and heals/joints started to hurt and I backed off and never really got motivated again. I continued with yoga, sometimes sporadic, but it's still the my go-to activity.

5) travel somewhere new - success
G and I went to Aruba over Spring Break, without the kids, and it was the best. We also went to Lincoln's Boyhood home and to the top of the Arch this summer before and after our trip to Holiday World so I think this one was covered.