2012

Well, here it is, a new year.  It is hard to believe how quickly the past year came and went and here we are, starting over again. 
Last year, I made monthly goals.  I enjoyed doing that.  It made me think of small changes and helped me stick with them as it was short term.  I seem to have trouble these days doing anything long term. 
But this year, I decided to make year long goals.  Not sure why except there are some things I want to accomplish that I can't do in a month.  So here goes:
Read the Bible.  The whole thing.  I am pretty good at starting out getting through the Bible and then somewhere in the middle, I get so far behind my plan that I give up.  But I am going to make a real effort this year.  For my out, if I get so behind that I can't make it through the whole Bible, I will be happy with finishing one of the Testaments.  Which one?  I don't know yet.
Read More, Read Better. I love to read.  I can get a little obsessed with reading (although not the Bible as you can see from my previous goal).  I stay up until 3 in the morning and have to get up at 5 kind of reading.  But I don't have the money to buy books and I don't take the time to go to the library.  So I am stuck reading books that other people have and I can borrow.  I am not saying I don't enjoy these books, but I am not sure they are edifying to my soul kind of books.  My hope this year is that I will make better choices and spend less time watching tv to do it. 
Not Ignore My Husband.  So this kind of goes with the above 2 things.  And also, I got a Kindle for my birthday.  I am sort of on the fence about the Kindle but I will say it does a couple of things for me.  Keeps the Bible with me at my spot so making it easier to read.  Gives me more freedom with the choices I can make for better reading.  But making reading convenient can be a negative as well.  I need to find the time and place to read, without it 1)becoming an obsession and 2)taking my attention away from my obligations and my family
Lose 5 pounds.  Yes I am giving myself a year for this.  Because my weight bounces around a lot but I took time off of exercising due to various health things and I want to get back into a regular routine and knock off a few pounds.  This also means eating better.
Be Intentional about Changes I make for my Family.  This mostly is for my grocery shopping.  I try to save money by couponing but I also have this desire to feed my family better.  Sometimes those 2 things don't go hand in hand.  I realize that last year I tried really hard to make a lot of changes and felt like a chicken running around with its head cut off (it really does do that by the way, I've seen it!).  I really want this year to be a year where I make lasting changes but changes that I can live with.  Not try to do everything at once like I did last year.  For this year, I would like to buy more organic, get out of buying foods with GMO products in them, and continue to make more whole healthy foods.  I am not going to start grinding my own wheat or raising my own chickens.  But having just a couple of things to focus on, will help me make lasting changes.  Once those become easy and routine, I will make more changes. 
Start an Etsy Shop. This one I am not so sure about except I had a lot of fun making hats for my daughters friends and would like to continue or make blankets.  I have lots of yarn so can start anytime.  But it might cut into my reading time:-)
Pay off our car!  Our car payment has been the bane of my existence for several years.  I am so ready to be done with it and have that money to put toward other things.  Paying it off might be difficult this year and I am hoping to scrimp in other areas to help make this happen.  Our budget is already pretty tight but we'll see.  It will be a huge relief to have it be done with.
Thoroughly Clean and Organize my House. I get little corners done here and there but it needs a real overhaul cleaning.  We are trying to reorganize the kids' rooms so this will help.  We have a small house and lots of stuff.  That doesn't leave a lot of wiggle room.
Pray More.  I go through spurts with this but over the holidays, was very bad.  Praying keeps me focused on God and on others.  When I give this up, my focus is on myself and low and behold, I am less content.

That seems to be all at this time.  There might be more that I add later.  I am looking forward to this year.  I feel changes coming but am not sure what or when.  But also am feeling called to be content.  God has me where I am now and I want to be in the moment of things.  Not looking too far ahead.