2011 Goals

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In my former life as a teacher, I always had to set goals; I had to provide personal and professional goals to my principal, and of course each class I taught had learning goals or "objectives." But after I left that world and entered mommyhood, I just sort of winged it. Not a bad thing, but you know the old saying, "If you aim for nothing, you'll hit it every time." I made some half-hearted goals last year, but with no accountability, they didn't get very far. (And the fact that I have no idea where they are probably had a lot to do with it.) So, for 2011, I am making them "public." I know I have a readership of about four people, but I'm putting these out there none the less. I'll even keep myself publicly accountable and update you on the progress (just in case you cared).

Goals for 2011

Personal Goals:
1. Memorize the references to all those verses I know, but can never find. I'll post the exhaustive list later, but at this point, I've got 36.
2. Read two books a month; one for fun and one for spiritual growth (again, complete list still to come).
3. Add 12 new recipes to my repertoire.

Physical Goals:
1. Work out at least 20 minutes, three days a week. Ideally I'd like this to be 5 days a week, but there are only so many Wii Fit activities I can do before getting bored.
2. Drink 24 ounces of water a day. (Have already purchased the water bottle-check!)
3. Eat at least two servings of fruits and two servings of vegetables a day. I'm not gonna lie-this will be a challenge. I manage one veggie and maybe half a fruit serving a day right now.

Marriage Goals:
1. Have Bible study time with Joshua daily.
2. Have a monthly date night.

Goals for Bella:
1. More time outside. We are supposed to go out every day but bundling them up and being cold is just not appealing right now.
2. Develop an "others first" mentality. I know I could work on this one too, and I also know her selfishness is part of her being three, but it really bugs me. I'll need to flesh this one out some more.

Money Goals:
1. Use my credit card to only buy gas. I have actually removed it from my wallet to keep me from using it!
2. Pay off the Hyundai. We are $4,000 from reaching this goal.
3. Pay off at least one credit card. Because our financial situation is rather personal, I won't list the amount we owe, but I will do a monthly update on how much we've paid down. Joshua is going to work overtime when he can, I will Craigslist the kids' clothes in March, and I'll be teaching the children during our women's Bible study this spring to bring in extra cash.

Relationship Goals:
1. Get together with each small group girl at least once a month or do a Girls' Night Out with all of them.
2. Write a note of encouragement to friends and family once a month. (I know it's not very generous, and I plan to do more, but it will depend on who needs it!)

Later this week I'll let you know about my personal Bible study for...well, a while. I don't know how long it will take, but I'm along for the ride!