2012 Goals

Here are my goals for this year. I believe them to be reasonable and measurable. I love setting goals at the start of a year!

2012 Goals

1. Find the right job for me

2. Create something new every month

3. Continue decorating the townhouse

4. Exercise regularly and build my strength

5. Read 50+ books

6. Put things away (and turn off lights)

7. Live more disconnected and in the moment

So the job. I might have my job cut AGAIN. So whether the right job for me is getting to keep this one or find something else, I'd like to do that. I had really hoped to keep this job for a few more years and maybe go part time in a few years, so we'll see if that works out. I'm just being open to what happens right now.

Creativity! I have a sewing machine, and I finally know how to use it. I want to start using my time more constructively, rather than mindlessly surfing the internet or watching television. I'd like to create something every month. For sure I'll take pictures as I do this. I'm hoping to go shopping for stuff for my January thing this weekend!

Decorating. We moved into the townhouse in July and we've been working on decorating ever since. I feel like I don't have a very good eye for this, but I'm trying. Specifically within this goal I'd like to rearrange the office to make it a music/craft room, decorate the guest room, and get art on the wall upstairs and in the dining room.

Exercise! I have been exercising consistently (hellooo Zumba!) over the last few months, and I love it. I want to keep that up (3-5 times a week), and also add strength training. I miss those days from high school of being strong. Now I don't want to be as beefy as I was in high school, but I would like to feel strong! I'm also taking vitamins and trying to eat better. Says the girl that ate pizza for dinner and is planning on ice cream for dessert.

Last year I read 100 books! I also let myself count graphic novels and picture books. This year I'm not going to count those, so I'm bringing the goal back down to 50. I can always raise it if I'd like to later on.

Putting things away and turning off lights. I am notoriously bad at leaving things sitting around. At home. At work. Everywhere. I bought boots once this year, and I kept setting them down in every other store we went into. It was horrible. And I am so bad about this at work. I feel like my assistants (and volunteers, yikes!) are constantly cleaning up after me. Given, I do have a very pile-centric organization system, so it always looks like a disaster, but I need to get better about this. My piles need to be more contained. Jason has been helping me with this already by helping me keep the kitchen clean. (I do all the dishes since he does almost all of the cooking.) He's been rinsing dishes off and putting them in stacks so that it's easy to put everything in the dishwasher and wipe down the counters. The best way to meet goals is to have someone help keep you on track! Oh and he was the one that added Turn Off Lights to my goal list. I'm really bad about that at home. ;)

And finally, living more disconnected, which seems counterintuitive with this blog. Here's the thing. Jason and I have 5 computers between us. Not including our smartphones or his Kindle Fire. Yikes. That's like 4 too many, isn't it? So we are trading in our 2 MacBook Pros and our iMac (which was graciously given to me by my parents for graduation in 2008. Thanks Mom & Dad!) and buying just ONE iMac. We will still have work laptops if for some reason we both need a computer at the same time. We were noticing that we were not paying much attention to each other or other important things outside of the computer, so we want to change that. I've been cutting down on my online time a lot. I've pretty much stopped using Twitter regularly, and I just check Facebook on my phone when I'm waiting places. I've been reading more and I'm looking forward to doing more things that are constructive and creative rather than mindless. I will probably still watch all my ridiculous television... but I'm hoping to be creative while I do it, like making cards or sewing. I will (hopefully) still blog, because I love having this record of my life.

Here's to a wonderful 2012!