Monday, January 01, 2007

Off to a good start


Happy New Year!!! It hardly seems possible that we are starting another year already.

2007 came in with some freezing rain here in the Granite state. Temps are warming up now, but we still have a lot of slushy ice on the driveway. In spite of the weather, Sam had fun playing out on our deck for a while this morning. He is definitely enjoying winter!

I've made some goals for this year, which I'd like to go ahead and share here. I think I did this last year, too, in the hopes that it would help keep me accountable throughout the year. Well, I don't think I really looked back at my goals much, and I was probably pretty bad at actually attaining those goals . . . but I hope to do better this year. :) I used to make New Year's resolutions, but now I prefer to call them goals . . . I suppose there isn't much of a difference, but I feel that with a resolution, I am just setting myself up for failure, whereas a goal is something I am striving to reach, and if I mess up, I can just keep trying again and again. Probably that sounds silly now that I've typed it out . . . but it works for me. :)

Anyway, here they are: Goals for 2007

1. Get up earlier so I can make time for Bible study and prayer before the kids get up. My plan right now is to get up between 5:30-7:00 am (depending how late I got to bed the night before, how early Jim is leaving for work, etc.). Then I will put the kettle on to boil, take a shower, and make a cup of tea or hot chocolate after my shower, to enjoy while I read my Bible. I tried this new habit this morning, and it worked beautifully. Sam has been sleeping till at least 8 am lately, so even if I sleep till 7, I will have a good half hour of quiet time before he gets up. Earlier would be better, though . . . so I can get some housework done before he gets up, too. :)

2. Hop back on the Flylady bandwagon again. I haven't had any good routines going on with my housework for a LONG time, and I'm ready to get on track again. (I hope!)

3. Get. Sam. Pottytrained. 'Nuff said. :)

4. Lose those last 10 or so pounds of baby weight, and hopefully then lose another 10 to get back to my pre-Sam weight! (After we finish up the Christmas candy, that is. ;))

5. Exercise regularly. I bought a Pilates DVD with some of my Christmas money; hoping to motivate myself in the exercise department. There are 5 workouts and they're all only 10 minutes long. I hope to do a workout at least 3-5 days a week. This is assuming I'm coordinated enough to actually keep up with the instructor on the DVD--LOL!! We shall see how it goes . . .

6. Improve my mind by extensive reading. OK, I borrowed and adapted that line from Pride and Prejudice, but I truly do hope to read some more good books this year, both non-fiction and fiction. :)

7. Become a better wife and mother. This should actually be #2 on my list, but I just typed them as they came into my mind. This one is something I'm striving to work on each day, but I have such a long way to go!!!

I think I will stop with seven goals for now--seems like a good number for the year. :) I hope I will truly make good progress in each of these areas. I have a funny story from back when I used to make resolutions--this happened in college. I resolved one year that I was going to floss my teeth every day for the whole year. Well, I was doing great, and then one night in the fall, I was on extension for the weekend and forgot my floss. The two other girls who were staying with me didn't have any. We asked Mary, the eldery lady whose home we were at . . . she didn't have any. I was determined I was not about to break my record when I had made it over 3/4 of the way through the year! So I ended up borrowing some thread from Mary, and flossed with that! Let me tell you, it is not too easy to floss with thread; it definitely doesn't like to slide in between closely packed teeth. My friends took a picture to record the moment, but I'm not sure where it is right now. We all got a good laugh over it, and I think Mary thought I was pretty crazy. :) Anyway, I believe that's the only resolution I've ever succeeded in keeping for a whole year!

QUESTION OF THE WEEK: I haven't done one of these for a while, so I thought this might be a good week to start up again. How many of you have goals for this year? Would you like to share some of them? I'd love to hear from you!

7 comments:

Mrs.T said...

OK, I will share some of my goals for the coming year. They are in no particular order, and I'm sure I will think of more later, but for now:

1. To go to bed earlier and to get up a half hour earler than I do now.

2. To exercise and drink plenty of water every day.

3. To make my daily quiet time with God ever more meaningful.

4. To continue to grow in the areas of godly speech and diligence in work.

5. To continue to grow in the practical skills of homemaking, money management, and time management.

6. To stick with the housekeeping routines that work for me.

7. To continue to grow spiritually and to use my talents and my spiritual gifts for God's glory.

Anonymous said...

Carrie, I really enjoyed this post. I have such a hard time keeping resolutions! I love the idea of calling them goals as opposed to resolutions, though. Makes perfect sense to me! :) I love using the number 7, too. Isn't that the number of completion? Yeah! I have a few goals bouncing around in my head, but haven't written them down yet, so my first goal shall be to write down my goals! LOL!

Anonymous said...

I don't usually set goals for the year - too often in the past when I decide that there is something I'm going to do that year I end up failing to do so for even a short period of time. However, one thing I would like to accomplish this year is to read through the entire Bible. This is something I have often started, but never completed. Lord willing, this year will be different.

Anonymous said...

Happy New Year! Enjoyed your post and the comments. I have many of the same goals as everyone else only I think I make them every few weeks or so!!! I did write up a great schedule about a month ago that I hope to put into practice soon!! My greatest desire is a closer walk with God, as I do that I know everthing else will fall into place. When my eyes are on Christ all else will be in the proper perspective.

Unknown said...

I'm being careful about my resolutions this year so that I make them practical and small enough to actually achieve! I'm with you on going to be earlier and waking up earlier. I'd also like to exercise more regularly. And I hope to eat healthier snacks through the day. Let us know how Sam's potty-training goes!

Unknown said...

THis is totally off the subject, Carrie but I have a question for you . . . where was your post about vintage aprons? I'm endeavoring to make one and I liked the look of the photo you posted/linked to. Thanks!

Carrie said...

Thanks everyone for sharing your comments and goals! It was nice to hear from all of you--sorry I have been so slow to answer comments this week.

Mom--great goals! Drinking water is another one that I REALLY have to work on.

Mindee--I'm glad you enjoyed the post! And your last sentence gave me a giggle--thanks! :)

Joanne--that's a great goal of reading through the Bible. I was thinking of trying to do that to, but I'm already off to a late start if I do! Our pastor was recommending a chronological reading plan lately (that they have in the bookstore) so I may check into that.

Zan--I really thought Sam was "getting" the potty training, but he has majorly regressed! So I'm going to try to work harder on it over the next few months. I really wanted him to be trained by the time he turned 3--but that's only 2 months away now, so I doubt it! My pilates DVD is by Lara Hudson and it's called 10 Minute Solution:Rapid Results Pilates. I got it at Walmart. Is that the same one you have? I've tried 2 of the workouts so far and I like it--but it's really challenging!! There are some of the moves that I just can't do yet (I'm really out of shape!).

Joey--thanks for sharing about your goals and schedule--I think that's great that you make the goals every few weeks or so, actually! That would help keep you reminded of them!

Alicia--small, achievable resolutions sounds good to me! :) I replied to your question re: vintage aprons on your blog . . . hope it helped some!