My list of goals for 2012

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Last year, I broke my goals up into a bunch of posts, but this year I decided to just put the big list into one post. My goals pretty much all fall into the same categories as last year, but I've just organized them a bit differently. Some of you might enjoy reading these, others might be bored to tears. If that's you, then feel free to skip right over this post. :) Anyway . . . here we go!

Goals for 2012

Personal Goals:

• Walk with God

~Finish "Fruit of the Spirit" Bible study

~Pray through The Busy Mom's Guide to Prayer monthly

~Start an ongoing additional prayer list notebook

~Pray daily for my husband and children

~Read One Thousand Gifts and complete a list of 1000 everyday blessings

~Review Titus 1 and memorize Titus 2-3

• Health and Fitness

~Lose 15-20 lbs this year

~Exercise for 20-30 minutes, 5-7 days per week

~Aim to drink 3 bottles of water per day

~Keep a food journal (maybe not for the whole year, but to get me on track for better

weight loss)

~Eliminate all sweets/most refined sugar for the month of January, and severely cut

back on sugar after that

• Mothering/Child Training

~Spend one-on-one time with each child daily

~Include them in my work: cooking, laundry, cleaning, etc.

~Teach Sam to follow simple recipes

~Consistent training and discipline

~Listen to them!!

~Love them!!!

~Play with them and read to them

• Reading

~Read at least 2 books per month for a total of 24 books this year

~Continue to review books for my blog

• Friendships/Encouragement/Hospitality

~Write encouraging notes to friends via email or regular mail

~Open our home to others at least once a month

~Go to moms' group once a month

• Creativity/DIY

~Tackle one DIY and one sewing project per month

~Use Pinterest for inspiration :)

Marriage Goals:

• Read through one or two marriage devotionals together
• Monthly date nights
• Go on an overnight or weekend getaway sometime this year

Homemaking Goals:

• Develop routines!

~Work on one habit per month

~Follow Flylady or similar system for motivation and inspiration

~Deep clean the house--1 room per month

• Decluttering

~15 minutes/day in Flylady zones, 5 days/week

• Chores for kids

~Find a chore system and USE it :)

Financial Goals:

• Budgeting

~Develop a workable budget and stick to it

~Update PearBudget weekly (save receipts!)

~Have monthly budget meetings with Jim (if he wants to)

~Take the cash-only grocery challenge (maybe!)

~Look into switching cell phone plans

• Giving

~Continue to tithe 10% of our income

~Support a missionary or mission organization/Christian charity monthly

~Start a benevolence fund for special offerings at church or to give to specific needs

that we hear about

• Emergency fund/savings account

~Put $200/month into savings (more, if possible)

• Saving

~Start saving toward a new vehicle

~Save for vacation and a getaway

~Save monthly for insurance and taxes

~Save for Christmas and other gifts

~Save for next year's school curriculum

Homeschooling Goals:

• Scheduling

~Plan a workable schedule and try to stick to it

~Finish this school year by middle to end of May, begin again in late August

~Complete 2nd grade with Sam, start 3rd grade

~Complete Kindergarten with Julia, start 1st grade

~Register both kids under our umbrella school for next year

• Field trips

~Plan several fun field trips for the 2nd half of this year and 1st half of next

• Incorporate more of a Charlotte Mason approach

~Read A Charlotte Mason Companion

~Read Educating the Wholehearted Child

Family Goals

• Reading

~Read through the "Little House" series

~Read through the "Imagination Station" series

• Family Fun

~Weekly game night or movie night

~Outdoor fun--sledding, skating, hiking, walking, etc.

~Occasional treats at McD's, bowling, mini-golf, etc.

• Adventures

~Plan one or two overnight camping trips

~Vacation to Ohio

~Hike to Cherry Pond, climb a mountain, drive up Mt. Washington, etc.

~Trip to Story Land--if possible :)

~Other spontaneous adventures

~Make everyday life an adventure!

Whew! Well, there you have it--my list of goals. Maybe it's a bit on the ambitious side. But if I aim at nothing, I'll hit it every time. If I aim at a lot of somethings, maybe, just maybe, I'll hit a few of them. :) Jim and I are also working on a list of goals for house projects. We really need to schedule these into our plans for this year, since he is now working full-time and doesn't have as much time to devote to the house. My goal is to pick one room each month and finish all the trim, etc. We might have to wait till summer (when we can have the windows open) to do urethane, but just to get a lot of the trim up would be AWESOME. There is really not that much left to do, if we just buckle down and do it. :) I'll try to share that list here, too, whenever we get it figured out.

So, here's to a year of accomplishing some goals, one step at a time!

Disclosure: the Amazon links in this post are my affiliate links. :)