The "New" New Year . . . February Goals

{Icy snow hanging off our roof}

Here we are at the start of another month, already.  **deep breath**  I've missed setting goals here, and I decided it's time to get back to that!  It remains to be seen how well I will actually do at accomplishing those goals, but I need to try. :)  I was listening to a podcast recently where they mentioned the term "the 'new' new year" in regards to fitness.  The "first" new year is January 1st, when everyone is gung-ho to jump into a new fitness plan, sign up for a gym membership, start a diet, etc.  The "new" new year is later on, when most of the people have already fizzled out on their resolutions and there are just a few left who are ready to keep giving it their best.  Well, I decided to make February the "new" new year for myself. :)  I didn't set any goals in January, other than some fitness goals as part of an accountability group I was doing.  I did okay, though not perfect, at reaching those goals (the biggest one being to walk 20 miles on my treadmill).  Now it's a new month, another fresh start, and not just for fitness but for goals in general.  So here are my goals for February:

• Be more consistent with my daily quiet time
• Keep up with using The Confident Mom planner 
• Blog 2-3 times a week
• Post 3 book reviews on the blog
• Read/finish 2-3 books
• Sew a jumper for Julia
• Complete weeks 18-21 of school
• Read/finish 3 books
• Clean/declutter office
• Begin decluttering master bedroom
• Follow fitness challenge/accountability group with friends on Facebook

And here are my specific fitness goals for the above challenge (which is actually running for about 8 weeks, so these will run over into March):

• Go through the 30 Day Shred
• Walk 15 miles on the treadmill
• Follow Trim Healthy Mama eating plan (by the way, if you've ever considered getting this book, it is currently under $30 on Amazon...a good deal since it retails at $35!)
• Drink 3 qts. of water per day
• Take vitamins daily
• Only weigh in at beginning and end of challenge, but take measurements weekly

After I had already decided on the title of this post, I was browsing through my blog reader and discovered Joy's post titled "February is the New January."  I guess I'm not the only one thinking along these lines! :)  

We stayed up late-ish last night to watch the Superbowl online, even though we are far from being devoted fans and pretty much the only thing I understand about football is that the teams are each trying to get the ball into their endzone.  (To me it basically looks like a bunch of big guys trying to kill each other.)  It was a fun game to watch, though, especially since it ended happily for the Patriots. :)  

{Jim, Ari and I watching the Superbowl--Ari wasn't too impressed ;) }

Today we're back to a regular work week for Jim, and another school week for the rest of us.  After this week we will officially have 18 weeks under our belts, although we're a little bit ahead in a few subjects.  Today I was running behind (I overslept after being up too late last night) so we got off to a late start with everything.  We ended up only doing a few school subjects, so I could take more time to plan for the rest of our week, and make copies that we needed for the next month.  Besides, it's snowing and has been all day, which means most of the local schools are getting a snow day anyway . . . so I kicked my big kids out the door to play.  And I am enjoying the peace and quiet while Ari naps. :)  But now, I'd better get this posted while I have the chance!  Then on to tackle some housework and laundry.