Resolute.

I love new years. And making resolutions. And setting goals. I just love trying to be better than I was yesterday. I usually aim big, and fall short, but in the end, I think I wind up a bit better than I was if I never set the goal in the first place. I don't know how many times I set a goal to run a marathon, or a 5K or whatever... hasn't happened yet, but I still ran more than I would have if I never set that goal. But this year? This year, with our new family of 5... I have low expectations for myself.

My main goal this year -- stay out of the mental hospital. Don't sell my children on Craigslist. Shower at least 5 times a week.

So far, so good!

Okay so really... those might be a little too attainable. And since for me setting a goal to run a marathon = running for 3 weeks... a goal of staying out of the mental hospital, might equal a nervous breakdown of some sort that only requires minimal hospitalization. So I'm going to aim a little a higher...

This year I'm focusing on education. I want to learn stuff. I feel like my brain has atrophied since becoming a mother. I'm thinking I'm going to take an open yale course. I want to learn about the French Revolution for some reason. I watched Les Miserables this week, and even though that movie isn't even about the French Revolution, it left me wondering about it. So goal 1 - Complete an Open Yale course. 

Right now my house is in disarray. Complete disarray. I've used the excuse of wanting to cuddle my baby, and being worn out from traveling that I haven't done a darn thing since I've been home. So starting tomorrow I am going to kick it into gear with house cleaning. I want to follow the Creation Plan Cleaning Schedule. I've used it before and it worked for me. So I'm going to jump back into that tomorrow. Goal 2 - Have a house cleaning routine.

After having my third baby in less than 4 years I'm currently 50lbs heavier than when I got married. Yikes! Poor Aaron. I literally had to do the math in my head just now to figure that out and it's more depressing than I thought. I would be thrilled to lose 25lbs and keep it off this year. I would be over the moon to lose all 50lbs... and I guess sticking with my reach for the moon style of goal setting... Goal 3- lose 50lbs this year.

Olivia is so stinking smart. She already knows all of her letters and their sounds. So this year I want to teach her how to read. I also want to teach her to count to 20. She gets all confused after 13.Goal 4 - teach Olivia to read and count to 20.


Abigail is no dummy either. I want to start "mommy school" with her this year as well. She knows a few letters, and all of her colors, so I want to work on her number and letter recognition. Goal 5 - Teach Abigail all of her letters and numbers.


My only goal for Nathaniel is to continuing nursing him for 12 months. And read to him every night. Not really aiming very high here... but I can't think of anything else, and since I had goals for my other children I don't want to leave him out.


And then of course there are the spiritual goals. I want to read my scriptures and say my prayers every day. I want to be better about reading scriptures as a family. I would love if we could start next year already in the habit of regular family scripture study.

2012 is going to be a crazy year. Aaron starts rotations this summer. I'm not sure where it will take us, but I know for sure we will be back in AZ by November. So another goal of mine is to travel a whole lot less in 2012 than we did in 2011. After going to NJ right after Nathan was born, then flying to AZ shortly after that, I'm ready to just stay put for a while. Although I've said that before...