2012 Goals

 

(I originally meant to post this last night--but sleepily put my computer away and took cold medicine instead.)

Since my birthday is in the early part of December, I'm nearly a month away from it. The first month of my birthday always slips away from me as I'm busy crocheting and preparing for Christmas. It never fails. By the time I think of a resolution for the new year, a month is taken from me for a ___ before ___ project! ugh!

This year, I'm just embracing the fact that December is a fleeting moment and am just going to start fresh in January!

Today, I'm a little under the weather, which to mean, means time on the couch, Mad Men on Netflix, and lots of thinking. What magically occurs during this process, though, is that Don Draper usually says something absolutely brilliant that hits home with me. Of course, it happened again today. 

Thanks to Don Draper and the Mad Men writers, I have a resolution for the New Year and a subsequent list of 26 things I would like to accomplish before I turn 27! Magic!

2012 Resolution: 

Make it simple, but significant.

Goal List:  

26 Before 27

1. Make more time for Reading. Read 26 books this year. Last time I set a reading goal for me, it was to read 25 books in a year, and I read 50+, so I'm hoping I can get into the swing of it again. I already have a "to-read" list going, and started We Need to Talk About Kevin last night. Leave your suggestions in the comments! P.S. I'm on book 2 of the Hunger Games trilogy ;).

2. Go to the Movies. Cory and I never go to the movies but for 2 or 3 times in a year. I miss participating in such a community act. I want to hit up the movies at least 10 times this year, and fortunately, we started the year off right by seeing Young Adult last night! A movie review to come soon...

3. Take a road trip to a new place: Cory and I travel fairly regularly to visit friends and family, but this summer I want to go somewhere new! Maybe the Midwest to visit his aunt in Missouri? What about Texas? hmm.

4. Make Art: Part of me really wants to try art journaling finally. I am always impressed with the journals I see and it appears to be so incredibly therapeutic, wouldn't you agree? Even if it's just the art for the dining room, I want to make more for my walls!

5. Purge: Cory and I own a lot of stuff. As we get older and the more frequently we move, we tend to do a good job of cleaning out unnecessary items. I want to make it habit of donating rarely used goods to Goodwill or the Salvation Army. I also want to dig through my closet. Why am I keeping all these old clothes?

6. Go to a Concert: We are music lovers from way back, but haven't been to a concert (that wasn't for students) in a l-o-n-g time. May this be the year of the live show!

7. NYC Summer Trip: I love seeing Lisa and I love the city. I can usually make it to NYC twice a year, but this year I definitely want to visit in the summer. Cory and I went for 4th of July a few years ago and had so much fun--maybe we can make that a tradition!

8. Save Money: I know this seems a little ridiculous considering the last 2 items involve spending money, but I think there's a lot of room for our savings to grow in our daily budget. We don't eat out a ton, but could still cut back. 

9. Cut Back: I get distracted easily. Oh! You want to go out for dinner? Sure, I'll scrap my plans. Can't remember what the name of that actor is? I'll look it up on my smart phone. I'm tired of being distracted. I'm seriously considering ending the contract on my smart phone, not because I don't love it, but because I think I love it too much.

10. Use up my stash: I have so much yarn. SO MUCH. Since the busy season for me is past, I want to use my stash for good. Blankets for graduation gifts, hats for babies, jewelry for friends. You name it. There's yarn I know I definitely won't use, and that, my friends, is going to be donated... maybe to a retirement home for women who knit? Who knows?

11. Be a better Friend: I have a tiny circle of friends where we live, mostly because I have been very careful about who I friend. I love and miss my college friends, oh so much, and am hoping to re-connect with them while also making a new collection of friends whom live nearby! I want to answer phone calls, return emails promptly, set up coffee dates, etc. It needs to happen.

12. Blog: I have a lot in mind for my little place in the interweb this year. I want to completely re-design how it functions plus make it a more comfortable place for me. Now I just need to get started...

13. Keep Anxiety at Bay: I have anxiety issues, there's no doubt about that. Within the last year I have tried very hard to gain as much control over them as I possibly could. Part of it was changing jobs, which has helped immensely, but I know I can do more. 

14. Meditate: Over the summer Cory and I attended meditation training at a near by Buddhist monastery. It's time I put it to use. 

15. Increase Family Time: Cory and I spend a lot of time with his family, which is really wonderful and refreshing. This year, I want to try to do the same with my family. Maybe meet up with my mom for church more often, or take her out to lunch. Whatever the case, I want to see my family more!

16. Learn to Sew: Seriously. This girl needs to sew. I have a million ideas as to how to combine crochet + sewing, yet lack the basic skills. Ok, I can turn in a sewing machine and feed the thread and do a basic stitch--but it's never pretty. 

17. Learn to Knit: I say this over and over and over again. I think I am going to make this a fun goal! Make a friend who knits and have them teach me on a lunch date or something!

18. Print more photos: Confession: the only photos from our wedding are locked up in our photo album. I have gorgeous wedding photos, but haven't printed them out yet. If I do decided to go with an iPhone in February (instead of what I said in #9) and create an Instagram account, I am totally using all these amazing DIY projects to bring more photos into my home!

19. Vlog: That's right. I want to vlog this year. I can stand up in front of hundreds of teenagers every day, why can't I vlog? Who knows.

20. More Cory Time: Cory and I are both big quality time people. One place he loves to go that we rarely do, is Kramer Books in Dupont Circle, D.C. It's the best independent bookstore in my opinion... well... next to Politics and Prose. I need to make sure we do things that he wants to do, too.

21. Attend a Book Reading: Living really close to Baltimore and D.C. it's easy to attend a book reading, but making time to do so, is what's difficult. This year I want to get back into it. In 2008, I met Nikki Giovanni, T.C. Boyle and Stephanie Niffenegger! It's time to get the show, er books on the road!

22. Watch less TV: Believe or not, not having cable hasn't really limited my TV watching. Thanks to TV on Netflix, Cory and I are still fairly up-to-date on what's on the tube. I'd like to limit my TV intake to: The Daily Show and Mad Men. I want to listen to more music and audio tapes, instead!

23. Cook: I did a really good job during the last quarter of 2011 keeping myself on a regular cooking schedule. We would cook in at least 3 nights a week, eat leftovers 2, go to Cory's parents for Wednesday dinner (a tradition), and eat out once. Not so bad, right? Let's keep it up in 2012!

24. House Party: We so rarely have people over at our house unless they're out-of-town guests and that needs to change asap! We have been hard at work making this new house a home. I know first on our list is to have our parents over for dinner. Hopefully we can get a group of friends over for a cocktail party, too!

25. Buy Local: I try my hardest to support local business, but I want to do it more in 2012. Shop local, eat local, do things local. It's the best.

26. Get off the couch: I sit a lot when I'm home. I know this has to do with me walking a TON during the work day, but I want to start going on regular walks/runs around our neighborhood, too. Or when the weather is bad, I want to play games with our Wii, instead of just using it for Netflix. Seriously.

What are your 2012 goals?  Do we share any? 

Leave them in the comments--I can't wait to be inspired by you!

xo,
Liz