New year goals

So I'm late for resolutions...that's ok, because:

A) I've been sick. First with a cold and then the flu...now just the same old problems, plus lots of work.

B) I'm going with goals instead of resolutions, because you strive for goals and you break resolutions. And honestly, I want to keep moving forward even if I don't achieve my goal, because progress is important.

That said, here are a few of my goals for the new year.

1) I want to be closer to God. I'm going to strive to do this through contemplative prayer everyday. I've got two sources for this, the divine office and a book of prayer based off of the divine office. I really want to integrate prayer more regularly in my daily life.

2) Develop a thankful and giving spirit. I'm going to strive to find the beauty of God's creation in each everyday moment. I can't imagine that by finding that beauty I won't be anything but thankful. I plan to cultivate this by taking the joyful challenge from Ann V. Each day I'll log three things I'm thankful for...and by the end if the year, I'll have a thousand gifts from God to reflect back on.

As for a giving spirit, I'm hoping to become more involved in charity work via my church. I also want to continue to practice the love given to me. So I will strive to bring a little if God's love in casseroles for the sick, food for the poor, babysitting for friends, random acts of kindness, and buying with a conscience (fair trade, locally grown, quality items).

3) Encourage my family in their faith walk as well. That means family devotion and prayer at dinner, time together at church, stories before bed, a thankfulness jar to read at the end of the year, and collecting money for our favorite projects. Mine right now is Solar under the Sun, while my girls like the World Vision catalog, where they can pick different avenues to support.

4) Do more quality activities with my girls. I'll be working a lot the first two months this year. So I want to plan purposeful time with my girls to enhance the moments together. It'll take more effort, but will be rewarding nonetheless.

5) Read God's word more. I'm not one to read my bible everyday, but I'd like to be. I want to follow and learn. So I'm hoping that this will develop naturally using a new translation of the bible along with a new devotional.

6) Become healthier. This means a lot of changes for me. We already try to eat unprocessed foods, but with work I've let things slide a bit. Add to that my constant changing medicine regime and I'm gaining quite a lot of weight. To change this, I'm headed back to my doctor to help with a better medication and changing our eating habits. No more quick fixes, but planned meals eaten properly. This means eating a big breakfast, smaller lunch, and small dinner. It also means exercise when I can. My health doesn't always allow me to exercise, however low impact exercises are ok for me to use. So I'm going for yoga and step aerobics as regularly as I can make it. Before when I was home more, I had lost weight on whole foods. But as soon as I let processed back into our lives my weight changed. So I know that going back full force to our whole foods diet will work. It may just take me a little time to work it completely back in to our lives.

7) Continue on our road to a greener/whole living lifestyle. We've actually already started this goal. I've gotten cloth napkins and cloths to replace our paper products. I've also gotten rid of our plastic wear for glass containers. I'm also getting rid of as many of my Teflon coated pans and pots as possible. I'm slowly replacing them as we can afford to. No more toxins if I can help it.

8) Be a better time manager. I end up working all hours of the day because I don't always plan my time well. So I'm going to do my best to plan my time and stick to my schedule!

9) Blog better. I'm not looking to blog each day. That's not realistic for me. But I would like to be more regular. Maybe once a week...

10) Create more. The homemade gifts I did for the girls went well, so I'd like to make them more items...maybe clothes, toys, or even decor.

11) Remember these precious moments. My girls won't be babies forever, so I'm hoping to try and log a page a month in an online photo album. Then by the end if the year it will be complete. I'm also hoping to catch up on a few of the years I haven't created albums for. I think it'll be a great project and time well spent.

12) Finally, take time off. It's rare that I go anywhere with just friends or my hubby. So I'm going to do my best to arrange a night every two months for us to do something. That may not sound like much to you, but seeing how we maybe went two places by ourselves all last year...it's a big change for us.

Those are my goals. I will strive to meet them and will remind myself that progress is important...not just reaching the goal.

Happy New Year to you all!