2011 Goals: Final Review

I know the year isn't quite over yet, but I wanted to give a final account of how I did on my goals this year.

• Goal 1: Complete P90X - hit it! This goal was completed May 14th.
• Goal 2: Run a half marathon - did it! This goal was completed June 11th.
• Goal 3: Get to 135 pounds - failed. I got so close! At one point in May I was 136.1. We went off birth control at the beginning of May, and I was assuming I would be pregnant by June, so I gave up trying. That didn't quite happen according to schedule, but I never did hit this goal. I officially gave up in early October when I found out that I was pregnant, and knew weight loss would not be in my near future.
• Goal 4: Finish the Old Testament - failed. I was on track until I got pregnant. The morning sickness was terrible, and reading fell by the wayside. I know, it's probably an excuse. I am almost done with Isaiah, so I still have a fair amount to go. I am rolling this goal over to 2012.
• Goal 5: Read 12 books, with at least 6 being non-fiction - hit it! I finished my last books this month, and ended with a total of 13 books this year: 7 non-fiction, 6 fiction. I found the non-fiction to be a pleasant stretch for me. Next year I have a much loftier reading goal, as far as numbers go.

So, overall, I did fairly well. I hit 3 of my 5 goals, and got pretty close on the other 2. I really liked having measurable goals this year, and I feel like I stretched myself further by doing this. I am working on my 2012 goals now, and will have those posted soon. Some of these are quite lofty, so I'm trying to make sure I'm not taking on too much.

Now, onto my resolutions...

• Resolution 1: Build an unbreakable habit of scripture study and prayer. I was doing really well with the scripture study, due to my goal above. However, that's a habit I will need to re-establish in the new year with my new scripture goals. As for prayer...well, I'm still really lousy with that.
• Resolution 2: Cultivate friendships. I feel like I have done really well with this. A large part has been me quitting my job, which allows me to attend play groups weekly. Just this regular contact with some of the women in our condos has allowed me to feel more involved. Plus, I've tried harder to initiate activities such as game nights and parties.
• Resolution 3: Love being a mom. This will definitely be an on-going resolution, as every day presents new challenges. I really felt like a great mom in the summer--we'd go to the park a lot, or head to waterparks or Trafalga. Well, then school started, and the weather turned cold, and now it's back to a whole lot of TV time. Not to mention that trying to fit in my part-time job has made it a little difficult. I absolutely love being a stay-at-home mom...most of the time. Sometimes I feel like my kids would be better off at a babysitter's house, because I fear that I'm too harsh and I yell too much (okay, I don't fear the yelling part--I KNOW I yell too much). Patience is definitely not a virtue I have right now. So, while I love being a mom (and I'd better, because we are adding another child to the mix), I think I have a lot of growing to do to become a better mom.

Time for New Years!

So, I got tired of the #Reverb10. This year's questions were pretty dumb. But, it's almost New Years Eve, so it's resolution time. But, instead of resolutions, which tend to have a negative connotation of vague intentions that rarely see fruition, this year I want to set goals, complete with action plans and deadlines. So, here it goes.

Goal 1: Finish P90X
Right now, I am planning on being a stay-at-home mom at the end of January. Once I am no longer losing 2 hours a day to commuting, I want to invest more time into getting back into shape--because, frankly, it's pathetic how much my kids wear me out. So, I want to completely go through P90X as my first part of getting into shape. I've realized I hate treadmills, and there's no way I'm running outside when it's this dang cold. I plan on P90X taking more than 90 days to complete, asI want to do the full 90 day workout without working out on Sundays (usually the 7th day is for stretching, but I don't want to skip that workout). If I don't miss any days and stay perfectly on schedule, I will finish May 10th. But, let's be reasonable and say my deadline is the end of May. I also have a plan of waking up every day at 6:30 to start my workout. That may seem early, but it's pretty much the time I'm waking up now, or earlier, so it's not that much of a stretch. We'll see if that remains the case once I try...

Goal 2: Run a half marathon
My bucket list contains as one of its items the goal of running a full marathon. So, why not buckle down and do it this year? Well, there's a fairly good chance that B1 and I will try to get pregnant some time during 2011, and I don't want this goal to get squashed simply because something more important comes up. My plan is to start training for the half marathon once I complete P90X, using the same hour in the morning as I currently have set aside for P90X (I'll have to figure out how to work this out on days when B1 is off flying). I want to run a 5K no later than the end of June, and run a half-marathon no later than the end of August. The only out I want to give myself for not completing this is pregnancy.


Goal 3: Lose 10 pounds
I think goals 1 and 2 will get me to this, but I hope to hit this goal a lot faster. I got on the scale today and saw an ugly number: 144.6. I haven't seen that number in a long time, and frankly, it sucks. I don't want to wear any of my shirts because of the muffin top I get. I want to get back to 135. Not 137 or 136, or even 135.8. I want to get to 135.4 or lower, where I can honestly say I weigh 135. Deadline: May 31st (again, I'm hoping to finish that sooner).

Goal 4: Finish the Old Testament
B1 and I have been reading the Old Testament for something ridiculous, like 2 years. This year, I want to finish what we started. No, I'm not going to be super ambitious and start over--I just want to finish. Deadline: December 31, 2011.

Goal 5: Read 12 books, with at least 6 books being non-fiction
I LOVE to read. Seriously, I do. But a few months ago my father-in-law told me that I needed to branch out from my fantasy genre. While I do love fantasy, I thought his comment was a little too global. For example, lately I've also read some classics (I'm currently reading Madame Bovary, and this year alone I've read Animal Farm, Great Expectations, Scarlet Letter, and Persuasion). However, I have not been reading a lot of non-fiction (other than self-help and business books), so this year I want to stretch myself a bit and read some more non-fiction books. I'm allowing self-help (or, as I prefer to think of them, self-improvement) and business books to fit into the non-fiction category, as I've been enjoying those. Deadline: December 31, 2011.

On the right side of the blog I will keep a list of these goals and update you on my status. This way, I have some accountability.

Now, for some resolutions. These are things I want to do that will take constant improvement and will never have a point where I can say "Done!"

Resolution 1: Build an unbreakable habit of scripture reading and prayer.
After our recent scare about maybe moving to Minneapolis or Houston (resulting in us being able to choose to stay in SLC or choose to move), I came to an unhappy conclusion: I can no longer complain about living in Utah, since I choose it. Secretly, I've been blaming Utah for anything unpleasant - Utah Mormons, Utah culture, Utah weather, and so on. I remember one sob-fest I had, a year or so ago, when I told B1 that I just can't be a good LDS member in Utah. Honestly, I don't remember the argument that I tried to make for that statement, but I've let it be an excuse for why I don't do the basics. A few months ago, our stake Relief Society presidency challenged us to read the Book of Mormon by March 19th. I'm a little behind now, but am on track to be caught up by Saturday. Reading the Book of Mormon has brought sanity back to my life. I'm more patient with my children and overall happier. I want to keep this up and not stop once I hit the short-term goal of March 19th.

Resolution 2: Cultivate friendships
Considering I've lived in my condo for five and a half years, I feel like I'm missing the friendships that others have created. Not to guilt-trip anyone who reads this blog and also lives in our condo community, but it's the little things that make me jealous of what I lack, such as people posting on my Facebook profile or inviting me to activities (granted, this latter one, I hope, has been largely due to my inability to attend since I've been working full-time). I'm not saying I want to be the most popular person in the ward (okay, I do, but that's not reasonable)--I just want to feel like I can go to church and sit next to someone without the feeling of needing to create, awkwardly, conversation. I'm not going to post here what I plan to do, because I don't want anyone to feel like they're my project or that I'm their project.

Resolution 3: Love being a mom
Of course, I love my kids. But honestly, the looming possibility of being a stay-at-home mom has me terrified. Here at work, I've coined a pathology: "What-the-crap-do-you-do-all-day disease." It's rampant at work--department A wonders why Department B can't help out with task C, because seriously, what the crap does Department B do all day?? I have the same problem with stay-at-home moms, but a different twist. I know it's busy being a stay-at-home mom, but what I wonder is what on earth do they do to keep their kids busy, without resorting to 5 hours a day of Spongebob? This is something I desperately want to learn. B2 will be starting kindergarten in the fall, and I don't want his last months of being at home all the time to be spent in front of the TV. I do plan to attend as many play groups as I can, and we bought the Pass of All Passes so we can spend lots of time at Trafalga, Seven Peaks, and sporting games. Seriously though, SAHMs, any feedback, advice, or tips you can give me would be warmly received!!!

Wow--these are some lofty goals and resolutions, but I really think I can do it!