Ring Out the Old: Recap of 2012 Goals

Goodbye 2012. You were a fairly standard year and not particularly remarkable. You brought us our first big garden, a partially remodeled shed and a pair of chickens. We continued to expand our cooking skills while our daughter grew from a baby to a toddler.


We stayed in the same jobs but made less money than the last couple of years. We didn't finish remodeling our upstairs bathroom. We demolished the utility room and fought back flooding in the basement, losing carpet in the battle.

Some goals were accomplished, others... not so much.

Do you remember the goals we established for 2012? I mentioned at least two of them here on the blog. I actually had five goals in all. One of them is very personal so it won't be mentioned in this public arena; the others are an open book. To recap, here's what I/we wanted to do this year:


1. Be more positive. Say nice things, think nice thoughts; avoid being judgmental. Be happier and look on the bright side. This was a personal goal, and also my motto for the year: Think Positive, Be Positive. But Nate thought it sounded like a great goal and motto, so he wanted to do it too. It became our family's goal and motto for 2012.

2. Blog at least once a week. Be positive, encouraging, and uplifting. But don't stop writing in my personal journal. 

3. No computers after 9pm. And then be in bed by 9:30pm.

4. Read scriptures every day for about 15 minutes. Finish reading the Book of Mormon. Then read the New Testament. Then Read the Book of Mormon again. 


So how did I do? Let's look at them in reverse order!


4. Read scriptures every day: Not quite. I didn't read every day. I skipped some days here and there, and may have missed a whole week... more than once. BUT when I did read, I read for 10-15 minutes. And most importantly, I did read the books I had planned to read!

I started off in January with a bookmark in the middle of the Book of Mormon, and spent the following two months (through the end of February) reading through to the end. I had also read it twice in 2011, so I was pretty tired of the BoM at that point. So I moved on the New Testament. I don't remember exactly how long it took me; I was definitely finished by August... I think I wrapped up in July? So it took me about  five months to read through the New Testament. When that was done, I hopped back over to the Book of Mormon, which I had finished again by the middle of December. So maybe 4-5 months for the full read through.


3. No computers after 9pm: Moderate fail. Does my Kindle Fire count as a computer? It should. This goal could have worded more clearly; it should have been "no technology after 9pm." I was almost always off my laptop by 9pm, but then the Fire would be on until bedtime, sometimes even long after bedtime. Usually it was just following me around while I cleaned up and got ready for bed, but sometimes it snuggled into bed with me while I wrapped up "just one more episode of _______." (Fill in the blank with whatever show I was hooked on that week -- White Collar, Hart of Dixie, Supernatural, and more). For the most part I did turn the Fire off by 9:30pm and try to get some sleep. I guess that's something.


2. Blog once a week: Mostly a success!

Now, if you actually look at a 2012 calendar and compare it to my blog post dates, I didn't post every single week. As you might recall, I missed all of October. BUT I did put up 58 posts in 2012, starting at the END of January. So if you average that out over the whole year, there was MORE than one post per week of blogging! I am super proud of myself.

The downside? I rarely wrote in my personal journal this year. I dutifully wrote a letter to my daughter once a month on her birthday day, and I put up plenty of blog posts, but I didn't sit down with my deep thoughts and quietly set pen to paper. I'm very glad that I captured our goings on; less proud that it was mostly superficial.


1. Be positive: Fail. We started out well; during the first couple of months in 2012 we were positive little bunnies. But by the time summer rolled around, I noticed that we had completely reverted back to our old habits. (Worst among them is that we heckle and curse other drivers when we're on the road.) Very sad. We tried to get back on track, but didn't try very hard, and again forgot about our goal by the time autumn was over.

I didn't expect to become a completely new and different person this year, but I did want to wake up on January 1, 2013 and know that I was a kinder, less judgmental person than one year earlier. That's what I wanted. It didn't happen for me. It didn't happen for either of us.


So what now? We've got goals for 2013. Those are coming up in the next post...

Positively another 2012 goal

We set a lot of personal and family goals for 2012. I didn't use to think much of New Years "Resolutions" and, well... I still don't! But I do recognize that January 1st, the start of a new year, is a good time to set or update some goals for oneself. So Nate and I chatted about it at the end of December and each decided that we would set goals for ourselves. After sharing, comparing, and discussing our goals, we recognized some common themes and decided to create a few family goals.

Related to this, I like to come up with a personal theme/motto for myself each year. (Several years ago, this is something I read about on a friend's blog, and decided to copycat the idea. Brilliant.) My first motto year was 2010, when I decided to do hard things. That was a phrase I'd heard in a church talk (stake conference), and it hit home. Sometimes doing the right thing also means doing something hard, or something that involves sacrifice. Like many people, I tend to shy away from challenges and look for the easy road. But in 2010 I wanted to work on that problem! I also knew that 2010 was, finally, the year we were going to try and "start a family" (I pretty much hate that phrase). The idea of being pregnant and having a child terrified me. So I knew that if I was going to take a huge leap of faith and get pregnant, I would have to do a very hard thing! It was a perfect motto for me that year.

Last year, in 2011, my goal was to pray always. Not much to say there, except that I needed to be more prayerful in my life. I was less successful with following that motto, probably because I didn't even come up with the motto until April or May. Arg.

This year, I want to become a kinder, more positive, more considerate person. As much as possible, I want to fill my life with good things. So my motto for 2012 is "Think Positive | Be Positive". I strongly believe that change starts in our minds and hearts, with our attitude! So if I want to be happier, friendlier and more Christlike, I better start getting my head in order.

I shared this motto with Nate, and he loved it. He decided to also set a goal of thinking positive thoughts and being positive. So we've started to work on it together, and oh! What a blessing it is to be a team on this one. We've been able to remind each other to look on the bright side and to always say nice things about others. I am looking forward to 11 more months of building and encouraging each other towards this goal, and growing together.

Well, I had hoped to share some of my other goals, but it's after 9pm so I have to get off the computer! Maybe I will find time for another post this weekend. :o)

Blog goals, getting things done, and (helping with) house hunting

As I mentioned in my last post, I set a goal for myself in 2012 to blog more. To be specific, my goal is to blog at least once a week. The post can be as long or as short as I'd like. It can be on one topic or many. It should be positive; ideally it should be encouraging or at least uplifting. Knowing myself and my schedule, the posts will probably be written in the evening after the baby goes to sleep. I will most likely write on Friday or Saturday. For now, I intend to just talk about what's happening with me and my family. (And as I mention elsewhere, I will try to avoid politics or other derisive, divisive topics.) My blog posts should not come at the expense of journal writing. That is, I should not avoid the more important, more introspective and personal format of a journal in favor of a blog post. But if I sit down to write about something that could just as easily be a blog post, I can blog instead of writing in my journal.

There. Whew. I put my goal into specific, measurable terms and posted it in a public place, so it will be easier to be accountable. You can all hold me to it.... all of you, my readers... okay, my one reader... Hi, mom.

Now on to the updational portion of this blog post!

It is Saturday evening, a little after 8pm. Today I went to the grocery store, dropped a package at UPS to be mailed, dropped off some donation items at Goodwill, checked out a baby-clothes thrift store, made cinnamon raisin rolls, spent time with my parents, balanced the checkbook, helped limb part of the evil fir tree in the backyard, and talked to the neighbor. (Oh, and all the usual mommy stuff -- diaper changes, nursing, naps, playtime, kisses, snuggles, etc. :)

I need to make a chicken and rice casserole, which will be dinner tomorrow. I also need to sort and fold my white laundry. (Did I do the laundry today, or is it left over from yesterday? I honestly can't remember. I think it was today, so add that to my list.)

It's interesting how my definition of what's an accomplishment has changed during the last several months. It use to be that loads of laundry and grocery trips were just routine to-do items, and that I measured myself by the amount of yard work I completed, or my progress on a home renovation project (take your pick), or some other "big" thing. Now I measure myself on the routine things, celebrating if I can get two loads of laundry through the washer, dryer, folded and put away, all in one day. On Friday evenings I make a to-do list of all the possible errands and tasks (simple tasks, like vacuuming the office) that I could do on Saturday. Then I decide which ones are the most important, and which ones I will forgive myself for skipping if I can't find the time.

Such a change in perspective! I never thought doing laundry would make me feel accomplished!

Getting back to the topic of today's errands: I spent time with my parents. Currently, mom and dad live about 90 minutes to the north. My mom is retiring in a few months and so they have decided to sell their house and move closer to some of "the girls" -- meaning me and the baby, and also my sister (who lives about three miles south of me). They also want to stay close to "the boys" (my older brothers, who live closer to their current home), so they are looking primarily at properties north of town.

Thus the reason my parents came to town, as suggested by the previous paragraph, was to look at a couple of houses. The houses were both... how do I say this?... less than ideal. The first one had a beautiful, breath-taking view, but the house needed a lot of (primarily cosmetic) work. The land was also underdeveloped. The second house... there's no way to briefly summarize the experience. There wasn't really anything redeeming about the house or land, except maybe one of the out buildings, which was fairly large and appeared to be in good condition.

It's disappointing, not finding the right property. My parents have very specific criteria and no reason to rush the process, so it will take time. Nevertheless, I'm REALLY excited to have them move closer, and thus I'm REALLY impatient for them to find the right property. I honestly wish I could go preview some properties for them. I love looking at houses (do I get that from my dad, I wonder?) and it would save them some headache of traveling all the way down just to be disappointed.

On the bright side, with spring rolling in and summer soon to follow, more houses are popping up on the market. The perfect place might be listed next week, you never know! In the meantime, maybe I can convince my parents that they don't really want to live out in the country with a couple of acres... they want to live down the street from me :o)

Blog more, be happier.

A post yesterday, and now a post again today?! What is the world coming to?

Well, the thing is, I set a goal for myself to blog more. I set this goal as one of several New Years goals, which Nate and I developed for ourselves individually and as a family. I tend to do a lot of journal writing, so when I have free time for writing, pretty much everything goes in my journal. I've found it to be an invaluable resource for working out my personal feelings and frustrations. It's also important to keep a record of my life.

But some of my record keeping can certainly be public. While I don't think blogging should be used to air one's "dirty laundry" or to thrust upon the world every thought -- particularly not the more inane thoughts -- or for whining, complaining, arguing, or otherwise spewing forth darkness and vitriol, I DO think it's good to keep people informed and to provide uplifting discourse, whenever possible.

(Side note: A couple of weeks ago I had a wonderful conversation with my "uber boss" in which we discussed the importance of using social media to be kind, uplifting, and show forth Christlike attributes. The boss described himself as "a bit of a pollyanna". I decided that I want to apply his "pollyanna principle" to my use of social media. Ahhh... I just adore the uber boss; such an amazing person to work for. I feel really blessed to be under his leadership. (I really hope he's not reading this.))

I anticipate success with my renewed blogging efforts, since I recently repaired both my laptop and my netbook. Sadly, my tablet is not a good tool for blogging. (Arg! Typing with ones fingers is quite the challenge!) I am somewhat hindered, however, by a new rule in our house: No computers after 9pm.

I've been very good about that rule, except not last night or right now, since I'm trying to reach my blogging goal.

Anyway, it's past my bedtime. (Ack! It's 9:40!!!) I need to feed baby girl and go to bed. So, until next time.... Goodnight.