Goals

Wow. I hadn't realized, again, that so much time has passed since my last post. I will vow to do better in the new year.

Can you believe it's almost the new year? I'm glad the world didn't end today (at least not yet) and that we get to see what the new year is all about.  I'm sure, like many of you, hope it'll be a better year.  This year had some major suckage going on in it.

Every year I come up with goals. No so much resolutions, as just goals. Resolutions, to me, seem a bit too brutal and it seems people are more willing to break resolutions.  So I stick with goals. 

Last year's goals I haven't checked in on lately, so let's do it today shall we?

1. Scrapbooking!
I wanted to get caught up last year, and I mostly did. But two big trips towards the end of the year coupled with a few other road trips throughout the year sidelined me for a bit. I'm now majorly behind. But I did at least keep mostly up on my annual pages I do.

I also wanted to stop buying so much scrapbooking stuff.  And I can say with pure conviction that I did not really follow through on this goal. I blame my enabler.

2. Photography!
I wanted to do Project365 again last year, and well, it just didn't happen.  I think I may have slightly burned out from doing it in 2010.  I did get out a couple of times last year with the PhotoGods, but not nearly as much as I'd like.

In addition to taking photos, I wanted to learn PhotoShop Elements a bit more. And I can say that I am way more familiar with that product. Though there are still several parts of it that still elude me.

3. Finances!
Last year my focus was saving. And while I didn't get started on it right away, I did get my 401K going and have been able to significantly contribute to that. Other savings I've not done so well at. I'm still trying to get 3 months of salary saved. Turns out, that's a lot harder than it sounds. With the Fiscal Cliff looming, perhaps I should work on this in earnest this year.

4. Health!
Healthy was the way of life for me last year. This was my major goal and focus.  I managed to lose 30lbs (not the 50 I was aiming for) and keep it off while not actively losing.  It was much more difficult to lose weight than I thought it would be. But alas, I found myself feeling better and doing things without getting exhausted as quickly. For that, I am thrilled this goal lasted.

5. Write more!
This one was a miserable failure. Especially if you look at the first sentence is just about every blog post this year. Sheesh.  I do love to write, and whether you think I'm good at it or not, I really don't care.  I am going to try to focus my blog more this coming year and really put some heart into some blog posts. I have a HUGE list (thanks to NaBloPoMo) and I'm going to make a significant effort.

I can't say I'll make any more of an effort to be grammatically correct or spell any better. You'll just have to deal with it.

So 2012 had 5 goals.  You won't be too surprised to hear that 2013 goals are very similar to those goals.  But with added verve (is that a word?)

Courtesy of the Internet.

2013 GOALS!

1. Read more.
I did have a goal of last year, and just about every year, to try to read 50 books in a year. That's tough.  I am sitting at 43 right now and will most likely get 44 done this year.  I'm going to aim for 45 next year.  And I'd like at least 30% of those to be not so fluffy books.

2. Scrapbooking
Oh the old scrapbooking goal.  My major effort this year is to control my scrapbooking purchases. I know. I know. I've said it before. But I have a plan. Over the next several days as we wind down this year, I'm going to be staging my pages. (Seattle SIL has an all day scrap planned in January so it's twice as useful) and once all the photos are staged, I'm going to see what's left.  At that point, I'm going to make some decisions about what to keep and what not to keep. Me thinks I have a ton of paper, in particular, that seemed like a good idea at the time, but really isn't.

My ultimate goal (stop laughing) is to not really have ANY paper on hand and just purchase paper WHEN I have the photos. No "just because it's pretty" purchases. That's what's gotten me in this situation.

I will however, reserve the right to purchase items that are "needed" to enhance any pages.

3. Photography.
This year I'm doing Project365 again.  I think I'm ready to give it another go.  I've got a list of themes, and two partners in crime (Joan and Packing Laurie) who are going to give it a go with me.

In addition, I've purchased a system from Becky Higgins called Project Life. It's a much easier way to scrapbook your life. And since 99% of the photos I take during Projenct365 is about what I'm doing or what I'm eating, I figured it's a perfect combination.

I'd like to get out and do some real shooting at least 6 times this year with the PhotoGods (all of them or any combination of them).

4. Finances
Someday I'd love to not have this as a goal, but alas here we are.

The big one is to get the credit cards paid off again. They aren't significant, but a cruise and then San Diego added too much to those darn things. This won't take but a couple of months. 

After that, it's all hands on deck to get that 3 months worth of salary saved!

And of course, continue with the 401K stuff.

5. Health
Learning from last year, I'm going to set my goal to lose between 30 and 40 lbs.  I know at least 30 is doable.  So let's see if we can push it.

In addition, I'm continuing the Couch to 5K efforts. My goal next year is to wog (jog/walk - Thanks Julie for this) one 5K each month. The Boss and I are already signed up to do the Resolution 5K in Redmond on the 5th of January.  I'm going to be making my list here shortly for the rest of the year.

The ultimate goal is to actually jog the Race for the Cure in June this year.

6. Blog More.
This goes without saying.

So there you go. My 2013 goals.  I figured since the world didn't end today I might as well come up with my goals.