Hello 2010, let's get down to business

On the 1st of January, John and I sat down and listed our goals for the year. It's an annual tradition for us. There is something liberating about making the effort to start fresh and be better, and believing that you really CAN be better. We not only plan our goals, we also plan our fun and vacations and make a conscious effort to make sure that we're balanced in work, play and spiritual growth. We have a very long list of things to do, but I'm happy to say we've made some progress already. Of course we have the standards, which we've tried to be really good about already (working out daily, eating healthy, etc) but here are some of our goals we hope to have finished by the end of 2010:

1. Run a 5K this spring! I know, some of my runner friends will scoff at this, but for me this is a VERY big deal. I'm working with a completely rebuilt left knee and had giving up the notion of ever running again, but I've been working up to it on the gradually over the last 4 months, and I'm feeling more confident. I won't be very fast, but I think I can do it. It's no marathon, but it might as well be for me.
2. Meal planning a week in advance. I'm hoping this will stop me from buying everything I see in the grocery store and will make meal times more enjoyable and more balanced. Thanks to John for being so incredibly supportive in this area.
3. Church stuff includes a big one for me--being on time. That hasn't happened in a long time, but now that we start at 1:00 and Addie just started Nursery and I actually made it being only 3 minutes late yesterday. HUGE! I also resolved to take more time in my lesson preparation and to plan better FHE's this year.
4. I have a list of books I want to read, although I'd love some suggestions from people of good books.
5. I also want to become at least semi-proficient in video editing. Not the hard core stuff, mind you, I'm talking about home videos but I want to do more than just fade in and fade out. I'll be spending some time with Lynda to get up to speed.
6. We have a goal to have our house rebuilt by the end of this year! This may be tight, since everyone is estimating that it will take about 9 months to complete, and we still have to get bids and choose a contractor, but we really, really, really want to be done with construction by next Christmas.
7. I want to spend more quality time with Addie, doing cool things. She's learning so fast and I want to take a day a week and take her someplace that will be exciting for her. I'll be honest, this may not happen every week, but I'll work on it. Any suggestions here from my mom friends would be really appreciated too!
8. One word: De-clutter.
9. We would love to grow our family by one this year. We have our adoption papers almost all the way completed and we're hoping to add a sibling for Addie this year. She needs someone to train in the ways of her mischief.
   
10. Lastly, I plan to appreciate every single day with my wonderful family. What a huge blessing they are to me! Every single day with them is a gift, and I'm so grateful for them.
    

I hope that 2010 brings happiness, renewal and good things to all my friends and family. I'd better go plan some menus and work on an FHE lesson...