My goals for 2012

Can I just send out a great big hug to all of you??   I felt like I went out on a limb yesterday sharing my struggle with comparison...I was so nervous about posting it and I almost didn't.  Thank you for the kind comments and emails....gave me the encouragement I needed to let the things in my heart flow out here more often instead of keeping it to myself.  You gals are awesome. =)

Well, after a lot of thought, I finally have narrowed down and am ready to share what I believe are the right goals for me this year. There's nothing very big or exciting, but I think they are appropriate and attainable for this season of life. Currently I'm homeschooling my 8 and 6 year olds, along with keeping up with an active two year old and our sweet little newborn.  Life at home is busy, not including all of our church responsibilities.   

Funny thing with "goals" though are that many times we have these grand plans and but don't think about how to make them happen.  It's like going on a trip to a new place with no GPS.  Not good!  Goals are really just "ideas" or "objectives" until we actually sit down, think them through and break them down into baby-steps.  Those baby-steps, are the directions...the "how" you are going to "do" or "accomplish" whatever it is you desire.  As I share my goals, I'll share a few of the steps I plan on taking to achieve them.  


My goals for 2012:

• Read through the Bible chronologically.  I began this last year and never finished.  I now have the Bible on my Kindle and it has made being faithful in my Bible reading SO much easier.  It's easy to take with me and I never lose my place!  (The plan I'm using can be found here.)

• Be a Happier Helper for my Hubby.  This not an exhaustive list, but the biggest things I know I need to do is pray for him daily and purposefully organize my days to better meet his needs and schedule.  I have a lot of other ideas too but if I share them here it will completely thwart my plans. =)

• Get back to my pre-baby weight by healthy eating and exercising.  We recently purchased a nice, used Elliptical (gotta love Craigslist!) and have really enjoyed using it.  (Well, as much as one can enjoy that sort of thing, HA!)  When the weather gets a bit warmer I hope to break out the jogging stroller and put it to good use again as well.  As for the healthier eating....I'm seriously considering giving up sugar for a while.  {gulp}  I'll keep you posted!

• Teach my 8 year old daughter to sew.  My hope is to have one "sewing lesson" a week to work on a monthly project. While she already knows the basics of hand-sewing, she really wants to learn to sew on the machine.  

• Delegate.  Yep, I'm one of those mean mothers that makes my minions children work.  {smile}  (Just a tip...if you train them very young, they will be very happy and capable helpers when they are a bit older!)  Teaching them to do their own laundry from start to finish, master their dish washing skills, and prepare basic meals are some of the things on my agenda.  BWAHAHA!!   =)

• Snap often.  No, not as in my mental state....with my camera! (That got your attention though, didn't it?) This year I hope to really work on honing my photography skills.  I'll be taking part in Project52 which I know will stretch me in new ways.  Also, learning my way around Photoshop is something I'm going to attempt as well. 

• Be more hospitable.  For quite a while we had people into our home almost every Sunday, but in the last few months we have really slacked off.  Our goal is to have two church families over per month to start with.  Hopefully as things slow down a bit we can do more!

• Practice the piano 15 minutes every week day.  You can read more about this one here. =)

Like I said, this is not a huge list, but I know it's right and will keep me focused.  Also this week I'll be sharing the goals we have for our home and the projects we hope to accomplish this year.  Stay tuned!