2012 Resolutions

It's time for me to share my 2012 Resolutions.  This year, Brian and I sat down together and made goals as a couple.  I'll share most of them here.  We decided to follow the same format that was suggested on Keeper of the Home's blog.  We had hoped to do a planning retreat like Erin suggested, but we weren't able to arrange our plans with a babysitter....nevertheless, we were able to use a few nights after Jackson went to bed to talk about our goals.

Scripture Verse to Live By in 2012:  1 Thess 5:16-18, "Rejoice always,  pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."   Pretty self-explanatory.  This was a difficult decision!  We went though a lot of different verses before we settled on this one!

Spiritual goals:  Memorize 26 Scriptures.  Memorize the catechism listed in Matt Friedeman's book  (I highly recommend Friedeman's Discipleship in the Home for a Biblical perspective on how to raise our children.  Unfortunately, when studying his book together, Brian and I realized we can't teach our children basic Christian principles if we haven't memorized them in our own heads).  I'd also like to stay with my 2011 goal to read 3 chapters of the Bible each day and spend 10-15 minutes in prayer.

Goals as a wife: Have 2 date nights with Brian per month.  The last year we've gotten maybe one date night a quarter- so much for living away from family (i.e. babysitters).  We have some ideas to swap babysitting this year and also have agreed that even if we can get away once a month (and possibly have to take a newborn with us) it's better than what we've been doing!  I'm going to work on arranging babysitters for January and February so this is a reality before #2 arrives!!  I also want to anticipate Brian's needs more.  I want to make his lunch more often (means no being lazy after dinner) and encourage him to have guy time (got to the Y, etc).

Goals as a mother: Discipleship!!  I need to start focusing more on Jackson's relationship with God.  Working on the catechism with him (and by the way, this isn't a Catholic thing in case anyone is wondering) through songs that he can remember.  I also want to focus on making more whole foods for him to eat (which is also important to Brian and I).

Health/Physical-  Survive giving birth again!  (Just kidding!!)  No really, my goal is just to go to the Y twice per week.  I realize there will be a sabbatical after baby #2 arrives, but I would like to be back to pre-baby weight by July 1st.  With Jackson it took me 6 months to lose all the baby weight.  This time I've done a little bit better job of managing my weight so I'm hoping it will only take about 4 months.

Cleaning- After Jackson was born, I made this weekly checklist to help me prioritize my cleaning tasks.  I've edited it and added to it since then, but I need to get it back out and start sticking to it a little bit better.  Because we have also lost our junk room office with moving Jackson into a "big boy room" I've got to keep clutter to a minimum (esp. paper clutter).  So my goal is to THROW THINGS AWAY!  This week while cleaning out the old office, I found cards from my HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION.  I may have some emotional, hoarder tendecies...and well, there is no room anymore for them!

Professional goals- Is it absolutely pathetic that I couldn't think of any?  I'm not going to be proactive about growing my business this year.  Some people may think that is stupid but I think that my family (and my sanity) comes first.  This doesn't mean I am planning on slacking off, I AM going to continue to provide the best service to my clients.  The rest is "que sera, sera, whatever will be...."  (You will be happy to know that Brian has lots of goals...and that, folks, is why he is the breadwinner)!

Financial goals-  Brian and I have some pretty lofty goals this year for saving for our own personal retirement accounts as well as saving for our boys' college.  We made a yearly budget this year so we can see the big picture (we normally just follow Dave Ramsey's Monthly Cash Flow Plan).  We also have a goal to take a vacation just the two of us.  (We haven't really done this since our honeymoon, other than a few random road trips).  Anyone want to babysit?  

Books to Read: I want to stick with the goal to read 12 non-fiction books.  Some of the ones on my radar: Radical, The Ministry of Motherhood, and School Can Wait.  I also want to read the Narnia books by C.S. Lewis- these should be a breeze!

Now you know our entire plan for 2012!  What do you think?

Did you make any 2012 Resolutions?  I've always been someone who really likes to visualize dreams and accomplishments by writing them down.  I can't wait to see what this year brings!

Leah