Holiday Challenge: Day Nine

Today is day nine of the Blog Holiday Challenge with Amber and Neely, and it's all about our goals for 2012.

I don't normally have resolutions because I have a hard time sticking with them, but I think my problem is shooting a little too high.

Things like:
-lose (blank) number of pounds this year
-stop using our car and take public transportation and my bike everywhere!
-cut out caffeine and chocolate completely!
-do a picture/post/craft a day... or a week
-read the whole Bible cover to cover...
(and so on and so on...)
are not things I can really accomplish. I do want to lose weight, drive less, reduce my caffeine intake and take pictures of the kids regularly, but sticking with strict goals like those is not something I've found to work personally.

HOWEVER, there are a few things I really want to accomplish in 2012.

1. I want to actually celebrate my anniversary with my husband. It will be 5 years of marriage in August 2012, and we haven't taken a vacation together EVER. Not even a honeymoon (it got cancelled on account of the death of my uncle). I'm glad our anniversary is in the summer, because my mom is a teacher, and she has taken Monkey for a week each summer, so hopefully she can take both kids and Hubby and I can have a weekend together...

2. I want to make myself a priority. This does not mean I want to be the centre of the universe, just that I know I've been putting myself on the back burner and putting everyone (kids, friends, hubby, church obligations...) in front of myself. I realized that I spend HUGE amounts of time making sure the kids eat well, dress nicely and have fun things to enjoy each day, but I haven't watched what I eat, exercised, even showered daily, and FORGET about doing my hair or makeup... I need to take care of myself so I can continue to take care of others.

3. I want to get rid of the credit cards once and for all. Last year when we got our tax rebate, we paid off our credit cards completely. We then bought a bed (on credit and paid it off in 2 months), we bought a TV (on credit and paid it off in 3 months) and we made other purchases and didn't pay them off, so now we've got some not-so-nice balances on our cards (one is Hubby's, one is mine). I hate getting the bill each month and seeing that the interest is putting back on money that I just paid off! Credit cards are good for online purchases and for reserving hotels or flights... but since we almost never do either of those things, we should have NOTHING on the cards... this years rebate is going to eliminate them FOR GOOD! And then all we need to do is spend the next decade getting rid of our student debt....blah....

4. I want to work from home. I LOVE staying home with my kids. I never thought I would, but it is such a blessing to be present when Monkey learns something new, or says something that makes me wonder "what planet did you come from?!" So I want to keep staying home. I have an opportunity to teach cooking and crafting classes in my community, but since I've just had Annika, I haven't looked for any clients to teach. I love the idea of teaching these classes, but I have to do the hard work of networking. I also have been told that my cupcakes are great, so I'm hoping to have some people order cakes/cupcakes from me to bring in a few extra dollars a month. Every little bit helps us get out from the student debt monster, and towards the giant house-buying-mortgage monster...

5. I want to volunteer. There are so many places in the Kingston area that I would love to help with. Kingston Pregnancy Crisis Centre, the Salvation Army, Martha's Kitchen, Grow a Row, Big Sisters, my church nursery.... but I haven't made it a priority, so I haven't done it. This year I want to help. Even if it's once a month for only a couple hours, I want to be the hands and feet of Christ to someone other than my own family. I don't want credit, I just want to respond to the push I've been feeling for much too long.

These are my goals. I don't think they will change any time soon. These goals are the foundation of a life I want to live, and I want to start living it now. January 1, 2012 is just a date. It isn't more or less special than any other day of the year.

I want to make a change, and the calendar shouldn't determine when that change starts. Now that I've written these down, hopefully I'll look back often to keep myself accountable. And to remind myself of the goal. Not "size 4" or "book enthusiast" or "100 time blood donor" but that I want to be living each day passionately as an act of worship to the one who created me on this Earth.

-A