New Year’s Resolutions 2013

I love New Year’s Resolutions. I love making goals and working towards them. I’m hoping that this year, by reviewing our New Year’s resolutions each month, we are able to be more faithful and accomplish more than we did last year. It's also exciting that our Resolutions get to include a 3rd person for the first time!!! 

I also hope that by “going public” with some of our goals, we’ll be more apt to keep them, rather than face shame from friends and family (because I know y’all will totally be calling me and checking in about these resolutions….not!). Some of these are joint goals, others are Chris’s or mine exclusively—I’ll bet you can figure out who is planning to learn the oil changes and who is doing the sewing….. ;-)

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Anyhow, without further ado: New Year’s Resolutions 2013 (inspired by Moneysavingmom.com)

Personal/home

·         Have a baby (this one is our guaranteed success)

·         Learn to do oil changes for our vehicles

·         Make/store a 1 year food supply

·         Make sourdough starter and use sourdough for most of breadmaking

·         Learn more about sprouting grains

·         Make all household cleaners from scratch (except for dish/dishwasher soap)

·         Make homemade toiletries (including lip balm, deodorant, toothpaste, etc)

·         Read 7: An Experimental Mutiny against Excess and do our own experiment  (this is a cool book…each month the author, Jen Hatmaker, did only 7 of something…forever, one month was eating only 7 foods…it’s all about simplifying, living below your means, and I am EXCITED!)

·         Learn to sew and make basic clothes repairs with Brother sewing machine

·         Read at least 12 books: TBA

·         Read lots of baby books, including: The Baby Book (Sears), How to Raise a Healthy Child in Spite of your Doctor (Mendelssohn), What to Expect the First Year, 25 Things Every New Mother Should Know (Sears) , Nighttime Parenting (Sears)

·         Baptize Gianna!

Marriage

·         Plan and go on trip to Napa Valley, CA with baby in tow (yes, please go ahead and laugh at us…we can dream!)

·         Take an anniversary trip to Broken Bow, OK (yeah, we liked it that much)

·         Finish reading Jesus and the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist together

·         Read Man and Woman He Create Them: The Theology of the Body together

·         Fun dates/family outings in and around Tyler, TX: Drive in Theatre, Blueberry Hills “Pick your own” farm in June/July, Caldwell Zoo, Kierpersol winery or other vineyard, Moore Farms Pumpkin Patch/fall stuff, Tyler Rose Garden, and Tyler State Park are just some ideas we had

Family/Friends

·         Write two long e-mails to friends/family each month

·         Write two handwritten letters to friends/family each month

·         Faithfully update blog with baby pictures and stuff for family/friends

Financial

·         Look for land/buy a house

·         Create and stick to new budget that includes baby G

Religious

·         Continue/finish The Catechism of the Catholic Church during the Year of Faith

·         Start a Link to Liturgy Meeting at the Cathedral

·         Focus on living a different Beatitude each month (For January/February, we are working on “Blessed are the poor in spirit”)

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I know some of these seem incredibly simple (like making our own cleaners). And they are! But I know, if it doesn’t get written down, it doesn’t get done (and even if it IS written down, it gets done like 70% of the time). There are other, more daunting tasks, like buying a house and even others that require a full year’s investment (living the Beatitudes).

What are some of your New Year’s Resolutions? If you’ll bug me about keeping mine, I’ll bug you about keeping yours hehehe

Here’s to an awesome 2013!