A New Year and Perhaps, A New Me

It feels so good to be back here again. I find that taking a few days off can really get the juices running again and increase my desire to actually do stuff, including writing. I am obviously home now and the holidays are officially over. It felt weird to see Chris leave for work today. But, it also felt good because it meant that things can get back to normal now.

Yesterday, I took some "Non-Mommy Time" while Chris took care of Caleb and worked on the computers some more. I went to the Donut Connection because it was the only coffee shop like place open on New Year's Day. I drank my coffee and pondered some New Year's Goals and Resolutions. I've been having ideas running through my head for quite some time but ideas are no good until they are written down. I find that writing my ideas down make them real and worthy of pursuing. Here is what I came up with. They are organized by categories in my life (no particular order of importance or priority:

Health: I want to lose 20 pounds.
-I plan to do this through drinking at least 2 Nalgene bottles a day (64 oz.)
-Watching my food intake...obviously
-Exercising through my rowing machine

Rowing: Become a member of the One Million Meter Club
-Row an average of 20,000 meters/week

Spiritual: PRAY PRAY PRAY PRAY
-Have my devotional time first thing once Caleb goes down for his afternoon nap
-Finish my Beth Moore Believing God Online Study.
-Focus on one ministry apart from the church--Voice of the Martyrs
-Pack and mail at least 2 Action Packs per month
-Mail 5-10 Bibles through Bibles Unbound each month
-Send letters through PrisonerAlert.com (don't know how many)
-Participate in the VOM Blogroll (at least 2 entries per month...shooting for 1 per week)

Blogging/Writing:
-achieve 200+ entries in my blog
-participate regularly in my favorite Carnivals (ex. Carnival of Beauty, Works for Me Wednesday, etc.)
-Finish naming my One Thousdand Gifts (I'm sorry for the lag in that)
-Answer all the 31 questions in the Consider Your Ways list (more on that later)
-work on driving more traffic to m blog
-submit blog material for publication through places like Associated Content, etc.
-Write and submit an article apart from my blog (SCARY!)

Ebay:
-Help my friend sell her pottery on Ebay
-List at least 5 items a week
-Stay a week ahead in forming m listings
-Search yard sales 2+ times a month for inventory
-Achieve a feedback score of 100+
-Become a Trading Assistant

Financial:
-Complete the Crown Ministries Study with small group
-Go on a Cash Only Grocery Budget and budget that money to have some left over each month for date money
-Make money through writing and Ebay
-Discover new and creative ways to save money
-Pantry Challenge SUPREME (more on that later too)

Home:
-Tidy 1 room each week day
-maintain the kitchen each day
-vacuum the whole house at least once a week
-figure out a better laundry system

Caleb:
-Finish his Kiddy Bible with him
-Start doing sign language with him...I'm already behind on that one

Cooking:
-try one new recipe each week (after Pantry Challenge SUPREME)
-start making more things homemade (ex. bread, sauces, etc.)

That about sums it up, folks. I know it is a lot. These are all things I've always wanted to do and just never felt like I could do. I guess I didn't give myself enough credit or something like that. Chris is a wonderful supportive husband and he is behind me 100%. Thanks, Honey! With all these goals and resolutions I believe I can completely redo how I do things and that is why I called this post "A New Year and Perhaps, A New Me." I will take it one step at a time and PRAY all the waythrough. Here's to a WONDERFUL NEW YEAR!