goals

I am not a good goal-finisher.  I don't know what my problem is, but I am not a highly motivated person.  There's things I'd love to accomplish, and I just don't.  There are many things I do accomplish, this isn't a Brynn-sucks-at-all-things kind of post, but really, there is a handful of goals I have had FOR YEARS, that have not been completed.  

*Losing weight.  I haven't had the nerve to weigh myself since my BIL's wedding 2 days after Christmas, as the minute I wrangled myself out of my control-top pantyhose, Spanx and dress I was indulging in everything that wasn't nailed down...but I think I lost about 8 lbs over the year.  I'll take it over nothing, but for the past several years at New Years I have said over the year I would lose 50, and once again, I didn't.  Sigh.

*Getting my albums up to date.  I have many done, but several incomplete.  

*Learning how to sell things online.

*Learning how to do things techno-wise instead of long hand.  See, I don't even know how to describe that - what I mean is I want to learn how to be higher tech.  Like using Quicken or something like that.  Goes with the learning how to sell online - I just don't know how to do stuff.  Like make picture albums on my computer - and I have a Mac!  Sin.

You get the gist.  You'd think I wouldn't make any resolutions, but I actually love writing out goals.  So here are this years, and I think it's very reasonable.

2012 - the year Brynn gets a clue.

*A bag a day for 30 days. - One bag of whatever has to leave my house every day to be donated or trashed.  So far a huge bag of papers I was meaning to shred has been burned in our firepit, and 2 bags of clothing from my closet is in my van to be dropped at goodwill.  Later today I am going through the girls dressers.

*Along these lines, getting organized.  I want every nook and cranny of my small house to be organized.  So far I have done my living room hutch, the 2 hall closets and half of my closet.  I want to rid myself of my slight (more than slight) hoarder-ish mentality of "what if I need/want that someday" and "but my kid wrote her name on it and she won't always write her name like that..."

*Adhering to a stricter budget.  I'm thinking of crossing over to a mostly cash budget, but don't know if I can hack it.  We use our CC for everything, then pay it off every month.  But I KNOW we'd spend far less if we used cash.  I want to save more money this year, and complete a few spending goals like getting my much-wished-for hardwood floors, paying off CHOP's bill (although we'll just rack up a new one in Feb, but still), paying for Disney before we go, etc.  Along these lines, I want to bring in more income.

*Making healthy choices, all across the board.  Growing closer to the Lord, and actually listening to him.  Praying more, reading my Bible more, studying more.  Being kind to Kevin, loving him the way he needs/wants - not just the way that's easy for me.  Modeling character traits that I want my girls to develop - a spirit of gratitude, loving, generous, patient.  Being more physically active (we joined a new gym a few days ago and yesterday the girls went swimming, they love it!), making better choices for my health, which hopefully will help my weight.

I know these goals seem lofty.  But I am hopeful, and I know with God's help, if I am obedient He will help me.  

Summer goals

These are a few of the things I want to do this summer:

*Catch up on my picture albums and labeling

*Make my mom a scrapbook of her wedding and honeymoon

*Sell the TUMI $500 giftcard we've had for over a year that we'll never use.

*Finish the couponing class business plan

*MOPS planning for 2011-2012 year.  Retreat in August.

*Touch up paint on baseboards/doors

*Clean out my closet and underbed

*Set up a scrapbooking station in the garage

Not to mention enjoy the girls and do lots and lots of fun stuff :)

Flash Forward Friday - to do list

Okay so April is more than mid-way done, where did these last 4 months of 2011 go?!  I am discouraged about the lack of progress I've made with my January resolutions/to-do list.  I think part of the problem is I think way too big.  I still have busy days with parenting, cleaning, couponing, MOPS planning, and a million little things...so to do a lot more each day on top of that is unrealistic.  But I want to get stuff done, so here's another to-do list.

By the end of the year, I want to...

*MONEY GOALS*

*pay off Kevin's car (6% interest) and our new mattress (0% interest).  Both of the loans would be paid off early by 2 yrs, leaving only our mortgage as debt.

*have a zero balance to CHOP.  This is less likely of a goal, as we visit quarterly and her fall visit is her "annual" where we rack up the biggest bill and usually don't pay it off until tax return time.  But we have new insurance this year so I hope to be pleasantly surprised by how much less we'll owe.

*continue saving hundreds of dollars off of our grocery budget.  Want to focus more on our eating-out budget and pare that down.  Last night's Houlihans bill of $58 doesn't count. :)

*pay for our vacations.  We are going to Lancaster for a long weekend, Wildwood for a week, Williamsburg for a week, Vegas for 5 days, and WV for a long weekend.  Kevin won't be going to Wildwood or VA...bless his heart he'll be working for the girls and I to enjoy those things.  His parents gifted us the Wildwood week, their friends have a house - but we pay for the groceries (cheap w my couponing!) and boardwalk evenings.  We save for that with loose change, we have about $100 so far.  They also gifted us the Williamsburg trip, but we pay for gas, food, etc.  (I know, we are so fortunate to have generous parents).  WV the girls and I will be staying with my cousin so that just means gas and spending money.  Vegas we already paid for the room, plane and show tix - we need gambling, food, spending, gas and rental care money.  Lancaster we still need to pay for all of it, but we got a good deal.  I plan to pay for vacations out of our tax return money, which I put in our savings acct.

*do one thing to the house.  I think that may be some much-needed yard work...like getting a yard.  We have dirt, sand, trees and tree stumps.  We want grass and some aesthetic trees/bushes added, a few more trees out and stumps removed.  If we are fortunate enough to pay off the mattress and car, that will free up room in our budget each month in 2012 to get....NEW FLOORING!!!  I'd add an 'amen' here but it seems irreverent.  But you get my gist.

*sell items at a garage sale and finally learn how to do Craigslist/Ebay.

*If Taylor does in fact get approved for full-day school (Marlton is 1/2 day kindergarten but her teacher is recommending she attend 1/2 day "normal" kindergarten and then second 1/2 of the day attend special ed kindergarten.) I want to find a part-time job.  Nothing crazy, just get my feet wet back in the career-world.

*SELF GOALS*

*Lose weight!! Come on, you knew this was #1.  I have lost about 6 lbs from my weight at New Years but ugh, I feel like such a failure.  Waiting for divine motivation to kick in.  Along these lines, and even more importantly really, I want to be fit.  Thankfully, I am "healthy" by way of my bloodwork, but if a murderer was chasing me, I'd have maybe 1 minute left of my life.

*Continue to be more patient with the girls. This is something I've been working on and thankful to say I have done better with.

*Be a nicer wife.  More loving, have more of a servant's heart.

*Read the Bible more, pray more, and do so with my girls.

All this to-do-ing is making me tired.  That's it for now.