13 GOALS FOR 2013

HAPPY NEW YEAR!  So what does 2013 have in store for you?  I am one of those people who don’t necessarily make New Years goals every year as I do feel that when you recognize something that you need to change or work on, that you should start doing them right away, or that you should always be striving for self improvement.  I am always striving to be a better mother, wife, friend, do more service, have more patience, follow through with my intentions, etc, but I wanted to write a specific things list and I did think it would be fun to have things to look forward to (or to hold myself accountable for) and to do a 13 things I want to do in 2013 list -- I guess these are pretty much the same as resolutions so you can hold me to them!

1. Visit my grandparents in Idaho – I have been trying to get to Idaho again the last few years and after the passing of my other grandpa in 2012, I am going to be darned if I don’t get to see my grandparents in Idaho this year!!
2. Walk the dog once a week – I know once a week is not a big deal for most doggies, but my poor dog gets lucky if he gets a walk once a week as it is hard to walk him when I have my kiddos with me which is not very often, so I promise Tyson I will walk you once a week!
3. Archive all digital photos – Okay so my (extra) hard drive overfloweth with photos and I am going to need to clear it out to make room for all the new photos I will be adding of fun stuff this year. I did some research and I think the best way to store them (vs burning to a DVD or disk) is via a thumbdrive.  So I will be going through the last 10 years of digital photos and moving them from my hard drive to thumb drives.  Also as a double backup they will be saved on my Carbonite server backup.   If you have a better way to store/archive digital photos, let me know!
4. Redo my family Photo Wall – I have been wanting to have all my siblings wedding photos on my wall and have most of them but am missing a few, so this is something I want to get done!
5. Create 2012 Family Photo book – I like to do a printed family photo book of my digital photos each year so I want to be sure to get 2012 photo book complete before year end!
6. Organize/Redo Shayla’s room - She is finally getting a big kid bed (she is still in toddler bed) and has new interests (everything cheetah) and so I am redoing her room.
7. Organize/Redo Mitchell’s room – He will finally be moving out of crib (which converts to big kid bed fro Shay and that is why she has had to wait so long) and into a toddler bed, and is probably getting to old for an owl themed room, so I am redoing his room as well.
8. Ride a Century bike ride – That’s a 100k (62 mile) Bike ride!  Bike riding is probably my sport of choice and so to push myself to the next level I plan to do the Santa Barbara century ride (Oct 19, 2013) and even better I think Jon will be doing it with me so that will be a fun experience to train for and complete as a couple!
9. Attend temple once a quarter – This is a spiritual goal for me!  As part of my faith, I visit the temple as a place of worship and peace and I need to get to the temple more this year.  More about temples here. 
10. Read 10 books by 10 new authors – I love to read and it is always fun to discover new authors so let me know if you have a favorite author I should check out in 2013.
11. Write in my journal once a week – I have been writing about twice a month, sometimes once a week, but I want to ensure my journal writing is a minimum of once a week!
12. Learn a new skill – always a good goal to have, just not sure what skill yet – sewing, guitar, archery?  hmmm
13. Try something that scares me!  Did this YESTERDAY so I can cross this off my list!  Jon took me to the shooting range so I could learn how to handle and shoot a handgun!  This scares me but also I think the skill is necessary to have in case of emergency!!!

So, here are my 13 goals for 2013!  Feel free to ask me about them, encourage me, send new ideas my way, oh and of course, babysit my kids so I can get it all done! Okay, I hope you are working towards things in your life as well  that will make you a happier person!