It's that time of year again...

Resolutions!

Everyone else is doing it, so I figured I might as well write down and make my resolutions for this year public as well :) Then I'll feel more accountable or something :p

So, this next year...

Our family is going to work on reading the Book of Mormon. I've created a scripture wall where we are trying to create visuals for each chapter to hang up. We are also keeping a reading chart where we can put stickers to see how well we're doing, and we have a monthly goal written down with a reward for finishing it...this month, it's to get though first Nephi and we'll have a root beer float party at the end.

I want to do (finish) something at least once a week that makes me smile. This week, I'm going to work on this little flock of birds. I made one to see how it would turn out the other day. At first I thought I should have enlarged the pattern, but once I got it stuffed, I fell in love! The one little guy I have makes me smile HUGE! I'm excited to see what a flock on a branch over the computer desks will do. I have a small list of sewing and art projects that I'm really excited about, and I want to feel like I'm getting through them this year instead of continuing to add to them...I'm tired of feeling like I'll smile someday...I'm going to start creating my smiles on a more regular basis. Plus I'd like to get my craft blog going and I hope this will help me breath some life into it.

I'm going to be better about keeping the house cleaner....at least clean enough that I feel we can function in it. I've never been very good at keeping a clean house, and I don't see that changing overnight...or even over the course of the year. But I'd like to focus on doing better...things like keeping the kitchen clean enough that I can cook in it without needing to clean part of it first, and making sure that the clothes we need are at least clean and dry when we need them. I know that may not seem like a huge goal, but it will be a big improvement on my stress level if I can stay on top of it better then I have.

I'm going to work on being more patient with my kids. I'm going to focus on answering their questions better instead of saying "*sigh* don't worry about it". I'm going to tell them "later" much less often. And I'm going to take the opportunity to stop whatever I'm doing to let them show me what they are doing every time they ask.

I'm going to find a way to be more active. Last year I tried to start running...but I can't start with the hills around our house, so it felt like a big production to get out and go to the park to run...a 30 min run would turn into an hour and half of my time, and it fizzled out pretty quick. Right now, I'm walking Betty to and from school daily, and that helps, but I'd like to get some more exercise. I'd really like to get an elliptical, but we'll have to see if we can fit it into our tax return budget. So, right now, the exercise goal is in the planning stages, but I'll do whatever I can to make it happen.

So that is my list of goals for this year. I hope to keep on top of them.