10 Goals (Note: NOT Resolutions) for the New Year

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And just like that 2013 has sneaked up on us, right?  The last day of the year is typically when people reflect on what they have accomplished and maybe what they wish they had accomplished in the past 364 days.  You may be pulling out that crinkled up piece of paper you jotted down your 2012 New Year's resolutions on or queuing up your resolutions blog post from this time a year ago.  How many things are you able to cross off?  

I will be dead honest.  I hate the word "resolutions", thus I choose not to do resolutions.  Why?  
Because it seems that a list of resolutions already has attached to it an air of a certain percentage of failure.  So, I choose to set "goals" for the New Year.
Yes, yes... I know.  Fundamentally they are the same thing, but it is all about perception.  Right, folks?  Goals I intend to achieve.  Resolutions I know that I am fully expected to not follow through on all of them, from myself or from society. ;) 

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My 10 goals for 2013 are a mish-mash of personal goals and blogging goals (in no particular order)...  

Reach 1000 blog followers.

I think this is possible.  Really.  I have just under 500 now.  This time one year ago I had maybe 40 blog followers.  I can definitely do another 500 in another 12 months, right? ;)

Get our finances organized and at least headed in the right direction.

We have started the Total Money Makeover from Dave Ramsey.  We are just now getting to the good stuff- the baby steps and the Emergency Fund.  Wish us luck!

Be more present with my husband and with my children more often.  

This one actually breaks down to sub goals...

At least two date nights with the husband and at least two just mother-son dates a month.  

I also want us to do more AS a family.  We can all be in the same room and yet be in 3 separate worlds- my husband on ESPN.com on his cell, my son on the XBox, me on my blog or Twitter on my laptop.  
We have already instituted a family game/pancakes for dinner night a couple of weeks ago.  At first my teenage son groaned a bit at the concept, but it seems that lately we all are looking forward to Thursday evenings now. ;)

SCRAPBOOK!!  

I have two scrapbooks just begging for me to start putting them together- my daughter's baby book and our wedding album (yes, from our wedding a year and half ago!).  I have the albums, the photos, the blank scrapbook pages, the embellishments, the tools, the photo corners... yes, all of that.  I just need to get started!

Improve my food photography.  

Ideally, a brand new DSLR camera would help me tremendously with this goal.  But please see my second goal above as to why that will not happen in the coming year. ^^^ (Think Mr. Ramsey will consider a fancy camera as an emergency?? Say yes... ;) )  But I will use the other simple tricks of the trade and will make a foodgawker quality photo happen with my point & shoot, friends.  (Foodgawker is becoming my Newman.... for real.)

Can... A LOT... this coming summer and fall.
Last summer marked my first adventures into the world of canning.  And I am indelibly hooked, to put it lightly.  This summer I will not be confined to a 3x3 foot raised garden bed.  This summer I will be living in a home with a couple of acres attached, and I have already asked and been given the green light by our new landlords to garden my little heart out.  Excited doesn't even begin to describe how I feel about my upcoming gardening and canning ventures in the new year. ;)

Stay in touch with my out of state girlfriends more.
And I am not just talking about emails and Facebook comments.  I am talking actual phone calls.  I have a handful of girlfriends I cherish deeply who live over 3 hours away.  
I have justified my lack of phone calls by convincing myself that it is a two-way street to stay connected, and I am not the only one failing to dial those 10 digits.
Yeah, no more excuses.  This mama will be calling her girlfriends more in the coming year.

Making myself look a bit more presentable more of a priority in 2013.
Baby girl will be turning one year old in a little over one month.  I used the whole I am a stay-at-home mother to a baby excuse for almost the entire year of 2012.
I am hoping in the new year I will be seeing myself less in PJ's, yoga pants, crazy messy headbanded hair, and unkempt eyebrows. 
Not that vanity is at the top of my priority list, but let's be honest...  When you look better, you feel better about yourself.  I want to feel better about myself in 2013.  And if that means more pumice stones and a few swipes of mascara, and pair of tweezers more than twice a month, then so be it.  ;)

Get to the gym at least twice a week.
Oh yes, the quintessential and obligatory fitness goal of the year.  Except I made this one doable.  No losing X amount of pounds or to be able to fit in a pair of jeans I owned in 2000.  Nope, just get my butt to the gym two times a week.  This also goes hand in hand with my previous goal of making myself look more presentable and thus feeling better about myself.  
Working out=feel good endorphins.
Feel good endorphins=less anxiety and better self image.  Win-win.

Simplify and streamline my online world.
Over the past 12 months, I have ended up following A LOT of blogs.  And Tweeps.  And liking a number of Facebook pages.  In the process, I have found many blogs that I love.  I have made some terrific blogger friends, and have also made some awesome collaborations.  But I am also following a lot of people who are not really relevant to my blog world or my personal life.  
It is time to pare down the blog readers, and the Facebook News Feed, and the Twitter Timeline.  
I want to make more honest connections online.  To do that, I need to cut down on a lot of the background noise that I am encountering right now. 

What are your goals for the New Year?  What do you hope to accomplish in 2013?  
Do we share any of the same goals? (Maybe we can keep each other in check? ;) )

Happy New Year's Eve, friends! :)

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