I normally find a list of New Years Resolutions I’ve made for the year in my journal. I never manage to write them on a card or poster or anywhere I would actually see them, so I tend to forget about them less than a month after setting them, but for some reason I like to go back and see if I’ve managed to accomplish any of them purely out of chance. I’ll usually pick a random number of my goals I need to accomplish in order to deem the year “successful.” I barely made it in 2008.

Unfortunately, however, there is no such entry for 2009. At the beginning of this year, I was really into new-agey type motivational seminars. It’s embarrassing to admit that, but we all have those periods in our life that we had to go through, but don’t really like talking about. Anyway, one of the seminars I went to was called Life Vision. You were supposed to write down everything you wanted to accomplish in the next year in five areas of your life. And you were supposed to think BIG. You would then record yourself reading this document (known as your Life Vision) and listen to it every single day. In theory (that is, according to the seminar instructor), everything you said about yourself in this document would happen.

So, the closest thing I have to a list of resolutions is this document. And boy is it detailed. And I thought big, let me tell ya. I pretty much describe my ideal while trying to keep some shred of realism. The five areas are Spiritual, Physical, Relationships (Family & Social), Professional/Financial, and Emotional/Personal Development. That document is 8 pages. Ha! So I’m not posting it here. If you are really interested in reading it, let me know and I’ll send it to you. But for those who are not interested in reading 8 pages of me talking to myself, here are the highlights:

• I go to church all three hours every week (aww…)
• I weigh 150 lbs by July 1st and continue to lose weight (ahahaha…ha…)
• I prepare meals with care and enjoy the preparation (I did that once, I think)
• I bring my lunch to work (But what would I do with it when I went out to eat?)
• All jokes I make are of a positive nature and leave people feeling happy and respected (I don’t know what kinds of jokes I planned on making, really)
• My flirting leads to dates (My what?)
• I love going to work (HAHAHA)
• I go the extra mile for Garrett because I respect him. I know that my accomplishments will be rewarded with financial raises and bonuses (well that’s just sad, really)
• By the end of 2009 I have visited and photographed 10 places unique to Utah, including the Spiral Jetty and Goblin Valley (now, while I didn’t return to Goblin Valley, I did in fact go to the Spiral Jetty, so we’re counting this one FTW)
• On December 31st 2009 I can comfortably charge $200.00 for a print of a photograph I have taken (Good gravy, I was thinking big…anyone wanna buy a picture?)
• By the end of 2010, my art is displayed in an art gallery (this line made me sad)
• On December 31st 2009 I have at least one blog entry with 100 comments (O_O…start commenting people! You’ve got two hours! Except I just realized the time on my website is set to Central, so you have ONE hour!)
• I am completely free of my Citi, Wells Fargo, and Best Buy credit card debts by January 1st 2010 (not only is this fail, but I now have an Old Navy card… )
• I am in the field digging in the dirt on an official archaeological excavation at least once in the year 2009 (I could have done this one, but just didn’t. Here’s an example of something I probably would have accomplished if I had remembered it was an actual goal)
• I am in California the first week of July for Anime Expo 2009. I am in a nice hotel the entirety of my stay (another accomplishment! woohoo!)
• I have started learning Spanish (what?? I don’t even remember setting this goal!)
• I have successfully located a piano where I can practice without intruding on anybody (aw, man, I wish I had figured this one out)

Yeah, and that’s just the highlights! Moral of the story: STOP TRYING TO OVERACHIEVE. IT ONLY MAKES YOU FEEL FAIL LATER. I gotta think a bit on my goals for 2010. I might post them here, I might not. I’ll write them in my journal, though, so I know where to find them next December 31st.

I decided that I wanted to make some blog goals for myself:

1) use “I” instead of i, it’s a bad habit that i need to break…see what i mean? ahhh!!! I did it again (there! hah!)

2) post some free patterns – I have some, I just need to test them…..

4) maybe post some/find some inspiration for projects I want to do

3) ummm…hmmm…*will think on it* oh, how about entering more contests/having a goal of some kind? well, it sounds good to me ^_^

well, hopefully 2010 is awesome!

The monkeys and I had a great last day of 2009.

We started our day by driving through the snow to ShopRite to do our first shop of 2010.

It was snowing pretty good when we left, and I was a little nervous about the drive home. 

Going down the mountain is nervewracking, but one way or the other, I know I’m getting to the bottom of the hill.

Not to worry…I stopped each time I took a picture.  I can see my parents reading this and imagining me driving and snapping away with my camera, endangering the lives of their grandchildren.  I stopped, then snapped.

We did our first shop of 2010 at ShopRite.  Normally, I shop on Sundays only, but I had a bunch of coupons that expired today, and those items also happened to be on sale, so I decided to go today to get the best deals.  I won’t go back to the store until Sunday, January 10th.  Tomorrow, I’ll be posting my goals for the New Year and one of them is a grocery goal, so you can see what I bought and track our progress on the page I’ll be adding for that goal.

When we got home, the monkeys couldn’t wait to play in the snow. 

So, we bundled them up and out they went.

After getting good and cold and wet in the snow for a few hours, the monkeys came in and had a snack.

After their snack, I gave the boys a haircut, and then they went and had a nice, long, hot bath.  When the boys were done with their bath, Monkey Girl took one.  Normally, she takes showers, but today, she decided she wanted a nice, long, hot bath, too.

After the bath, everyone put on their jammies and I made some chicken noodle soup for lunch.

After the soup, we baked some chocolate chip, chocolate chunk cookies. 

We made two cooling racks full.

By the time I got to the camera this is how many were left:

As you can see, my monkeys love them some cookies.  (I know…I know…I don’t do street slang well…it’s hard for me to sell it…still, I try.)

After cookies, we settled in to watch (oh so appropriately) Curious George, and while we watched, Monkey in the Middle pulled out his second loose tooth. 

Apparently, “eves” are Tooth Fairy nights for us.  Christmas Eve, New Year’s Eve…  I hope this doesn’t mean that we have to wait until next Christmas for the next tooth to fall out!

We’re looking at a night of board games, kids movies, popcorn, and general family time.

After the monkeys go to bed, Real Man and I have Extract and Into the Wild to watch.  I’ve heard great things about both, so here’s hoping they’re good.

I hope that however you are spending your New Year’s that you are surrounded by people you love and that you spend the evening smiling!

This is it!  2009 is over.  It’s time to look ahead.  Here are 17 things to strive for in the new year that will help your booklet business grow!

1) If you haven’t done it already – Write Your Booklet Manuscript! You can’t reap riches from something that doesn’t exist.  This is your first step.  Nothing else happens until it’s done!

2) Ignore Your Fear And Get Out There. Fear is a killer. It will kill your ideas, your motivation and your momentum.  Don’t let fear stop you!  Remember, there’s nothing to fear but fear itself!

3) Increase Your Visibility. The more people there are who discover you, the more people there are to buy your booklet.

4) Come Up With New Titles To Offer Your Audience. If they like the first booklet they purchased from you, chances are they’ll come back for more!

5) Come Up With New Product Ideas To Offer Your Audience. How about a CD?  An E-book?  A Workbook?  A DVD?

6) Stay Current In Your Subject. Read all you can.  Attend workshops if they’re offered.  Research online.  This keeps you at the top of your game and lends you credibility as an expert.

7) Be Generous With Your Readers. The more you give, the more you get (but don’t give just for this reason!).  Always give them your best, and deliver more than you promise.

Embrace Your Passion And Write From Your Heart. Even when you’re writing non-fiction, you need to love what you’re writing about.  If you don’t really care, why should your reader?

9) Take Time To Celebrate The Little Victories Along The Way. Did you make a sale of just one booklet?  Rejoice!  Somebody thought enough of what you wrote to pay you for it!  More sales are sure to follow!

10) Dream. This is how you come up with goals and new ideas!

11) Strive For Excellence In All You Do. You won’t always hit the mark, of course, but if you’re not striving for excellence you’ll be settling for mediocrity.

12) Do At Least One Thing Everyday To Bring You Closer To Your Goals. Make one phone call.  Write one email. Tell one person about your booklet.  And if you can do more than one thing – do it!

13) Respect Your Time And Expect Others To Do The Same. Time is your most valuable resource.  Use it to get you from where you are to where you want to be!

14) Be Accountable. If you say you’ll do it – do it!

15) Be Responsible. Remember that whatever you put out into the world stays there forever!

16) Adapt. Make changes where and when you need to.  If you are too ridgid in your plans and unwilling to bend, it will cost you opportunities.

17) Have Fun! If you love to write, and you’re writing about your passion, your booklet business should be a source of great pleasure and satisfaction for you.

Would you like to add something to the list?  Please leave your comments below!

All my best for a happy (and rich!) new year!

Kim

PS: Don’t forget to click on one of the links at the top right of this page to subscribe so you never miss a single, important post!  Remember, it only takes ONE idea to start the riches flowing to you!  Also, if you like this post please share it on your favorite social website.  Thanks!

New Years Resolutions Suck! They SUCK! There – I said it.

I’ve had resolutions before… but they usually last until about 8^th January.

Saying – “I want to get fit/lose weight” or “I want to quit smoking”, etc. etc. usually just lasts until you get back into normal routine.

Maybe resolutions don’t work because they are not goals.

Remember from school! (if you did business studies maybe?) – Smart goals being:

Specific

Measurable

Achievable

Realistic (and… drum roll)

Time bound

So instead of generic getting fit you might say: I want to be able to fun 5km in 5 minutes by 30 April 2010 (or something like that!). So on 30 April you could run 5kms and see if you could do it under 5 minutes.

And since I had to write some SMART goals for work I realise how much time they take to think up. FOREVERRRRR!

Maybe this year it is time to do something a little different (and easier).

Here is the magic answer (well its not that magic really) – Make yourself do your resolutions by making them automatic.

HOW? If you want to get fit – join the soccer/netball/other sports team.

If you join the soccer team –then if you don’t turn up at practise/games your teammates won’t be happy with you.  (note I don’t say join the gym – although the gym is great I know too many people who are paying for a gym membership they don’t use).

If you want to save money – put an automatic transfer from your bank account into an account you have limited access to for 10% of your wage each month/fortnight (see the one trick to saving).

If you want to learn guitar/take up a hobby – buy lessons or join a weekly group.

If you want to read the top 100 books – join a book club.

But I think you get the idea.

My resolutions/goals for 2010 (just in case you wanted to know):

- Website -To get 10,000 people subscribed to this blog newsletter by 30 September (if you are interested to get the newsletter (yay!) sign up by clicking this link http://ymlp.com/signup.php?id=gemjwbjgmgj )

-Website learn how to fix the website better so I can put Paypal donate button and email signup list into website instead of links (damn wordpress… it hates the html codes…)

- Website To make back the money I have spent getting this site up! (if you like the site maybe you can donate to the site (do it!)

- Band To play gigs & record our songs (EP?) with my band Throw Catch

- Finances – pay off my credit cards by 31 March

- Finances – loan pre-approved for a property by 31 May, buy property by 30 September 2010.

Happy New Year to everyone! – I hope it is a great one.

Good morning everyone. I actually got up early enough to do a blog post in the morning! I’m quite proud of myself! This morning I tried my first bowl of homemade oats ever and they were organic! I still cheated out and cooked in the microwave to save time…and the oats proceeded to explode…..so that was a lovely mess to clean up. Don’t worry I didn’t lose much though!

Here’s what I did:

1/2 cup organic rolled oats
1 cup water
1/2 banana
Tbs Brown Sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
Scoop of Teddy’s Peanut Butter

Combine oats and water. Cook in microwave for 2 minutes.
Stir. Cook for another 30 seconds.
Stir in brown sugar and cinnamon. Top with other ingredients.

This was absolutely delicious!!! I am totally stuffed right now!

NEW YEARS

For some reason I am a big fan of making goals for the new year. Granted I believe when making a decision, whether that’s diet/exercise or whatnot, it doesn’t need to wait till a new year is upon you. But I still think it’s a good time to reflect back on the year and make improvements if necessary.

Here are some hopes for me and my New Year broken down into categories.

Personal:

Set more time aside for hobbies (ex reading/working out/blogging/scrapbooking)
Be as money conscious as possible (new home=more bills)
Have date night with sexy boyfriend at least once every couple weeks
See more friends! (I can be such a hermit sometimes)

Professional:

Work on efficiency
Communicate better
Learn to be a better teacher (realized I’m really bad at this when trying to teach someone our software today)

Nutrition:

Continue to practice good portion control
Gradually integrate organic fruits and vegetables (I can’t afford to buy all organic but here and there wouldn’t be as bad)
Not every recipe has to be new! Remake some of the good ones too. (bad habit)
Try a new food or cooking ingredient once a week or at least once every other week.
Try a cooking class

Fitness:

Schedule fitness in daily planner (this will prevent excuses)
Try new workouts to keep things exciting
Run 5K in May (baby steps)
Integrate strength training twice a week
Work out in the morning (this is a huge IF, haha)
Get more sleep!

Do you have any New Years Resolutions Goals?

Love Out Loud Toy Drive: A New Year is headed our way and as KSWP/KAVX wraps up 2009, The Good Friends Morning Show would like to thank everyone who helped make the Love Out Loud Christmas Giveaway, The Manger Network Toy Drive a huge success! 1800 children helped and almost 800 families.
Thanks also to Love, Inc., Urgent doc, Wal-mart, The Campbell’s Group, Sam’s Club and more than a dozen churches. And the hundreds of volunteer Krew members who helped.

New Year’s Resolutions That Survive the Test of Time: How to Beat Resolution Dilution This Year (ABC News)

Good Food Friend Amy Shares: Practical health goals for the New Year. (interview)

1. Start with exercise. It gets your mind going where your body needs to be.
2. If you’re drinking regular sodas, stop. One regular soda contains 140 calories and contains 10 teaspoons of sugar.
3. Take your lunch to work. You have better control over the food you eat and you’ll save up to $35.00 a week minimum, that’s $140.00 a month you could give to KSWP!

Fun iPhone Fact: 3 out of 5 (60%) of the top 25 selling aps for Itunes educational section are aimed at what group of people… wait for it…
Toddlers and preschoolers!! What?!? Do your kids play on the Iphone?

Here are my goals for 2010 and my game plan for getting there:

Take my career to the next level and make $___

Game Plan

Obtain work (that I enjoy) to make x amount.

Get published in a national, consumer magazine (more than once).

Have at least two well-paying pieces published per month.

Have 50 subscribers by 12.31.10.

Redesign fcg site.

Attend networking events and really promote my service.

Continue honing my skills.

Revamp MW site and assist people through MW blog.

Get (and stay) fit and healthy!

Game Plan

Work out (including yoga) five times of week.

Eat healthier and cut back on soda and sugar.

Drink more water.

Meditate and clear my head daily.

Practice patience and see the good in everyone.

Exude positivity.

Have ‘me’ time at least once a week.

‘Mission: Fabulosity’

Game Plan

Play with my hair and try different styles.

Grow my hair to armpit length.

Play with more makeup and nail polish colors.

Always look fabulous and on point; rock my own style.

Get my finances right!

Game Plan

Handle student loans.

Budget and spend my money wisely.

Pay myself first.

Treat myself on occassion.

Become self-efficient.

Have fun!

Game Plan

Try new and different activities and food.

Take a few one day road trips.

Stay in contact with friends and family.

Do some things by myself (i.e., shopping, movies, etc.)

And of course, My Ultimate Goal: Live My BEST Life!

I love writing to-do lists. Not following them, not x-ing them off, but simply writing a list of goals. The end of the year happens to coincide with my birthday, so it’s a good time to take a look at what I’ve done and what I hope to do the next year. I’m turning 37 this year, and it’s my 7th year of squat farming in Oakland. Here’s to another seven!

GARDEN

Increase productivity. This year, I’m creating French intensive beds. For awhile I was trying to do those hippie permaculture jungles, but I’m starting to see that for me, it isn’t as productive or easy to harvest as it could be. So I’ve made four raised berms and planted row crops. My idea is to harvest everything at once, add compost, and then plant a new crop. I’ll still do interplanting, but it’ll be more organized. I want to start using the fence more as a scaffolding for growing stuff like grapes and cucumbers, too. With more productivity, I’m going to look for a better distribution model, too.

Save more Water. This summer was drier than a pot smoker’s mouth at dawn. Billy and I really curbed our house water use, and we re-used tons of greywater, but I’m realizing that perhaps summer is not the best growing season for California. To that point, I’m going to grow another crop of dry-farmed tomatoes. But i’m also going to plant a dry-land cover crop in May in many of the beds, and let it run its course through June, July, and August. I can use it for animal fodder.

Pull out Ornamentals. I planted an echium and melianthus major about five years ago and they are huge now. Huge and not producing anything very edible or beautiful. So out they go! I’ll replace them with fruit trees, and a lil’ duck pond.

Deal with Bermuda Grass and that F-ing Perennial Buckwheat. Two horrible weeds. The fact that someone actually gave me the buckwheat just pisses me off. It refuses to die. It also refuses to taste good, and even my animals won’t eat it. This spring, I’ll be hosting a big weed pulling party. I might even hire some local workers, but that last stand of weeds has to go!

BARNYARD

Muscovy Ducks. I am in love with duck confit. Ducks are also great because they reproduce on their own, grow quickly, and are downright cute. And so, our plan is to get a breeding pair of Muscovies and let them do their magic in the garden. We hope they don’t destroy the various vegetable beds. They are going to live in this car–our gutted 240D–at night.

Breeding Hens. A dear friend gave me five of her bantam hens. They are raised by their mother and are more feral than tame, but I think they will be good setters. My idea is to bring a rooster in for my big girls, get them knocked up, and then stash their fertilized eggs under the bantams, who will hatch them out. My goal is to avoid ordering day-olds from the hatchery, if possible.

Rabbit Hides. I need to process the many ones in my fridge and actually figure out a way to use the pelts in a way that honors and celebrates the rabbit. We’re planning a big rabbit gala with Meatpaper and OPEN in early February, so stay tuned.

Guinea Hogs. I know, I said I’d never raise a pig again. But now someone told me about the marvelous, diminutive guinea hog. Never getting bigger than 250 pounds, these delicious piggies weigh 100 pounds or less, and would be perfect for my small farmelette. Dumpsters here I come again!

Requeen. It’s been a while, but I think I need to requeen my bee colony. I love the girls, but they are not as productive as they should be! I’m hoping to catch another swarm and get a second hive going.

HOME AND KITCHEN

Cob Oven. This is on my list every year, and every year it goes by without getting done. But really, it would be wonderful to make pizza and pies, breads and cakes, right?

Cheese Cave. So far, I have a cheese closet. But I’m confident it can be turned into a functional cheese cave. I just have to get some fans, themometers, and various coolers. I want to experiment with making some rind-y cheese, and one day will figure out how the hell Cypress Grove makes Humbolt Fog. This may involve some kind of apprenticeship. These are, from left to right, bandaged goat cheddar (larded with duck fat), fresh chevre, and the 95% humidity requiring Blue Goat.

Wild Food. Sometimes I feel like a dumb-ass farmer trying to grow stuff when nature provides, if you know where and when to look. I want to try to do more harvesting in the wild–acrons, bay nuts, ’shrooms, nettles, and berries. Maybe some hunting.

Happy New Year to you all; thanks for reading! And please feel free to share your goals on your farm/garden/patio…

A New Year is upon us. That means new possibilities, new opportunities and for some – new resolutions. I however, am not a good “New Years Resolution” person. I’ve never been that interested in making them – nor very good at keeping them when I did make them. Instead, I make a couple of “New Years Goals” every year. I pick something that interests me, something that I want to accomplish or master in the coming year, and set that as my plan for the New Year. 

Last year it was machine applique. I wanted to learn how to do this technique so that I could add a little something to my quiltmaking arsenal for the kids quilts. I am not interested in the time-consuming Hand Applique due to the fact that with approx. 17 quilts due out for gifts every Christmas, and all the baby quilts thru the year, time is at too much of a premium in my world. So, I sought out the (in my humble opinion) “Queen of Machine Applique”   Pat Sloan a very wonderful and talented lady who came to my rescue in this endeavor! She is an amazing, sweet lady who makes Machine Applique so easy to understand, learn and do that even I could “get it”!! She’s wrote tons of books on the subject, but I was Blessed to learn from her “in person” via an internet feed, in about 10 minutes!!! How’s that for no-frills teaching!!! She made it so easy to learn that I could kiss her – if we lived closer I do talk to her alot online, and right now she’s buried under about 20+ inches of snow, so I’ll save the kiss-visit for later.   

Anyways, this year my goal (I think) is to master Fabric Painting. I just found a supplier for the paint pens and supplies I’ll need – Mary Maxim - who is also a great source for yarns, beading, embroidery and other handcrafts, and  I’m thinking that some quilts with the combination of applique and fabric painting/embellishment will be da bomb!! Throw in some Thread Painting (another technique on my New Years Goals list to learn) perhaps ala’ Miss Patsy Thompson and I am imagining all sorts of wonderful possibilities!! Wish me luck! Hopefully, I should will be able to make some awesome quilts to bless others with for next Christmas!! At least, that is the plan anyways.   

Another plan/goal is that maybe, just maybe, I might even get to make myself a quilt this year! Ahhhh, yet another New Years Goal… Actually, that one would be considered an unfinished goal from last year, er – the year before, no – the year before that, um….you get the idea.  

So, don’t make resolutions this year – make one or two or three New Years Goals! They are much more forgiving, and the best part is – NO DEADLINES!!! Lord know that we all could use less of those! So, do what you love, stay warm, enjoy yourself and have fun with your goals! 

Until next time…. 

Shady 

The next installment of Carnival of Genealogy is about our goals for 2010. I could not very well write new goals with revisiting the ones I set for 2009. Below are the goals for 2009 in bold and what I have accomplished so far.

1. Find out who the parents are for John O’Connell.

Still trying to find out. I have found where John is buried, I need to order his death certificate to continue my research.

2. Find out who the parents are for Bridget Curran O’Connell.

Again, I have found where she is buried and need to get more records to continue research on the Curran line. According to church records, they believe she had a sister named Catherine.

3. Place the remaining 2 O’Connell’s at St Paul’s/St Mary’s Cemetery into the family tree.

Still have to place Marie O’Connell (1859 – 1950). I am thinking she is either a second wife for John or an unmarried sister.

4. Go to NY and visit the cemeteries and get photo’s of grave markers (St Paul’s/St Mary’s, Black River and Mount Carmel). Plus meet the family I have found.

Since I have been unemployed for most of the year, I have not been able to make it to NY. I have written letters and spoke on the phone with one of the relatives I have found. Theresa is willing to meet with our family and interested in whatever family information I have found.

5. Continue to blog my research and findings on a regular basis.

Still blogging about my research

6. Start more in-depth research on the Springer line.

The Springer line starts with my Great Grandmother Rose Springer (30 Mar 1888 – 22 Aug 1966). So far, I have found her Mother in once census record. Mother is Mary, she also has a brother, William and a sister, Sophia/Sophie.

Though I have done a lot of research this year, it seems I need to work more on these goals. To be precise, I need to set precise goals and go from there.

On this blog I’ve done a lot of floundering around. I don’t mind so much, but after a year of this shindig it’s about time to put some rhyme into that reason.

Next spring, I’ll be student-teaching. This means I’ll likely blog about teaching tips and anecdotes. I, however, am eclectic, so I’d like to do more than just that.

Next year I’d like to have a theme each month. (I’d blog about the theme 1-2 times a week.) Here are some of the ideas I’ve come up with:

Books*
Movies*
Myths
Artists
Outfits
History of Sports (baseball, lacrosse, curling, etc.)
Saints
Mongoose Poems
*broad, so I need to specify by genre

1) Which of these do you want to read about?
2) Which of these do you *not* want to read?
3) Suggest other themes! (Permission to be crazy granted)

I think I’m officially the last person in the entire blogging world to do this, but it’s been percolating so long that I can’t quite bring myself to not do it. Besides, I feel like I need to, if only for myself, so here goes – my New Year’s Day post!

I never was real keen on making New Year’s resolutions, as it just seems like the perfect way to start off the year with a resounding dose of failure. Sometime around the end of January you eat that piece of turtle cheesecake, miss 3 consecutive days of exercising, or realize you are already a week behind in your read the Bible in a year program, and you promptly brand yourself a loser, throw hopeless hands up into the air, and say, “Maybe next year…” I just don’t need that sort of thing in my life. I’ve fought hard to get where I am emotionally, so I have no intent to shoot myself in the foot by setting myself up to 334 days of each year thinking uncharitably about myself. However, like most of the people I know, I do feel that fresh start excitement that comes with the scent of a January calendar page, and a couple years back, I came up with an idea that is working much better for me – New Year’s Goals.

New Year’s Goals have very few rules, though last year they did need a few more than they had. They have to actually be possible. I’m not allowed to beat myself up if I don’t accomplish them. They have to be well defined. Two of those three rules were added this year. Having goals instead of resolutions gives me an entire year to succeed, and they help focus my ecclectic brain on a little bit narrower range of possibilities. Another benefit is that it sets some things before me that I have heard myself say, “I always wanted to” so many times I’m sick of hearing it, but without a steady reminder, I find drifting out of my mind when I have the time.

Last year’s goals were not too many:

• Knit a Pair of Socks – This one was accomplished with my Coriolis Socks, which I absolutely adore!
• Master Lace Knitting – This goal would show you just how little I knew about lace knitting December a year ago. It’s also totally undefinable in reality. Just how does one know they’ve “mastered” lace knitting? Should have been “Become Very Comfortable Knitting Lace.” That I definitely accomplished.
• Go Somewhere New – I didn’t think I was going to get this, but when I ended up with a nearly last minute trip to Honduras, which included a side trip through Guatemala into Belize, I found I’d accomplished it well beyond my original dream.
• Read 100 Books – Somewhere around June, I added this, which has now been classed as an illegal move on New Year’s Goals. I didn’t succeed, but I might well have made it had I not read th e entire Outlander series. Books with 48 CD’s take a good bit longer to read than your run of the mill 6-10 CD offering.
• Make a Gail Wilson Kit – Considering the collection I have of the kits, I thought it was time to put my money where my mouth is – or my hands where my money is, or some such thing. Thinking is as far as I got with this one. Oops!
• Finish the Laundry Room Remodeling – Well… Perhaps this would have happened if my dear daughter hadn’t offered to help get the sewing room started, then hubby hadn’t suddenly revived his nook project and added allowing me a studio door. I was spread too thin with those four projects to complete even one of them, though I don’t regret the progress that was made on all.
• Be out of Debt by the End of the Year – Total flop. ‘Nough said?

My list for 2009 is much longer and definitely more ambitious, but I’m doing some things differently, and I’m feeling quite positive about a lot of them. The biggest change is that this year, I’m not settling back in January and thinking that I have a whole year to do this stuff after all, so why rush? There have been a fair number of serendipitous occurrences to help me move in the right direction, too, so I’m off to a great start! I don’t really think I’ll be able to get them all done, but I’d sure like to surprise myself, and I’m not going to aim low!

• Be Debt Free by the End of the Year – I hate having to have this goal. This also includes non-financial IOU’s. I’m going to have to have a miracle to pull this one off. I need to sell an awful lot of books if this is going to happen – and my knitting pattern needs to be a smashing success! I also have several projects, including a quilt to finish for this.
• Get My Email Under Control – This is another one in the miracle category, but who knows?
• Make a Gail Wilson Kit – Sound familiar? Serendipity is that Gail is currently running a Hitty class, I have the kit, and the fee wasn’t very high. I’m far behind the front runners, but I HAVE actually started my girl.
• Finish Reba – The most attainable of the miracle class of goals. There is little to do for her to be complete, but it involves a kiln, learning to fire bisque, renewing my acquaintance with bisque painting, and getting up the nerve to put my beautiful, nearly done head in for a last firing.
• Complete Sewing Room – Mid-range in terms of difficulty. I’ve done an awful lot in there, but I still have oodles of sorting and organizing, along with quite a bit of trim painting to do – like the bookcase and two casement windows. This isn’t a gimme!
• Complete Laundry Room – Another mid-range sort of project. As much as is done in there, the floor tile is a bothersome, time consuming project, and I have some trim painting to do. Really challenging would be that I have to stop knitting long enough to crochet the curtains!
• Lose 25 Pounds – This is going to be easier than I thought. I’m already half the way there!
• Learn to Do Entrelac and Knit Backwards – I’m really looking forward to this one. I have the pattern and yarn to do Autumn, and a week or so back, I finally found a tutorial that made knitting backwards suddenly easy. I’m still slightly awkward at it, but a little bit of practice and it’s going to be second nature. Biggest challenge here is just to actually break away from the temptation of so many interesting KAL’s and do this piece.
• Go Somewhere New – Looking very challenging at this point in time. I had two cruises planned for this year, both to new places,  both depending on other people, and both fell through already. So much for this goal being a gimme. All the states within decent driving distance I already have, and I don’t currently have any good set up for a low cost visit in a new state or country – and there ’s that “out of debt” business… Stay tuned!
• Become Comfortable Spinning – Easy? Well… First I have to finish building my wheel. Then all that remains is finding time!
• Read 100 Books – I’m really cooking on this one already! I think I just listed book 15 – or was it 16?
• Knit Another Pair of Socks - This is more desperation than goal. I adore my socks and I hate it when I have to take them off to wash them! I need more hand knit socks!!! This is a “just do it!” sort of project, and I’m sort of hoping that the SHP KAL is enough to jumpstart the process.
• Stash All My Downstairs Yarn on Ravelry – This would be much easier if the stash would quit multiplying! That said, I’ve already been working hard on this. I’m currently at 244 in my regular stash, so ignoring minor fluctuations due to usage, it will be interesting to see where I am on Dec. 31.
• Do a “Difficult” Lace Pattern – Challenge here is just focusing on doing it – ignoring some of the other rabbits dashing across my path constantly. It’s tough to do that with something like 7 shawls on my  needles and two KAL’s imminent…
• Do Something/Anything with my CSM – I’m not even aiming so high as a pair of socks at this point. I just want to sit down with someone and find out for sure my machine actually works! Socks would be a nice side benefit to the process, though. ;o) A circular sock machine is too valuable to just hold down the floor, in my opinion, and that’s all my lazy contraption has done for about 3 years now.

Now that I type this all out, I’m thinking it’s a very good thing I have a solid start on so much of it. This is quite a list!!! I think I’m going to make a separate page listing the goals in the sidebar here on the blog, then update as things happen…

I decided that I was running late on making my New Year’s Resolutions, but that I needed to make them. They aren’t “resolutions” so much as goals for my year. Some of the goals are personal, some of them are website related, and some of them are writing related. To make it easier, I’m just listing them as they come.

My Writing Goals

1. To write a novel from start to finish, and edit it. (I wrote my first novel last year, for Nano. This year’s goal is a novel that I would be willing to send to publishers)

2. To send the edited version of the novel to publishesrs.

3. To write smaller pieces, edit them and send them out to publishers/magizines/ezines.

4. To have some smaller pieces published by people other than myself.

5. To expand my writing skills.

Personal Goals

1. To continue losing weight. As of right now I have lost around 22 pounds. My goal is to lose another 15 pounds.

2. To get a REAL job. I am currently deciding what path I would like to take next in my career.

3. To complete my writing goals.

4. I’d like to reduce my dept. I won’t go into detail but there are two options, and that is to personal to go into on my website.

5. To continue the work in progress that is my family life, and patch some of the pieces back together. (Again, to personal to go into atm)

My Website Goals

1. To combine all of my web content into one space, so that people don’t have to travel here, there, and the third place to see my stuff.

2. To improve my webspace content so that it is publishing worthy.

3. To use my website to improve my writing skills.

4. Generate traffic so that my website can be a place to showcase my work.

By Jennifer Blanchard

 I know I’ve been pushing New Year’s goals for the last couple weeks (and I also know I missed my post date for the week, my apologies), but I feel like this is the best time of year to start thinking about what this year will look like for you. Remember, you’re in charge of your own destiny in life.

And I want to provide you with everything you need to start out your New Years right. So here are two great resources to get you started…

• The Ultimate Guide to New Year’s Resolutions–This guide was created by the Web site, First30Days.com and includes everything you need (and more) to figure out what you want to do this year and how to do it. In this guide you’ll get: the 10 mistakes people make so you can avoid them and 10 innovative ways to succeed at making resolutions and keeping them, such as picking a theme for the year or finding someone to make the resolution with you.
• The Ultimate Guide for Life Procrastinators–If you’re a life procrastinator (meaning you have big ideas or big plans, but then you never take steps toward any of them), this guide might just be the “kick in the pants” you need to stop wasting time and get started living the life of your dreams. This guide was written by me as a gift for my little brother (who is one of the biggest life procrastinators I know), but I thought that a lot of people could probably benefit from it.

New years lead to new resolutions. This time of year brings refreshment and hope, knowing a whole year with new possibilities and child exercise awaits. Any mistakes made the previous year can be undone and self improvement looks promising. 

The most common American resolution centers on weight and exercise, which isn’t surprising since at least half of the country is either overweight or obese. Millions of Americans every year attempt to fight the battle against the bulge and improve their health. The best ways to do this is to exercise and change eating habits.

But should your resolution extend beyond self? As a parent, you may see the need for your children to also shape up. If your eating habits are bad, it’s likely theirs are too. If you spend most of your free time in front of the television, do your kids sit right next to you? Instead of saying, “This year I want to lose weight and be healthy,” stretch your goal to say, “This year I want to change my family’s lifestyle so we are all healthy.”

Write down your family’s goals and put them on a mirror or refrigerator for a reminder. Changes don’t have to be drastic, they can be gradual. Gradually incorporate healthier foods in your diet and resist the temptation for fast food and TV dinners. Determine how often you will engage in family physical activities. If your goal is once a week, start planning activities now for the next couple months. Preparing activities in advance will eliminate spur-of-the-moment frustrations.

Can you see the possibilities for 2009?  Having healthy kids is very much possible through child exercise and healthy child nutrition.  What are you waiting for?

Related:

Kids Exercise Video With Statistics

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A New Year’s Resolution is something that when broken is dropped and forgotten, a New Year’s Goal is something if broken is picked back up and tried again. It is something to work toward.

Progress not Perfection.

The first is something a good friend of mine said earlier this week when telling me about his goals for 2009, the second is something I used to hear from my ex all the time – it is a common phrase used among friends of Bill W’s.

I’ve decided not to make any resolutions this year. Only a handful of them ever took, anyway. Instead, I have decided to make a few goals for 2009. I made a general “to do” list of all the items I want to get done around my house in the first quarter of the year. Slowly I have been adding the items from this list to my daily list of work to be done as there is time available in my schedule. A few (there are 24 total) of these items are:

• build shelving unit for behind office desk
• finish cutting large logs on patio
• machete down weeds around pond
• build closet in office
• purchase railroad ties for raised bed off of patio
• haul amended soil to around pond area for new garden
• finish filling in shallow end of pond with sand
• purchase liner for pond
• trim rose bush
• trim black raspberry bushes

So far, I have:

• gone through all of my old tax boxes and shredded everything more than eight years old. I filled my large recycling container (the size of the trash cans) with shredded paper from this task. This gives me quite a few new storage boxes and cleared out a lot of space in my closet.
• Built shelves in a few of my closets so I can make better use of some of the dead space.
• Cleaned out three closets.

It should be interesting to see if I can get these all done by the end of March.

I love this time of year because the possibilities seem endless.  What will the New Year bring me?  Where will I be in one year?  What do I want from the New Year?  The New Year gives us an opportunity to reassess our lives and make changes.  I do try to do this more often than just once a year but I look at January as t  he time to make really big changes.   So what are my big changes?   I guess all of the same changes that we all want to make: exercise more, eat better, lose weight, get organized.  This year I am going to try something a little bit different to help me meet my goals.  I am going to pay attention to habits.  Now I know from past experience that I have set goals and not met them and I think it because I set the goals and didn’t change any of my habits.  I hope by working on changing some existing habits and developing new ones, I will actually meet my goals.

The first habit will be to blog every day, mainly to increase my Mary Kay business.  I will make a concerted effort to increase my internet marketing efforts.  I will be learning how to do polls and surveys and will be doing many more giveaways to expose more people to all that Mary Kay has to offer.

What are your New Year’s goals and do you have a plan on how to reach those goals?  Comment and let us all know.