New Year Goals

I don't do resolutions.  I am not a all or nothing kind of girl.  But I do like to make some goals.  One of the blogs I read had this concept of start something, stop something, and keep something for 2011.  Here are mine:

Start:

Getting to work by 9 am. My job is really flexible and some mornings I don’t get to work until 9:30 or almost 10 am. It’s not an issue for anyone but me because it just means I get a craptacular parking spot and have to stay until 7 pm. This year I want to try to get to work by 9 am or earlier every day.

Cooking more. If I want to have a big family one day I am going to have to have some more recipes in my collection that I have actually made before. I know how to cook. Whenever I do make something it almost always turns out yummy. I just rarely make something more than once and it is almost always only for a big occasion. I am going to try to cook at least one new recipe a week this year.

Wearing Make-up every day. I think my days of rolling out of the house make-up free are gone. I am 30 now and I need to look like an adult woman instead of a 12 year old girl. Plus I need to put my best face forward all the time because you never know when I will bump in to Mr. Right.

Stop:

Neglecting my house. I am going to try to keep my house clean and stop putting off those little things I need to do. I am saving up for a downstairs re-do that should include hardwood floors, paint, new kitchen hardware and faucet, and new lighting.

Drinking like I am in college. I don’t drink that often, but when I do, I go all out like I am a college student on Spring Break. No more. It is not worth it. It is not worth the calories. Not worth the hang-over the next day. And not worth the stories people have to tell of all the stupid things you did/said the next day.

Smoking. Yes I have a dirty little secret and it is that I smoke. I don’t smoke much, only about 3-5 cigarettes at night when I get home from work/before bed. But I am going to quit. I know I can do it because I quit smoking for almost 2 weeks when I went to Dubai last summer. And a lot of people in my life have never even seen me with a cigarette. I just need to stop the night smoking.  It is embarrassing. I hate everything about it and I am finally going to give up those after-work and before-bed cigarettes for good.

Keep:

Growing my faith. I love my relationship with God. I actually love going to church on Sundays and love doing my Bible studies. I love doing things for God that I never thought I would do like getting dunked in a tank of water in front of a bunch of people, going to a Middle Eastern Country, and praying out loud. I love discovering things about myself and about Him through this relationship and I want it to grow even deeper this year.

My Friends. I have this group of friends who is like family to me. We don’t get to see each other as much as we used to because being a grown-up makes everyone so busy, but I love them to pieces. I hate that I am always like the 5th or 7th or 13th etc. wheel because almost every single one of them is married to each other now, but it’s ok. I keep hoping one day I will have a guy that I love that fits right in and becomes one of us. Ski Trip ’11 is coming up in a few weeks. There are 32 of us going I think…This is an annual trip and it has grown from 16 of us sharing a 3 bedroom house to 32 of us in a 4 story mansion! Hopefully there will be many more crew stories to tell from 2011.

Running. I ran (the whole thing!) a 5K a few weeks ago. I loved doing the couch to 5K program and I think I am going to do it again- this time working on speed and run another 5K this spring. Then I hope to do an 8K or 10K (or both) and then a half marathon. I have no desire to do a full marathon. That is just too much for me. But maybe after training for all these races I will actually become a runner. If not, oh well at least I can say I did it.

What things are you going to start, stop, or keep in 2011??