Happy New Year!  2013 is going to be a great year.  We had a great ending and Christmas holiday (previous post) and now I'm excited for the new year and for new goals and resolutions.

This year my main goal for any area is to be consistent.  I'm really excited about my goals this year and so far have been doing great and have noticed a significant difference, the challenge will come when I miss a little here or there and get discouraged or let things slowly fade away.

Our family home evening have still been going well.  Our January theme is Be Prayerful.  Really the theme for 2013 in our home is Be Prayerful, so it seemed fitting to start out January with it.  I'm keeping Joseph Smith up there another month though because we forgot to learn something about him each week, so there's one part of a goal.  :)

I have some stickers hanging by the poster and every time we say a prayer (excluding meal prayers, we're pretty consistent with that) we get to put a sticker up.  Prayer is something I really struggle with, not necessarily communicating with my Heavenly Father, but actually getting down on my knees and not letting my mind wander.  I feel like I'm always thinking "prayers" throughout the day...please don't let one of my boys break anything...please let Morgan get home soon safely, etc. But I feel like I have been lacking in my sincerity and faith and my patience, thus my goals kind of turn into family goals, so I'm going to post them so that we have them in our book.  Because when momma's happy, everybody's happy.  :)

Spiritual Goals

1 )Study Book of Mormon 10 minutes/day : but to make this more meaningful I'm reading with my highlighter and highlighting every reference to prayer.  I'm also reading my physical scriptures (nothing against my Kindle Fire, but sometimes the tangible has more impact). It's amazing how much better I focus when I actually set the timer for 10 minutes and I know I just read as much as I can.  Some days I read faster than others, but already I feel like I'm getting more out of it when I'm reading with a specific purpose.  At the rate I'm going I'll probably finish before the end of the year, so then I'll pick something else to highlight and focus on.

2)PRAY: My ultimate focus this year is on prayer and making it such a habit that I feel lost without it.  I'm making sure that I physically get on my knees to pray.  The mornings are nice because I get out of bed, make the bed and kneel down and I'm typically alone, so I have been praying out loud...it makes a huge difference in my train of thought staying consistent.  Morgan and I are also making it a point to pray as a couple morning and night although that's not as consistent on late nights or early mornings.  We're also making sure that our boys are saying personal prayers morning and night.  This gets a little tricky since I let them say "silent" prayers when they are together, but I figure even if they are not actually "praying" they are having a quiet moment and building a habit.  We are also trying to have evening family prayer together.  Mornings are a little crazy and some of the boys are still sleeping when Morgan leaves for work...and they need their sleep, oh boy do they, but at night we are usually together.  There are going to be some tough times ahead and I feel like the only way to make it through and be able to cope that the Spirit needs to be in our home and that can't happen if we are not praying.  

Family Goals

1) Stay on Budget: This one is a tough one.  We live in a time where credit cards are just sooo easy to use.  We used to be really good at paying it off each month too, but after some unexpected big purchases and other debts and things that we just really "need" it's gotten a little out of control, but no more.  We've created a budget and at the end of every month, we'll review it and decided where it needs tweaking...now that means I can't just randomly buy all those ebooks.  :)  It really has been the little things that add up, especially when things are on sale and I think, ooh, I should get that now because we'll need it later.

2)Limit TV: No TV before school, unless all homework, chores, and things we need to do before school are done.  In the past we have had times where we have totally banned TV for days or weeks at a time.  It's really hard the first little while, but then it's much better.  The boys haven't really been couch potatoes lately either, they'll watch a show and then turn it off and play.  I think the limit TV is meant more for me and all "my" shows that I watch on my Kindle Fire.  I want to focus on playing with my kids more.  It's starting to hit us more and more that pretty soon our kids won't be asking us to play with them, they'll be asking us to leave them alone.  We also need to make an effort to get out each day.  My boys have so much energy and when we are stuck inside all day we all get a little cabin fever.

Physical Goals

1) Run three 5k races:  This one shouldn't be too hard, because I really like 5k's, I'm even tempted to maybe do a 10k or half marathon in the Fall.

2) Workout 3 days a week: That doesn't sound like much, but I've been working out with friends from my ward for the past 6 months and it's been so good for me to have buddies to work out with.  There are countless times I thought about just going back to sleep, but I knew they would be there wondering where I was.  I also want to drink more water and eat less junk, but that's just part of trying to be healthier.  We work out pretty early too, about 5:15am, so going to bed early is a must.  I use to be a night owl, but now I'm definitely a morning person and my day goes so much better if I'm up and ready before the kids are awake.

Personal Goals

1) Keep Bedroom Free of Clutter: This seems a little silly, but my room is my cleaning crutch.  I know if I want to just hurry and straighten the house, I can toss all of the random stuff in my room and "put it away later."  Later usually means weeks later.  I love walking into my bedroom and having the bed made and the floor clean and side tables free of clutter.  This also made me think of a better way to deep clean this year.  Each month I'm going to focus on one room to really make awesome.  January is my bedroom.  So far, I have re-organized the cabinets and drawers in the bathroom (way overdue on that one) and I have cleared away all my project clutter that ends up hanging around for a while.  On the days that I have time I will pick one little thing to tackle, tomorrow I think I will tackle my shoes, they sort of just end up all over the house, or on the floor in my closet and that bugs me, so I will find a better way to organize and place them.  :)  I figure if I just do one little thing to make it better, by the end of the month, it will be awesome.  Some rooms I may spend more or less time on, but I think I'll need the whole month for my room.

2) Attend Temple Monthly: This is always a personal battle.  I've been able to use the excuse that I'm nursing or pregnant and can't make it to a session, but I can't do that this year.  I really have no excuses this year.  I even have great babysitters and friends that I have full confidence in to watch my kids for a few hours.  I would like to go with Morgan each month, but I know some months that might not be realistic, so I may have to go alone, but I am determined to go once a month, or at least 12 times this year! ... so if anyone wants to do a kid swap for temple night, call me.  :)

3) Go "out" on a date monthly: Morgan and I haven't really made huge efforts to "date" but we have been getting out more the last couple months as our boys are getting older and as the baby is easier to handle and we found some really good babysitters.  So, this year we will have one big date each month where we actually get to go out.  Whether it's to dinner, rock climbing, movie, shooting on the range, whatever, we have to go out of the house.  We even put a babysitter budget in each month so we can do this guilt free.  Hopefully I'll remember to take the camera so we can make these dates fun and special and memorable.  We'll still have our movie nights and game nights that we do just at home, but I really feel like we need to get out once a month and do something fun together.  There might be months where temple night is our date night and we'll go out to dinner first or go get a treat after and that will be fun too, but doing something recreational is the goal.  So, if you know of some fun fairly inexpensive dates, I'm open to some ideas.

4) Play the piano:  I have been neglecting this talent for far too long and I'm feeling the effects of it. I took lessons of and on for about 10 years growing up, I really used to be quite good.  I still suffer from the stage fright, but I've learned to get over a lot of that.  I'm a pretty good sight reader, but not so good at memorizing. I haven't been developing this talent as I should, and so every night after the kids have all been put to bed, it's only 7:30 at the latest, so I set the timer for 20 minutes and I just play.  Right now I'm just going in order through the Primary Children's Songbook and playing all the songs, when I finish that I'll get the Hymn book out, and after that, well I haven't quite decided yet.  I want to learn the songs in those two books that I struggle with, but I think I would like to learn some new songs, maybe something classical, maybe something modern, I'm sure when the time gets here I'll know what I want to learn next, but it does feel good to have at least started creating a habit again.

Those goals and resolutions kind of seem overwhelming when I have them all written out and explained, but I have them written very concisely on a bullet point list and I have it taped to the mirror and I read through it while I'm brushing my teeth at night and in the morning.  It's been a good reminder and keeps it all fresh and motivating for me.  I love the New Year and feeling like I have a clean slate and I'm ready to hit the ground running, but I hope this year I will remember to pace myself and be consistent and make it last.  I know that if I'm focusing on these things that I will have a greater chance of being organized, happy, patient, & loving.  Until next time...