Resolutions.

To my dismay, I did not accomplish my resolutions from 2010. I think I only cooked 3 times the entire year, read about half the Old Testament, drank MORE pop, and...well you get the picture. But on the other hand, I accomplished goals I didn't even set! I read more and watched less television, I prayed more often, and snagged a better pay job that I really enjoy.

This year, I'm taking a more laid back approach because life is too short to feel guilty. I am a planner by nature so I had to set (and reset) some goals I would like to accomplish:

1. Read and meditate on Scripture every morning. Garth and I used to do this every morning over coffee, but life got busy and it became less and less a priority. I miss those times and we are restarting.

2. Live in each moment. I am one of those people always looking for the next big thing. The engagment, the marriage, the honeymoon, the first place, the anniversary, the first house, etc. I want to enjoy where I am at every moment without looking ahead or looking back.

3. Start meal planning and cooking 5 nights a week. This seems lofty since I couldn't even cook 3 nights a week last year, but I know the key to being healthy is making your own meals. Garth and I plan to do this together, and since our move will decrease my commute I will have the time to do it and learn to love it.

4. I want to be in the best shape of my life. I lost a significant amount of weight in 2009 but I never reached my goal weight and I plan to do that this year. I plan on getting back into working out and eating less processed food and more fruits and veggies.

5. Save. We became disciplined savers and bought our first house and now we are going to focus on investing for our future and saving for a trip for our five year anniversary. France or Mexico, anyone?

What are your resolutions or goals this year?

Resolutions.

1. Read the Bible in a year...for real this time. I think this link will help me accomplish this goal because the passage will be emailed to me daily.

2. Eat cleaner and healthier. This means more fruits and veggies and less processed foods. We have gotten much better in our eating habits, but our downfall is eating too many processed foods so I really want to limit that by...

3. Cooking 3 times a week.

4. Drink less pop. I love my diet coke, but after reading a lot of bad press about it I have decided to only drink pop if we're out to eat (so about once a week).

5. Conintue working out 6 days a week. I started this habit last year and I'm addicted! I feel so much better after a good sweat that I look forward to keeping this going.

6. Become the healthiest me I can be. I'm not sure if this means losing 5, 10 or 15 pounds but with really good eating and exercising I'll see where I end up the happiest.

7. Be the best wife I can be. This entails being supportive, respectful, and servant hearted. I don't want to "get into a routine" as we venture into our second year of marriage, but continue to always put effort into our marriage.

8. Continue date nights with Garth every week. I think it is SO important to get away from the daily grind and spend quality time with your spouse doing something fun.

9. Keep on blogging. I have met so many amazing friends through this outlet and I look forward to reading about your life this year and cultivating more frienships.

Goals

It is so refreshing to get away. To see new scenery, to visit new shops, to eat new food, and to just have uninterrupted time.

We planned this trip to celebrate our one year anniversary. Our premarital mentors advised taking time each anniverary to getaway (even if it's just for dinner or a weekend) and to evaluate our relationship.

They asked us to take the time and go over how we spent our money, how we served God, how we spent our time between families, friends and each other. After evaluating the past year, we spent time setting goals for the year to come. How do we want to spend our money? How much do we want to save? What do we want to accomplish in this year? Is our time with family and friends balanced? Do we spend enough quality time together?

It was a great exercise and I look forward to doing this each year. We set goals for our careers, our weightloss, our education, our finances...so why wouldn't we set goals for our marriage too?

Resolutions

1. Be more domestic - cook meals, learn to bake, iron...Don't laugh, I'm serious!
2. Loose these stupid 15 pounds starting tonight - Garth and I are going running after work.
3. Save, save, save.
4. Read the Bible everyday. I'm getting better at this, but I need to really make it a priority.
5. Workout at least three times a week.
6. Eat more fruits and veggies.
7. Friday night date nights with Garth. We love these and need to continue them this year, especially with Garth back in school we need to make sure to carve some alone time into our schedules.
8. Volunteer more. We have been wanting to find a place to serve in our church and the beginning of a new year is the perfect time to start.
9. Join a soccer team. What a great way to have fun, meet new people, and get healthy, right?
10. Encourage and help Garth finish his web master degree this year.

Bucket List Part 2

I talked with the hubs about my bucket list and asked him what his bucket list would consist of. His response made me laugh pretty hard so I wanted to share it with all of you:

"I am pretty content with my life right now. I guess the only thing on my bucket list would be having little g-studs."

My Bucket List

1. Visit France to meet my sister-in-law and niece.
2. Visit South Africa to meet Garth's dad, aunts, uncles, and cousins.
3. Make Thanksgiving dinner for our whole family.
4. Buy a house.
5. Have babies.
6. Adopt a child from South Africa.
7. Move out of Michigan.
8. Do the shuffle and chicken dance with Garth on our 50th anniversary.
9. Bake a cake.
10. Travel to Italy and Greece.
11. Join a small group.
12. Go on a cruise.
13. Be a role model.
14. Get rock hard abs.
15. Plan an event that sells out.
16. Go on a missions trip.
17. Live near (or on!) the ocean.
18. Learn to scuba dive.
19. Take Garth to Disney World.
20. Continue to seek God everyday and live a faithful life so His will can be done.