A Year in Review + A Year to Come

In January 2011, I was resolved. I followed through on some of the things I wanted to do, and some of them remain unfinished. I enjoyed marking my monthly progress (for a few months, at least) on the blog, but I'm not sure I'll be able to mark progress like I did last year.

2012 will be a year of change for our family. Even if nothing else in our life changes over the next 12 months, the baby who will arrive in just a couple months will certainly change our life as we know it. For that reason, I'm not exactly sure how I want to write out my goals for this year. They are nebulous as opposed to the very precise tasks I wanted to accomplish in 2011. Nonetheless, I want to record them here so I can look back next year and see what was most important to me in 2011.

relational and family goals:

• I want to learn how to be mom. I'm not qualifying that, because I don't know what to expect as I begin this journey. I don't want to be perfect, because I know I will fall short. I don't want to set expectations that will frustrate us more than guide us, but I do want to do all I can to learn to parent our baby guy in a way that honors God. I want to learn as much as I can and take in as much advice as I can without feeling not good enough.
• I want to keep Aaron as my priority as our family grows. I know this will be a tough one, but it is  the most important relational and family goal I am setting. 
• I set a goal last year to send birthday cards early and failed quite miserably. That's one I want to change for good.
• I want to spend more time with our families. Part of this will happen naturally when the baby is born, but I know it will be tougher than ever once the spring is over and our families have met the baby. 
• Plant ourselves in a church home and grow there.

personal goals:

• Take time during maternity leave and focus on my career and educational aspirations. Decide if I want to pursue graduate school and commit to a timeline.
• Be consciously content and thankful.
• Practice using our camera.
• Focus on our financial goals and what the next steps should be toward them. 
• Create a Life Plan.
• Read more.
• Take a trip with Aaron, hopefully to a film festival.
• Learn CSS and HTML
• After the baby is born, I want to lose the weight I've gained by my birthday.

task-oriented goals: 

• Make a meal plan every week and maintain our household budget.
• Try not to let food spoil in our fridge.

I've intentionally left many of these pretty broad. I am looking forward to a year of keeping my focus on faith and my growing family. I know everything else will fall in to place. Are you making any goals, or do you think it's a silly practice? Whatever you do, as you turn the calendar, I hope you are looking forward to the future. Happy New Year, friends!