For 2011

Now that we are about three weeks into 2011, I am finally ready to talk about my goals for the year.  Like many, I am choosing to think of it not as a list of resolutions, but as a list of goals to make this year better than the last.  Not that 2010 was a bad year; it was actually a pretty great year, but I have made myself a good list of small things I want to accomplish in 2011.

A few weeks ago, Marcia asked about a "word for the year", and after some thought, I decided my word is Simplify.  I have come to the not-so-shocking realization that we have entirely too much stuff, and I am ready to get back to the basics in many ways.  So you might see that most of the items on my list are fairly simple things...simple pleasures, simple tasks to make life more enojoyable, and goals that will take us, as a family, in the direction of a more simplified existence.  I don't know how far I will get with all this simplifying, but that's where my thoughts are going right now.  (More to come on the details of simplifying later, as I straighten my own ideas out a bit.)

So, without further ado, I present my great big list of 2011 to-dos:

(first, the mundane...)
---Clean out my closet and sell/donate everything I don't love

---Sell/donate the million baby clothes and other items that are still taking up space

---Organize the laundry room into a more functional space

---Do laundry more often...make sure every laundry basket in the house is empty at least once a week.

---Agree on new living room furniture and rearrange the living room to the way we really want it.

---Cook at home more

---Specifically, try one new recipe per month (January was white chicken chili, and it was awesome!)

---Reduce the monthly grocery bill (coupons, stocking the basics, etc.)

---Create a budget of some sort...basically, get a grip on spending and where we can make changes

---Use my calendar...write down every important date/task, and check it every day

---Change my Social Security card into my married name...before our five-year anniversary in August

(now to the more fun part of the list...)
---Send more handwritten notes/cards, especially birthday cards

---Take the girls to the zoo (I don't know why this is so important to me; it seems like a milestone, I guess.  It was on the list last year, but didn't happen.  This is the year!)

---Take a (short) Deanna & Jeremy trip, possibly for our anniversary...possibly to Vegas

---Have dinner with friends more often

---Get a new passport (mine expired last year), in case of a travel opportunity too good to pass up

---Do something continuing-education-related (not sure what exactly this means yet, but possibly look into completing an M.A. in History...or maybe just a fun extracurricular class of some sort...who knows?)

---Complete at least one personal Bible study/devotional (anyone interested in maybe reading through a women's study together?)

---Random acts of kindness:  Make a conscious effort to do unsolicited favors for people who least expect it.  Nothing major...but I want to do that drive-thru thing where you pay for the next person's food as well (Note to self:  make sure there are not five adults in the car behind you...that could get expensive!)

SO, there we go...a starting point for 2011.  I am off to print a copy of this list to keep in my calendar as a reminder of what I hope to accomplish this year (after all, I should see it every day when I check my calendar, right?  Ha! )

What is your most fun goal in 2011??  Any big plans you look forward to this year?

**Added 2/8/11:  Learn to use my sewing machine.