8 Goals for 2008

I wouldn't say I'm a huge New Year's resolution person, but I feel a little bit like I'm having a quarter-life crisis right now, so I decided to make some goals for this next year to help me focus. I tried not to make them too broad or too ambitious, so I can concentrate on actually reaching them and doing them well, and not stress myself out over periodic failures in the process. And I tried to include specific numbers, instead of things like "at least xyz" because when I do that I feel like I should always be doing better than I am.

Goal #1 - Cook dinner 2 nights a week. That means a balanced meal - no leftovers - made from scratch at home. I want to gradually get myself out of the habit of making big recipes of something and then eating that one food, heated up in the microwave, for every lunch or dinner for a week. I'm going to make myself hate every food on the planet by doing that!

Goal #2 - Get 8 hours of sleep 5 nights a week. This is going to be really tough, but I have been living on a lack of sleep now for many months, and it affects everything else in my life. This will entail going to bed by 11 on weeknights when I get up in the morning by 7.

Goal #3 - Do devotions with Wade twice a week. We started this at some point this fall, and I think it means a lot to both of us. It fell off during December (exams, holiday parties, sleeping in on vacation, etc.), but it is so important to our spiritual growth, both individually and as a couple. For now we usually each read a Psalm out loud over the phone, and the person who didn't read prays through the Psalm (out loud) that the other one just read, and vice versa. We may change it up at some point, but I would highly recommend this, especially to long-distance couples :).

Goal #4 - Train Paisley to stay on "place" (her bed). When Paisley went through her training at 5-6 months old, the last command to be taught was "place" - in which she should immediately go to her designated place on command and stay there until I release her. This is great for dinner parties (so she's not all up in everyone's food) or other guests coming over, etc. She didn't get as much training with "place" though as she did with sit, stay, etc., because I was tired of drilling her all the time every day by that point.

Goal #5 - Get leather chair & ottoman repaired. This is pretty self-explanatory, but it requires calling the store and/or leather repair place and hauling the furniture wherever it needs to go to be fixed, and paying for it. But I'm tired of having gaping holes with stuffing coming out of both arms of my chair, and covering it with a blanket and not sitting in it!

Goal #6 - Put up curtains in my house. Another self-explanatory goal, but one that requires money and time to search out and put up curtains. I just think it would make things look so much more homey.

Goal #7 - Make dinner for 3-4 families with new babies. Our church has a new baby about every 3 weeks, and I have made a meal for all of one family ever. That is terrible, considering I would describe my spiritual gift as being behind-the-scenes, cooking and hospitality-type things. I also have a zillion friends having babies too, so I think one meal every 3-4 months should be doable.

Goal #8 - Keep in touch with good friends and hang out once or twice a month. This is the most nebulous goal, but I really want to be committed to staying involved in friends' lives - friends who have been with me through some of the best and worst times in my life, and have prayed with me, laughed with me, held me accountable, challenged me, and loved me. There are tons of people who fit those descriptions to some extent, but I have in mind 8 in particular (how fitting - 8 for 2008). Some of them live in different cities, so it'll be tougher to get together, but I want to make it a priority. But Jess, Susie, Marcy, Lindsay Dyer, Lindsay Hecht, Libba, Jill and Hillary - you guys are the best and I want to make sure you hear that from me often :). Bonus is my CG girls from church, but I know I'll hang out with them, so they don't count for the goal.

So there you have it...my 8 goals for 2008. Hopefully they'll provide some fodder for blogging too - from what I made for dinner (pictures and recipes included), to what I'm learning from God, to fun times with friends.