Saturday, January 24, 2009

New Year's Resolutions- A Little Late

I can't believe it is almost February and I have yet to make my new year's resolutions! I'm usually great at MAKING them, not so good at ACCOMPLISHING them.

First a review of last years...

Successes:
-Teach kids a nature class.
-Take the kids swimming lots over the summer. (Well, the summer was too busy, but I did get them in swim lessons last fall and they greatly increased their swimming ability, which was the main goal anyways.)
-Learn more sign and teach Cyrus. (He knows and uses more sign than Elsie did. He is more language delayed, so he really could use even more.)
-Build food storage. (I did really good with this one. I have 174 cans worth of food that came in our stake bulk order this past week that I need to can. So, an ongoing project still.)
-Learn to bake better bread.
-Strive to stay on top of finances better.
-Redo kids rooms. (They got rearranged. One got painted.)
-Paint Kitchen. We also retiled, which wasn't a resolution but was a huge project, and painted the hall and retouched trim.
-Downsize and better organize house. (And it needs it again.)
-Be more diligent in my visiting teaching. (Better than last year. Still room for improvement.)
-Keep a Nature Journal. (Only for the first part of the year, though.)

Not so great
-The self education plan. (I somehow failed to manage to fit this activity in my life. It was too much, I got overwhelmed, and quit.)
-Stockings never got made.
-Family scripture study still eludes us.
-Elsie did not seem ready for preschool activities when we tried, so I dropped it.
-The Book of Mormon class didn't work out, either. One class a summer seems to be the most I can handle.
-Finish 72 hr kits. (Although I did keep them updated, they still need some stuff.)
-Can applesauce and apple butter, as well as the usual strawberry and raspberry jams. (The raspberries are still in my freezer, waiting to be made into jam. And I didn't get the apples or strawberries I had hoped for.)
-Paint 2 of the kid's rooms.


Okay and for 2009 I want to TRY to do:

RELIGIOUS
Learn how to do my new calling and try to do my best at it.
Do better in my personal scripture study. Keep up with the SS study plan.
Fully read the church magazines each month.

SPOUSE
Do the 14 days of Valentines for dh again.
Plan something fun for our anniversary.

KIDS
Help Emily earn her Faith in God Award.
Help Marvin get his Teacher Duty to God Award and advance in Scouts.
Teach Marvin to drive.
Retry preschool with Elsie.
Learn how to better help Maddy with her specific needs.
Wean and potty train Cyrus.
Find one and one time with each kid.

PROVIDENT LIVING
Continue to work on our year's supply.
Make the raspberry jam, finally.
Finish the 72 hr kits.
Restock freezer meals.
Pay off a significant portion of the student loans.
Plant everbearing strawberries.

HOUSE
Finish renovating the kitchen.
Finish redoing the kid's rooms.
Paint pantry closets.
Downsize and organize. Simplify my material environment.

OTHER
Blog more regularly. Make a blog book.
Train for and run a 5k.
Participate in Book Club.

Way too ambitious, as usual. It seems to be a tradition I can't break!