I Love to Love Them: Resolutions (2019)

I'll admit it loud and proud: I love resolutions. Some year I have a ton, others, like last year, I may only make one, but nonetheless, I appreciate a time for goal setting. The older I get, the smarter I am about creating tasks for myself- I need to be reasonable and set the bar only so high. Things need to be measurable, as well (am I starting to sound like a PD for SMART Goals?). In order to help with this aspect, I plan on making a good old-fashioned chart to post in my closet or somewhere I see frequently as a reminder. So, without further ado, here's what I hope to achieve this year, reading and otherwise:

1. Read 72 books- last year I read 71, which I finished with about eight hours to spare, so we won't get too crazy.

2. Reduce my TBR pile 30% by the end of the year- right now it's at 114 books (gulp), so by the end of the year I need to be at 80. This leaves me plenty of room to buy books, but it adds that layer of accountability in slowing down the pace of purchasing.

3. Do yoga 100 times- I pretend to not know why I don't do more yoga, but the honest answer is that I'm a slave to my Fitbit and have this deep-rooted love for seeing my step total climb. This means my exercise is centered around running or hill-walking, leaving yoga by the wayside. I feel a million times better when I do yoga, though, and I know that I was at my personal best fitness level in 2012, when I was running three times a week and doing 2-3 90-minute yoga classes at a legit studio. My practice will have to be at home now, with the Down Dog App, but I desperately need to recommit. I detest strength training, which becomes more and more important as we age, so this also will help with that. And, finally, yoga makes me want to eat better. Cardio makes me crave crap, which I justify with the calorie burn, but yoga makes me want salad and water. 

4. Log 600 miles (running or walking)- I KNOW. This is at least partially negating everything that I just said, but I don't care. I want to, so I will.

5. Save $45/month for Christmas- Between my Amazon points and the cash I set aside, I basically covered all of my Christmas gift costs. That's my goal again! It made looking at my credit card statement the other day so much easier than past Decembers, that's for sure. 

6. Consider starting an Etsy Shop- So this is BIG maybe, but I have some ideas for some literary cross stitching that I think might work, and I have recently started embroidering and, well, not to be arrogant, I don't suck at it, as it turns out. I don't want to start something that I can't commit to, though, or that I end up half-assing. So come this summer we'll see if it's something I want to do. I feel like I owe it to myself, my ideas, and this creativity that sort of laid dormant my whole life, to at least consider it.

7. Write a rough draft of a novel- I actually have a post coming up on my writing progress, but, honestly, I don't think I'm busy enough between teaching, parenting, having a social life, etc... so I might as well attempt this to, right? Basically, I refuse to give up this dream and even if I'm putting in on my resolution list at seventy-three I won't let it die. 

8. Teach Sawyer to read- I am working really hard to NOT be a pushy teacher-mom who forces academics down his throat, but he's shown an interest and is in preschool, so I'm going with it. He starts kinder in August, so chances are his teacher will feel the brunt of this one, but I definitely plan on doing at least some of the front-loading for her. 

How 'bout you? Any resolutions?