2014 Goals

I’ve never been one to make resolutions just because a new year has begun, but to begin regaining some of the balance I’ve lost since starting a new job in July 2012, I decided to make a list of things I’d really like to do this year. This list is still a bit of a work in progress as I figure things out and/or remember things I forgot to include.

Knit/Crochet

1. Finish at least one WIP per month. This is going to tough, because most of my WIPs are a significant amount of work, but I’m tired of seeing so many unfinished things in my projects.
2. Finish Umaro by the end of 2014. It can be included among the WIPs for #1, but will take time all throughout the year to finish. I need to get through approximately one skein a month.
3. Make at least one item from my queue as it is at the end of 2013 per month.

Other Crafts

1. Design at least one card per month.
2. Finish my 2013 life book.
3. Start and work on 2014 life book each month.
4. Make my Christmas cards.
5. Start my knit/crochet scrapbook.

Reading

1. Read at least 48 books. This is up from my 2013 goal of 36 books, which I completed on December 30 (okay, two were short stories and at least a couple young reader chapter books, but that’s okay!). Reading was my primary love to suffer when I started knitting five years ago, and while I may never read 73 books in a year again like I did in 2008 (it was only 13 to 28 from 2009-2012), I’m working my way up to at least 60 per year.
2. Clear out my “started but on hold” shelf on Goodreads. Some I can pick up where I left off, some I’ll need to start over, but I want that shelf gone by the end of 2014.

House

1. Finish converting dining room into papercrafting studio. (Don’t worry, it’ll still function as a dining room, though it hardly matters.)
2. Get my house to a state where it’s not a massive undertaking to have a few friends over or cause me stress just thinking about having to have a service person in my house. I’d like to do this by the end of January so I can start having knitting pals over (our yarn shop closed over a year ago, and while coffee shops work sometimes, it’s not ideal to me).
3. Maintain #2.
4. Get the new kitchen faucet my parents gave me months ago installed.

Health and Fitness

1. Work up to 10,000 steps per day by the end of 2014. My new Fitbit tells me I usually get in 4,000-5,000 steps on a workday. The first challenge will be figuring out how to get in that many steps on a non-workday, especially in the winter (as I write this it’s -6 degrees F and snowing). Second will be working up to 10,000 steps every day by the end of the year. This goal will likely be modified as I start figuring it out.
2. Use a fitness game on my Wii or Xbox 360 at least once per week.

Social

Special rules: My immediate family doesn’t count, but extended family does since I don’t see them much. Attending group events I didn’t plan (such as a friend’s kid’s birthday party) doesn’t count.

1. In January-March, make and keep plans with a friend at least once per month.
2. In April-June, make and keep plans with a friend at least once every three weeks.
3. In July-September, make and keep plans with a friend at least once every two weeks.
4. In October-December, make and keep plans with a friend at least once a week.

Travel

1. Take a real vacation. A trip to visit family (unless it’s my cousin Jen in Atlanta, maybe) doesn’t count. A trip to a genealogy conference doesn’t count. I’ve already put money down to hold a place at Squam in June, so really, I just hope I can somehow come up with the money to pay the rest and for travel expenses.

Blogging

1. Post to my genealogy blog once a week. This also means I have to do something worth blogging about.
2. Post to this blog once a week. I’m already doing stuff, like crafting and living life; I just need to post photos and write about it.