In case you're into looking back on (many) failed tasks and (also many) tasks with lines drawn through them, here are my 2010, 2011, and 2012 to-do lists.
2013 is below.
I tried hard to create tangible goals that weren't intimidating. Sure, I have some bigger, abstract goals that are hard to put on a list because you can't really cross them off, such as complain less, accept help more, be far less lazy, etc., but I think this list may be my best list yet. We'll see, of course. But I like it a lot.
1. Earn a 100-class yoga bracelet
2. Go on an overnight trip with Kristie and our families (possibly to Jellystone Park)
3. Visit a new state
4. Cook one dish a week from the cookbooks I own (52 delicious recipes!)
5. Don't purchase a new cookbook the entire year
6. Finish Couch to 5K
7. Finish Couch to 10K
8. Make an eye appointment and buy new glasses (It's TIME. I've had my current ones as long as I've had Kyle.)
9. Finish a month of (the basic bones of) Whole30 (as a mostly vegetarian who eats a little fish)
10. Host a Friendsgiving
11. Read every book on Elizabeth's best of 2012 list
12. Read every book selected by my (awesome) book club (I've already read January and February's picks. Score!)
13. Run a 5K and a 10K (try to PR)
14. Take a stab at one Pinterest-inspired project a month. A new recipe, a craft, etc. (I'll call it "Pin of the Month," or something dorky like that.)
15. Finish Kyle's book of letters (This has been on my list for a while, I know, but it's a big project. I just need to make the time for it this year.)
16. Create our second family yearbook
17. Email Kyle every day of the year (365 Days of Emails)
18. Read 25 books throughout the year
19. Throw a champagne-inspired dinner party for my ladies
20. Seriously, get that third tattoo (I think I finally know what I want it to be)
21. Go horseback riding
22. Get my passport updated; get Kyle a passport (I wanted to do this in 2012 but, sheesh, you have to pay to update your name if the passport is over 5 years old. Uncool!)
23. Go a month without dairy
24. As much as possible, no eating after 9PM (obviously this can't always be helped and this is all about curbing the mindless snacking, not about skipping a late dinner)
25. Read the Bible (some of it, all of it, we'll see)
26. Learn a little web design and create one sidebar badge or Facebook cover or SOMETHING web-related
27. Pay off Mike's student loans (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) (this deserves that many exclamation points, trust me)
28. Buy a living room rug
29. Hang travel photos above our couch
30. Menu plan each (and every) month
31. Figure out a shoe storage solution for my teeny, tiny closet
32. Don't buy a single new pair of shoes all of 2013
33. Take more neighborhood walks
34. Spraypaint something
35. Take a picture of what I'm wearing every Friday (or at least once a week), so I can pretend I'm as stylish as Elizabeth and also so I can be motivated to dress better
36. Make lasagna for a neighbor
37. Get a new pet
38. Take a family photo shoot (why do my favorite photographers have to live so far away!?)
39. Take Kyle to an Aggie football game
40. Make no-sew curtains
41. Clean out and organize all my kitchen drawers
42. Buy new hardware for my kitchen drawers/cabinets
43. Go on a weekend trip with Natalie, to celebrate being friends for 20 years
44. Paint our living room
45. Wear skinny jeans.
46. Buy/Make a personalized viewfinder for Kyle
47. Write an article/post about parenting an only child
48. Make Mike baked ziti again, the right way
49. Start Justified
50. Throw Kyle an awesome fourth birthday party
51. Re-read The Great Gatsby, in anticipation of seeing the movie
52. Take Kyle to a Rangers game
53. Run a race in Austin
54. Stay the night in Denton
55. Volunteer again with Meals On Wheels
56. Feel better about my physical health at the end of the year than at the start of it
57. Buy new champagne flutes
58. Eat a Butter Lane cupcake
59. Dance with my husband on our 6th anniversary
60. Pay off one credit card
61. Get my car detailed (and then try to keep that bad boy clean)
63. Do a full month (30 straight days!) of the 30-Day Shred
64. Set up a monthly Skype date with my sister and nephew
65. Be happy
I reserve the right to change, edit, and add to this list because that's the awesome thing about creating lists. I just want this year to be good, to be peaceful, to be full. Oh, I hope it can be all that.
