2012 Goals

Happy Leap Day!  And Happy Birthday to a good friend of mine, Val!

Anyone else feel like February has been the Longest.Month.Ever??  I am not saying it is a bad thing, but I feel like this month has been around forever!  Usually the months fly by!  I am happy March starts tomorrow, but I am glad that things have slowed down a bit.  It has been a long time since I have been able to enjoy each month and not feel so rushed.

Moving on, today's post is long overdue....but I am happy to finally be getting around to it.  I often see bloggers post their goals right around the New Year.  Makes sense.  I have decided to do the same.  This way, I am accountable for my actions.  And if I put that information out there....I am more motivated to get them accomplished.  Most of the goals are specifically for me, however Dr. Bob and I also have some joint ones too.  I will say that they were created as we were ringing in the New Year, I just haven't shared them until now.

Erin's 2012 Goals:

~ Get an organized book list in one location and get it fully "entered"

          * I am happy to say that I took one night last week to finally do this.  It took awhile but I feel so much better now.  I actually decided to use one app that has turned out to be a wonderful thing.  It is called GoodReads.  The best part is, you can use it on a phone, tablet, or computer.  I highly recommend it.  And if you are on GoodReads, look me up!

~ Make homemade laundry detergent - I have wanted to try this for a few years now, so now it is officially on the goal list.

~ Make homemade hummus.  I have only recently come to enjoy hummus.  Now that I have, I want to try to make my own.

~ Improve my sewing skills.  I bought a sewing machine a few months back and I have been slowly learning how to use it.  My ultimate goal is to learn how to quilt.

~ Lose 20 pounds.  Dr. Bob and I have joined a local gym and signed up for personal training sessions.  We have been going to the gym about 5 times a week for the past 2 - 3 weeks.  I haven't noticed a major weight loss but I know I am physically feeling better and stronger.  The weight will come off soon.

~ Pay off my credit card.  Enough said.

~ Walk 10 miles per week.  This is something I want to eventually make a habit.  Right now I am walking/jogging and average of 5-6 miles per week.

~ Run a 5K.  March 11th is the big day.  Physically I know I will be able to run half of it, and I am happy about that.  I also plan to run a 5K on April 22nd - this is when I hope to run the entire distance and am able to cross this goal off my list.

~ Read 24 books (I have chosen 12 books to read individually and I will read 12 books through my book club).  

Here is what I have read so far:

          Individual Books                                                             Book Club Books

Jan:       Your Money or Your Life (Joe Dominguez)               Mockingjay (Suzanne Collins)

Feb:      The Girl Who Played with Fire (Steig Larsson)          Carnal Innocence (Nora Roberts)

Books I plan to read:

* The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest (Steig Larsson)

* City of Veils (Zoe Ferraris) - personal choice but will be our April book for Book Club

* Noble Vision (Gen LaGreca) - given to me by a book club member

* Cutting for Stone (Abraham Verghese)

* The Dirty Life (Kristin Kimball)

* The Millionaire Next Door (Thomas J Stanley PhD & William D Danko PhD) - won off a blog, want to finally give it a go

* Review Patriot Games and then read Red Rabbit (Tom Clancy) - I am working through the whole Jack Ryan series

* Joy for Beginners (Erica Bauermeister)

* Change of Heart (Jodi Picoult)

* Folks, This Ain't Normal (Joel Salatin)

And if I don't reach my goal with this list, plus book club books - don't worry, I still have a "Want to read" list that keeps growing every day!

Now for our Joint Goals.  Dr Bob and I hope to:

~ Learn to can food

~ Try a sweet new recipe per month

     Jan: Sea Salt Chocolate Chip Cookies

     Feb:  Chocolate Chai Mini Loaves

~ Try a savory new recipe per month

     Jan:  I can't remember :-O I will double check with Dr Bob and get back to you

     Feb: Crock pot enchilada's (I need to find where Dr Bob got this recipe and then I will provide a link)

~ Explore Asheville, North Carolina

~ Visit the Wizarding World of Harry Potter!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

~ Post 2 blog entries per month - doing good so far!

~ Try a new restaurant per month - we live in such a Foody area, it is actually impossible to only keep it to one per month.

     Jan:  Yeah Burger, Chris' Pizza, Matador Mexican Cantina, Agave Restaurant

     Feb:  Community Q BBQ, Front Page News, Cafe Sababa, and I went to the Melting Pot for the first time with some friends.

~ Try a new hike per month.  We did not get to explore anywhere in January but we did try a new local path just last week so we met the goal in February.

Okay PHEW, that is a loooooooong list!  Sorry about that.  But now they are out there and we are being held accountable.