Those Pesky Resolutions

It's 2008, did you decide on any New Year's Resolutions? I don't like resolutions, mainly because my experience with them has been less than satisfying (read, I failed miserably usually by the fourth or fifth of January).

Last year (not sure exactly when), I made a list of 101 things to accomplish in 1001 days. I still have about a year and a half left on that list. I looked at the other night and discovered that some of the things have been accomplished. Some are just dreams, but perhaps I can work toward them. So I think I'll still work on the list.

There are a few goals that we are going to try to work toward as a family, though.

~Reading more For me specifically, I am going to try to read more for myself. Generally, I read a lot, but most is either for school or things that Gracen and I read aloud to each other. I've already got a book list that's nearly half a page long of books I just want to read!

For all of us, reading the Bible more consistently is a goal. I hope to start some sort of Bible study with Gracen very soon. (Ideas on this subject are very welcome!)

~Be more conscience about what we buy Not only just in terms of how much something costs, but really evaluating our need and use of said item. After our big clean out, we realized how many things are bought and quickly forgotten. And, along the same vein, be better about passing things along after we've enjoyed them.

~Recycle more We've been recycling plastic, paper and cardboard for some time now. We'd like to find ways of reducing trash more. It may mean knocking out the paper plates in favor of real ones (dishes get washed every day anyway--what's a few more) or using less paper towels.

Being "green" isn't necessarily the goal here, but just trying to actively be better stewards of what God has given us.

~Learn more There are so many things that we want to learn and experience both individually and as a family. Gracen is lobbying for a retriever puppy so that she "can learn to train it". The actual hands on experience won't happen for a while, but the library is full of books on the subject is my standard answer!

That's just a few of the goals we have as a family. Most are very broad. Some of that is intentional because it's too easy for us to get bogged down. Keeping it broad and tweaking what we already do seems to work a little better!

Along the lines of goal setting and such, there is a website (for those interested in tracking goals online). I haven't played with it much, but you can put in a goal and track how you are doing on that goal.