New Year, New Look

For as long as I have had a blog, I have wanted to make one of the cute banners for the top. I tried on several occasions. Occasionally, I'd get the picture I wanted to appear but not the nifty font. Sometimes it would be the other way round.

Last night, I gave it another shot. I may never, ever be able to do it again but for now it is there! I LOVE it when something works like it is "supposed" to.

I have been trying to decide whether to make official new year's resolutions or goals. There used to be nothing more satisfying to me that to have a list of something, anything and see items one by one get marked off--it was my version of getting a gold star. Then, something happened--probably just simply life--and my lists got shoved aside. I was lucky to find my lists let alone remember to cross anything off!

Toward the end of last year, I read The Happiness Project. There was much in her approach that intrigued me.

Accountability is a good thing--and a much needed one for most of us. However, I'm not as quite as "gold star" oriented as I used to be. Well, I am but now I want my gold stars to come from certain people--the appeal of checking an item off a list, while still a bit of thrill, doesn't hold the same appeal as someone close to me smiling or being genuinely happy.

So, as I have thought toward some type of resolution or goal for 2011, I've been kind of in a quandary; many of the things I want to improve on, learn to do, or accomplish are solitary--some are just downright private. I have struggled with how to have accountability. I don't have a good answer here. Perhaps I will bring back the list, made with a new pen in a new journal. I am, after all, a sucker for office supplies. Yes, I am that person.

In the meantime, I thought I would share a few of my "hope to's" for 2011.

--I hope to continue to read much.
--I hope to read through The Heidelberg Catechism with Jeff and Gracen.
--I hope to learn digital photography.
--I hope to find some way of (finally) organizing my recipes--and I hope to try a few new ones!
--I hope to have more "date" time with Jeff.
--I hope to visit my family more often.
--I hope, in some very specific ways, to be a better friend.

Those are just a few. There are more but my time is getting away from me this morning!

What about you? Do you make resolutions or goals? Do you monitor your progress? How?

Happy New Year!!