2013 Goals & Resolutions

I was really feeling motivated right around New Year's.  As we took down the Christmas tree and decorations we also moved out a bunch of baby-baby stuff.  With getting rid of those things it seemed like we gained a ton of space in our house and I just really wanted to get organized.  There are so many things that I want to get organized and I am notorious for starting a ton of things and not following through on anything.  Hopefully I can change that this in 2013.  Everything I come across that has anything to do with organization says to start small and work in stages.  I am hoping to run this out large-scale throughout the year.  Each month I am going to dedicate to a specific area or idea.

January:  Organization month.  Probably my most ambitious month right off the bat.  I want to go through EVERYTHING and organize, get rid of things, and get everything where it belongs.  I want a place for everything and everything in its place.  Kitchen stuff might carry over into February but I'm ok with that.
February:  Finance month.  Figure out budget, get all passwords and accounts in a central location, see if we can start paying for things with cash instead of credit.
March:  Coupon month.  With so many deal sites and apps for my new iPhone I need to get in a groove for using my coupons, where I save them all and how to use them at the stores.  How can we save the most month?
April:  Grocery month.  I want to know how much everything costs so I know if it's a good deal or not.  Make a list of things we buy often and also so we know when we need to stock up or run out of products.  With this also comes meal planning and possibility of doing freezer meals.
May:  Recipe month.  May get tied in with April I want to get all recipes in a central location.  Maybe put a cookbook together of our favorite meals?
June:  Garage month.  Lots of room for improvements here.  Maybe put a pegboard up for John's tools?
July:  Photo month.  Need to archive our blog and also work on backing up photos.  Perhaps start scrapbooking projects?

Besides these monthly objectives, here are a list of other goals I have for this year:

• Do more as husband and wife.  This was a rough last year with a new baby so focus was on myself and Owen.  We are hoping to do at a date the first weekend of every month (or at least once/month). I am also trying to make a conscious effort to give John a kiss before leaving and after getting home from work.
• Learn the in's and out's of my camera and experiment with manual mode.  Goal is to take at least one picture per day on some sort of camera.  I want to focus on learning the camera but also work on composition and lighting techniques as well.  Also, experiment more with Photoshop.
• I want to lose 8 pounds, hopefully to get down to 115 and a size 6 pants.  I also want to lose my baby belly :)
• Use up all the old food in our deep freeze.  You know, the turkeys and other things that make their way to a permanent spot at the bottom :)
• Read more - preferably one book per month.  I said this before I realized the book I just started had 600+ pages so probably not going to happen, at least with this book.  But, I guess the real goal is just to start reading something.
• Be in the Word.  Again, just need to start reading something so off to a good start with a devotion app I found on my new iPhone!
• Learn iTunes and use it!
• Try to incorporate a vegetable into every family meal.
• Finish wedding scrapbook and start/finish Megan's digital scrapbook ages 0-3.
• Try hard not to stress out and also make time for ME.
• Get more sleep.  I'm starting to realize that I am not in college any more and actually need more sleep than what I've really been allotting for myself.  It also might help me be a better wife and mother.  

John had a few goals too.  He is hoping to get under 200 pounds - currently only 25 more pounds to go.  He also wants to keep up his Calorie counting, eating right and exercise routing.  John also wants to do a few daddy-daughter outings this summer including a Twins game!

Guess it's going to be a busy month!  I'll try to keep this updated with each month's progress - with me luck!