2016 Goals

So I've decided I'm not one for resolutions and I really hate having to decide on them on a specific date so I've been thinking and considering and deciding on my personal goals for this year.  I'm not resolving to do anything but rather putting out my intentions that these are the things that I want to achieve for myself for various reasons.  I also decided I want a written record and since one of them has to do with this blog I will put them here.  So here goes, in no particular order:

• Blog more - I find that I really miss writing my thoughts down so I want to start working to make that more of a habit.  Not trying for daily or anything like that, just simply more than I have the past couple of years (which really, isn't saying a whole lot).
• Reading goals - 120 books, 40 new authors, 40,000 pages.  I have put these on my other blog (which gets way more attention than this one) but I want them here as well. I've been hitting my books read no problem most years, and the same with the new authors (though I spaced and only got 39 last year) but the pages, oh, man, the pages one kills me almost every year.  Going to keep trying though.
• Organization - This is more of an ongoing thing.  I've gotten my desk mostly under control (and even when it's not, it can be again quickly) so finances are also now under control. I'm good with Nick's schoolwork but not as good about Jon and Matt and that is something I really want to change.  Also there are some trouble spots in the house that I would like to focus some attention on and find better ways of dealing with.
• Decluttering - Now that we have been here 3 years, we are finding out more and more what works here and what doesn't.  There are also boxes of things that have still never seen the light of day.  I want to at least go through those boxes and figure out if it's stuff that can stay and where it should live or if it can go.  I also have some boxes of stuff that needs to go on eBay and I'd like to at least start getting that stuff listed and out of the house.
• Movement - Yeah, the dreaded exercise one.  I need to do it and I do for a while and then I fall off again.  I've been pretty good about doing a lot of walking when the weather is good but it's harder when it's not and I can't get out when the kids are at swim.  I'm debating about a gym membership for that but haven't decided fully.  Right now, the task is to find 30min a day (so really an hour with getting ready, doing it, and then showering and such after) of purposeful movement 5 days a week and at least 8,000 total steps/daily.  My two end of year goals are to hit 10,000 daily steps on a regular basis by the end of the year and to do at least 2 planned races of any length (although I'm eyeing doing a 5k and a 10k but we will see which ones catch my eye).  I still would like to do a 1/2 marathon at some point but that's not this year and I'm okay with that.
• Health - Nope, this one is not about losing weight. It's not that I don't know I should or anything like that but rather I don't want that to be my focus.  My focus is on my carb addiction.  That has continued to be my biggest problem area and that is the one I am going to focus on.  I can't go without them, that is simply just not possible.  Nor am I interested in some super restrictive thing like Atkins.  I find that to be unrealistic long-term and more likely to trigger month long binges than anything else.  My goal is to monitor my carb intake through tracking my food on SP, paying less attention to calories consumed and more attention to carbs, fiber, and balance of fats/carbs/protein.  Also, lots and lots of water.  My problem with that has not been drinking sodas (thankfully) but rather just not drinking enough liquid period so I'm tracking that too just to make sure I'm getting enough.
• Being Positive - I feel like I'm generally happy but realistic but I know that I also tend to be anxious and allow certain things to bug me.  I did a #100HappyDays thing on FB last year which I'm still doing 363 days later.  I figured I'd go til I hit a year but now that it's coming up, I haven't decided if I'm going to stop or not.  I kind of like doing it.  All I do know for certain is I want to continue to keep finding positives in each and every day and continue to be grateful for all that I have.  It's too easy to get caught up in all the crazy day to day stuff.
• Crafting - It's hard to get a lot of crafting done while trying to teach kiddos, transport kiddos, read, and everything else but I really enjoy it so my big goal here is to just try and make more time for it.  I've finally finished my cross-stitch that I was working on for years and the Doctor Who scarf that I started in '09, then ripped out and restarted in '13.  Now I've got a movie-accurate Slytherin scarf I've started (I'm taking bets on how long before I switch to size 4 needles from the recommended 2s, and how long to go to garter stitch from the rib) and a hat for Nick with yarn he picked out many, many years ago (and then finding the yarn to make a coordinating scarf).  It's my first hat and I'm only two rows in but the goal is to at least finish the hat this year.  I'm also getting ready to start a new cross-stitch project that is actually for me and not someone else.  Plus I'm working with the boys to do no-sew blankets.

So those are my goals. I'm using Habitica to try and track my to-do lists which it's not fabulous for but also habits that I'm trying to cultivate and daily things which it's definitely better for and it's fun. If you join, let me know so we can defeat monsters together.  I've also got a FitBit now which I'm pretty happy with so if you have one, friend me so we can support each other.