New Year's Eve

Before I forget again, as I've done every time I write since October, our theater got a grant for the digital projectors, so it lives on!  Not only that, but the grant was for more than what was needed for the projectors, so we got a new sound system, and Jeremy (the manager) is all tickled excited with all the renovations he'll get to do--new paint, carpet (it's 20 years old, though you wouldn't know by looking at it), new neons, etc. So, the weekend after Thanksgiving, the theater closed down for installation and then re-debuted Twilight (ugh!) in Digital.  We've gone to see Skyfall (thoroughly enjoyed it) and The Hobbit in 3D (not enjoyed).  It was our first 3D movie and we were impressed with neither the 3D nor the movie itself.  I told Shad he can find another date to see the other 2 Hobbit movies.  I won't go.

Anyway, it's that time of year again and I'm not quite sure what resolutions I want to make.  But it's definitely time to start thinking, as well as evaluate what I achieved this year.

 

2012 Resolutions

 

1. Make time to exercise 3-4 days/week.  I was great at that until first trimester sickness and fatigue hit.  Now I'm getting back to it.
2. Keep kitchen counters clean.  For dang sure not.  But the effort was there.
3. Obtain 5 piano students.  Nope.  Had one for a couple months, but lost her over the summer.
4. Pay attention to and recognize birthdays.  Fail.  I think I caught 3 birthdays.  Maybe.
5. Find freedom from financial stress.  I think this one is going to be a "living science" meaning that it continues to grow and develop.  But I did.  I spent time online looking around for self-help tips, blogs, etc.  Ways to shrink your grocery bill.  Stuff like that.  I found some good resources, as well as this book: America's Cheapest Family Gets You Right On the Money by Steve and Annette Economides.  I've only read the grocery section so far, but it's helped immensely!  I'll check it out from the library again when I'm ready and have time for it.  Gotta recover from the holidays first.
6. Read 10 classic books.  Yep.  Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass were trippy books that I wouldn't exactly consider to be enjoyable.  The Jungle Book was fun.  I did like The Joy Luck Club.  The Scarlet Letter was a tough one to read, not for storyline's sake, but all the descriptive and narrative writing.  I found the book on tape at the library and suddenly I was able to get through the book much faster.  I did find it to be very enjoyable.  The Secret Garden was nice.  Macbeth is always a delight, but following it up with Hamlet was quite the downer.  Two dark Shakespeare plays back to back only begged for a spoonful of sugar from Taming of the Shrew and A Midsummer Night's Dream.  I also participated in the library's summer reading program to read 10 250+ page books in 10 weeks.  I don't think I've read a book on my own since then.  That was overkill.  Won't participate in that again.
7. Read the Bible and Bible Dictionary.  This was a lofty goal to begin with, but then in May I got called as Gospel Doctrine (Sunday School) teacher, and I threw the idea of reading the Bible out the window.  I did make it through the Bible Dictionary though.
8. Decorate 1 room.  I did two.  Bam.  Okay, maybe one and a half since the laundry room still needs some finishing touches.
9. Learn guitar.  Nope.  But I did spend more time with the piano than I did last year.
10. Learn more Chinese.  Nope.  I pulled out my CDs once.  But I did teach Tom "ni hao" (hello) and he and Katie both say "gam bei" (cheers).
11. Finish Personal Progress (young women's goal program at church).  Check!
12. Bike a centurion.  Nope.  I got pregnant and then the weather got bad, daylight was waning, etc.  But I did train for it and thoroughly enjoyed as many bike rides as I could manage with the kids and summer heat.
13. Be 100% on visiting teaching.  FAIL!  But I made efforts.

 

I know there are a lot of people who don't like making New Year's Resolutions because they don't like knowing that they failed at something.  I, personally, don't care if I fail, the point is that I probably wouldn't try so hard if I didn't make the resolution in the first place.  Besides, I'm happy counting my successes, not my failings.  And I guess I don't really mind counting my failings, either.  They give me ideas for how I can improve next year.  There are many things I accomplished this year that weren't on my resolution list, like learning to bake rolls, buns, bread bowls, breadsticks, crackers, etc.  I learned how to can and successfully canned two batches of soup, each yielding 7 quarts.  I have more soups I want to can.  I employed my crockpot at least once a week, giving me more time to spend elsewhere in my home than dirtying up my kitchen...or to dirty it up more by trying out whole wheat rolls.  And sewing.  Holy cow, did I ever use my sewing machine this year and have lots to catch up on when I get the tension fixed on it.

 

And so we get to this year.  Here are my ideas so far.

 

2013 Resolutions

 

1. Exercise 3-4 days a week.  Begin a yoga/tai chi rotation.  I'll need to get a tai chi DVD.
2. Prove to the world that a healthy baby can be produced without me gaining 25-35 pounds during pregnancy. Really? Because that's an obscenely ridiculous amount to gain.  No wonder women have body image issues after pregnancy.
3. Prove myself wrong that I'll still be able to yield a successful garden with a fresh baby and two toddlers.
4. Use my crockpot twice a week.
5. Bake more homemade breads.  So excited for the breadmaker on its way!!
6. Read a chapter a day in the Bible.  I'm still Gospel Doctrine teacher and have Doctrine and Covenants to study this year, along with Our Heritage, so I'm trying to be realistic.
7. Read 10 biographies/autobiographies.
8. Decorate 1 room.  Besides the baby nook I'm creating in my bedroom right now...
9. Learn to play 1 song on the guitar.  The kids most commonly ask for Baby Monkey so I'll go for that.
10. Learn to sing "I Am a Child of God" in Mandarin Chinese.  I bought a Chinese hymn book before I went to China!  I am a big believer in music being an excellent tool for language acquisition.
11. Connect with an extended family member over the phone once a week.  Family is such a loosely defined word in my book:)  Paul Jones, Nikki (Kelson) Thomas, and Robyn Bailey count as family.
12. Work on Family History once a month.