This last year my goals were far too grand and amazing for anyone to reach. I realize this now.  I have a tendency to push and expect great things from myself.  I get very motivated by being able to scratch things off a list so I'm going to set my goals lower so I can actually reach them instead of pining after something I'll  never be able to do.  I'm also letting this post stew in my edit bin until I'm really set on these goals.  Letting this post set has been so difficult, but I'm bound and determined that it will go out on January 1st! Now if only I could somehow make myself look at my blogs with blinders on....

Random Goals

Eat more fresh produce - I'm done with weight loss goals; I think instead I'll make good habit goals, like eating more fresh stuff.  Apples, veggies, etc - you get the picture!

Do something daily - Like, play my Wii Fit, or take a walk, or a job or something.  It's not so much for my weight or health as it's just something good to do for yourself.  I get a lot of great ideas on walks and it exposes you to new stuff.

Go to a parade - I think this one was on my last years goals, but I still really want to do this one.  Something big came up the day I was going to go to the St Patrick's Day parade and then I just never went to one so hopefully this year!!!

Get a family photograph - My mother commented about this the other day in my apartment; we only have one picture of the three of us together and that's at my graduation - and my dad looks annoyed that he had to even be there.  I'm hoping I can convince them to do something, it'll probably be a one shot ordeal and I'd like something outside, personally, but I'll settle for whatever I can get!

Organize and cull closet - If you saw my closet, you would understand.  I horde clothes, I just don't get rid of them.  I have about a ten foot walk-in closet, both sides have a hanging rack all the way back and one side has two; it's almost full - of clothes.  I want to organize it and cull it by 10%, not counting my band tshirts I think I want to make a quilt of.

Spiritual Goals

Stay faithful to one church for a year, volunteering in some capacity - I'm on track to do this, but I'm great at sabotaging myself.  Currently I volunteer in the youth group, media and the coffee shop and it's honestly too much.  I think I'll be forgoing the coffee shop and sticking with the youth group and media instead.  I really do like the youth group, it's fun and there's some kids I'm already getting to know, hopefully I can do more.  Media is a bit trying at Fellowship just because on the weekend I do media - it's ALL I can do, period.  It's that much of a time commitment.

Do a devotional book either solo or with someone or a group - I'm terrible about getting bored or frusterated with devo books or just finding them generally uninteresting.  I'm going to push myself to do one and not counting the one my Home Team wants to do; I don't think that should count really.

Music Goals

Go to more concerts.  Music is big to me - and I somehow forgot that in 2009.


Listen to more Christian music. Not because I think it's the only thing worth listening to, but because overall I'm questioning some of my priorities.

Find new groups. I really like discovering new things to listen to and haven't gone out of my way to do that this year.

Writing Goals


2010 NaNoWriMo - I had a great experience doing it in 2009 and I'd really like to do it again! Bring it on!!

Finish Premonition - December has been a huge trial on this goal already; I'm hoping that I can finish it instead of just leaving it hanging.  It's a good story and I want to get it out and on paper.

Edit Suspicion - This will be a beast; there will be so much rewriting involved I could almost say I'm just rewriting it completely but it's for the greater good, I swear!

Edit Premonition - I think this will be rather easy once written and once Suspicion is edited and ready to go.

Research for another project - I don't want to jinx this project by talking about it too much so I'll just say that I really want to research for this project and I hope to begin writing it, though I'm only aiming to start the research in 2010.

Outline for my Graphic Novel idea - I say only outline but I also hope to write some and start finding an artist or something for this.

Outline for Love Unexpected - this is a Christian novel idea, I wrote the first two chapters and didn't like them, though I really like the overall idea; I want to go back and better outline because I think it could be very good if done right.

Write something I believe in - I think this is self-explanatory; I want to write something this year I feel passionately about, that I think is good and I take pride in.


Complete another draft of a story - any of my ideas or something else - Really this is just me saying that on top of writing something I believe passionately about, on top of my NaNoWriMo '10, the other outlining projects, I want to write something in its' entirety so that in 2010 I will have written three complete works, not counting things I'm finishing from '09.

Reading Goals

Read at least two writing books - I'm getting a jump-start on this one; I have Stephen King's On Writing and Gail Carson Levine's Writing Magic on my to-read shelf right now and it's killing me to wait until January!

Read all the Robin McKinley books - I'm pillaging Half Priced Book stores looking for these; I'm up to four on my shelf right now, so it's a start!


Read something in a genre I'm not accustomed to reading - I tend to stick in my corner and read nothing else, I want to change that this year.  I have a few things sitting on my to-read shelf that aren't things I'd normally pick up.  I'm also going to try to read the Opera book club books which are never anything I'd pick on my own.

Act on more book suggestions; at least four - Really, I mean it! Except for the people who tell me I should read Twilight, I'm going to continue to ignore them.  I have my trusty little purple book, suggest something to me and make me write it there if I like the idea!

Crafty Goals


Learn three new knitting things - Post-NaNoWriMo there are some people who have shown some interest in getting together for crafty night stuff so I'm going to be pro-active about that and getting people together to do crafty stuff!  And I'm being totally selfish because a few are good knitters and I can learn from them, or just watch over their shoulder a lot until they get annoyed at me.

Have a successful patio garden - I tried this when I first moved to Irving, but my patio was terrible for this so it didn't work at all.  My patio now is awesome and will hopefully lend it's self well to raising stuff.  I'm excited!!  I know I need to get to work on this soon, at least deciding what I want to plant and getting seeds or starting stuff indoors - just wait till after Christmas, please?

Make Presents.  You heard me! I want to make presents for people this year more than just buying something.

Money Related Goals

Pay off Express Credit Card

Pay off Khols Credit Card

Both of these are very do-able and will free up a little money to put towards my albatross credit card I've had since I was 18.