Plans, not goals

I've always struggled with New Year's resolutions. I make a list of things I SHOULD do, like study the scriptures for 30 minutes a day and exercise 6 days a week and lose 20 pounds. I get so overwhelmed by these goals that I have little faith in acheiving and essentially give up before I start.

So this year is different. I made a list of PLANS. Things I WANT to do. Like go rock climbing, and be able to do at least one "real" push-up. (I do need some help defining that "real" push-up, though. Does my chest have to touch the floor? That feels like going too far, but maybe that's just because I still can't get a 90 degree angle in my elbows in my push-ups. Lara, what do you say?)

Because fitness isn't just for fitness's sake. I want to be healthy so that I can do all these active things I want to do. Hiking's on the list, too, as well as the 5K "Dirty Dash," which is a foot race through mud and obstacles on the Olympic cross-country skiing course. Doesn't that sound a lot more fun than "go to the gym 3 times a week"? I think so.

I also want to try new things and learn new skills, so I'm planning to knit a Fair Isle sweater and try some new quilting techniques and start drawing the tree outside our house. (I love that tree. I've wanted to draw it since we moved in, but I'm convinced I can't draw. As Van Gogh said, "If a voice inside says 'you cannot paint,' by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced." This year I'm going to try to silence that voice.) I also bought a pattern for a vintage-style dress I want to make. There's an online sew-along I'm going to try to follow, and maybe I'll have the dress in time for my birthday. Mom, I'm going to need your help on this one...

Oh, and I want to try at least one new food each month. This month it was Chinese broccoli (in case you were wondering what that was, Erin). Lots of greens, crunchy stems, and very small florettes. A little bitter raw, but quite tasty cooked. I love our Asian market. A lot of the stuff there scares me, but I can branch out with the greens. They seem a safe enough place to start.

I've also developed a plan to build our long-term food storage. I have quarterly goals, and I've already filled out the order forms for the dry-pack cannery for the next three months. I plan to go once a month, and the budget is $70 per month. All of the storage items are things we already use, like beans and rice and wheat, so I expect to rotate through them and not just stick them in a corner for 30 years. Of course, as soon as I get it all bought and packed away, we'll probably move and have to lug it across town or across the country. But at least they're in cases, not super heavy buckets. And maybe our new place will have a basement to put it in....

We also have some trips planned, and we bought a pass to the children's museum and plan to go at least once a month. Atticus loves that place, even though he got whacked in the nose with a hula hoop almost as soon as we walked in last week. (He still had a good time, and the scab came off today, so all is well.)

I've written down all these plans and made a checklist and I'm putting it next to the calendar, where I'll see it several times a day. Of course, all plans are subject to change and revision. I'll reevaluate in six months. Or sooner, if I get pregnant or something. We'll see.