hoping my July looks a little like this...

If any of you read Elise Blaha Cripe's blog (I adore and am continuously inspired by her), you'll recognize that goal-setting format. She spent all of last year, setting her monthly goals in this fashion, and she even turned her thoughts on goal-setting into a workshop at Big Picture Classes.

I decided to finally give it a go...after all, nothing I've come up with on my own has seemed to work all that well. Particular aspects I'm drawn to...her emphasis on *choosing* how to spend your time, her hearty recommendation for keeping the list short and realistic, and her idea of balancing your goals to fill various aspects of your life so you don't finish the month feeling unbalanced. (Bonus points to her strong suggestion that if you find that any of your goals simply isn't inspiring you during a given month, you should just cross it off.)

Possibly my worst habit when it comes to setting goals, whether it be for the day's to-do list or the list of things I'd like to accomplish in any given year, is making them completely unrealistic. 99.9% of to-do lists I've ever made have been at least three times larger than I could possibly accomplish in my set time period. And let's face it, failure--day after day, week after week, month after month, season after season--it doesn't lead to a lot of good feelings. I can accomplish a whole heaping heck of a lot and still come out feeling like crap because there's 10 things left on my list. I worked hard to make this list doable, and I really believe it is.

I also worked hard to balance it, not just between various aspects of my life, but between productivity and relaxation. That homeschooling prep goal--it's more about slowing down than it is about getting things done. I know I am not the only person who needs reminders to slow down and enjoy the one single life we get, am I?

Anyway, by the end of the month, I hope I will be posting about my wonderful successes, showing you pictures of my redone dining area and my t-shirt rug, and putting together a new list of goals for August. Wish me luck. And tell me what you're choosing to do with your July (because I'm nosy that way).

the new year is upon us...

2013. Already. Really???? Yep, really.

I'm actually excited about starting a new year. I usually am. Even when the past year was an awesome one, I just get excited about that FRESH START! (2012 probably would *not* be categorized as an awesome year for me...not that it was *all* suck by any means, but it certainly had enough suck thrown in to drag it far from awesome status.)

But yeah, fresh starts. Ahhhhhhh. Love them. No resolutions this year. But as I mentioned before, a general goal of "simplify, de-stress, and be just a wee bit more selfish." (And yes, I'm having a horrible time with that "selfish" part...it just sounds so, well, so selfish! :P )

Okay, that said, I do have a few "sort of" goals in mind as well. By sort of, I just mean that I am free to pitch them right out the window if they start conflicting with the whole major goal thing.

1. I'm thinking about having a theme for each month of reading this year. For January, I'm planning on joining in on Ana's and Iris's Long-Awaited Reads Month. But I'm planning on making mine a bit more specific. I'm going to concentrate on reading books that I've been dying to read but have been sitting on my shelves for months (okay, often years) because of Ana.

A picture of my starting pile. (As in I'd be willing to bet that I could literally pull down 10 times this many books from my shelves that are there because of Ana. And yes, I still love her dearly despite the state of my bookshelves.) I know that I will not be able to read all of these in a month, but I hope to make a good dent. I have a feeling it's going to be a VERY REWARDING month of reading.

Pretty sure that February's theme will be graphic novels...I don't really know why but I tend to connect winter break and my birthday with graphic novels, so I think I'll just make a month of it. As for March, I'm thinking of concentrating on all the garden/food/sustainability books I've been eager to read...March seems appropriate as the end of the month is generally when we start planting our seeds indoors.

During all months, I'm encouraging cheating with one book that just totally catches my eye from outside the theme. Plus, of course, reading for school will have to be tolerated. And I definitely want to get back to reading Bradbury Stories with Chris--I have been so remiss. :(

2. Because I just have fun making lists and plugging in the books read, I made a whole new list of challenges I'm unofficially tackling on that "Reading Challenges to Fail At" tab. Though even calling this a "sort of" goal is probably stretching it...I really don't *try* to complete any of them--I just plug in books when they happen to fit.

3. Spending one weekend a month on Christmas. I'm really excited about this!!! My dear, dear, dear friend Chris sort of jokingly suggested we do this. He is so incredible about trying to keep me sane...he really, really is. :) But even though it was sort of jokingly suggested, we decided to run with it...and I couldn't be happier!

4. Sending more snail mail. Care is my total inspiration for this. Every time I received a card or letter from her, it just completely made my day! I know my notes/letters won't be as charming as Care's always are, but hopefully I can brighten a few days along the way for someone else.

5. Start Project Life yet again. And try to keep up and stick with it. I know, this is getting old. But what's that quote about trying and failing??? Maybe I'll fail just a little bit better this time, right?

6. Walk 10,000 steps 6 days a week. And as for that off-day--I can stockpile them. I've tried this time and time again, but when I'd have a bad patch with the fibro where it was a struggle to just accomplish what *had* to be accomplished, I'd get discouraged and eventually quit, only to start again when I got over my frustration. I'm hoping that scheduling in a day off per week, and especially a day off that can roll-over if I don't use it, will help keep me on track this time.

So, that about does it for me on this year's goals, or almost goals. How about you? Are you a New Year's goal maker? Goals or not, I hope you have a wonderful, joy-filled 2013!!!!