2016 Resolutions

I feel like the end of 2015 creeped up on me and then ran away immediately and now it's 2016 and I'm scrambling to have an adequate mental and spiritual review of the past year and set goals for the new one. I thrive on specific, measurable steps towards progress and this process has become very productive for me. That being said, I've got some goals for this year but I don't feel as settled about them as I normally do. It's just been hard to pinpoint what I really want to accomplish and what's realistic. I feel pretty good about these goals, though, and I know I'll be better off for having worked on them. Once again, I've separated them into four categories, and while I have a few more than last year, I feel like they're accomplish...able.

Spiritual
1. Work on family history once a month. This goal is not hard and is something I really enjoy doing, but I've found that if I don't have it in the forefront of my mind, it often gets forgotten. I want to make sure it remains a priority, and it's so great to have the Indianapolis temple so close by to do the ordinances once I find them. AND now that Thomas is home, he can do more of the male ordinances for me!
2. Weekly gospel application. The idea for this came to me a couple of months ago while in church. So often, the parts of talks or lessons that stick out to me the most are analogies or real-life applications of gospel principles. The personal application make the principles real and memorable. My ultimate goal is to be a mother and to teach my children the gospel daily. I want them to know and understand the principles of the gospel from an early age, and I feel like the easiest way to do this is to find gospel applications in everyday things, which takes some pracitce. My goal is to make at least one gospel application or analogy every week and share it on my blog.
3. Ponderize monthly. I did not do well with a monthly memorized scripture, but I feel confident that I can choose a scripture each month, put it on my phone and by my door and reread and think about it often. I want to memorize the scripture reference and the general point of the verse so that I can easily find it when I want to have the full text.

Personal
1. Practice piano once a week. I'm not putting any other limits on this. If I sit at the piano once a week, whether for five minutes or fifty, I will have accomplished this goal. I just need to get myself to sit down and do it, and hopefully it will turn into productive practicing.
2. Blog within the month. I've been really bad about blogging this year, and when I get backed up I get overwhelmed and I don't want to do it at all, then it just gets more backed up and next thing you know, I'm blogging about October in January. So my goal is to get things up within a month of them happening. This may be my loftiest goal, but I really value having a record of my life and I want to keep it up-to-date.
3. Letters to nieces and nephews. This idea came to me during the women's session of General Conference in October. I have seven nieces and nephews whom I love and adore and want so badly to influence for good, but I just don't get to see them as often as I'd like. I also know how fun it is to get mail, so my goal is to write each of them a letter at least once a month. That way they get to experience the fun of getting mail, and I can strengthen my relationships with them even when I don't get to see them.

Financial
1. Check in with budget weekly. I have a budget, but I very rarely check in with my purchases to make sure I'm staying on track for said budget. Then at the end of the month, surprise! I've overspent in several categories. In an effort to stay out of debt this year, I'm planning to check every week to see how I'm doing and make adjustments to my spending if necessary. I'm thinking Sundays would be a good day for this, but I think Sundays are a good day for a lot of things and I often end up doing none of them. I have church at 9 AM this year, though, so I should have plenty of time after church to give this some attention.

Physical
1. Reach goal weight. This goal is the same, but I'm really going to make it happen this year. My subgoal is to work out at least three times a week, which isn't hard at all in the summer but gets tricky in the winter when it gets dark so early and it's so cold and I just want to be in bed all the time. My goal for reaching this weight is actually May 1st. That's four months to drop fifteen pounds. The rest of the year will be focused on keeping it off for good.

2016 is going to kick 2015's butt. Like for real.