2012 Goals

Happy New Year! I've set five goals (yes, goals, not resolutions) for myself for 2012. Below they are listed out with a short explanation of why I chose to make it a goal for myself and how I plan to accomplish it. Enjoy!

1. Start a blog and post regularly.

As you can see, I did part 1, but I’ve also got to keep up with part 2. I like to read everyone else’s blogs so much, that I thought it would only be fair to start my own, so here it is. My plan is for this blog to feature many things…how I’m doing on my goals, what’s going on in our lives, our travels, crafty projects I do (thanks pinterest!), and any other random things I want…after all, it is my blog. :)
2. Run a marathon.
This will be a hard one for me. I’ve never been a runner and right now, I am VERY out of shape. However, Josh and I thought this would be something we could do together to get into shape and it may even become a new hobby…maybe. Our plan is to run in the White Rock Marathon in December. Josh has made us a training plan and as long as we can stick to it, we’ll make it. We started our training this week with walking a little over 2 miles on Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, and today. Walking? Yes, walking…baby steps. I’m hoping we’ll be able to run in other races like 5Ks, 10Ks, maybe even a half marathon along the way to keep us motivated. Training for 11 months is a long time!
3. Be a CPA by the end of 2012 – Study for, take, and pass the CPA exam.
I have the required experience, now I just need to pass the exam! I first started taking the CPA exam a little over 6 months after finishing school, but after getting busier at work, barely missing passing a few parts, and running up and down the road to see Josh all the time, it got pushed to the back burner. When we started planning our wedding, it got pushed even farther back. But now that we’ve been married for almost 7 months, Josh has graduated, and things have settled down, it’s time for me to get back to it. Even though I don’t want to work in traditional accounting, it will help my career and allow me more flexibility in choosing what I do want to do.
4. Read 12 books – one each month.
It seems weird that I have to put reading books on my list of goals since I love to read, but I just haven’t been reading as much the last few years. I watch more TV and movies and just don’t read nearly as much as I used to. Now I’ve got my new Kindle and I’m ready to go!
5. Clean out the clutter - trash/donate any unwanted/unneeded items.
This should be on everyone’s lists. We all have stuff that just sits in a closet or box and never gets used. This will definitely be a year-long project. I’ve had some stuff in boxes that I haven’t opened in years. Some of it will get pulled out when we get a bigger place, but some of it will probably just keep getting put back in a box and stuffed in a closet if I don’t do something about it. The first place I need to start is my closet. I have so many clothes, yet I wear the same things all the time and look in my closet and say I have nothing to wear. I need to clean out the clothes that just take up space in my closet and drawers and give them to people who actually have nothing to wear.

There you have it...my goals for 2012! I'll be keeping you updated on how I'm doing with each goal and accomplishments on the way to completing these goals. Here's to a wonderful 2012!