New Year, New List - 2018 Goals & Resolutions

I love writing things down. Every year, this includes a list of goals and resolutions to help set my azimuth for adventures in the 52 weeks ahead of me. In 2018, my list is a little shorter than in years past, but as I've grown older, I also give myself a little bit of latitude. If I decide to come back and add something later, then I will!

Goals and Resolutions for 2018
  • Speak with kindness - more and more, I hear my children (especially my 12 year old daughter) echoing my angry, annoyed, frustrated or strident tones in her conversations with others. I have nowhere to look but right back at myself in the mirror. It's time for me to be more deliberate in my speech, in the way I treat those I love most, and in the words I use when I speak to them.
  • Complete two family vacation scrapbook albums - I'm woefully behind. This once-favorite hobby of mine has taken a backseat to many other things, but I still enjoy it when I find the time to do something small. This once would've been an easy goal, but this year, it feels a little bit audacious. Which naturally makes it perfect.
  • Read 10 classic books - I was recently accused of being a "fake English major" by a friend because I have never read The Great Gatsby. Kind of a fair point, especially when you start adding in titles of other standard high school literature that I, for whatever reason, never had to dice up and examine in a teenage essay. I don't know which ten books I'll end up reading, but I do know I'm starting with The Great Gatsby. 
  • Try one new recipe per week - while we may eat the same five things over and over, I don't have to be happy about it. I'm broadly defining this particular goal - main dishes, side dishes, soups, salads, desserts, even drinks. As long as it's something I've never made before, it counts.
  • Complete four endurance events - I have a long list of races that are possible this year, but only a couple I've firmly settled on. There are also new opportunities like multi-day bike rides afforded by living in Wisconsin, so I hope to get out there and try something new this year.
  • Go camping with Caroline - with the move to Wisconsin, we lost the opportunity to go camping with our old troop of like-minded Girl Scouts. She's found a new troop here, but so far, they don't seem to be the type of outdoor troop she was hoping for. Between that and the abundance of parks and trails in Wisconsin, I'm hoping this might turn into a new thing she and I can enjoy together, especially as we begin to navigate those tricky teenage years.
Pretty excited to see what 2018 has in store!

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