2013 Goals

It's three days into 2013 and it's time to post my goals on my blog. It's a bit of a tradition around here on There Must Be More to Life Than Dishes and Laundry.... In 2011 and 2012 I posted my goals on my blog and updated throughout the year as a way to help hold myself accountable. So here are my goals for 2013:

1. Get finances on track. Update YNAB (You Need a Budget, budgeting software) at least every other day. Stick to the budget we have set up in YNAB. Try to save money and cut expenses from budget where possible. Make only weekly trips to the grocery store and twice monthly trips to Target and Walmart (you can't spend money if you aren't at the store). Menu plan on Sunday and make list to prepare for Monday shopping trip. Stick to list when shopping.

2. Get housework under control. Since Orion has been born this is the area I am struggling most with. There simply are not enough hours in the day when you have 4 kids, including a demanding baby. I know the housework can wait (and it has) but being better organized and proactive in this area is one of my goals.
    -Wash, dry, and put away two loads of laundry daily.
    -One small task daily: Mon. grocery shop, Tues. and Wed. work at church, Thurs. sweep and mop living and dining room, Fri. wipe down cabinets, sweep and mop kitchen and bathroom, Sat. clean bathrooms, Sun. vacuum master bedroom and Orion's room.
    -Assign 2 small additional weekly chores to each big kid in exchange for $1 extra weekly allowance.
    -Big kids now responsible for starting at least one load of their laundry per week with goal by end of the year to have them each washing their own laundry.

3. Teach Brennan and Wynter to cook better. Both enjoy cooking but I need to work with them more so they have experience making meals on a regular basis. For 2013 each of them will pick out and make a dinner every other week. So far this is working great and they are both very excited about it. I think learning to cook is an important life skill and at 12 it's time for them to learn more than they already know.

4. Attend church at least twice per month. In a perfect world my goal would be 3 times per month but Nate works 1-2 weekends per month and we do things like ski or other special events on the weekends sometimes too so twice per month is a realistic goal.

5. Go on monthly dates with Nate. Moving towards every other week dates as Orion gets older towards the end of 2013. Be more engaged with each other on a daily basis. We both have a bad habit of spending time doing separate things side by side. This year I want to talk more and spend more quality time on a day-to-day basis.

6. Sew more. I bought a sewing machine last year. I've sewn a few things but I'd love to learn to sew better or at least attempt more projects this year. Sewing is still very intimidating to me.

7. Take a photography class. I got a DSLR for my mother's day gift from hubby. It take amazing pictures but I don't know how to use it so I'm hoping a class will help.

8. Get back into running! I love running. I truly do. Finding time and getting started is hard right now with everything on my plate. My goal is to run the May 2013, Bolder Boulder 10K. I think having a race to train for and finding running partners will be key in me keeping this goal.

Hopefully by publishing these for all to see it will help keep me accountable.