goals for 2011

I had a couple of goals last year. One was to lose some baby weight; the other was to be more strict with the budget.

Nate was about 10 months old when I hit my goal weight (I lost 27 lbs in the first 2 weeks, then about 1 lb per month after that, for a total of 37 lbs lost) and 11 months old when I hit my goal size (I slimmed down in 2 spurts: 1 in August, 1 in November). I had a whole month to spare. By the way, I am not even trying to get down to pre-pregnancy size and weight. That would be ludicrous.

We did better with our budget the first half of the year, then when we found out I was losing my job, we did a lot better. I didn't feel like we ate out a lot, but when I told Rodgers "no more fast food and one eating out or delivery per month," we suddenly had a lot more money. We've also only been buying new clothes with gift cards/money we receive for birthdays/Christmas (he's as bad as I am about wanting to buy new clothes, though at least now, he gives away the ones he doesn't wear anymore instead of stockpiling them). That's been tough with me changing sizes, but the perfect thing is that I know other people who are changing sizes, too, and sometimes the size they are coming out of is the size I'm going into, and ta-da, new clothes for Rachel!

On to the future.

1. Read through the Bible
In the past, I have read through the Bible in a year a few times. I'd like to do that again this year. We will be doing books 3 and 4 of MasterLife, and I anticipate it will take a lot of time, which makes me kind of reluctant to make this goal. However, I am still going to go for it. I've come up with a reading plan that takes a little less than 11 months. I hate plans that assume you're using them during leap year. It bothers me to have to double up or carry the reading plan over an extra day. Also, I can guarantee that I will miss days occasionally. I needed a plan with a little wiggle room. There is a link to my reading plan in the sidebar on the right.

2. Christmas in Kenya
We will take two weeks off next December to spend Christmas in Kenya. Rodgers has already put in his request for time off. We are making this plan in faith that whatever job I get will allow me to take the time off as well. And we have already started saving for the airfare, as we'll have to buy 3 tickets next year. Technically, Nate will still be young enough to ride in our laps, but seriously? Who wants to share a tiny airplane seat with a 23.5 month old for 18 hours straight? It will be a tough trip as it is, I think we'll need that extra seat.

3. Get a Job
Ok, I know I just said we're doing ok because we're budgeting so much better now than before. But, I only have 3 more months of unemployment left, and after that, we will have to start taking money out of savings. Which means that goal #2 would be less likely to become reality.

4. Read 2 Books per Month
I really love reading. I got a library card last year and checked out books once. Then, some people gave me some books to read, I bought some off a clearance table, Nate was born, I had no time to go to the library anymore... Sometime around August, I started going to the library again. While I'm home I can read about 1 book per week without neglecting my chores. Once I have a job again, I assume I'll be back to lunch break reading only, which means it will take me longer to get through a book. I think 2 per month is a reasonable goal.