You would think...

I signed up for 2 classes at the Y.  Remember that whole 'get in shape' goal for 2013?  Yep, me and just about everybody else signed up for classes but I am one of the ones who tried to talk myself out of it all last night and this morning.  I'm glad I didn't =)  Today was the first class of R. I. P. P. E. D.  (The letters stand for something, I only remember a few - Resistance, Intervals, Plyometrics....Diet?  Maybe the E is for Endurance?  I remembered more than I thought!)  I figured it would be hard...last night I watched a bit of the Biggest Loser and since it was the first episode, people were falling off the treadmill and puking...I didn't think it would be THAT hard, but it IS Monday and I'm getting over being sick and only getting about 3 hours of sleep last week.  This morning I posted on 'that social networking site':

This cheese loving Wisconsin girl had a bad nightmare - someone at her first Y class actually noticed the dry, white, fuzzy, lumpy but smoooshy sticks below her waist! Praying it stays a nightmare and doesn't become a reality! EYES UP HERE PEOPLE!

So I went and like always, my brain has a running dialog I can't shut off.  You would think I'd be out of energy and just get to work, but no!  I like to remember some of the stuff I think about so that means you get to read it!

First of all, I was one of 2 women not in pants.  Well played, Wisconsin winter, well played!  Adding workout pants or capris to the shopping list....And how is it that at a little over 5'4" I am one of the tallest ones here??  Fe-fi-fo-fum, can't keep up and you look like a sore thumb!!  That's annoying.  But I'll get better at the stuff so hopefully I'll blend in better.  Oh, also, if Monica Seles was a mathematician, she was in this class.  I was like, "Who keeps grunting??  Really?  She's counting now?"  Then the woman next to me gave me the look that meant that she thought the same thing.  Suddenly I realized the noise was coming from me!  Yep.  Apparently I'm that girl!  It's healthy to laugh at yourself, right?  =)  Honestly I was having fun and I didn't care much.  But I do have one question.  Where do you people find this flexibility?  Is there an online store or something?  I need to add that to the shopping list!  And shoes!!  I need new shoes too!  My shoes didn't do much for me.  That was frustrating.  I don't want to wear my running shoes for this stuff, so it looks like I'm going shopping.  Right now my 'core' is pretty stiff and I'm trying to ignore the soreness.  It seems like this class will be good for me, hopefully strengthen up my back and well, pretty much everything else!  Next up:  Zumba.  I keep hearing about it and I figured I'd try it.  I like to dance =)  We'll see!  I also saw a friend there who helped me navigate some child care issues.  That made my day!  It was super helpful and I felt so much better seeing someone I knew and could talk to for a while!  I'm looking forward to all this - I won't talk myself out of it next Monday!   

It feels like yesterday.

Alright, I'm not feeling so hot today so what better time to crank out my 2013 goals?  It literally feels like yesterday when I wrote the 2012 ones.  I just re-read them and I kinda feel like I just want to say "ditto".  But I'm me and I can't ever keep things short when I talk/write so what fun is that?

2013 goals

Spiritual

-I will be joining Inspired To Action's Maximizing Your Mornings Challenge once again! 

-I'm hoping to do more scripture memorizing w/the whole family.  Out of all the verses I had memorized w/Moses, a little over half have 'stuck' in my gray matter.  I can do better.

-Still thinking about serving, whether it be on a missions trip away from home or here.  I have so many ideas!!!  Sometimes I wish God would stop giving me these ideas...I think of something or hear about it somewhere and I'm like, "That is so cool!  Someone should do that here!" and then I get the feeling like that someone should be me and my head nearly falls off b/c it's shaking NO so hard!  

-I don't think I will ever have time to be a part of women's ministry on a regular basis but I am glad I was able to be a part of this upcoming conference planning.  I do want to make it a goal to keep being in a small group or women's ministry in some way though.  

Personal

-Step it up in the homemaking department.  (Said the woman sitting on her couch w/2 torn out pages of a magazine, a binder, a highlighter, the remote, a banana peel, some laundry and a pile of kleenexes!)  This one is super broad so I need to break it down into smaller pieces...

     -Make more hot breakfasts.

     -Get better at meal planning and prepping things ahead.

     -Buy less cans, packaged foods and aim for more things from scratch.

     -Sew stuff.

     -Declutter in general.

     -Declutter/minimize clothing stash.  (I'm kind of a hoarder when it comes to clothes.  For everyone, not just me.  Stuff that doesn't fit, stuff that might fit, stuff that looks good or doesn't...stuff we wear or don't...I like options.  I feel better when their are a lot of options for everyone.  But I'm realizing it's ridiculous - many people could use the clothes that just sit there, taking up space.  I read a really good book called 7 and there was a chapter on clothes that convicted me way down deep.  I'm a work in progress and the more I talk about my clothing issues, the more I realized I need to pare down.  There's a whole lot more to this part of the 'story of me' but that's the short version.)

-READ.  Again.  I miss reading books!

-Get involved w/the Intergenerational Center.  

-Make it more of a habit to have Sundays be outdoors - hiking, playing kickball, going for bike rides...just keeping at least one day a week for family oriented stuff.  Not family oriented in the way that it's just us, but I mean that we're doing things as a family, maybe w/other families, outside.

There are others from last year's list that I just don't feel are as big of a deal for me this year...

Physical

Last year was a breath of fresh air in this category!!  I turned 35 and pushed myself harder than I have in a long time.  I didn't think I could still do stuff like running (I can, I'm just slower) or working out and still have energy to stay awake until 9pm!  (I don't know, I guess I pictured that since I haven't always taken the best care of my body that it might quit on me sooner than others!)  But I did that stuff and it felt good.  So this year my physical goals are to top last year's!

-DRINK WATER!!!  

-Get sleep - 7-8 hrs each night.  I know everything else in life goes sooooo much better when I do!

-Start and FINISH the R.I.P.P.E.D. and Zumba class at the YMCA.  No excuses!  

-Run a 5K in less than 30 minutes.

-Run five 5Ks.  (Not going to happen unless I find 5 I like =)  So...know of any no-hill, not too hot/good weather, for a special cause races near by?)

-Thin the thighs.  Ugh.  I did well for 10 months and crashed in Nov/Dec.

-Make a game plan so Nov/Dec doesn't turn into a SAD (Standard American Diet), SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder), SAD (Surly, Annoyed and Depressed) cycle.

Family/Household

-Adoption.  Step one already done!

-Memorize Bible verses together.

-Save $ for a few things that are a little bigger than average.  It's time to take action and stop talking about what's important to us.  

-Out West trip.  There is a niece who graduates this year and more family we haven't seen in way too long.  

-As always, we're are moving in the direction of less waste, less plastic, less consumption of unnecessary goods, real foods, less chemicals, more garden boxes, more chickens, etc...just keep moving in that direction.

-Move? out of the city.  This is a long shot again this year, but it's still a goal and we can be taking steps toward it every now and then.

I'm sure there are others I am forgetting...and I think I need a nap.  But this is my list so far.

Best, Worst and Most Interesting (for Catherine)

When I was dating Dave, we went to Madison a bunch for football games and to visit his brother and family.  Being that his brother and wife are a few years older, they were/are ahead of us in life and already had a kid at the time.  Being that we both wanted to have kids, we'd visit and take mental notes and then talk about stuff on the long ride home.  I remember when one of the times we visited, their cute little family sat around the dinner table w/us and taught us a new 'game'.  We went around the table and asked/told each other what was the best, worst and most interesting parts of our day.  It was fun!  And it was adorable to hear my niece ask us and comment on our answers!  Well, she's just adorable so she could have been throwing the biggest tantrum and I would have said that anyway.  She still is adorable, even if she's about to go off to college.  (No, I haven't aged at all myself, it's some sort of time warp thing.  She got older, but I am not old.)
Anyway - fast forward to now, when I can't stand the fact that my own squirrelly kids do everything but make conversation at the table!  When I think of it, I remind them of the game and we go around the table and report on our day.  There is actual conversation shared, and it is then that I am reminded of how brilliant of a tool that is!  When we see friends we haven't seen in 10+ years, we ask them to summarize our time apart by playing the game!  It's really special to hear about their highs and lows and some really oddball stories...
I've decided to use this method to summarize 2012.  I worked on my goals for the year and had some successes, but some not so successful ventures too.  Always learning, always improving, it doesn't matter if I give myself an A+ or whatever!  So here we go...

2012's Best, Worst and Most Interesting

Best 

- went to a women's conference and am working w/a group planning another one in January of 2013.

- participated in 2 small groups - Courageous Parenting and a sermon based one.  AWESOME!!  The group of people we met and connected w/quickly became good friends and we are hoping to join/start new groups w/them soon!

- was the most successful so far in this season's Maximize Your Mornings Challenge.  We read through the book of 1 Peter and I am so glad I stuck it out.

- I did a super job of staying active and running in the warmer months, w/help from my hubby to free up some time in the schedule.  

- (other random stuff not on the goals list) I instituted a 5 bag policy for the kids (one ziploc for each day of the week, they pack the bags over the weekend so there is no discussion of what to wear in the AMs) and that is the best thing I think I have ever done!  I'd been doing well on getting enough sleep for most of the year but fell out of habit by the end (more on that later...).  I think I'm getting more of a hang of the rhythm of our days/life in general, which makes me so much happier.  I also feel like I have encouraged a lot of people to step out and try some things we've been doing - garden, eat better, etc...I try not to preach, I try not to criticize, but I aim to encourage.  I thought it would be so hard to break some habits or make changes for the better, but it gets easier every day.  I am no expert but I love to help people =)  Got that from my Mom!  I LOVE YOU MOM!

Worst

- I just can't seem to find time for my personal hobbies like reading, scrapbooking and sewing.  =(  I should say make time.  It's there...I just choose otherwise.

- I realized a few things this past Nov/Dec.  I do well for most of the year, but all my ambition, willpower and determination are gone by November.  It's like I just cave in!  I/We start eating SAD again (Standard American Diet), the days get shorter and we get less sunlight so we suffer from SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder), life gets busy, I make excuses, I make poor choices and I just feel SAD (Surly, Annoyed and Depressed)!!  (----no, no link for that I just made it up!)  ***EDITED***  I had a whole paragraph here about food and feelings and it looks like blogger ate it.  I have no idea where it went!!***  =(

- Other worsts were the lack of progress on an adoption, a move, a trip out West, and reducing the amount of packaging in our lives.  

Most Interesting

- Well, I never thought I'd be part of the planning committee for a women's conference, nor going to practices for a community drama!  

- I also didn't think I'd get so good at french braiding hair, much less hair of someone w/a different ethnic makeup than myself.  But then again - at the least, it takes me an hour each week, so...I can say I have close to 60 hours of practice in!!  

- This last small group we participated in was hosted by a couple who were our first friends at the church we currently attend!  We hadn't hung out w/them in quite a while and rarely see them much anymore since we no longer attend the same church.  But it was sort of funny that we became friends by joining their small group back in the day, and here we were signing up for a group hosted at their house...it was sort of like old times =)  

- It was interesting that we had the same foster care placement for the whole entire year.  Most of our past placements were either a year long or for a very short time.  This one is turning out to be over a year, it may even go past a year and a half.  This is interesting...also, we're learning more about 'co-parenting'.  W/our previous placements, there was very little transition (for one reason or another) and very little reason to co-parent.  It looks like there will be plenty of both in this placement.  I can think of no better way to describe it than interesting.  We are learning a lot.  Not just about the system and co-parenting, but about ourselves, too.  

- Dave has a beard again.  It's been a while!  He's talking about letting it grow big again!  Due to his alopecia, it probably won't get as big as it was in college, but it's fun!  I like him w/a fuzzy face =)  We watch that show Duck Dynasty and I think he was inspired.  For as long as I've known him, he's never been able to get his beard to grow long/down b/c the curls are so tight!  It just gets dense and bushy, but not flowing like the guys from that show.  I commented that maybe since he's older now, it might grow differently.  I don't really care - beard or not - I love the guy and I just want him to be happy!  I have a feeling that by the time the heat of summer comes around, it will get shaved off, though, so I'm just sitting back and watching it grow for now.  Yep, that's interesting... 

Well, that's the goal recap for 2012.  I don't fret about the details, but I like to check on my progress in a relaxed way.  I was hoping to have time to write the 2013 ones before nap time was over, but...no such luck.  Maybe tomorrow =)