Normally I’m not a fan of New Year’s resolutions. However, 2010 seems like a year to start fresh. I will not call them resolutions… I will call them goals.

Goal 1: Read 52 books this year.

I’ve amassed quite a collection of books, at last count I had over 60 on my to-read shelf. And then for Christmas and my birthday I was given 10 more AND a Kindle. (B to the dizzub, I LOVE my Kindle!) So, in an effort to clear out that list, I will attempt to read 1 book per week. I’ve already finished 1!

Goal 2: Lose 20 lbs.

Yikes. Should I really put that up here? I think this is the area where I’m most afraid of failing. I hope that adding it to my public goals will make me more willing to stick to it. I’ve already lost 3!

Goal 3: Make a dress or a shirt for each woman in my family.

This is my let-slide goal. By that I mean I’m going to strive to achieve this, but if things are too busy, this will be the thing I don’t do. The reason I want to do this is to become better at garment construction and reading patterns. When I make things for myself I have too much trouble with measuring and I give up too easily. Making them to give away to people I love should (hopefully) encourage me to finish. I have 2 great books I’ll be referencing (Sew U and Design-It-Yourself Clothes: Patternmaking Simplified), along with tons of patterns from my collection. There are 5 women in my family. I have not started making anything, but I have started gathering ideas from the girls about what they’d like.

So, I’ll check back in from time to time to let you all know how things are going! Other non-pressing things on my agenda for the year include restoring an old quilt, putting up a tutorial for a stuffed dog toy, and making a 1st year quilt for Dexter. Amongst other things. It’s going to be a crazy year!

Someone recently mentioned to me the importance of viewing your life as building toward something. Not just scattered, random events, just living life until you die. But truly meaningful, purposeful living.

I know I tend to forget to live like that. I’m more of a live-in-the-moment kind of girl, which has its merit, but I think that working to bring the two ideas together could create a richer kind of existence.

I want to internalize that, and over the next week I’m going to begin to dwell more on a forward-thinking perspective. I’m going to think more on what is and will be most important to me (which, for me, is God and family) and see how that shapes the way I do things