Forgotten Resolutions

In the midst of the flurry called "nesting," I discovered a whole page of  New Year's Resolutions from 2012 that I'd forgotten even existed.  As expected, many of these goals went both unremembered and unaccomplished.  Yet instead of dwelling on the negative, I'd like to take a moment and recap a few of the resolutions where we actually made progress.  After all, even baby steps are worthy of celebration.

Family Goals:
Read the scriptures every night.  While we certainly fell far short of perfecting this lofty goal, in general I think we're doing a better job of family scripture reading than we were a year ago.  We've had to get creative, often reading scriptures over breakfast or dessert while the kids are a captive audience at the table.  No matter how informal, scripture reading has helped bring a more positive spirit into our home.

Go to the Grand Canyon.  Check.  This is perhaps the only goal that we specifically accomplished because it was on our list of things to do in 2012.  I look forward to setting a new "travel goal" for 2013. 

Buy a Christmas Tree by December 1st.  A pretty random goal, if you ask me--one I certainly don't remember setting.  While I'm don't think we purchased our tree by December 1st, we did get a tree early in the month and decked the halls for Christmas, even though we would be traveling.  It's a lot of work and takes a lot of time, but I really enjoy having the house feel "Christmas-y," especially while the kids are small.

Brooklyn:
Practice guitar every day until Brooklyn's birthday.  At first glimpse, this goal might appear to be a failure since we played guitar just about, oh, never.  But on the positive side, Brooklyn started playing piano in 2012 and is doing a fantastic job practicing.  So despite the change of instrument, music is still gracing our home--and that's success.

Talia:
Share.  While the goal may be somewhat vague, our cute Tally Wally has a generous heart that gives freely.

Learn how to read.  She's making terrific progress in both English and Spanish as the world of print opens up.

Earn a pinky party. Yes!  Yes!  Yes!  Talia's complete abandonment of finger sucking may be the accomplishment of a decade, not just the year.  Way to go, Reddi-Wip!  I'm noticing that we never got around to another one of your goals, "Go to Fiesta Fun."  Perhaps sometime in 2013 we'll play there just in your honor.

Eli:
Be gentle.  While Eli's not always gentle, at least he's no longer in the "hitting phase" that concerned us a year ago.

Learn to talk.  Definitely got that one down!  Looking back, perhaps we should have specified, "Learn to talk quietly."

Say prayers.  Not only does Eli say prayers now, he insists on saying them all.  Every.  Single.  Time.

Kara:
Floss my teeth.  Don't remember setting this goal, but even so, I can happily report that I floss fairly regularly.  Extreme dentophobia is great motivation.

Go hiking.  Did plenty of this in 2012.  Heck, I even tried my hand at rapelling, something I didn't even consider a possibility a year ago.

 Run a 30K.  Painful, but I did it.

Jason: 
Pass 3 more AREs (Architect Registration Examination.)  Jason passed not three, but all five of his remaining exams this year.  Overachiever.  :)

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So there you have it: 14 areas of accomplishment, balanced by the other unstated 14 goals that are still very much works in progress.

While visiting Justin and Brianna in Phoenix, we heard an outstanding talk about resolutions.  The speaker focused on giving yourself permission to fail, for it is through failure, not success, that we often grow most.  I haven't set any new goals for 2013 yet, but when I do, I won't be afraid to aim high.  Even though I may miss the mark, hopefully I will get myself off the ground.