It’s a week into the new year and I thought this would be a good time for me to reflect on the goals I’ve made for 2008 and see how they’re going so far…

Goal #1: Further develop AforementionedThoughts.com in the new year.

• I have been pushing myself to make relevent comments on more blogs that I read.  It does take effort, which is why it sometimes gets pushed to the back of my mind, but I’ve been trying and achieving I think.
• I’ve, obviously, started taking a picture a day again. I’m enjoying it. It helps that I have a shiny new camera that I’m in -hearts- with. It doesn’t help that my life isn’t always photo-interesting. But I really feel like challenging myself to take pictures will (and has) let me share parts of my life that I never would have before (not always interesting things, but yeah). 

Goal #2: Develop my crochet, knitting, and sewing skills.

• I’ve been crocheting up at least a granny square a day in this new year for Sam’s granny square blanket.  
• I got an awesome new book about crochet techinques and tips and have been trying out new stitches. It’s been exciting to learn new things!  
• I successfully avoided buying books at the bookstore related to crafts outside these in my goals. (Yay!) 

Goal #3: To lose weight/eat healthier in the new year.

I haven’t completely started on this goal, since our weight loss contest at work starts next week. I have started making some positive changes, however.

• I’ve kicked the soda habit. The caffiene withdrawl headaches have sucked, but I think I’ve worked past most of the now. I’m not saying I won’t ever have a soda again, but it’s good to not drink it everyday.
• I’ve started making preparations to cut calories (during grocery shopping). 
• I’ve started logging some food. I’m hoping to log all of it starting next week. 

Overall, I’m still happy with my goals and I’m happy with the progress I’ve made on them so far.  Surprisingly, it feels good to have these goals to work towards. It gives me a bit of focus in my life and realistic things I can hope to achieve. I’m starting small, but so far it’s been a positive experience.

My final goal for 2008 (besides the obvious things I’m trying to improve about myself every day) is probably the one I’m most apprehensive about. The one I’m least convinced that I can achieve based on habits from the past.
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My second goal has to do with something that I pretty much spend the last four months doing - crafting.

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 I didn’t like much about being a student - the homework, stress of time management, studying only to find that most of the information isn’t actually covered on the exam, writing papers into the wee hours of the morning… none of that stuff really made me all that thrilled. One thing I’ve realized that I did enjoy, however, is the feeling of hope that came around with each new semester. Each semester felt like a chance to start anew and to accomplish something. I didn’t always reach the goals I set, but I did accomplish some and I loved the feeling of a challenge.

Since I (thankfully) don’t have school anymore, I’m looking to the new year as a time to set goals for myself. I don’t expect to achieve them all, but I’m hoping to. I’m only setting a few goals in hopes that having something to focus on will keep me from getting distracted on side things (another sort of resolution, since I’ve found myself to be a bit…distracted and not accomplishing much lately).  I’m hoping that making these goals public will help me feel more accountable to them. We’ll see how that works this time next year.

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