13 in '13

If you know me even a little bit, you know I’m big on making goals and lists. It also probably comes as no surprise that I love a new year because it gives me the perfect excuse to do both those things.

I know I can make goals and lists any ol’ day (and I do make lists on the daily), but there’s just so much hope and promise in a brand-new year that it’s my favorite time to set new goals for myself. I get so excited thinking about how satisfied and how much better I’ll feel about myself when I accomplish my goals.

Last year I set a goal for every month, after reading The Happiness Project and being so inspired by Gretchen Rubin’s discipline and overall outlook on life and making yourself happy.

I did great on some goals (make my bed every day, don’t eat out for a month), not so great on a few others (improve my posture, run three times a week), and somehow completely forgot about a couple more (write in my journal every day, Furminate Deuce every day).

In my defense, the ones I forgot about after two days were for November and December, everyone’s most stressful and hectic months.

All that to say, this year my goals are not specific to any month and are just things I want to do over the next year.

I give you my 13 in 13:

1. Pay off all my credit cards. Here’s hoping the fiscal cliff doesn’t nip this one in the bud before I even get a chance to start. Otherwise, I may be tempted to just jump off said cliff.

2. Get back down to my driver’s license weight. No, I’m not going to tell you what it is. But I’ll certainly let you know when I get there.

3. Learn to crochet. Several of my friends crochet. I’ve written instructions for making crochet purses and necklaces (seriously, so gorgeous). So it only makes sense that I should know how to crochet too. And it’s going to happen. A crochet day is already in the works. Well…kinda. We talked about it that one time.

4. Read at least one nonfiction book a month. I’m not going overboard with my reading goal this year, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to stop reading (and writing about reading) altogether. I don’t wanna become illiterate, ya know.

5. Run a 5K. Color Me Rad, perhaps? It’s coming to OKC in May, so if anyone wants to run three miles and get splattered with paint while doing it, holla atcha girl. (crickets) Okay, just pretend that didn’t happen.

6. Attend my family reunion. A couple of my cousins have planned the first Luckett family reunion for March. About 30 Lucketts together in one place for the first time in many years = so much fun it should be illegal. At least, that’s what I’m anticipating.

7. Buy new Zumba shoes. I’ve been in dire need for months, but since I hate wearing shoes, it pains me to spend more than twenty bucks on footwear. But something must be done about my had-them-since-college-and-I-graduated-four-years-ago New Balances. [Side note: Shoe wearing is one of two ways my mom and I differ. She doesn’t take hers off until she goes to bed, whereas I kick mine off as soon as I step in the door. Our other difference lies in our feelings about John Wayne. She love love loves his movies, so that should tell you how I feel about them.]

8. Try at least one Pinterest recipe/project a month. I’ve got to do something about my ridiculously full “DIY” and “nom noms” boards.

9. Write at least 100 blog posts. This should benefit my become-a-better-writer journey. And if I post just twice a week, I’ll accomplish this goal. This is my third post this week, so I’m ahead of the game here.

10. Take a weekend trip with Randel. Last year we wanted to go to a Rangers game and Six Flags and just get away for a few days. That didn’t happen. So I’m gonna try my darndest to make it happen this year. Since the Rangers got rid of most of my favorite players, I’m thinking maybe Eureka Springs or camping somewhere.

11. Get all my cavities filled. I don’t even wanna think about how much time I’ll have to take off work to do this one.

12. Watch at least 52 movies on my where-have-you-been-all-your-life movie list. Surely I can devote at least two hours a week to a movie. Maybe then I’ll start catching even more references in my daily life. It’s already started happening with Friends.

13. Finish my Christmas shopping by December 1. I’m not gonna be the regifts-gift-cards-cause-she's-not-braving-the-mall-on-Christmas-Eve girl this year. Hypothetically speaking, of course. This year I plan to take note of any little thing the people I buy for say they want and shop throughout the year.

And those, my friends, are my 2013 goals. I hesitate to call them resolutions, because I know myself. I'm the type who eats a cheeseburger for lunch and considers her diet shot for the entire year. So I’m calling them my 2013 goals and giving myself a year to accomplish them.

What are your goals/resolutions for this year?