I Am Resolved!

It's taken me a while, but I think I'm finally ready to finalize what my goals for the year 2009 will be.  Making New Year's resolutions doesn't really work for me.  I'm all about starting new for a new year, but I feel like making resolutions just sets me up for failure.  I've tried in the past, and I didn't do half bad, but it felt a little forced because I felt like I had to make the resolution on January 1st and that I had to keep it, or I'd be a loser! ;)

So this year, I'm doing it a little different.  Who says you have to start at the very beginning anyways?  Finalizing my plans at the end of the January has given me time to really think about stuff.  I don't really have time to think about anything from approximately December 24th-January 11th because of Christmas, three birthdays and a wedding (this year)!  And I'm not making any specific promises to myself that I have to keep the entire year.  Most of my goals are very general, but will inspire me to make good choices to better myself.

And here they are (not in any particular order)...

1. Become a photographer:  This doesn't mean that I have to get a job taking photos, or that I have to spend money to take a class.  All it means is that I'm going to make it a priority in my life to spend some time getting to know my camera and learn to take better pictures.  And I'm going to be my only judge.  Well, I'll let my husband have a say... but ultimately, if I'm happy with it then it's good!  I'm excited to take my new camera on it's first scenic road trip to some national parks soon!

2. Take better care of my body:  Now I'm not saying that I abuse my body in any way.  I'm pretty careful about most of the Word of Wisdom stuff.  I've never smoked, drank (coffee, tea or alcohol), or done drugs.  But I don't exercise all that much.  Actually I exercise none.  And I don't always eat very well.  Not too long ago, I heard someone say that we would all be held accountable for how we took care of our bodies.  And that worried me.  The scriptures teach us that our bodies are a temple and that they are a gift from God.  I'm not abusing mine, but I could definitely show more appreciation for the amazing gift I received from my Heavenly Father.  I'm going to make it a priority to show appreciation in any of the following ways, getting more exercise--getting off my lazy butt and walking to my parents' house, stretching in the mornings, doing aerobics while watching tv (well... maybe not the last one. It sounds too dorky)--choosing fewer and healthier snacks, and going to bed earlier!

3.  Increase my gospel knowledge:  I've always had a hard time with scripture study.  For some reason it's been laborious and painful, and I never got much out of it.  And these feelings transferred to any other religious book.  But then I actually began to read a religious book.  You know, the kind where the author quotes a scripture selection every other paragraph, and I realized that that was the kind of scripture study that I could get into!  I like to go and look up the quoted scriptures and read around the verses included in the book.  It's a lot more fun for me, and I get a lot more out of it.  Right now I'm reading The Infinite Atonement.  It's slow going because there's lots to digest, but I'm really loving it!

Another thing that I already started doing that I think will benefit me is my "Book of Mormon Mondays."  This forces--or rather, inspires--me to read out of the Book of Mormon more often (lately it's been daily with my husband) so that I can have something prepared to blog about each week.  Sort of a lame reason to read, but hey, whatever works, right?  And it's fun!  I really enjoy it!  So I'm going to make it a priority in my life to find more of these enjoyable ways for me to learn more about the amazing gospel of Jesus Christ!

4.  Improve my relationship with my husband:  Now again, I'm not saying that I have a bad relationship with Derek.  It's actually really good, and has improved drastically!  But, as my dad always says, there's always room for improvement!  Most of my troubles come from control issues.  I'm a bit of a control freak and a worrier, and that's a toxic combination.  Lately, I've been trying harder to really think about whether I'm "nagging" him about something rather than "discussing" it with him.  And if what I think is important to talk about really is all that important to talk about.  I think it's been working better because both he and I seem happier.  I'm also trying to speak his love language more fluently and not be so bossy!

5.  Become a historian:  I'm a geographer, and a big part of geography is history!  For this one, I'm going to try to make a specific goal.  Each month, I want to become a (well rounded) historian by reading one historical book each month.  It could be a biography, memoir, a novel based on an actual event, a textbook type of book--believe it or not, I actually enjoy reading history textbooks--or even a book written by someone during that time period (think Chaucer or Uncle Tom's Cabin).  I'm not that particular on the where the history took place.  I love it all!  And I guess if I run short on time, I could watch a good, historical movie about a real event in history.  But that's risky.  I'll have to be picky with that because some could call the movie Titanic historical.  Barf.

Here's my "syllabus."  And I'm not planning on sticking to it religiously.  It's just a possible outline for my course of study.

• January - Africa
• February - The Middle East (not including Israel and Palestine)
  
• March - Russia
  
• April - China
  
• May - Japan
  
• June - Korea
  
• July - South East Asia
  
• August - Polynesia
  
• September - North or South Pole
  
• October - Israel and Palestine
  
• November - Central/South America
  
• December - Europe