Looking Back, Looking Ahead

Looking Back, Looking Ahead

We have arrived at the end of one year and the beginning of a new year. This is my favorite time to take inventory of where I am and where I am headed. So first, let me review the goals I had set out for last year and then examine the things I'd like to attain in the new year. Quoting from the Dave Ramsey devotional "The late Zig Ziglar used to say, 'If you aim at nothing, you'll hit it every time.' I've always liked that quote because it's a great reminder about the importance of planning. You can settle for breezing through life with no plan, but you'll end up going nowhere. Anything of substance in life requires some careful thought ahead of time." I do like making plans and lists!

Physical

Run the Donna and the Gate RR. As I said in my mid-year checkin, I completed both. I did not beat my Gate PR but I did beat my marathon PR by about 10 minutes. I am now training for the Disney half which is in two weeks. I'm hoping that the grueling track workouts I've been enduring will pay off in a faster time. I ended up not joining the Galloway group, but my long runs have been the Galloway method. We shall see. My running pal, Kim, agreed to train with me. She is running the Donna in a few weeks. My other running partner, Lisa, runs with me mid week. It's so nice to have partners that help pass the time and hold me accountable!
Strength train. I have been consistent with the YMCA on Tuesdays and Thursdays, thanks to Lisa. We added monthly challenges, beginning with a squat and ab challenge, adding in push-ups and arms. I'm happy that Kim will be joining the Y as well!

Log food and water. I found a book called Trim, Healthy Mama that I began following in May. (It's a low-glycemic way of eating.) The BEST thing about this way of eating is that there's NO TRACKING! I made it to my goal weight and even lost a bit more for a total of 14  lbs. I am now within a healthy weight and BMI. I'm thrilled with the results! 

Spiritual/Ministry
Keep up with YouVersion's Daily Reading Plan. I finished the Rick Warren's YouVersion plan on Christmas Eve! It was a great devotional. I really like him. He's so practical! I wish Andy Stanley had one for 365 days!

Finish reading through the New Testament this year. Completed!
Read 4 Spiritual Books. I finished  Mark Buchanan's Things Unseen and In Plain Sight. I did not read Out of the Saltshaker by Rebecca Manley Pippert or Mark Buchanan's The Holy Wild. I finished Priscilla Shirer's Gideon Bible study which I began during the summer with a group of friends, and completed in the fall with Kim. 

Meet with young married (with children) couples group. This completely fell through, however, we did help out with the marriage retreat in October and have started meeting with one couple and will host a small group in January.
Meet with my mentor. We have been consistently meeting. Love our times together! I'm telling ya, everyone needs a Paul, a Barnabas and a Timothy!

Mental/Personal
Blog. Nope. Really, really failed at the "2 posts per month" goal. So much for being doable. 
Pursue hobbies. Um kinda. I did quite a bit over the summer but then school started and did nothing for a while until Christmas break.
Scripture memory with Timothy and Annie. Yeah, another one I'm slipping on. Gonna get cracking on this one too.

So I didn't nail every single goal, but I did pretty well! I accomplished more than I would have had I not set any! Now for this year's...

Physical

Run the Disney half marathon and PR at the Gate RR.  The Disney half is in two weeks and I'm feeling good. As long as I don't get sick or injured I should be able to hit my goal of 2:17. To think that there are people who can run a FULL marathon in that time...

Run a 5K in sub 30 mins. Since I have been trying to get faster, I want to see what I can do in a short race.
Strength train. Keep it up at the Y and add monthly challenges back in. Might try Ballet Beautiful or another video workout that escapes me.

Get to 25% body fat. Since finding Trim, Healthy Mama and reaching a weight I haven't seen in more than two decades, I began thinking that it might just be possible! If not quite that low than at least as close as I can get to that.

Climb Mt. LeConte (again). Our climbing friend, Phil, visited us over Christmas and his stories have inspired me to climb. Michael and I climbed this third highest peak in the Smokey Mountains before we had kids. This time I want to do it with kids. The cool thing is that there's a lodge at the top that you spend the night in. This time I know to bring an extra blanket.

Spiritual/Ministry
Read through the Jewish NT with commentary. I finished reading the NT last year using The Message translation. This year I want to read through it using David Stern's translation and commentary.

Read 4 Spiritual Books. Since I fell short of my goal, I will add the two I didn't read, Out of the Saltshaker by Rebecca Manley Pippert and Mark Buchanan's The Holy Wild, to my list plus Bread and Wine by Shauna Niequist and  Priscilla Shirer's God Is Able which I hope to read with some friends. Oh I also want to read The Reason For God by Tim Keller.

Meet with married couples.  Since helping out with the marriage retreat, we have started meeting with one couple and will host a small group in January. We have found our passion and a new ministry we can do together!
Meet with my mentor. We have been consistently meeting. Love our times together! I'm telling ya, everyone needs a Paul, a Barnabas and a Timothy!

Lead a Women's Tea. I had an idea to have a ladie's gathering, in place of a retreat, and do it at the church. I have an idea for a theme and I'm excited about it! Now I just need to get cracking on organizing it.

Mental/Personal
Blog. Okay, seriously now. I recently got an iPad and blogger now has an app so I'm trying this again. Third time's a charm, right? Two posts per month. I CAN do this!
Photography. We bought a Cannon Rebel T3. Annie has been taking a photography class at co-op and I've signed up to be the assistant. Last semester we learned with a point and shoot camera and I learned how to shoot reflection, silhouette, rule of thirds, framing, point-of-view and other types and techniques. Next semester we learn how to use our DSLR! 

St. Augustine in 2014. We like to go to St. Augustine at Christmas time and see the lights. While walking around we decided it would be fun to have a supper club type of group experience and try new places to eat. So with that in mind we will have monthly visits to the oldest city, exploring sites and restaurants.
Scripture memory with Timothy and Annie. Yeah, committing to doing better on this. 

Go to Italy. We are IN! Got our tickets already! Planning now on what to see, where to go and stay within our budget. 

And that's it! Seems like a lot once I write it all out. But I'm excited to tackle these goals, especially now that I will no longer be working as a Sonlight Advisor. I'll have time to fill, right? <insert maniacal laughter here> 

Actually, the biggest goal of all is...

Follow God's lead. I'm sure The Lord will place something in my life that I cannot foresee or plan for. I will follow where he leads and drop any of these plans that are not of Him. 

Here's to a productive 2014! Le Chaim! Salute!