An Extraordinary Life and Getting Better All the Time!: January 2013

Saturday, January 19, 2013

Glory lies in the attempt to reach one's goal and not in reaching it. - Mahatma Gandhi

The year I turned 39, I decided to make a list of 39 things to do before I turned 40. This is the blog post where I outlined my goals for that year. And while that was a good thing for that point of time in my life (I accomplished 25 of the 39 goals that year.) Focusing on that many goals became a bit overwhelming. So now as I have just had another birthday, I have been thinking a lot about what this year may look like and how many personal goals I should set for myself this year.

So after a lot of thought and am making my 2013 list. Except this time I am going to have a list of broad goals and then a list of smaller more doable goals broken down by month in an effort not to get lost in the good intention of my bigger goals. So here is the list for 2013. . .

Read the Book of Mormon
Lose 20 pounds
Participate in community service
Plan a family vacation
Define Happy
Pay off "dumb debt"
Participate in something active every month
Read a book every month
Improve my half marathon time by 5 minutes
See a slot canyon

So starting January 17, 2013 here are my goals for the month:

Read the Book of Mormon every day - prayers morning and night
Lose 4 pounds - I am starting at 172.6 pounds (that's my beginning goal picture)
Research community service opportunities, community donations
Watch the "Happy" movie
Budget - set up automatic payment plans for my car
Plan meals weekly for grocery shopping (budget and diet)
Go snowshoeing (active)
Go to the gym 4 times per week and exercise for at least 30 minutes (diet)
Read Reached by Condie
No TV at bedtime
Meditate daily (not sure what this means but felt I should try it)

And there is the list for the year and January. So far I have started slowly and I have spent the last few days being a nurse to the flu ridden family in our home. But I am moving forward to see what this year of 2013 will bring.
Bon Chance pour moi!

Wednesday, January 9, 2013

Is it a new year already?

My last post to this blog was in March of 2012 and now here it is 2013. I often feel like the older I get the more quickly time moves. To me it feels like I just get through the holiday season and Christmas arrives again. Since it has been so long since I have written. . .it may just be appropriate to note some of the highs and lows of 2012. Here I go.

High - January trip to California!
Dean had a conference and I got to visit friends!

Low - my daughter chose to run away twice
because we asked her to follow the home rules -
Like to clean her room...that was tough.

High - We finished the 2012 Salt Lake Half Marathon
with our personal best times. That was my 17th half and
Dean's 13th half marathon!

Low - lost a dear friend.

High - My son turned 16! He was ordained a priest. (In December
he passed his board of review and became an Eagle Scout!)

High - we participated in and completed our first Ragnar Relay!
198 Miles on the Wasatch Back in 32 hours with a team of 12.

High - trip to Sun Valley. This is picture from our hike to the
Pioneer Cabin - 7+ miles and 9500 feet. This is a view from the outhouse.

Low - In March Dean was diagnosed with a
congenital heart defect. He had surgery in June.
He was drained, frozen and revived in 6 hours.

High -This is Dean 2 weeks after his surgery as we were walking a mile every night. The doctors were amazed by his recovery.
We felt so blessed that his condition was caught by accident and that
technology made him as good as new!