Dreams with deadlines

Ohhh, yeaaaah. It is *that* time again. New Year's resolutions and goal makin' time! Dreaming about what I want to do and making a plan to make it happen, right?

Before you think, whoa! Cheese, much? You should know I was not always a fan of these long term goals. They seemed uber cheesy and cliche and I was just negative about the whole goal setting process... but, in the last couple of years I have had some very positive results once I set a firm goal and I am officially a believer! However, I am not a firm believer in setting super rigid resolutions such as "Stop drinking pop completely!" or "Lose ____ number of pounds this year!" My goals are much broader than that and it works for me!

For 2013 here are my goals and resolutions....


Health & Fitness
Fitness was a big theme in 2012 and I am excited to continue that theme in 2013. It is extremely important to me to set a good example for my students and my own kids someday, so staying in shape has been something I want to continue keeping a priority in my daily life. 

• Run 13 races in 2013. Yep, I am aiming for this one again. In 2012 I tried to run 12 races but I came up a little short - well, A LOT short. Races get expensive and since I am in grad school full time... well, you get the picture. In 2013 I would like to budget this better and achieve this goal! Today I am running race #1, Resolution Run in West Des Moines and I have four other runs planned - Drake Relay's Half Marathon, Dam to Dam 20K, Glow Run and the Des Moines Half Marathon. It is gonna be a GOOD year for running!
• Run a sub 30 minute 5K. I am hoping I can knock this one out at the *beginning* of the year! (Not sure if it will be today during the Resolution Run though! Ha.) 
• Participate in more group fitness. Which indirectly will help with my lack of strength training... Sort of. So, you see, I love group fitness. It began with step aerobics my freshman year of college 12 years ago (sob!) and my best friend Kristi deciding to become one of the group fitness instructors at the university's rec center. I LOVED step. Loved it! Since then I have dabbled in kick-boxing, body pump, spinning, yoga, and Zumba. Another good friend of mine, Chandra is also an instructor at the same gym Kristi is at, and I really want to make sure I make these classes a part of my regular work out schedule.
• Stick to the Weight Watchers plan and track my points. This is vague, I know. But I have been using Weight Watchers for a couple months now, and I have been doing terrible. Sometimes I count and sometimes I do not. Basically, I still eat whatever I want, whenever I want. Let's try to change that in 2013, shall we??

Career 
This year I graduate and will officially begin my second career of my adult life. I am pretty nervous, but also really excited! I have loved living the life of a college student again, but I am really looking forward to living the life of an adult again. Mainly, looking forward to the structured schedule and work benefits - PTO, again? Yes, please. I have missed you. 

• Find a job. This is the year I student teach and begin to look for a permanent teaching position. GULP. I am pretty nervous, to say the least and I am unsure what I want to do. In education, you are interviewing the school just as much as they are interviewing you and I really want to find a school that is a good match for ME. Through substitute teaching I have seen many different cultures among schools and I have strong opinions about what kind of culture I know will work best with my personality and teaching style. 
• Continue work at the agency. I will need the agency for my summer job, but after that (and depending on if I get a teaching job) I will probably have to leave. Until that time though, I need to make the time to fit in as many hours as possible. While student teaching this will be difficult, so I want to always remind myself that this is an important goal to manage my time for.

Life
Oh, life. What do I want to do this year? Travel? Yes, of course. Take chances? Yes, absolutely. Make new friends? Always! 

• Read. In 2012 I read 71 books. SEVENTY-ONE  books! That is insane, but I know it happened because I was focused on it. I want to continue to focus on reading in 2013 and read more books that I know my students will be reading, or books that I would like to read aloud to my class someday. For this reason, I am going to raise my 2013 goal to 75 books. Many of those books will be elementary and middle grade level books so achieving this goal should not be hard. I want to make this a goal because I really want to be sure I read these books. I LOVE talking about books with kids and I love book-talking them to get kids interested, but to do so, I have to read them first.
• Build relationships. In 2012 I made it a point to try and be a better friend, better blogger/commenter and surround myself with people that make me feel good and confident with myself. I want to continue that theme in 2013. I know I will be meeting a lot of new people this year and I want to be sure I make a good impression and always put my best foot forward. 
• Travel. I would love to travel, I just do not know if that will be feasible this year. I would however like to plan at least a couple road trips, so I want to remember this goal and keep in mind how much I enjoy small weekend getaways. Despite having been to over half the fifty states, there are still a few states that I live very close to, that I have never been to (Wisconsin & Michigan, I'm lookin' at you!). I would like to change that this year! **EDIT** I just realized I have been to Michigan. We drove through there on our way to Niagara Falls in 2011. But, I would still enjoy spending more time there and seeing more than just the coffee shop we stopped at! ;) 
• Savings. I am a terrible saver. As in, I don't do it. I am cautious with money, but I do not set money aside specifically for savings. It sits in my checking account and that is it (I know. Terrible). So, this year I would like to open a savings account and make a point to put money in each month.

So, to recap... This year I am running in 13 or more races, running a sub-30min 5k, finding a job, traveling to Wisconsin and Michigan, opening a savings account and being a good friend! Woot, woot!

What are *your* dreams this year?