I’ve realized that having goals instead of resolutions is better, and that I don’t feel nearly as guilty if I don’t make my goals as I would if I broke a resolution.

Anyway, there are a lot of random goals that I have for this year.

1. I want to lose 25 pounds this year, or 15% of my weight. This would put me about where I was when I started college. This is a realistic goal, because I was nearly there when Nour was about 15 months old.

2. I would like to start potty training Alex. This is something I have been thinking and reading about for a while, and I think it’s a good time for him to start practicing using the potty.

3. I want to do better with my Arabic and hopefully be able to have minimal conversations in Arabic by July, because we are supposed to be going to Egypt in early July.

4. I want to do better with sticking to Flylady and getting the house de-cluttered this year.

5. I want to get a bike and really ride it!! (Birthday presents, anyone???)

6. I want to read about 55 books this year: 20 never-read before, 20 previously only read once or twice, and 15 that I’ve read several times and enjoy repeating.

So far, the only goal I’ve even started on is the book-reading. I have about 15 books from the library, and even though I’m not really counting all of these because I don’t plan on reading all of them thoroughly, I have a goal of about 1 book per week (slightly more).

I have a ton of other things that are minor goals that I will mention later, but really, my biggest goal is something that is rather an ongoing thing, and that is to live a healthier, better lifestyle for my family and the earth, and to become more intimate in my relationship with Christ, which I think kind of go hand in hand.

So as far as books go, there is a list of books I have in mind to re-read, but the “new” books are still up in the air.

Old faves:

Harry Potter series

Chronicles of Narnia

Tale of Two Cities

Only read once:

The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings Trilogy

Anyway, there are a few others that I’ll probably look at again, I just haven’t had a chance to sit down and look through my bookshelves.

Sam has a goal for this year, which is the same as last year, but we are really going to work on it together this year, since I was not much help to him last year with the weight loss. I have the idea that he can lose 60 pounds in six months, but I’m not expecting to meet the goal unless we can really change our eating habits.

So, for the month of January, we are going to avoid fast food, and if we do well, we will continue to do so as much as possible, and then my plan is to start eliminating other types of junk food until we stop eating it altogether. This seems to be something of a life-long challenge, as things sometimes happen that cause you to slip into bad habits, and I’ve realized that it’s much easier to be lazy and not keep up your good habits than it is to keep working on yourself.