New Year's Resolutions

Some call them goals. Some call them resolutions. Some don't make any and avoid the topic altogether. I like setting goals for the New Year - or making resolutions - so that I can keep track of what I wanted to accomplish in the new year. Unfortunately, I don't always accomplish all I strive to do, but if I didn't set goals, would I accomplish anything? Last year at this time I read an article about a woman who had stopped setting goals, but made a list of things she had never done and wanted to do in the new year. I loved that idea and in addition to setting some goals, I made a list of places I wanted to visit and things I wanted to do. Among those listed: spend a couple of days on the coast. We did. We had a marvelous time! The California coast (and golf) are exceptional for bonding with hubby. I wanted to visit the Gardens of the World in Thousand Oaks - it was small but an incredible gem. I had a fun outing with my sisters in Palm Springs. This coming year we have chosen another venue - Salt Lake City. Two of my sisters live in Idaho and one in Michigan so it is a little more central for everyone than California. More bonding time - special sister time. I'm grateful for my "little sisters." Isn't it funny how the difference in years melts away as we get older. Hubby and I drove the 22 hours to South Dakota to visit our middle daughter and her family who moved there in June. We've been terribly spoiled to have them close enough to watch the kids grow up for the last nine years, but they were delighted to get back to colder country. One more item checked off my to-do list for 2012. We truly do love road trips so the drive didn't seem as long as it sounds. We managed to make both Tuacahn and the Shakespeare Festival with our dear friends from our mission in July, and enjoyed a family reunion with both sides of our family. More good bonding time! Friends and family are SO important to stay in touch with! One of my goals was to submit Too Many Ghosts: A Dominique and Duchess Mystery to Covenant. I managed to accomplish that, then even managed to take out the 100 pages they asked me to remove. Still waiting to hear if they want it. I'm currently working on the sequel and my goal is to submit it by Easter. Smaller daily resolutions included typing my old journal entries from the 1960's and 70's - talk about interesting! I'm so glad I have been a journal keeper as I had forgotten all the fun things our family did! Also spent a lot of time on family history and entering one piece of paper per day on the computer to get rid of the boxes of records I have. That one wasn't as successful and will continue on my goal list this next year and the next. Of course, I probably have about ten years of papers to enter!! :) So - in retrospect - yes. I will be making resolutions or setting goals or whatever you want to call it because at the end of the year, I love checking off what I accomplished that may never have happened if I hadn't had the goal before me daily! Happy New Year - and happy resolutioning!