I won’t lie. I love giving the new year time to settle in before writing resolutions, which are really more like goals — or if we’re talking about our house, a frightening to-do list. I feel like it gives me time to be introspective for a hair longer, and also read what other people have written about their year ahead. While some people don’t like the idea of New Year’s resolutions and choose not to make any, we kind of savor feeling of setting intentions and having a little list of things to get excited about.
Last year we kept our goals pretty simple, and while we accomplished quite a bit (I totally rocked the 5 unassisted pull-ups and Neil is stringing together up to 5 unbroken muscle-ups at a time at CrossFit), a lot of things didn’t happen. We had really hoped to get out more — do some backpacking and splurge for some kayaks — but triple-digit temperatures this summer literally scorched our ambitions.
We tried to escape to northern Minnesota, but it was even hot there! We’re realizing now that if we want to get out, it’s going to have to be earlier in the season, possibly even winter. So we’ve purchased some better sleeping bags and hope to try again in 2013.
Bad weather aside, we managed to accomplish quite a bit. Neil is one upgrade away from a finished race car (progress slowed because it was too hot to race anyway), and I managed to read at least two non-school books a month (hot weather actually helped this goal).
I think it’s safe to say that I look neither pretty nor happy while running…
I ran not only my first, but TWO half-marathons (Neil ran one too!) and a few 5 and 10k races. We’re still doing CrossFit religiously 3-4 times a week, and we’ve made huge progress from where we were a year ago. A goal to “get to the gym” is definitely not on our list this year.
So what does 2013 hold? Gosh where to begin? Neil jokingly said he wants 2013 to be the year of “doing stuff” since so many of our plans were hampered by the weather last year. Deciding that we probably needed to expand that theme a bit to make this post worth reading, I made up some prompts to answer.
Jessica
I want 2013 to be the year I simplify a bit. I don’t want to do less, I just want to better organize my life in such a way that I eliminate mundane decisions and save my energy for things that rock my world.
I would like to take my fitness to the next level by achieving… 5 handstand push-ups. I have an irrational fear of breaking my neck, so these have been really hard for me to check off my list. I finally achieved headstands back in November, and I have the strength for the body-weight push-up, it’s just putting those two things together and putting my fear aside.
I really want to travel to… Colorado. And do Estes Park or any number of other wonderful parks they have. No fires this year, only s’mores!
In my professional life, I’d really like to… become a project manager for a client within my firm. Huge goal, lots to learn yet, but I’m getting there. For our own little business, I would really like to finally get a website up. It’s been 3 years, we still don’t have one, and even though we’ve been booked solid since the moment we started taking clients, it’s getting a little silly now. That being said, it’s a good problem to have.
In my off time, I’d like to learn to… knit and crochet and create something worthy of giving as a gift. This goal has been on my list several times, but I’m as serious as a heart attack about achieving it this year. Despite being a designer, I am NOT crafty.
This year, I’d like to spruce up the house by… installing a new deck, and if the stars align, I’d love to replace the stove in our ongoing kitchen renovation. However, I think the washer and dryer might end up needing to be replaced first.
This year in the kitchen, I’d like to make…Kombucha. I’m so tired of freaking myself out about this goal.
If I had one crazy goal that I’d like to accomplish this year, it would be… to get my CrossFit Level 1 Certification.*
*Apparently my wildest goal was the one I’m on track to finish first. I signed up for the course and test this week! Here we go!
And Neil…
Neil
I would like to take my fitness to the next level by achieving… strict muscle-ups. They’re hard, but I want to be able to string them together. Aside from that, I just want to keep CrossFitting. We’ve been going consistently 3-4 times a week now for the past 1 1/2 years, and I do not plan on stopping. I’d even be willing to try competing for fun or for charity. Aside from CrossFit, it’d be cool to do another adventure race.
I really want to travel to… anywhere we can hike or backpack, but I’m kind of interested in maybe exploring some big cities as well. I hope our big purchase this year will finally be a set of kayaks. There are so many places I’d love to kayak, and the dogs love floating. Overall, more R&R in 2013!
In my professional life, I’d really like to… achieve my CCNA/CCNP (Cisco Certified Network Associate/Professional. A year into my new profession, I believe I’m ready to get certified. I just need to study the formal guides or enroll in a boot camp to get ready. Like Jessica, I’d also really like to get a business website up. We are so overdue for one, it’s ridiculous.
In my off time, I’d like to… race! Racing season is just around the corner and the car is ready! Hopefully the weather will literally take a chill pill. I’d also like to do a little more gaming. I love playing DOTA2, and I’d like a racing setup (wheel, pedals, chair, etc.) to practice on in the off-season.
This year I’d like to spruce up the house by… giving our home network a makeover. Now that we have a server rack in the basement and our house rewired with CAT6e ethernet, I’d like to get a Cisco ASA5505 router in place using our Linksys router as a wireless access point. Eventually I’d like to replace it with a real Cisco Access Point. I’ve just finished giving our storage system an upgrade with a NAS (Network Attached Storage) from Synology.
Overall, my plans are to… continue to eat as healthfully as possible, while still enjoying some of the good stuff. I’d also like to branch out and meet more people in Columbia. I’ve been here four years, and am still missing having a group of friends like I had when I lived in Springfield. Finally, I want to keep challenging myself to accomplish things that feel difficult or out of reach. I know I can do them, sometimes it’s just a matter of taking that first step.
We’re definitely ambitious in our goals, but having talked about these for a week or so now, we’re definitely angling for some down time too. Taking on fewer projects, focusing more on learning rather than doing. Not less work really, but maybe something a little more rewarding and soul-feeding. It’s hard to know how it will all unfold, but hopefully it nothing else, we’ve set some good intentions down for the year. That’s really what this is all about isn’t it?
