As we’re laying in bed the other night, Hubs asks me, “So, what are your New Year’s resolutions?”

I don’t usually make resolutions because I don’t like to set myself up for failure and sometimes I think that resolutions are only made to be broken. Plus, when I want to make a change in my life, I don’t like to wait until New Years.

However, after reading Ali’s resolutions from 2011 in my favorite running blog, I realized I didn’t have to make life-changing goals that are vague and basically obsolete…I can make a bucket list of sorts, for the year, of individual goals and specific, tangible things I want to do or see. Sure, I can also have some more vague ideas of things I know I struggle with and need to work on, but as a rule, this year, since I’m going to be publishing this list to the world, I’d like to make sure they are things that are easily measured and recorded as whether or not we’ve accomplished them.

Also, since it’s the first full year Hubs and I will be spending together, I thought we should make our resolutions together. We are a team, after all, and most of our resolutions will involve each other anyway, right?

Ok, so here goes, our Newlywed Resolutions 2012:

1. Take a weekly walk together. Every week. Hubs hates to go on walks, so this will be tougher for him than me.

2. Vacuum more. This should be easier with my new Oreck!

3. Work on portion control at meals, even when eating out and dishing up bowls of ice cream…we both need to work on this, as we both love to eat and can get carried away easily.

4. Buy a house. I realize this is a tough one, but it’s top on Hubs’ list. Wish us luck!

5. Write at least five things that are just for me. I can worry about what to use them for later, if anything.

6. Run more races. I’d love to do another half…maybe a full 26.2? I’m young now, and my knees and ankles and hips will only get worse, right? I only ran 1 or 2 in 2011, and they were fun, so I’m ready for more.

7. Finish reading 8 books that I ALREADY own and have squished into our bookshelf. I’m terrible about buying new books instead of reading ones I already own but haven’t read.

8. Use more coupons and take advantage of price matching. I also need to do a better job of keeping track of how much we spend and save.

9. Find a church home where we really feel connected to. I miss the fellowship I’ve been so used to my whole life. We need to be surrounded by people encouraging us in our walk.

10. Go on another road trip. There’s something so special about traveling with the one you love, and we love the sense of exploring that comes with driving around on our own. Our honeymoon was some of the most fun we’ve ever had and we’re committed to doing this together again as often as we can.

I obviously could think of MANY other goals we have, things like being committed to saving money and being good stewards of our marriage. We also need to do things like find doctors up here in the city and making appointments and going to check ups. But I thought ten was a nice round number to focus specifically on for this year. We’ll keep doing all the other things we are currently working on as well. I’d also love to add, “Get a Career Job.” But I don’t want to rush God’s timing on that one. I’ll keep looking, but I don’t know the plans he has for me. (Good thing he does. *Jeremiah 29:11*)

And as a side note, I’d like to say how thankful I am that Hubs often does the dishes and cleans the kitchen for me. I love to cook and don’t mind doing dishes, but sometimes I get overwhelmed by how fast it gets messy again and it’s a huge blessing when he helps with that. I hope he resolves to keep doing that. (Just kidding. (Sorta.)