Melinda's 2014 Goals

Briana and I have been discussing our goals for 2014.  Briana doesn't like the term "resolution," so I came up with "stuff we'd like to do before the year is out."  We tried to think up what we would like to achieve across different categories/concerns in our life.  Check back this afternoon for Briana's list!

Beauty: Learn how to curl my hair without burning off a chunk or looking like a china doll (my new curling iron is on its way!).  Continue the fight against wrinkles with increased use of facial sunscreen even in winter.

Health: Lose three pounds a month and get my upper body strong.  Even though I maintained my weight through the holidays, I have always, always wanted to lose more.  I find it's easier to set an exact small goal for weight loss rather than saying I'd like to lose 20 lbs at some point in 2014.  I also don't want to just lose weight.  I'm trying to work on my arms, so I don't get "the droop" later in life!

Finance: Pay off 40% of the remaining balance on my student loans.  Stick to my grocery, shopping, and gift budgets!  (We will be talking more about our financial goals later in the month.)  There will be babies at some point in the future, but not anytime soon.  However, I've determined I don't want to be making student loan payments at the same time I'm buying diapers.  Therefore, I'm taking an aggressive approach for the next two years to get them completely gone from my life.

Spiritual: Try a different volunteer activity.  Right now, Mr. 3 and I host a Bible study group for young married couples and work the newcomers table once a month.  I'd like to try a new church activity that helps the community outside our congregation.  Activities I'm considering: serving breakfast at the homeless shelter on Sunday morning, running a game night at the homeless shelter on a Friday, and tending the church community garden.

Creative: Make one new Vitamix recipe a week.  Mr. 3 and I L-O-V-E our Vitamix, but we tend to make the same wonderful recipes all the time.  I'd also like to make a scrapbook for 2014, because I realized that I have all these photos I never look at on my computer.

Intellectual: READ MORE BOOKS!  I used to be such a book nerd, but I have totally gotten away from that since leaving grad school.  I want to try to read a book a month and I think I'm going to try the online book club that A Beautiful Mess is hosting or look for a local DC book club to join.

Blog: Amp up our What to Wear and How to Host series!  I'm not sure exactly what this means yet, but I'd like to develop these two series for the blog so that we have better pictures and more thorough articles for all our fab readers!

I can't promise I will keep you updated on every single one of these goals (ex. If I burn a chunk of my hair off, I will tell no one.  Likewise, if I never get beyond Shirley Temple look, there will be no publicly available evidence.).  BUT, in addition to all of our other great content, I will be blogging about my experiences over the next year through product reviews for my beauty items, diet and exercise tips and tricks, recipes and sneak peaks at my scrapbook for my creative goals, book reviews, and continuously improving our signature series.  I hope you'll support us in 2014!  What are you working on this year?