My 2012 To Do List

It's the time of year when pretty much everyone is setting goals for the new year, and, for the first time ever, I'm taking part in this tradition!

I don't really like the whole idea of New Years' Resolutions, because why wait til January to make a positive change in your life? Plus, I think New Years' Resolutions have a negative connotation to them since they stereotypically don't last (January gym-goers, anyone?). However, I do like the idea of setting goals and making a list of things I'd like to accomplish/experience in the year ahead. No pressure to make dramatic changes to my life or set myself up for failure (in fact, I already have plans in place for many of these), just a list of to-dos for the next 12 months.

With that, here's my (tentative and subject to change) list of goals for the next year.

2012 To Do List

• Complete a 5k race with Drew. This one has taken a bit of leg-pulling, but I think I've finally convinced Drew to register for a St. Patrick's Day 5k with me. We agreed we don't have to run the whole thing, just do our best and have fun. And, of course, get a finisher's medal.
• Go on a mini-vacation. Drew and I were a bit spoiled in 2011 and got to travel to Disney World twice (in January when we got engaged, then again in October for our honeymoon). This year, a full-on vacation seems unlikely, but I'd still like for us to be able to get away for a few days and relax. Luckily my cousin is getting married in August, so as long as my request for vacation days goes through at work, we'll be traveling to Boston for a few days! I've already started looking at flights, and we're trying to figure out a way for about 15 of us to see a Red Sox game together. It's definitely going to be a great time!
• Paint our apartment. I'm one of those people that strongly dislikes all-white rooms because I start to feel like I'm living in an insane asylum. We weren't allowed to paint in our last apartment, though, so I've kind of grown accustomed to white walls surrounding me (maybe that's why I feel like I've gone crazy?). Our new apartment allows us to paint, and I fully intend to take advantage of that in the coming year. I think we've been hesitant so far because we're still getting settled and are slowly accumulating more furniture to fill the place out. Hopefully once the weather is nice enough for us to open our windows and ventilate we'll have decided on a paint color for at least one of the rooms in our apartment. Goodbye, white walls!
• Use my sewing machine. Since I started using Pinterest a few months ago, I've been itching to own a sewing machine so I can complete some of the amazing crafts pinned. Good thing Santa brought me a machine for Christmas! I'm slowly taking baby steps to actually sew something with it, but I'm stuck at Step 1: take the machine out of the box. But, I did stop at JoAnn Fabrics yesterday to pick up some fabric, so once I finally take my machine out and set it up, I should (hopefully) be good to go. The first project I have in mind? A variation on these fleece ear warmers.
• Decorate my home office. Not unlike my actual office at work, my home office is a total disaster area. To say I've been making slow progress on organizing and putting stuff together is a serious exaggeration. Everything is pretty much in piles on the desk and floor, and our printer is not on a table, but its box. It's sad, really. One of these days I'll finally pick up some organizational accessories, get a table for that printer and make the office look less like a storage area or my high  school bedroom and more like, well, an office.

And those are my 2012 goals, for now anyways. I'm sure I'll add plenty more to the list in the next few weeks or months. Hopefully I can actually accomplish everything on my list in the next 12 months (or really the next 3-6 since none of my to dos are particularly lofty).

What's on YOUR to do list for 2012?