This is the year.

We're 5 days into 2012 and I know that if I am going to post my resolutions, I better do it soon! I'm not usually a resolution posting kinda person but if there is ever a year that I need a resolution, it's this year. And if there is ever a way to get me to stick to something, it's by declaring it publicly.

2012 is a big year for me. First of all, we are getting married this year. April 28, 2012! I have been waiting for this day for 2 years. Or at least that's how long we've been engaged. I didn't want a long engagement and somehow I got one, so it feels even more special that the big day is only months away. I've watched friends who got engaged after us, get married before us and it made it feel like our time was even further away than it really was. When the ball dropped at midnight, I looked over at Jeff and we just smiled. This is our year.

To keep myself accountable... I am listing (for the first time ever) my resolutions for 2012.
(To clarify, this is the first year of making resolutions and sharing them for all the world to see. If you read my teaching blog, you have already seen a condensed version of this.)

Personal Goals

1. Get healthy. Seriously. It's no secret that I've been slowly putting weight on since college and it's time to get rid of it. While I didn't consider myself to be very active in college, looking back now, I really was. I walked to all my classes and all over campus, everyday. There was a salad bar at our dining hall and I always made myself make a salad. I drank skim milk with almost every meal and ate three reasonably healthy meals a day. Now that I'm teaching, I can hardly find time to pee during the day, never mind eat. My lunch ends up being about 20 minutes and whatever doesn't get inhaled, usually gets thrown away. The only thing less appealing than a salad every day, is a salad that is warm and wilting at my desk. By the time I get home from work, I eat whatever I can and have no energy to work out. I normally cannot even stomach the thought of being on my feet for another minute, never mind for another hour, while sweating! That's about to change. This year, I will make more time for myself to be healthy. That includes... joining Weight Watchers (done!), finding a local gym with affordable classes/bootcamp (in progress), and using the elyptical at home three days a week. Jeff will appreciate that last one since he was so excited to buy it and I've used it twice. Yes, I want to lose weight. More importantly, I want to feel good about myself again.

2. Develop a deep and meaningful relationship with Jesus. I never thought I would find myself saying this and meaning it, though I always dreamed about it. After growing up without any direction in faith, I can honestly say that I have found my faith, my church home, and church family. Part of that is due to the courses we have taken to learn more about Christianity and part of it is because the people of my church have embraced me so openly and whole heartedly. I am looking forward to our small group that is starting up and pray that it will bring me the understanding of and relationship with God, that I am seeking.

3. Finish wedding planning and have a stress-free wedding! Ok, I know that weddings end up being stressful because so much goes into planning them. However, I want to know that I've done everything I can do and that whatever happens, happens. I don't want to feel stressed two weeks before the wedding because I haven't picked the right tablecloth color, the flower I want isn't in season, or the "do not play" list hasn't been created for the DJ yet. I have a hefty list to finish up for January and that should bring me closer to my goal. I have a plan for each month until the wedding (four months to go) and hopefully that should do it. The ultimate reward is getting to marry my best friend and I won't let anything take away from how special that really is.

4. More blogging! I have LOVED blogging and "meeting" people through the blog world and I need to keep up! While my blog isn't brand new, I haven't really spent any time developing it. I enjoyed looking back to read some of what I wrote a couple of months ago and wished that more of our memories were written down on here. Maybe someday I can turn this into a scrapbook of sorts and look back and remember this time in our lives fondly. I also really enjoy having some "me" time at the end of the day to read blogs and update mine. Here's to more of that in 2012!

Professional Goals

1. Be more positive at work. I love my job and I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE my students. It's the adults that get to me! I need to focus more on MY job and what I do for the KIDS. If someone isn't doing what they're supposed to, shame on them. We're all adults and I need to try not to fix everyone and everything. I am so blessed to be able to be a strong role model for so many students in such a trying time for them, (remember middle school? Ugh!) and the way that I respond to everything around me is what they will see and remember.

2. Complete 4 graduate courses. Starting last summer, I completed my first three classes towards my Master's degree in Special Education. While I came close to dying under a text book, I still plan on taking more courses. I want to take one in the spring, two in the summer, and one in the fall. I tried two during the fall semester and it was too much, so this plan should work better. I would like to have my Master's degree completed before we start a family.


3. Work smarter, not harder. Prep time is more precious than diamonds to teachers and unfortunately, (in my opinion) it is not being used effectively in many schools. While I appreciate the "team meeting", meeting with parents, and analyzing data that will help my students grow, it really shouldn't take up so much of my prep period that I don't have time to use the bathroom or I don't know, actually plan for my classes. It should not take me two weeks to get 100 tests back, or enter grades online, or return phone calls. I should be able to use my prep period for some of that. I know what I signed up for when I started teaching. I get it. But waiting until 5:00 to pee and dropping food on my papers because I don't have any other time to grade than when I'm eating dinner, is unacceptable. It's also unacceptable to sit in data driven meetings and then not have the opportunity to ever look at or use the the data to help my students achieve their potential. I think it's a matter of me speaking up more and not letting a single minute of my planning period be used for anything other than planning, prepping, or grading. Furthermore, as much as I love my students, they move on at the end of the year. Jeff, my family, and friends will still be there. They deserve more of my time.




How am I going to hold myself accountable?? I haven't really gotten that far, yet. I'm thinking of maybe a monthly update. Just writing them out makes me feel more serious about them. This list wasn't just thrown together, either. I spent a long time thinking about what I really wanted to accomplish this year. I think that these goals are flexible enough to include some changes but firm enough to make a positive difference in my life. Of course, there are a million things that could use improvement, but I didn't want to get too carried away! I am SO looking forward to seeing where 2012 takes me! Hoping that this year holds just as much promise for you!