Resolutions in Review (and new ones)

Well, 2013 didn't quite go as I had pictured. Between thoughts of moving, Dan interviewing, waiting to hear about the job, learning we had 30 days to get to the new job, selling the house, house hunting, buying a new house, and working on the new house, many of my goals fell by the wayside. Here's what they were:

Read biographies on the first 22 presidents.
Finish the dining room.
Practice the piano for 20 minutes, 5 times a week.
Complete three service projects.
Complete blurb books for 2009 and 2010.

Well, I read biographies on the first 2 presidents and half of the third. Ouch. I was reading about Thomas Jefferson when we started to get ready to move, but by then I was miserably behind and just lost the steam. I still read a lot, though. I'll add my book list to the end of this post for those who are interested.

I did finish the dining room - just in time to move.

I did practice the piano until we moved and it stayed in my parents' basement for the next 5 months. Now it's back and I tried to keep up that resolution.

I didn't complete three official service projects, but I did donate a lot of stuff and took firefighters cookies and neighbors treats. I think that counts.

I did finish my blurb book for 2009 (although I haven't had it printed yet - I'm waiting for a discount code) and I'm currently working on 2010.

So as I said, resolutions for 2013 were kind of a bust, but that's alright! It was a wonky year. That doesn't mean I'm going to stop my goal setting.

Here are the goals for 2014:

Read at least 30 books. (I would like 10 of these books to be biographies on the next 10 presidents - starting with Mr. Jefferson.)
Take a trip with Dan for our 10-year anniversary.
Run a half marathon.
Continue practicing the piano for 20 minutes, five times a week.
Complete AND PRINT blurb books for 2010, 2011, and 2012.
Teach Afton the alphabet and the first 20 numbers. That girl has no interest at all in it.
Participate in some kind of service project.

There you have it - my goals for 2014.

And here's what I read in 2013:

1. Parley P. Pratt: The Apostle Paul of Mormonism by Teryl Givens
2. His Excellency: George Washington by Joseph Ellis
3. The Alchemyst by Michael Scott
4. John Adams by David McCullough
5. Life of Pi by Yann Martel
6. The Five Love Languages of Children by Gary Chapman
7. The Eighty-Dollar Champion: Snowman, the Horse that Inspired a Nation by Elizabeth Letts
8. Choosing Motherhood by Gretchen Cheney (edited by Lia Collins)
9. Austenland by Shannon Hale
10. The Magic of Ordinary Days by Ann Howard Creel
11. Mama's Bank Account by Kathryn Forbes
12. How Green Was My Valley by Richard Llewellyn
13. Matilda by Roald Dahl
14. Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
15. Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard by Chip Heath
16. The Big Disconnect: Protecting Childhood and Families in the Digital Age by Catherine Steiner-Adair
17. Life's Journeys According to Mister Rogers: Things to Remember Along the Way by Fred Rogers
18. An Invisible Thread: The true story of an 11-year-old panhandler, a business sales executive, and an unlikely meeting with destiny by Laura Schroff
19. The Shoemaker's Wife by Adriana Trigiani
20. Freakling by Lana Krumweide
21. Forever on the Mountain: The truth behind one of mountaineerings most controversial and mysterious disasters by James Tabor
22. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
23. Fostering Love: One foster parent's journey by John Degarmo
24. Quiet: The power of introverts in a world that can't stop talking by Susan Cain
25. The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the fair that changed America by Erik Larson
26. Blackmoore by Julianne Donaldson
27. Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity by Katherine Boo

That's 16 non-fiction, 11 fiction. I think it's hard for me to find fiction that isn't raunchy or too cheesy. My favorites were John Adams, Forever on the Mountain, and Devil in the White City.