Perfectious 2011

I love a New Year.
New Year's Day is my birthday-- which is so tidy and logical that my brain is absolutely pleased to be the same age for an entire year, uninterrupted. Best birthday date EVER! :D
The fireworks? They're for me. If you didn't know, now you do. The world is celebrating!
And the world feels a renewed desire to try harder, be better. Commercialism takes its stab, as always, but I think there's good reason to the deep desires everywhere to be NEW.
That's part of why I love New Years Resolutions. It so suits my personality.
After a year of actively battling perfectionism, the battle changes. And I keep battling because that's life. I'm a perfectionist, it's a well-known and in this case well-beloved fact, so I give myself the time at the beginning of a year to evaluate the battle and decide how to keep winning.

Last year, I needed better self-confidence after living with in-laws. A simple result of having less control over my surroundings and less solitude than I felt like I needed. I could have been with the prophet's family and still felt that way; I just want it to be clear that it was hard for me because of what it was (not living in my own home) and not because of the people I lived with (I LOVE my Wahlquist family).
My final grade? "A." Well, harp stuff pulls it down. But that's okay, I'm a softy when it comes to grading.
Living with the In-Laws: What a life lesson. Scratch that-- what the bazillion handfuls of life lessons! That's probably, oh, twenty posts on that subject. AT LEAST. The most obviously rewarding lesson on my mind: I appreciate my home so much that I honestly enjoy all my housework.
I did pretty poorly at practicing the harp. That's sad. It just is. Will that change? I certainly hope so. I'm formulating plans to make it change. Will it be with the 2011 Resolutions? Probably not.
I have been so much healthier this year. Michael and I committed ourselves to going to the gym and taking care of ourselves. I'm still a night owl by nature, I still like yummy treats, and I still convince myself not to go to the gym when I don't feel very good, but I'm far happier with myself. I haven't been to the gym very recently because...oh. Haha...I forgot to mention here that I'm pregnant. Oops! That's embarrassing. I mean, embarrassing that I forgot. *moment of silence to cover moment of oops* So, I still consider myself committed. I'm moving on; this one covers so much, and I'm already rambling.
Financially, we are so happy. That doesn't mean we're rich. We're students, for heaven's sake! But we can pay our bills, and we do. We follow our budget. HALLELUIAH.

That's last year! Now guess what? I've been thinking about "resolutiony" things since...oh, November? Maybe even October? There are some things I have felt really drawn to do. As in, I've felt a need to do these things, not just a desire. There's a reason I took some months to think about it all. I wanted to be sure, I wanted to be thoughtful.
I'm ready-- cut the drivel already, right? Why do I ramble?! Ugh.

We're going for little and somewhat specific here.

• Read every week from a spiritually inspiring book other than scriptures.
• Create something every month. Doodle, sew, craftify, DIY etc. Probably something that satisfies my artistic side. Growing a baby doesn't count. I mean it does, but not for this. ;)
• Exercise consistently to keep marathon goal close and plausible (I plan to run a marathon sometime late 2012, mostly for the sake of having a timeline to schedule against, but I'm not doing anything crazy while I'm pregnant...just keeping in shape). This will also help my pregnancy (and labor!) go better.
  
• Document the following of these goals! :) Yay! I won't give you a boring journal account of all my gym experiences. Please, no. But I will share my creations and any share-able spiritual insights. I'll at least tell you what book I'm reading (even if I'm in the same book all year).
  
  No grades this time, it's a do or don't. I'll just check it off my list when I've done it. With exercise, it's considered done if I go at least once a week, even though that's the low end. 

Ahhh. New Year, New Qait. I want to grow and learn! And have lots of fun! And have babies! WooHOO!

Of course, there are tons of things I hope do be doing this New Year. Being ambitious and perfectious, that's natural.
Don't you love that word? Perfectious. Yeah! That's going in the title.