Here We Go

So many awesome things are going to happen this year!

Just thinking about everything has me grinning from ear to ear while continually thanking God for every single thing in my life. The events that have happened, are going to happen (Lord willing), the people I love, and awesome experiences I’ve been through leave me feeling so happy and blessed. God is gooood!

Some fun memories from 2013!

Some things on the agenda for me in 2014:
-Graduating from Penn State (either in May or December)
-Getting married <333
-Finding a home
-Buying a puppy (or two.. more on this later!)

While thinking about everything going on in 2014, I was tempted to not make any goals for the year, but I realized that I truly enjoy realistic goals.

So, here are my goals for 2014!

Life Goals for 2014
1. Stop expecting perfection from myself. I have this medical condition called I-want-to-do-everything-syndrome. It causes me to try to take on too much (while simultaneously trying to do all of these things perfectly), thus burning myself out. I am an all-around better person when I take on what I can handle, and more importantly, let myself do things imperfectly. Do I need to achieve a 4.0? Nope. Do I absolutely have to walk Lola everyday? No. Do I have to attend every class? No. You get the point!
2. Bake more difficult recipes. I’m currently working on my baking bucket list, which mostly includes recipes involving the oh-so-scary yeast. This is such a fun goal for me!
3. Travel with Jimmy. Once we’re married, we want to go camping, visit Nemacolin Woodlands Resort, go to an indoor water park, and take cycling trip on the Great Allegheny Passage. So exciting!!

Spiritual Goals for 2014
1. Read the Old Testament. In 2012, I read the whole Bible. In 2013, I read the New Testament. This year’s goal just seems logical to me. I love reading the amazing stories of faith the Old Testament! Some of my personal favorites are Esther, Daniel, and Ruth.
2. Trust God. I’m not saying that I don’t trust God, but I can definitely work on this in 2014. As I mentioned, I have a lot of awesome things happening this year. Though exciting, all of these life events involve big changes, from where I will live to what I will be doing on a day-to-day basis. It’s so easy to worry until I’m paralyzed with fear and can’t make decisions. Instead, I want to focus on trusting that God has everything planned out perfectly. I need to roll with the punches. He’s in charge, and I have no reason to worry over the future. It will all work out in His time and ways.

Fitness Goals for 2014
1. Run in some road races. I didn’t compete in a lot of races in 2013, so I’d like to run in a few (and maybe PR?!) in 2014! I also think it would be fun to travel to a destination race if possible.
2. Try running with Brandy or Moses. Brandy is my sister’s cocker spaniel puppy and Moses is my brother’s white English retriever. I’ve heard both of these breeds make pretty good running partners, so I’d like to try to run with either of them at least once. This will probably be a short-lived goal since I will be moving away in June and I don’t run outside unless it’s semi-warm (50°F and up!), haha!

As always, I’m beginning my challenge of attempting to read 50 books in a year. I haven’t done this yet (I read 44 in 2013…so close!), but I’m still continuing to try because it pushes me to read more. Feel free to join in on the fun!

What are your goals for 2014?