Finish Year

Jon Acuff (famously of the Stuff Christians Like blog and the book "Quitter" on how to quit your day job and start your dream job; see his blog at www.jonacuff.com) started an idea for 2012 called "Finish Year". During this year, he set goals of things to complete during the 2012 year, and challenged his readers to do the same (see Jon Acuff's post on "Finish Year"). I decided to take on this challenge, and ask you, readers, to help keep me accountable. These are in no particular order, other than as they come to mind.

1. Walk at lunch at least 3x a week, regardless of weather. Going every day sometimes isn't doable, but this at least gets me away from my computer and moving. 3x a week allows for rainy days, ridiculously hot days, not feeling well days, and anything else that comes up. If for some reason I don't get to walk 3x at lunch, I have to make up for it by walking when I get home.

2. Exercise 3 days a week (not including #1) for a minimum of half an hour. This means breaking a sweat kind of exercise. The current exercise outlets I have are bike riding, Dance Dance Revolution (put it on exercise mode, which doesn't stop between songs, and you DO break a sweat!), running, and my church's fitness class (which is over at the end of the spring semester, so I may sign up for a community fitness class close to home over the summer). The key is 3x a week. That doesn't mean I get to skip a day if I exercise for an hour one day.

3. Related to #2, lose 15 lbs. I know, you all don't think I need to, but really, I do. And I need to be encouraged in this, because if you keep telling me I don't need to, I'll believe you and toss aside my goal. I've had to go up a pants size and rebuild my wardrobe (which gets pricey, and I'm on the edge of need to go up again), and the scale has gone steadily up since 2008. I need for it to go back down.

4. Run a 5k in October. There are two on my list, and I want to do at least one: the Run For Your Lives zombie-chasing 5k in Temecula, and the LA Cancer Challenge 5k for pancreatic cancer (in honor of my husband's Aunt Shelley, who lost the battle in 2010). The zombie one sounds awesome, and involves minor obstacles, but is also a little pricey, so it may not make it in. The other is doable and usually involves getting together with the family.

5. Incorporate more fruits and veggies into my (and my husband's) diet. This means going to farmers' markets and finding the good fresh stuff that I'll actually eat.

6. Finish my short story. I started it last year, but have little motivation to sit at a desk and type. I'm saving up to buy a MacBook Air so I can sit on the couch and write more comfortably (and as a side goal, I want to learn Macs better).

7. Find a hobby. I don't really have one, unless you count reading (which I do a lot). I don't get passionate about much in life, except my husband, but he's not really a hobby, haha.

8. Clear my filing basket and maintain it. In a quick perusal of it a couple weeks ago, I found a 2010 giving statement from Campus Crusade. I need to dedicate a couple hours to going through all my documents and filing them, and then keep it from piling up the way it did.

So those are my goals for 2012, the Finish Year. I'd appreciate your encouragement and accountability on these. Ask me how I'm doing on ____ (training for the 5k; progress on the short story; how many pounds have I lost; what good fresh fruit have I had lately). Seriously. Help me out. (I know, I only have like 2 followers, but I'll take what I can get.)