New Year's Resolutions

Awhile back, I had made a 25 Things to Do Before I Turn 25 list. And since then, some of the things have kind of become irrelevant to me. So, for the year including my 25th birthday, I've decided to just make a big list. And there are 30 items on it, so that way if I decide not to do some, it's all good...

Spiritual/Family:

• Daily personal devotion time. I need to find a good woman/mother focused devotion. I think that would be helpful. Until I do, though, I think I'll probably start with one of the People's Bibles, because those are easy to read, and already divided into sections.
• Show love to Jesse each and every day. Because I love him, but I'm not always the best at showing that.
• Help Jonah adjust to having a little brother. He's been clingy lately, and I'm pretty sure that has something to do with it.
• Breastfeed Matthew. Or don't. I'd like to, but if it's as much of a struggle as it was with Jonah, I am giving myself permission to quit.
• Remember and acknowledge all birthdays and anniversaries. My master list is updated, and I really want to do better at this this year.

Baking:

• Make a gingerbread house from scratch, then decorate it. This one will probably happen closer to next Christmas, and that's okay.
• Make stained glass cookies. It's a recipe in my big Betty Crocker binder, involving melting candies, and it looks cool.
• Make homemade cupcakes with homemade frosting and pretty decorations.
• Experimental chocolate coconut cookies. My parents gave me some coconut pudding powder that they had gotten but won't use, so I'm going to attempt to make up a recipe.
• Decorate a cake with fondant. This was on my original list, and I still want to do it...

Other Food:

• Make a roast, with carrots, potatoes, and onion chunks to complete the meal.
• Come up with a yummy homemade marinade.
• Make my own salad dressing, probably some sort of viniagrette.
• Bake at least one loaf of bread!
• Make some yummy homemade granola.

Organizational:

• Go through my closet and get rid of things I don't wear. I am planning on this being mostly post-pregnancy.
• Scan bills, pay stubs, and other miscellaneous documents, save them, then shred the paper copies.
• Pawn, donate, and get rid of miscellaneous items. Some are already gathered, and many could be added.
• Start my homemaking binder and my kitchen binder. The homemaking binder is going to have my daily and weekly to-do lists, a spot to save recipes I want to try, ongoing project lists, a calendar, and so on. The kitchen binder is going to be where I keep my most-used dinner recipes (or at least a card with the name and page number of the recipe), which should make meal planning easier.
• Sort through my crafty corner. Let's just say Christmas made it explode a little bit.

Financial:

• Get a copy of our credit reports. You're supposed to do that annually, and I've never actually seen mine. Oops.
• Find money for Rachel's wedding, my "maternity leave" (the three months after Matthew is born before we move), and possibly a new vehicle. We have money saved and/or designated for most of this, but it's more a matter of putting it where it needs to be.
• Plan the babymoon. We are tentatively taking a little trip over Jesse's spring break or before, and we have free flight vouchers which we may or may not use toward this, but either way, I need to figure out what we're doing.
• Rework our budget to account for fun money. That seems to be our biggest downfall each month, and I hope that by giving us a set amount, we can save the rest.
• Start an emergency fund. Car troubles and unexpected trips came up this year, and luckily none of them were anything major, but I'd hate to have that happen and not have a way to deal with it.

Crafty:

• Make Matthew's baby blanket. I think it's going to be similar to Jonah's (knitted patchwork quilt), only with smaller blocks. I still have to decide what colors I'm using, although I'm leaning toward traditional blue and white.
• Make an embroidered animal onesie. Or maybe two. (Take a plain onesie, trace a simple animal shape onto a colorful fabric, and sew onto the onesie.)
• Make a standard door hanger for our front door. We have a Christmas one, and a Valentine's Day one, but I'd like an everyday one too.
• Make a basket to hold mail and/or bills and/or coupons to file. Basically all the stuff that piles up on the dining room table. I'm thinking one of the folded magazine ones, only rectangular, but we'll see.
• Finish Jesse's Christmas present. In my defense, I just found the picture and pattern from a friend's picture the week of Christmas.

Yes, I realize there are many things on this list. And yes, I know that with a new baby, a wedding, moving, and whatever other big things come up, this may not all happen. But really, I love lists, and it's good to have goals and projects. What are your New Year's goals?