Welcome, 2016!

January has rolled around once again. This means multiple things; the treadmills at the gym will be packed with healthy hopefuls now at 5am for the next month, more people will be cluttering the self-help section at Barnes and Noble, and 'how to make kale chips' will be one of the most searched questions on Google. 

I am one of those that 'resolve' to start the new year off strong. Each year I set another round of goals, and regardless of whether they are accomplished or not, the most important part, in my mind, is reflecting on the 'why' or 'why not' of them being accomplished. 

So...here are my thoughts as we ring in 2016.

Intellectually, I have surpassed my reading goal the last 3 years. I need this goal to continue to keep me free-reading. If I wasn't on Goodreads, I would struggle to force myself to read each day. This sounds crazy because I absolutely love to read, but as with anything, making it a priority when other things are far more important gets difficult. By knowing that I have to reach 16 books by the end of 2016 I will be able to realize if I start falling behind and make sure that I continue to carve out time for it. 

Physically, I would like to keep my mileage steady but focus on flexibility. I have usually defaulted to the '365 miles' a year thing to ensure that I keep active when life gets crazy. I am going to try to ditch the mileage count this year (I'm hopeful this doesn't backfire on me). As much as I love running to clear my head, I'd like to try to increase my flexibility and mix things up a bit. In addition to running, I'd like to add it some classes on the side...possibly yoga, a spin class, or pilates. 

Spiritually, I'd like to be more intentional in keeping things in perspective and spending my time 'not sweating the small stuff'. I'd like to include more books to my reading this year that focus on raising a Catholic family. With Mark officially Catholic and Emma doing First Communion, I'd like to focus on learning more about the Saints.