2009 Here We Come

It's official - I took the Christmas decorations down last night - this means that 2009 is on its way. And all of the excitement for the new year has me thinking of how quickly the time has gone these last 11 years I've been in Alaska.

There are a few New Year's celebrations that stick out in my head. I remember watching the fireworks on TV from town square in Anchorage on the eve of Y2K - we didn't dare drive outside in case everything went haywire. Remember the fear of the world ending? I remember a couple of years later when some friends had a huge party at a house they were house-sitting and we dressed up and had a great time. (that house had some great hiding spots for playing sardines - not that I would know about that) I remember the year we got married and all of our friends went to bed early (like by 10:00) and we tried to find people to "play" with and they were literally in bed or on their way so John and I stayed up playing nerts until 2:00. I remember last year - going downtown for the Fire and Ice celebration and then praying and having communion right at the change of the New Year.

And, I remember making goals one year with my friend Greg. We divided our paper into financial, physical, spiritual and educational goals. This was well before I married John, and I was still in college and had a car payment. I decided that I would pay off my car that year, and I did. I worked hard making double and sometimes triple payments and got that thing paid off. When I look back at it - I think about how having a goal and writing it down was a necessary part of getting it done. I think I'll make some new goals this year using the same quadrants, some for me personally and some for the two of us.

I think another important thing for me as far as making goals goes (goals goes?) is to make mini milestones along the way. By March I plan to...by June I hope to...etc.

I've got some thinking to do - I want to be sure that I make some goals that might just be reachable!