I don’t make resolutions anymore. I think it’s stupid to tell yourself every January that you are going to re-invent everything you’ve been for the last {Fill-in-the-Blank} years. Then you just end up angry at yourself by February when you haven’t lost any weight/organized your life/started working out every day. I think resolutions tend to be vague and too broad-minded. Instead, I’m thinking small. Making a to-do list of sorts. These are a few things that have been rattling around in my brain for a while. Maybe if I write them down, I’ll actually get around to doing them?

Things I’d like to do this year:

1. Make a wood patio with a fire pit. You know, a good hang out spot.

This is what I want to make the patio out of:

We’ve got oak rounds by the tractor full and sand by the bulldozer full, so why don’t I have this patio yet?

And, this is what my fire pit should look like:

Except I’m worried about air flow issues. Do you think it being in the ground will make it difficult to light a fire?

2. Organize the Girl Scout stuff in a way that doesn’t involve either a)the trunk of my car as a storage bin or b) my hallway for the same thing. Girl scout craft supplies have completely taken over my trunk. It’s irritating but I don’t have another solution yet. Any ideas?

3. Plan a playdate with Zebrabelly and GirlwithGreenCard. Because if I put it on here, they have to let me come play.

4. Spend some time crafting with the girls every week before they get too old to want me around. It’s coming. I can feel it. I already get the eye-roll from Bright almost daily. It’s not long before they want nothing to do with me. So, I think I’ll figure out a project a week that we can do together. I’m not going to tell them I’m doing it, because then they’ll expect it and I inevitably will have to let them down at least a few weeks. I know my limitations and doing something consistently week-after-week seems to be one of them. Thank goodness for Pinterest and the never-ending list of ideas over there.

5. Paint Little’s room. I have this idea of roads and cars and trees. I want a huge mural that will wrap around three of his walls. I want to do it now while he’s small and will appreciate it for a few years. If I wait too long, he will grow out of it too quickly.

6. Write a letter a week. Don’t you miss real mail? I do. I miss opening up my mail box and finding something completely unexpected and nice. Mail is never nice anymore. It’s all bills and responsibilities. Emails just aren’t the same as seeing a handwritten letter in your mailbox. With real mail, someone took the time to hunt down a stamp for that baby. That’s love.

7. Knit these leg warmers:

I have new boots! New boots that require leg warmers to go with them, so I can wear them with a skirt in the winter. These things are necessary for my survival.

Also, This Kindle Cover:

Because I’m a geek.

And… I guess that’s it. Nothing that will make me feel un-accomplished if I don’t get around to doing them, just a few things I’ve wanted to do for a while and should probably finish at some point this year.