My 2018 Resolutions

It's time for the annual New Year's Resolutions post! And this year, being 2018, marks the TENTH year of my telling you all about my goals to better myself in the upcoming year (see the first resolutions post, made at the end of 2008, right here: http://inmyfathershands.blogspot.com/2008/12/in-observance-of-new-years-eve.html).

I have always been a list maker and a very goal-oriented person, so new year's resolutions are fun for me, and not the drag they are for everyone else.

1) Make a Twin Bed sized Quilt
Very much inspired by a woman at my church, I have resolved to use the old sewing machine I have in my basement and make a quilt by the end of this year. Just one! Hopefully I can pull it off, I have 12 months to learn and do it!

2) Be a Better Neighbor (specifically by knowing the name of everyone on my street)
This one is inspired by the fact that Ryan and I have joined a group of local Christians to pray for where we live, and I want to actually know the names of the people we're praying for. My neighborhood is actually pretty social, but I am not so this is a stretch for me.

3) Do a sprint distance triathlon (Swim 750 meters, Bike 20 KM, run 5 km)
I can already do the bike and run portions (separately though, not on the same day!) but I'm a terrible swimmer, so I need to practice swimming and get fit enough to do them all in one day.

4) Sheryl Sandberg's journal challenge
Sheryl Sandberg's resolution last year was to write 3 moments of joy every day, and I loved it so I've resolved to do it myself.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4076834/Sheryl-Sandberg-details-New-Year-s-resolution-write-daily-moments-joy-says-came-Lean-Circle-girlfriends.html

5) The Modern Mrs. Darcy Reading Challenge
I love to read but tend to get stuck in a rut with the kinds of books I read. Challenges like this one pull me out of the rut.
http://modernmrsdarcy.com/reading-challenge-2018/

6) Make pasta from scratch
Not a new resolution, but one that I'm hoping to try again this year!

7) Daily Audio Bible
I have time at work to listen to podcasts while programming, and so I'm going to try the daily audio bible app in addition to the podcasts, since my Dad uses it regularly. I'm hoping an app keeps me more accountable.

8) Use my 3D printer to make my own custom designed item
Ryan got me a 3D printer for Christmas, and I'm super excited. I'm resolving to make my own object and print it (not just print designs from the internet)

9) Start a podcast
I've had an idea for a long time to start a podcast and I even have a fancy mic for it, so I just need to get over hating the sound of my own voice recorded and start doing it! By the end of 2018, I want at least the first episode recorded, edited and released.

10) Clean Our Garage/Organize the Storage Areas
Ryan and I have a large house (for two people, at least) that can get messy and disorganized. We just recently started using the basement space. Now I want us to use the garage regularly, and that means I need to keep it neat! So my goal is to organize and clean the garage and other storage spaces so that we can use our house to it's maximum potential.

New Years Resolutions: 2017 Summary

Hi everyone! Here are my resolutions from last year, and a summary of how I did. TL;DR I gave myself a 50%, or 6 points on the 12 from last year. Stay tuned for a future post with the new ones!

Daily:
- Floss/Mouthwash (Health)
Did this one! Pretty proud of myself for this. 1 point

- Read 1 news story (Connection)
I did read more news, but not one per day, and I still missed big news items. 0.2 points

- ACTS prayer (Connection)
I did this REALLY well through March, and then went on a trip, forgot to pack the journal, and didn't pick it up after that trip. 0.3 points for 3 months of going strong.

- Text someone hi (Connection)
Zero points, didn't do this. I decided I didn't need to be texting more to stay in touch with people (the motivation behind this).

Weekly:
- Save $10 towards vacation (Finance)
I did this for half the year, went on vacation with Ryan in July, and spend my savings (Which was great, to have that money set aside!) then didn't KEEP saving (which I needed to do for vacation next year) so only 0.5 points for half the year.

- Write a blog post (Connection)
Nope. Not at all. Sorry, loyal blog readers - I was bad this year. Next year will be TEN YEARS of my having this blog though, so even though it's pretty rare for me to post, I've had it for a long long long time. And I have posted every year. :)

- Vacuum whole House (Organization)
I did this, not quite weekly, but I was better about keeping my house clean, which was the goal. 0.5 points

- Do a crossword puzzle (Creativity)
Nope, not at all. zero points.

Monthly:
- Mop Kitchen/Clean Bathroom (Organization)
Did this! 1 point

- Craft Completed (Creativity)
Did this! Lots of cross stitch this year, some paint nights, some pottery painting, some photo albums and some shadow boxes. Was a good, crafty year. :)

- Read non-fiction (Creativity)
Did this one! Did it better than last year, more actual mind-expansion, less memoirs (but still some memoirs). I read Orange is the New Black, Out of Orange, Ten Years in Solitary with the Bard, Your First Leadership Job, How to Win Friends and Influence People in the Digital Age, Liturgy of the Ordinary, All Roads Lead to Austen, What Matters in Austen: 20 crucial questions answered, Talking as Fast as I Can, Scrappy Little Nobody,  Hidden Figures, and Rise of the Rocket Girls!  1 point

- Write a Letter to someone (Connection)
I did this one, but missed the intent of the resolution since I mostly wrote to people I was already writing to, instead of new people. 0.5 points.

The Evolution of Personality (through the lens of Hogwarts Houses)

Last week was the Society of Women Engineers holiday social at work. We spent a fair bit of time talking about Harry Potter houses, because we're nerds, and one of my SWE friends pointed out that she feels like she's in a different Hogwarts house now than she would have been at age eleven, when the sorting takes place (let's note that eleven is ASTONISHINGLY young to be telling a kid what they're supposed to be like for the rest of their life). 

I tend to agree with her assessment. As a kid, I took several house sorting tests and got sorted into Ravenclaw most times. When Pottermore was released, I took the official test and was sorted into Hufflepuff. When the Ilvermorny houses were released, I made a new Pottermore account, got sorted into Hufflepuff again, and got sorted into Thunderbird as my Ilvermorny house, in the American wizarding school (Thunderbirds are known for representing the soul of the wizard, and tends to favor adventurers. However, there isn't as much lore about Thunderbirds as there is about Hufflepuffs. I look forward to discovering more about being a Thunderbird as the Fantastic Beast movies are released!)

For those that are not familiar, Ravenclaws are "intellectuals" valued for their intelligence, Hufflepuffs are loyal friends, and not valued for their aptitude. Many Hufflepuffs note at this point that this does not mean Hufflepuffs are not smart - after all, Cedric Diggory, who qualified for the TriWizard Tournament, was a Hufflepuff - rather, it means that the loyalty is more important to them than other things.Which I like, because one of my friends/mentors pointed out that I'm extremely loyal, and disloyalty upsets me (which is why I don't like the movie, "The Notebook", because poor James Marsden gets ditched for no good reason.

I'm not sure if I would have been sorted into Hufflepuff house at age eleven. I think, in the seven years students are supposed to be at Hogwarts that they likely change, a lot. And I'm curious to know if the sorting hat can see their future, and sort them into the house they will ultimately grow into, or if it's based on their thoughts that first day, and that day alone. Seeing the future could explain why Neville Longbottom is in Gryffindor despite not being a particularly brave child, or why Hermione Granger is not in Ravenclaw, despite being a particularly intellectual child - but it could also be that the house shaped them into that adult, and perhaps they would have been different had they been placed in other houses.

Which goes back to the age old question, nature vs. nurture. Are you born into a particular personality type, or are you trained into one? Introverted parents can have extroverted children, which seems to imply some stuff is just born into a child, but other things are clearly are a product of upbringing (like how a child can be brought up to like or dislike math based on their parents feelings towards the subject, which is why you should never ever say you're "just not a math person"). In the end, the sorting hat is nothing more than a personality test, which I think are flawed ways to try to capture the complexity of a person's soul. 

Other thoughts about personality tests on this blog:

http://inmyfathershands.blogspot.com/2009/10/on-spanish-yoga-and-self-knowledge.html

http://inmyfathershands.blogspot.com/2011/04/jung-gregorc-and-vak-oh-my.html