I like setting goals because they give me something to work toward. I try to make them a *stretch* goal, so I actually have to work hard to reach them. This means I often don’t hit them, but I still appreciate the process.

With that in mind, it’s time to look at my goals for the year and how I did!

2012 Goals Recap

Here are my goals for 2012 and what I accomplished:

• Pay off my remaining student loans as part of a plan to be debt free. – I am not debt free yet, but I made HUGE progress this year. I payed off $12,400 in student loan debt this year. That’s a ton of money and it took a lot of sacrifice. I believe it will be worth it in the end though. Being financially healthy is important too.
• Prepare myself physically, mentally, and financially for eventual pregnancy. –  I made a ton of progress on this goal. I feel like I’d be ready now after preparing but we’ve decided to wait a bit for the babies. Maybe in a couple years. Sorry Mom! ;)
• Achieve a healthier weight and body composition. – This goal got put on the back burner despite it’s importance. For most of the year I just didn’t care enough to make the effort. I was stressed about where to live, career, my mom’s cancer, etc. However, not caring doesn’t mean I slid back to old habits or gain back everything I lost. I’m still at the same weight!
• Buy a sewing machine and learn how to sew clothes. – I bought a sewing machine this year… and then turned around and sold it before I ever used it. I bought it in NZ back when I was planning to stay in the country. That didn’t work out and neither did my sewing! However I’ve found a cool place in Memphis that does sewing lessons so I will get involved there and accomplish this in 2013.
• Read 52 + books. Read at least 1 book per month for health & fitness. – I accomplished the first part of this goal. Thanks to getting a Kindle I’ve devoured books like crazy over the last few months. I did not read a book a month on health topics though. Oops. Right now I’m reading Unlimited by Jillian Michaels.
• Do a cartwheel. – PASS! After my last goal update I decided to just suck it up and try one. It was ugly and I’d probably make fun of myself if I could see it. But it wasn’t nearly as hard or scary as I thought. Fear got the best of me here. As I lose more weight this will get easier and maybe I’ll actually look less ridiculous.

So that’s my goals recap for the year! A few passes, a few fails. 

Overall it was a challenging year with my mom having cancer and moving back and forth across the world several times. 

Now that I’m in Memphis I’m pretty excited to get settled and not move anywhere for a while. I just want to stay in one place, make a routine, get really boring, and knock some things out. I’ll talk more about this next time when I’m back with my 2013 goals!