33.

pretty much every day my brain chronicles all the things i want to be doing/improving. but i never really write any of it down, so it's mostly just my own battle with myself of ways i want to be better and ways i'm falling short.

one of the basic (and, honestly, annoying) things they teach us in business school, early on, is about goal setting. and one of the models of how to set goals is to set SMART goals - specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, time-bound. so, you can't just say "i am going to grow revenue in FY15", you have to say "i'm going to grow revenue by 15% by Q3 of FY15 because i've calculated these projections and feel like with x and y plan, this is an attainable stretch goal". or whatever. better life example would be "i'm going to run a half marathon in january with a training program that starts this week".

so. i thought for my 33rd birthday i would set some goals. and write them down to add accountability. not all of them are SMART goals, but i've tried to make them as smart as possible. ha. in no particular order:

1. take better care of my skin. specifically: drink 2-4 quarts of water every day; wash face and apply moisturizer and eye cream every night; use sunscreen daily; moisturize arms and legs after shower. 
2. spend more time outside. specifically: take dogs for walk or run 4 days/week; get outside while at the office - eat lunch outside, away from my desk/computer, do walking meetings, take 10 minutes to do a lap around the building once or twice a day; eat dinner and/or breakfast on the porch with the kids. 
3. be more intentional about what i eat: specifically: meal plan and stick to it; prep lunches and bulk stuff on sundays; bring lunch a minimum of 3 days/week; eat at home on friday evenings; eat breakfast; throw cash saved by not eating out into a box; involve kids in meal prep even more.
4. do stuff in the evenings. specifically: don't just lay on the couch after the kids go to bed; pick a project each week and work on it a little bit every evening; make more social commitments; take turns with jb to run when it cools down a little.
5. exercise (more/consistently): weight training twice a week; running 4 times per week. no excuses.
6. be a better friend/communicator: write letters; send packages; make time for people; don't just rely on facebook and instagram lurking to know what people are up to. 
7. take pictures: lots of pictures. learn how to use one of the DSLRs. in manual. before halloween. 
8. be a better wife: plan dates. have a consistent babysitting night (start with one/month). do little nice things to show love. 
9. spend one on one time with each kidlet: 3-4 days each week. 15-20 minutes. go on a walk with just one of them, or work on a little project with just ek. get on the floor with hollis and play with his trucks. let one of them "own" dinner prep with me. 
10. read more (non-YA) novels: YA novels are great, but let's have a one for one relationship - one cheesy teen novel for one piece of real literature. maybe join a bookclub? 

whew. let the games begin!