2013 Resolutions: Philip

Cass asked me to share my New Year's Resolutions with you. Last year, I stuck with my unpublished goals through until May. This year, I hope publishing them puts me over the top.

Now, everyone has goals about diet and exercise, relationships, and even faith spirituality. And those are good, so briefly: I want to exercise every day, max out at one sweet a week, keep a bimonthly date night with my wife, and get back in the habit of having daily time with my Bible (or YouVersion app, as the case may be). But those resolutions are boring to read; you've seen them a million times. What I want to do is focus on the New Year's Resolutions that are a little less common. Like...

1. Get two rejection notices.

Some of you may know that I'm a bit of a writer, with dreams of being an author/screenwriter/playwright (really, whatever storytelling medium will have me, poetry slams included). But so far I haven't gone and sent anything off. Why? Maybe I'm too nervous. Maybe I just don't know where to start. But this year I intend to start changing that. And aiming for two rejection notices is a bit of a hedge; as long as I send stuff a couple of works off to a publisher, I either make some strides forward in my writing career or I achieve my resolution!

2. Watch this year's Best Picture nominees before next year's ceremony.

That gives me a year to watch 9 movies? I can do that. Part of striving to be a great artist is understanding what makes art great. Being truthful and discovering your voice are great, but if you don't have a good understanding how to deliver, you're back to square one.

As an aside, maybe I'm just starting to hit the target demographic, but this year's batch seems pretty strong. ZeroDark Thirty, Silver Linings Playbook, Lincoln, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Argo; these are all movies I wanted to see as they've come out. I've missed them all so far, but there's no reason for that to continue.

Cass: I'm going to pretend I don't know Philip only wants to see this for Jennifer Lawrence. 

3. Get everything upstairs that's not related to the kitchen done.

Okay, so our bathroom reno has started to drag on longer than a Fiona Apple album title (h/t Hollywood Prospectus podcast). But we will get it done! And we will get the spare bedroom done! And the living room-ish! (It butts up against the kitchen, and our plans for it can only be fully realized when we can scratch together the coin to actually finish the kitchen.)

Having a beautiful living space is a top priority. Can't wait to share it with you as we make that happen.

4. Rediscover my At-Work Mojo

Last year I was kicking butt at the beginning of the year. But then some plans changed due to my company's integration with some of our sister companies. And then we lost one of the employees in our department and a lot of his work landed on my desk. And somewhere in that maelstrom, the je-ne-sais-quoi that had me at the top of my game at the beginning of the year faded.

It's time to refocus on what makes me great and what holds me back, so I can release my inner Kraken.

5. Run a marathon.

Ha. Haha. Hahahahahaha. I'm totally kidding. While I have the utmost respect for those who can, the reasons I don't want to run a marathon are legion (although if you quizzed me right now, the fact that many marathoners lose control of their, ummm, plumbing during the race would be reasons #1 through 18 on my list). But being able to jog 5K without dying would be nice. Maybe I'll work toward that.

So those are my resolutions. I hope to be back on the Friday Phil horse soon; as Cass mentioned, I'm directing a play that I adapted (writing pretty much all of it last week), but who knows, you may have me back sooner than later. (That is, if the blog will have me back!) This week, tell us what you're looking forward to most in 2013. 

What the New Year has in Store

As you might have learned by now...I'm a big list person. I like to make resolutions, although I'd consider them more of goals (Philip says that's the same as a resolution), maybe they're more "yearly tasks/accomplishments".

One note made on the poll last week by Christine Steendam was that a lot of people don't make resolutions. While true, something to know is that you're 10 times more likely to make a change in your life if you make a 2013 goal. According to Real Simple anyway. They also recommend making your goals public, so while we share a couple of ours on this blog, feel free to add yours in the comments. We're back to polling through our site, the Facebook poll was not as well liked (didn't realize that it would show who voted for what - making it a little more public). We'll extend the same poll question this week so more of you can have a chance to answer. I'll share my resolutions for the big 2013, while Philip shares his next Tuesday.

I typically make a list of resolutions, addressing different areas of my life, and then in order to make them more achievable I break them down by quarter/month/week...that kind of thing. This year I kept it simple and I made a one page list of resolutions (color coded), followed by a break down of a couple things I can do in January to work towards accomplishing each of the goals for the year. We'll see how January goes, and then I'll work on a February list. In the interest of keeping things a bit briefer than Tolstoy's Anna Karenina, I'll share just one goal in each area of my life that I highlighted (this kind of back-fired...it got long, but hopefully sharing most of my goals keeps me accountable this year!)

The categories that I divided my resolutions into were: God Related, Philip Related, Health Related, Blog Related, House Related, and Finance Related. 

God Related: In addition to getting back on the Scripture-reading routine that we started out strong on when we first got married and have slowly fallen off of after moving, I really want to make sure to go above and beyond in the areas in which I volunteer at our church. That means doing a great job with my 4-year old Sunday School class, as well as in leading our care group.
In January, that means grabbing a devotion book that I can read each day - we were doing a chronological Bible reading plan and we were probably almost done but it became a little bit of a chore and so I wouldn't mind mixing it up for a little bit with something else. Any recommendations? 

Philip Related: Hopefully our new Date Jar will help with the resolution to have at least two intentional date nights a month. With a home renovation and a lot of other commitments, these can easily slide. 
In January I'll have to make sure we get those two dates in (I've already marked days I think will work on our calendar). 

*Swoon*

Health Related: One thing I've noticed since I quit my job back in March, and especially since Winter has come around, is that it's really easy to go a day or two without getting any sunlight. It makes me really tired and so one of my goals is to get outside for a bit each day. It's definitely a goal that haunts me as I look out my window at all the snow and neighbors in their winter jackets. Philip will like it though because it might mean coming home to an already shoveled walk, or more snow women to keep Concetta company (somehow she's still going strong). 

Our snow woman is still hanging out in our yard after over a month.

Blog Related: I am full of dreams for this blog, so hopefully 2013 will be an exciting year in this department. One thing I want to get better at is writing posts ahead so I'm not scrambling at the last minute, and so there is more time for editing and making posts as great as they can be (so bad at this one - but maybe I'm getting there - it's Friday and this post is for next Tuesday!). I also want to improve in things like Photoshop to make my posts better, and hopefully line up some special blogging series, posts about some other homes that inspire us, and maybe even some guest posts. If you have any ideas on how we can improve this blog, or would like to contribute in some way, contact us! Our information is on the About Us page and we'd love to hear from you!

House Related: You've already seen our ambitious To-Do list, and know some of our house goals for this year. The main thing that they all add up to is having a main floor that we're happy with and feel settled in. We know we likely won't get to the kitchen and living room for a year or two, so for now we want to finish the back part of the house (bedrooms and bathroom), and organize the living room and kitchen to be places that we feel content with for now. 

Finance Related: Philip shared our budgeting tool a little while back, but the one thing it requires to work is us entering receipts and expenses regularly so it's actually up to date. I'm almost caught up on the pile of receipts we'd let slide, and then I want to keep it up every day and review it together once a month so we know where our money is going and can save up for more renovation projects! 

That's it for me this year! If I can accomplish the above, I think I've had a pretty successful year. Is anyone else this crazy about their lists? Have you ever fully completed a resolution?

Here from us for Christmas time...

Our year-in-review, written in rhyme! 

Nothing says Merry Christmas like a veggie platter shaped like a Christmas tree!

Merry Christmas! It is that time of year

to think of the ones we hold most dear.
And since all of you we don't often see,
here's a warm letter from Cass and me!

Tho' some of you may or may not care,
our year in review we'd like to share.
We're simply here to inform and to bring mirth;
our rhymes are no challenge to Frost or Wordsworth.

A lot happened in 2012,
so without more ado, in we delve!

January found us tucked safe and neat
in our condo, with new kitchen complete!
Yet loved still more given winter's barrage,
was the heated underground parking garage.

In February we beat deep winter's blues
by casting off on our honeymoon cruise!
Seven Caribbean days can't be beat,
working out lots to offset "all-you-can-eat."

Cass, with a random other cruise ship in the background.

In March Cass finally got to retire

to pursue many a goal and desire;

As you'll see she's had plenty to do

besides trademarking the phrase "Freedom 22."

In May every year we get carried away

feting 5 family births and Mother's Day!

With all that cake I'd say it's like heaven

but I'm watchin' my weight, now that I'm 27!

July we decided that the time had come

to leave our comfy nest and grow up some.

A condo's a great carefree first home,

but we wanted a house to call our own.

Selling our condo was a hard step, but a step in the direction of growing up.

 We hunted through the homes MLS lists,

and bid on a house, by a lot we did miss!

So on this humble place we also bid low,

And behold, we're owners of this cute bungalow.

Our new baby which, if you read this blog, you're pretty familiar with already.

Before possession we took

We could not overlook

Cassy's twenty-third birthday;

they grow up so fast, don't they?

The newly-minted 23-year old (in a picture from when she was still 22)

And on July 30th we got the key

to our own little house on the prairie.

But before we could get settled down

My parents took us to a much bigger town.

We drove to Chicago, them and us,

to see the Summit live at the start of August.

As well as the few days we had to sightsee,

there we celebrated our first anniversary.

Philip at historic Wrigley Field in Chicago

Immediately upon our return

Our minds did dream and our stomachs churn

At the thought of all we had on our plate

For our house to properly renovate.

In September Cass was back teaching Sunday School,

and we were both learning each hammer and tool,

As we demolished our basement and broke the bank,

Installing a new HVAC system and hot water tank.

Another pricy job as every homeowner knows

Is replacing your old drafty windows.

We had that done too and now hope we will

save a little on our Hydro bill.

With the work was keeping us far from bored,

we wanted a better way our memories to record

from the tough jobs through which we had to slog

so in October we started our very own blog.

GrandpaJoesHouse.blogspot.com is where

you'll find all the words and photos we can share.

Cass updates it each and every day

so leave your thoughts in the comments or just say "hey!"

With November's arrival came another big move;

one of which I did not wholeheartedly approve.

My company moved to the whole other side

of our city, resulting in quite a bus ride!

But now that I'm used to it I hardly mind;

it's a great place to get writing done, I find.

In fact, as you reading this letter to you,

you've seen the benefits of the bus ride too.

But November's highlight by a fair sight

was the glorious afternoon and night

when my brother, Jonathan, filled with pride,

married Jennifer, his beautiful bride.

The Wiebe family at Jonathan & Jennifer's Wedding

December arrived with great fanfare,

Christmas events galore left us with little time to spare,

but with the painting and trimming in the past,

we moved into our master bedroom at last.

This time of year gives all a chance to reflect,

on the blessings we've been lucky to collect.

Like Federated Insurance and a biweekly paycheque

and the coworkers who make it fun in every respect.

Or the family and friends who in our lives share

whom we love and for whom we care.

We rely on you a lot, we hope we're not a pain,

thanks for keeping us from going insane.

And finally to God and the birth of a boy

who is the source of this season's joy;

who brings meaning to every single day,

and whose faithfulness never does sway.

So now that was our year, I hope you've been,

entertained by what you've read and seen.

Here's to the joys we hope to share with you between

now and the end of 2013!

Philip & Cassondra, a self-portrait, 2012