January 4

Photo challenge photo of the day: letterbox

She's a bit dusty, no?

and it's about time I made some resolutions for this year. Here goes:
1. get involved in a research project at work, preferably one dealing with pain, interventional spine, or musculoskeletal medicine. The dark horse would be pelvic floor rehab.
2. Try out at least one new vegan recipe per week. I got Veganomicon for Christmas and Ethan got the Happy Herbivore cookbook, so this should be pretty easy. Both are chock-full of delicious looking recipes.
3. Work out at least 4 times per week. The diet we started about five months ago has me slightly slimmer, and feeling much better overall, and I want to build on this feeling good/ more energy by working out. I don't want to lose weight, I just want to feel better.
4. keep on top of everyday chores better. Laundry is my nemesis. Ethan is thankfully in charge of the dishes. But by the end of the work week it's pretty messy up in our casa, and a large chunk of either Saturday or Sunday is taken up by fixing the mess, or catching up on folding.
5. get serious about budgeting/ saving. We aren't extravagant people, but can sometimes be nickel-and-dimed by Starbucks or dinner out. I would ultimately like to do the Dave Ramsey Financial Peace University that is offered through our church.
6. spend time painting. I got a sweet set of brushes and acrylic paints from my mom at Christmas, and I want to use that as an avenue for my creativity
7. give more hand-made gifts. I've gotten to the point that I can make things that are pretty and unique, without many/ any mistakes (in crochet at least). examples: lace wedding garters, baby blankets, baby mobiles, hats, scarves, larger blankets, lace trimmed hand towels. It takes planning but I think these things are so much more special than most things I could buy.
8. go to church more regularly. I fell off the wagon last year when I was doing my surgery internship and almost never had a Sunday off. I would like to get back in the habit of going.
9. get my sewing machine fixed, so I can get on with a bunch of projects that are on hold. (the bobbin side refuses to thread. It probably just needs a good cleaning)
10. watch less television- in order to have the time to do all of the above.