Normally, I'm not one for making resolutions. How often do we actually stick to them? "I'm going to lose 20 pounds!" "I'm going to run a marathon!" Then you just get bummed out about your shortcomings and feel like crap for the rest of the year, right? Plus, I figure that by setting goals for the next year, the good juju will help fend off the pending Mayan end-of-the-world prediction.

The list I've come up with seems to be pretty reasonable and measurable and not at all overwhelming (I hope), so here goes...

1. Meet a neighbor and remember their name beyond that one meeting
It's really sad, but in the seven years that Katie and I have lived here, we've really only met three of our neighbors. Well, actually we met a couple others but they've either moved or we've forgotten their names due to lack of continued contact. And, honestly, I'm terrible with names. I remember that I should know somebody because I recognize their face, but recalling their name is something else altogether. So I want to meet another of our neighbors this year and remember their name through continued interaction. Can't be all that tough, right?

2. Read 20 books
I've been in a funk lately regarding reading. I was chugging along strong for about two years and then hit a wall during our cruise this past spring. From that point on, I think I finished five books... maybe. However, I really think that owning an iPad and complementing that with use of my iPhone will really help my reading and my goal, as a result, is to get through 20 books before December 31, 2012. Not a lot for some of you, but for me right now, it's a bit lofty.

3. Listen to one new band per month
This one definitely should not be tough for me to do at all as I LOVE music. I just want to discover (personally, not professionally) and listen to one album per month from a band I've never heard before. Well, I guess I would include bands that I've heard one song from on, say, XM or FM radio as that remains one of the best ways I know of to discover new music.

4. Finish watching through season 5 of Doctor Who
I was doing a good job this past summer of tearing through season 1 of the revived Doctor Who series. However, I stalled out around episode 10. I enjoy the heck out of it, but I just haven't felt like continuing to watch. I can't reasonably explain why (although I think it might be a fear of seeing Christopher Eccleston's run come to an end... he's awesome). But it's all on Netflix Instant Watch so I really have no excuse and I plan to get through five seasons worth, dang it!

5. Learn how to make homemade pasta
This is something that Katie and I have been wanting to do for quite some time and were hoping to resolve by asking for a Kitchenaid stand mixer pasta maker attachment. We didn't get it, but that doesn't mean we still can't try making it. I hear about how much fun it is from friends and I know we've just gotta try.

6. Try one new recipe per week
Katie and I own a metric asston (it's a real measurement... look it up) of cookbooks and we've really never tried all that many recipes in them. So one idea she came up with was to randomly pick out recipes from them or from recipe websites/apps and try a new one each week. Why not? Could be a lot of fun! And, yes, this can overlap with resolution 5.

7. Continue my 365 days of photography challenges
The end of this year marks the completion of my second year of taking a photo each and every day. I think I'm going to continue with my Insty365 challenge using the Instagram app on my iPhone to do this. And Katie expressed interest in trying it as well. So maybe this will become another joint resolution!

8. Post monthly updates on my progress
These are all very measurable resolutions and I think the best way to maintain some semblance of accountability is to post monthly updates on our progress ("our" because a couple of them refer to both Katie and me). So, sometime around the end of each month, I'll let you all know how we're doing. I'm also going to create a link to this post in the header menu of my blog so if you all need to find these to hold them against me, you'll be able to do so easily.

Any resolutions you all are undertaking?

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