Tuesday Ten is ONE year old!!!
In 2013, Lisa and I were both doing our own Tuesday Ten posts. Late that year, we decided to collaborate and turn it into a weekly link up! The first Tuesday Ten we co-hosted was published on January 7, 2014.
In the past year, we have had some super fun linkups and we have created a small, but dedicated community of readers and linkers! To celebrate and to thank everyone who has been a part of our first year, we are hosting a great giveaway! One lucky winner will receive TEN $10 gift cards - one to each of the following:
Starbucks, Amazon, Target, Visa, PayPal, iTunes, Dunkin Donuts, Chipotle, Panera, and Chick FilA
To enter, see the Rafflecopter below. The contest will be open through January 17th, 2015 and the winner will be announced on January 20th.
Special thanks to our giveaway sponsors:
a Rafflecopter giveawayToday we are also posting and linking up our New Year Resolutions. It seems that resolutions have fallen out of favor over the last few years in favor of a Word of the Year. However, last year I made resolutions for the first time in a very long time...and I made them publicly. That made me feel very accountable for them throughout the year and I updated them monthly to watch my progress. I think I grew a lot last year and I am very proud of myself. One thing that really hit home was how to make resolutions and goals that get met. It's known as making SMART goals, so that's how I'll be making my resolutions this year.
This year I resolve to...
- Take 28,000 steps a week. That's an average of 4,000 per day. I didn't quite meet that as a daily goal last year, but I am pushing myself to get up and move more this year.
- Save $100 per month. I would like to have an extra $1200 in my savings account by the end of this year. I adjusted my direct deposit near the middle of last year and we've slowly gotten used to that money not being available. We've dipped into it a few times, but NOT THIS YEAR!
- Get my weight into the 123-125 range. According to this BMI calculator I still need to lose some weight. I've been making good progress, and I've only got 5-7 pounds left to lose until my pants fit the way I want them to.
- Schedule a monthly date night. Ken and I really strengthened our marriage last year, but we still don't have regular date nights. This year I plan to change that with a scheduled monthly date just for us.
- Teach the kids (and myself) and new prayer each month. There's a great list of Catholic prayers here, but I've got a few others I'd like to work on too. Frances is especially excited to memorize the Prayer of St. Francis.
- Read one non-fiction book per month. I do a lot of fluff reading, but certainly that's not all my brain is capable of comprehending! We got a great book about Catholic spirituality at church, so I'll be starting with that one.
- Monitor my yelling. I hate yelling. It makes me feel crappy and it makes the kids feel crappy. I will be putting five bands on my right wrist each morning. Each time I yell, I will move one to the left. I hope to be more right than left each day.
- These last three are blogging goals that I hope to achieve: I will post a VLOG each month. They are fun and I love playing with iMovie.
- I will increase my page views by 10%. To do this I will need to be much more intentional about promoting myself.
- Increase my social media following by 25%. Again, promotion is key here. Look out for me on the web!!
Happy 2015!
Great goals and I can't wait to see more Vlogs from you and wish you a ton of success on all of the above that you listed, too :)
ReplyDeleteI am a yeller, too. I am not really a resolution-maker but to be a little gentler with my tone of voice is something I need to work on. Love you list& happy birthday, #TuesdayTen!
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday Tuesday Ten! :) These are all great goal/resolutions Rabia. I love the wrist-band idea to cut down on yelling. That's a great tip that could work with so many things to help us cut back on them. I'm so glad you shared it and I wish you a very Happy New Year and much success with all your goals.
ReplyDeleteGreat goals, Rabia. Can I chime in on two of them? I got a Fit Bit Zip for Hanukkah, and it's great for counting my steps and motivating me to move. And it syncs with my computer to track my progress.
ReplyDeleteA FB friend posted a cool reverse savings plan for the year - put away $52 the first week of the year (just pick a day of the week at stick with it), $51 the second week, etc. until $1 the last week of the year. You'll put away $1378. Neat, huh?
Happy birthday Tuesday Ten - I'm happy to be a part of your celebration. Even though I don't participate every week, I love it when I do. All the topics are on my calendar, and I promise you'll see me at least once a month!
If I had planned better, I could have made my post today part of the Tuesday Ten (I also posted SMART Goals, but just for the month of January). Though I didn't blog about it, I also want to stop yelling less and also had the idea to wear a wristband. I was just going to keep moving it back and forth, but I think the idea of moving over individual ones each time is more powerful. I should probably do that. Good luck with your goals!
ReplyDeleteAll really smart and obviously well thought out goals!
ReplyDeleteLove these resolutions! I agree about setting specific targets and really tried to do that this year, too. I like you percentages for page views and social media. I definitely want to increase both of those for my blog as well, but was hesitant to say "I will average X number of page views per post." The percentages are a great way to think about it.
ReplyDeleteWow. Looks like you're a really focused person, which is awesome. Keep us posted on your goals….I'm especially curious about the steps one!
ReplyDeleteGreat resolutions! Especially number 5. We have not been very active in church last year and would like to change that. Wishing you a wonderful 2015!
ReplyDeleteThanks Janine! Now I've got to come up with Vlog topics! LOL!
ReplyDeleteThanks MissusV! I wish you many successes in 2015 as well!
ReplyDeleteI love editing videos. I just need to get the ideas and do the recording first. What format would you be using? I'd love to help if I can.
ReplyDeleteI'd like to do the same with my social media presence. I think I just get lazy sometimes.
ReplyDeleteI'd also never tried a BMI calculator before! That was kinda fun.
I like that you have included some financial goals on your list. It's so important to have an emergency fund or even a little on a side for unexpected expenses or a big splurge. Thank you for sharing and happy link up anniversary.
ReplyDeleteThat BMI calculator doesn't always have good news for me, but I think it's healthier than just aiming for an arbitrary weight.
ReplyDeleteWe're really working hard on that emergency fund. Now if we could avoid emergencies that would be even better!
ReplyDeleteYou are more than welcome to participant in all the #TuesdayTens that you want! And skip the ones you don't!!
ReplyDeleteIt came through fine! You are entered properly! Good luck!
ReplyDeletelots of us don't tweet---and don't want to
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