resolutions . . . dun! Dun!! DUN!!!

Since 2000, I stopped doing 'resolutions' and I had only been making them since 1996, so the whole 4 years of making them, I never really followed through with any of them, except the one that was "Be me." and even then, I failed.  So, as a resolution in 2000, I decided to stop doing resolutions.  I succeeded there, but this year, I'm returning to them, but in a different way.  Instead of doing a list of 'resolutions' I'm making a list of 10 goals.  None of them I'll be able to check off until December 31, 2011 at 11:59:59, because I doubt I'd be able to finish off any of them in a second.  These are not resolutions, things that I must to do change myself, these are goals, to strive toward to make the world, and those around me, better.

With that said, here is the list of ten thing I'll be striving toward, this year (in no particular order . . . kind of):

1. Spend More Time with My Family (This was the first one I thought of) - People tend to take their family for granted, and I will be spending more time with them.  This doesn't have to be going places, or doing stuff, but just spending time with them in the same room.  There's a lot I want to do this year, but nothing more than just being with my family.
   
2. Write One Fictional Thing Worth Publishing - This includes, but does not limit myself to short stories, poetry, or a full length fictional novel.  I doubt it'll be the last, because I already have something brewing (#3) but I'd rather be a fictional writer, so I need to start somewhere.
   
3. Write My Story - This is the non-fictional part of my writing.  I stood (figuratively speaking) in front of a group of highschoolers, this past year, and gave them my salvation story.  It's nothing mind blowing, but in the ten years since it happened, I've learned a lot that I didn't know back then, and to be honest, I've learned a lot from those times in the dark, and think that if what I learned can be helpful to someone else, then I need to write it.  If one person can be helped by my story, then I'm all in.  I've written an outline, already, and plan on moving forward with it, slowly, so I don't miss anything.
   
4. Write One Script (Notice a trend?) - With Charot's Corner under my belt, I'm ready for another script.  I had a blast writing Corner, and I know I could toss out a second script, to something I haven't even thought of yet.  There's just something about writing a script take gets my heart racing.
   
5. Collaborate with My Wife on a Book (She doesn't know about this one) - Without a shadow of a doubt, my wife is my muse, who has the best ideas, and we've already done some stuff together, but to be able to actually write a book together, would be awesome!  She's been reading some awesome stuff, so I know her mind is primed for this kind of thing.
   
6. Loose 30 Pounds - I'm a big dude, and I'd love to weight like 200, but that isn't realistic.  If I can drop 30 pounds this year, and then another next, I'll be on my way to 200, in time.  This list is about making sensible goals, and 30 pounds is sensible.
7. Monthly Mafia Game (or werewolf, or demon, or whatever you want call it) - When I was at camp, I was introduced to a 'card' game, per say, called Mafia.  The game uses cards, but the object of the game is to survive, or kill.  It's hard to explain, but Google it.  It does have a few different names, but the concept is the same.
8. My Blog and Vlog - This has to be the best blog I've had... ever... and that says a lot since I start a new one every other day.  No, serious, I have blogging issues.  The thing is, I enjoy writing here, and I enjoy doing the vlogs with my wife, so I want to do them more.  I will be writing and vlogging more than before, which shouldn't be that hard since I don't seem to do it too often.
9. New Profile Photos - If you follow me on Twitter, you've been looking at, a photo of me, as what I'd like to call "The Prophet of Twitter".  When I say 'Prophet' in this instance, I mean in the crazy Mormon way.  Not saying at all Mormons are crazy, just a lot of them.  If you follow me on FaceBook, you've been looking at 'D' the main guy from Vampire Hunter D, for like months.  The FaceBook thing is understandable, I'm hardly on it, however Twitter is a different story.  Now, I don't want a new picture every week, but I do want some nice ones, to switch out from time to time.  I also want a few good ones for this blog, and for the books I'll be publishing, one day.  I'm thinking of asking someone to take the photos for me, or maybe like three different people to take them for me, so I'll have some options, but that takes time, and sometimes money, but because I know so many talented people who like to photograph, it's mainly about time.
10. Planning Financially - I know nothing about saving for the future, or the market, or anything of the sorts.  I'm taking an economic class this semester, so I hope to learn something that could help me make some smart decisions on investing and portfolio building.

I've been building this list since the beginning of the year, and it's taken me a few days to get it all together, but they're goals, and they're all manageable.  2011 is going to be a better year than anything I can ever imagine.  God is good!

Grace and Peace,
Jesse

PS: I'm going to mention it before I get asked it.  I left off 'read more Bible' and 'Pray more faithfully' because I don't believe in being cliche about God.  If I read more Bible, or pray more faithfully, or play more cowbell, then kudos, but those are not goals, they are obvious stuff I need to be doing.