Plan of Action

The Plan:

Goal #1 Read 20 books.
That's all on me. I have plenty of books that I've bought but have yet to read. Now I just need to find the time to squeeze in leisure reading.

Goal #2 Work on Project Life weekly and Goal #2.1 Keep up with Project Life until the end of the year.
I have a tendency to start projects but never finish them. You might even see that with this project. But my goal is to keep up with Project Life for the entire year. I think it will be neat for the family to have a scrapbook like that. And so I don't get overwhelmed with it, I'd like to work on a layout weekly.

Goal #3 Get in shape.
I always set weight goals, and I never meet them. Then I get discouraged and give up on losing weight completely. With just focusing on getting in shape, I can lose weight but not get discouraged if I'm not meeting a mark. I hope to just add little extras throughout my day to get me moving. And once I get stronger, the more I'll be able to do.

Goal #4 Drink 79.5oz of water a day.
Sounds like a lot, but I need to cut out the soda. I drink a ton of soda right now. I'll probably keep a tally in the beginning so I can keep on track. 79.5oz is about five 16.9oz bottles of water. Should be easy (I hope).

Goal #5 Get and stay on track with my gluten free diet.
Last October I was told that I have a gluten sensitivity and should get on a gluten free diet. Gluten free food is really expensive and it doesn't really fit into my family's budget. But I do notice a change in how my stomach feels while I'm eating gluten free foods. So I'm trying to stick with it. And gluten free portions are so small, I might even lose weight just from the dietary change :)

Goal #6 Do more fun things with the kids.
That's pretty self explanatory. I want to do more fun things with my children. It will make them happy, which will make me happy. We will bond and they can have fun stories to share with family and friends.

Goals

I've wasted this month really, as far as goals go. For starters, I've been thinking about what the goals for this project should be. Something attainable, doable, available. So here they are, the goals:

1) read 20 books
2) work on Project Life weekly
2.1) finish Project Life at the end of the year
3) get in shape
4) drink 79.5oz of water a day
5) get and stay on track with my gluten free diet
6) do more fun things with the kids

These are my starter goals. If they start looking easy, I'll change them. And if I think of anything else, I'll add it. The project is flexible like that :)

Why hello there, 2013. How lovely it is to meet you.

The first time I ever heard of the word Renaissance was in history class. It was the making of a new era; new ideals, new artists... an awakening of the world if you will. I thought that was so neat, and it made a lot more sense as to why my favorite antique store was named that. I didn't hear about the Renaissance again for a long time, until I was about 15 years old. I was reading a teen girl magazine right before the holidays, and it had this article about what type of girls guys wanted as a girlfriend.  There was a whole list, but the one that caught my eye was Renaissance girl. The girl that could throw a football and teach you about art, and take you out to awesome, obscure restaurants (think Rachel Leigh Cook in Shes All That, Julia Stiles in Down to You...any quirky girl meets studly guy movie situation really). That year, I made it a resolution to become that Renaissance girl. I abandoned it though, once it hit me again that real life high school is not movie high school, and that the guys all really went after the hot cheerleaders and that's about it.

I tucked the idea in my diary and never looked back, until 2011. I vowed to rap up 26 and go through 27 improving myself, making myself someone that everyone would want to get to know and hang out with. And I named my plan The Renaissance Project. This attempt came more from a lack of friends then a lack of boyfriend. I started it off pretty well, I met the goals I set for myself, felt a little more fulfilled. Then my grandma passed away on January 6th. It hit me like a ton of bricks. I tried to keep up, telling myself that I had to finish something in my life. But by March (our shared birthday month), I was just too depressed. I missed her like crazy, and I gave up. I felt disappointed in myself, angry at myself, sad at myself. But depression is an evil thing, and I didn't really know how to get past it.

This year I am once again starting The Renaissance Project. I found in 2012 that I accomplished more than I thought I could and it inspired me to try again at some of the things I truly want. So that's what this blog is for. To share my goals and keep track of my progress. I hope you'll stay along for the journey, I could sure use the company.

Here's to a bitchin' 2013,
Amanda