Michael & Liz are Bloggable

So it's time to make a pledge to accomplish some New Year's Resolutions. I love doing it and if you want to know why, read the 2008 link below. I've done it every year, and in case you care to read them:

• 2009 New Year's Resolutions
• 2008 New Year's Resolutions

Well last year was probably my worst year as far as resolutions go. I only accomplished 1 out of 4 of them and that one wasn't even that great. Just a review from last year:

1. Sell something made of wood. I built some dog platforms and crosses for friends of my Mom. That's really all I sold made of wood. But to be honest, I didn't really try all that hard to sell anything. I did make 10 birdhouses in July but didn't sell any. I still have all 10 of them in the garage.
   
2. Run 1000 miles. I think I made it to about 400 miles. I guess this falls into the category of "setting your goals unrealistically high and falling a bit short is sometimes the best way to succeed."
3. Do not eat a combo meal anywhere. Check out my goals for 2010, and you'll probably be able to tell I missed this one. Big time.
   
4. No TV Mondays. I made it two Mondays with no TV. I fell short by 50 Mondays.
   

So this year, 2010 (in case you didn't know) I think I have the most realistic goals above all other years. I actually believe that I could accomplish all of them:

1. No carbonated sodas. This is a resolution Liz and I made back in 2008 and we actually went the whole year without any. It was awesome. We've decided to make it an every other year resolution. To be honest, I LOVE soda. Liz has more of a love/hate relationship with soda. She hates that she loves it. I think this resolution will be easy for about 3 months and then I'll start wanting the juice (Mountain Dew). I love Mountain Dew. I think Liz will breeze right through this one. 2008 wasn't as tough for her as it was for me.
   
2. Learn everything I possible can about staining and finishing wood. Every time I finish a wood project, I get frustrated that I have to throw some crappy polyurethane on it. I know there are other ways to seal the wood, I just don't know them. So I'm going to do my best to learn about them.
   
3. Lose 26 pounds. I know it's totally cliche to make losing weight a resolution but it's only cliche if I quit by February without anything being accomplished. About a week ago I weighed myself and was 196 pounds. Usually I've hovered around 180ish. I'm so incredibly ashamed of having gone up that much. The most I've ever weighed in my life was 199 pounds back in the Spring of 2004. I just had to put my foot down, I started running for the first time ever, and lost 30ish pounds. That was the least amount I've ever weighed since I stopped growing vertically, I got down to about 168. I can't imagine how easy running would be if I could get back to that. If Gryffin and Daisy can both lose 3 pounds in 3 months, I can certainly lose 26. Watching the "Biggest Loser" on NBC is really going to help as well. I love that show for all the motivation and inspiration it provides. I realize the contestant's situations are much more dire than mine, but motivation is motivation no matter what you're trying to accomplish. This resolution leads me to the next post I'm going to make called "Becoming A Machine".
   

I'm going 3 fo3 this year. No doubt about it.