Summer Resolution results

As I did with my summer resolutions, I'm going to share the ups and downs of my fall goals with you. I guess fall isn't technically over yet, but I set Thanksgiving as the deadline for myself to accomplish these 10 items. Here goes nothing ...

1. Take my family on a few weekend drives to some of the best spots I know of to see the fall colors.
As it turns out, we take lots of long drives on the weekends. Living about an hour away from each set of our parents, we had plenty of opportunities to see the colors. We never took a drive with the sole purpose of seeing the leaves, but we did see them. I'll let you decide if that one counts.

2. Go to a major college or pro football game. I don't care what teams I watch, just want to experience it. (note: I've been to one NFL game and several Notre Dame games as part of the media - even stood on the sidelines taking pictures at those games - but I want to see it from the fan's perspective)
Done. Katie and I went to see Notre Dame vs. Air Force. You can read abou that day here. It was a good experience to see the game from that perspective. I got to see the good and bad sides of fans. I got to sit close to my wife on a beautiful fall day. I got to see Charlie Weis in a sweatsuit!

3. Continue fishing.
Failure. I guess I don't love fishing as much as I thought I did. The cold weather and failure to catch anything as the temperatures dropped were too much for me!

4. Play in the fallen leaves with my kids.
Check. The kids discovered how fun it is to lay in a pile of leaves, toss them in the air, jump in them and chase the dog through them. They even like raking leaves (for about 2-3 minutes at a time)!

5. Finish the two books I've just purchased - Made to Stick and Now, Discover Your Strengths. (I've only read the intro of Made to Stick and I already feel like I've got plenty to blog about and try to apply)
Ouch. I have had the hardest time getting through Made to Stick. It's a great book and each time I read it I learn something, but I'm having trouble committing much time to it. And since I'm a slow reader, time is the main thing it takes for me to finish a book. So, I'm about halfway through it and looking forward to the next one, but I don't plan on starting it until sometime in 2008!

6. Eat chili, but not too much because ...
I think I've only eaten chili 2 or 3 times, which is probably a great success!

7. Lose weight. I could stand to lose 10-15 pounds. I want to do it by eating healthier and establishing a consistent workout routine that includes lifting weights and some sort of cardio exercise (preferably basketball) 2-3 times per week.
I posted more about this goal here and here. I've had mild success, losing about 3 pounds. I'm having a hard time with consistency - exercising and eating habits. I still love my Mountain Dew! So, for now, it's not a success but not a total failure either.

8. Take lots of pictures and videos of my kids. I just realized how little we've been documenting their lives lately. For example, we have only measured and marked my son's height once. He's almost 3!!!!! By the way, he's the exact same height my daughter was when she turned 3, and my daughter is 3 feet, 9 inches. I have a feeling she's going to be tall like her mommy (6'1").
We've done pretty well with this one. We've taken some new videos, which we hadn't done since March. I tried to measure the kids again, but they were both still the same height. We've got lots of pictures and we're enjoying as much time with them as possible.

9. Look for new ways to be generous to people. This could include giving money away, but I'm thinking more of different forms of generosity. I'll try to let you know as I think of them.
After writing this I realized it would be hard to share things with you without sounding like I was bragging about how generous I was. Thankfully, some friends taught me some new things about generosity and you can read about them here. I've got some great friends!

10. Come up with a plan to start my own design business. This would not replace my job at the church, but serve as sort of a side job.
I don't have a 5-year plan or anything, but I'm on the road. I've got my laptop thanks to Dan. I'm picking up Adobe Creative Suite 2 tonight for a ridiculously low price thanks to Clay & Becki. Then the plan is to start offering free design services for the next 3-4 months so I can build a portfolio. So, if you or anyone you know needs something designed, send them my way. I only do print, no web design!

I'm not sure when my next set of resolutions will be made. I'm not feeling very resolute right now, but I will surely find some resolve sometime soon. Thanks for reading!