New Year, New Plans (Final Update)

Last year I wrote about 25 goals I want to accomplish before my 25th birthday. It seemed like a good idea at the time. I am so glad I decided to make these goals. 2014 ended up being a banner year and a large part of our adventures are thanks to these goals. They pushed us and gave us some great experiences. I didn’t complete them all, but I did give them all a good effort. The ones I didn't finish will give me something to work on in 2015. 

What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals - Henry David Thoreau 

1. Return to my mission - completed: 4/22/14 – 4/27/14, Alison and I talked about going back to my mission many times and this year we finally just did it. We had an amazing time visiting my old areas/places I loved during my mission. (Oakland, Dublin, Livermore, Stanford, and Capitola) I enjoyed seeing many great friends and reliving many great memories.

2. Complete my bachelor’s degree – completed 8/1/14, this summer was the last semester of my undergraduate. It was a difficult semester, but I got through it. I didn’t really expect graduation to be a big deal because I was moving right on into the master’s program. It was a really BIG deal. 

3. Visit a new baseball stadium - completed: 4/26/14, during our trip to the Bay Area we went to a game at the Oakland Coliseum and AT&T Park (home the Giants). Both games were a blast. They also brought us two stadiums closer to our goal to visit every baseball stadium.

4. Run a 5K - completed: 4/19/14, we ran the SLC 5K and walked in the Race for the Cure. Both were good experiences. Last year, I watched Alison run some 5Ks and it was cool to see her reach her goals and be so happy. It was much more fun to run with her.

5. Learn to Ice Skate – completed 08/14 to 09/14, I signed up for ice-skating lessons through the Salt Lake City Sports Complex. I went every Tuesday for 6 weeks. There were a few times I wondered if ice skating just wasn't my thing, but I stuck it out. It ended up being a great skill to learn. When we went to New York for Thanksgiving Alison I got to go ice-skating in central park and it was a really fun experience. I am so glad I learned to ice skate.  

6. Write in my journal at least 4 times a week – completed, on my mission I wrote in my journal everyday and I thought this would be a habit I would keep when I got home. School, romance, and life quickly got in the way and I completely dropped this habit. Last year, during a special promotion, I downloaded the Day One app. It makes journal writing easy. My journal is stored in the cloud and I can access it anytime on my phone, iPad, and computer. I can also upload pictures. This is my favorite app and it keeps me on track to reach this goal. I wrote in my journal 292 days this year. 

7. Cook a fancy and romantic dinner for my wife - completed 06/02/14, Alison and I celebrated our third anniversary this year. I really wanted to do something special for her so I cooked a nice, romantic dinner for her. It was a lot of work, but totally worth it.

8. See a musical I have never seen before – completed many times over, this year Alison and I had season tickets to the Hale Center Theater.  We saw a few musicals I had never seen before including: Les Miserables, She Loves Me, Mary Poppins, and Catch Me If You Can. I would highly recommend season tickets. We also saw a few shows on Broadway during our New York trips including: LesMiserables, Pippin, and Once. We really enjoyed musicals this year. 

9. Learn to golf - completed 3/14/14, I have talked about doing this for a couple years (One night we watched Tin Cup and I have been talking about it since then). I knew I could go out on a course and start hitting the ball, but I wanted to so it right so I signed up for lessons. Alison actually decided to take lessons too. We went through a guy named, Chip (great golf name) Thorpe, and his company Straight Flight Golf. It was a good experience. I really enjoyed golf. Alison not so much. Now I can play with some of the guys from work and at least know what I am doing.

10. Read the Book of Mormon - incomplete, we worked on this goal, but we were not consistent enough to get it done. We did start a habit of reading scriptures at night. It is something we will have to continue to work on. 

11. Go with Alison to a new art museum - complete, we went to the MOMA twice the year. The first time was during our trip to New York in September. I didn’t want to count the first time because we really just ran in and saw Starry Night and then we left. We were in New York in November we went back and had more time to really explore. Alison loved showing me all kinds of interesting art - my favorite piece was the Campbell soup cans.

12. Reconnect with an old friend - complete, I had someone in mind when I set this goal, but I wasn't able to reconnect the way I hoped. I was able to reconnect with some old friends from my mission instead. My favorite part of our trip was seeing so many of the friends I made while I served.

13. Attend Music and the Spoken Word or General Conference - complete 12/14/14, we didn't technically go to Conference or Music and the Spoken Word. Instead we went to the First Presidency Christmas devotional. I decided this would count because I really wanted to go to a spiritual event downtown. The devotional was a wonderful reminder of the true meaning of Christmas.

14. Find the name of an ancestor, learn their story, and take the name through the temple - incomplete, a couple of months ago I started working on this goal. With Debbie's help I was able to find a lot of names in my family line that need the work done. Alison and I still have temple work to do. I am looking forward to getting it done in 2015. 

This year I knocked a few books off my reading list. 

15. Read Driven - completed 1/31/14, Driven is one of my all-time favorite books. Larry H Miller lived an inspiring life. He wasn’t perfect; in fact he faced many challenges in his life, but he didn’t let his challenges stop him from achieving great things. It was an inspiring story.  

16. Read Steve Jobs - completed 05/05/14,This was the longest on my list (I actually started it once two years ago and didn't finish). I am glad I finished reading it this year. There are a few lessons I learned. 1. Take care of your health. This year I read two books (Driven and Steve Jobs) that are about great visionary men whose lives were cut short by neglecting their health. I want to stay healthy so that I can live a long and happy life. 2. You don’t need to be perfect to do amazing things. Jobs accomplished so much and he still had a lot of problems and some pretty big faults. I can be successful by working through challenges and faults. Steve Jobs was able to do what he needed to when he needed to do it and was able to be very successful. 3. Focus on creating quality and everything else will fall into place. Jobs was not worried about money or results as much as he just wanted to create a good product and a great company. Focusing on the details of the product and the big picture of the company allowed him to be successful. 4. Never neglect family. The biggest regret Jobs had was that he neglected his family during his career. At the end of his life he built a better relationship, but he lost a lot of good years. I will make sure I don’t lose sight of the most important thing in my life – my family.

17. Read The Godfather - completed 3/29/14, Alison read this book last year and raved about it. I love the movie and decided I needed to read this book. It didn't disappoint. From page 1 I was hooked. I think I read the first 1/3 of the book without putting it down. The book was even better than the movie.

18. Read Casino Royale - completed 01/02/14, Last year I got interested in James Bond and watched all of the movies. This year I decided to try the books. Casino Royale is the quintessential Bond story. It has intrigue, fancy cars, a complicated love interest, and espionage. The story started out quite slow, and I didn’t really think I would like it. By the end I enjoyed the story as much as any Bond movie.

19. Read Eight Men Out - completed 12/30/13, Eight Men Out is one of saddest books I have read. It is the story of the events before, during, and after eight members of the Chicago White Sox decided to throw the 1919 World Series. Reading this book the history and future of baseball. It was a riveting story and I could hardly put the book down.

20. Leave a 100% tip - completed 4/24/14, completing this goal helped me make good on a much older commitment I made to myself. While I was serving in Palo Alto I would often eat at Indochine. The restaurant was owned by a member of the church and missionaries at free. The food was good and the service was always great. The waiters would never let us give them a tip. I always thought that if I came back I would give them an awesome tip as a way to thank them for their service. Alison and I went to Indochine in April and I have then a 100% tip. What really made it great was that the same waiters who served me on my mission were working there that day.

21. Go home teaching every month - incomplete, since Alison and I have lived in our ward I have not been very consistent with my home teaching. This year I decided to be more consistent and so far I have reached my goal of going every month. I ended up missing a few months, but I did better than I have and I will keep working on being more consistent. 

22. Ride on a zip line - complete 9/13/14, Alison and I stayed in my friend's condo in Park City last fall. While we were up there we went and rode on a zip line. I am afraid of heights and I was really nervous while we were in line for the zip line. It was basically terrified right up until they released the gate to send us soaring down the mountainside. Once we were in the air it was great. I would love to do it again.

23. Learn to play a new board game - completed 2/1/14, I didn't even realize that I completed this goal at the time. Alison and I went over to Kristin and Dan's house and learned to play Settlers of Catan. It was a lot of fun, and since then Alison loves Settlers of Catan. 

24. Hike to Delicate Arch - completed 10/11/14, this was one thing we would not have done if it was not one of my goals. We kept working to make this trip happen so I could cross it off my list. We originally planned to complete this goal in June, but due to some mechanical problems it didn't happen. Instead we planned a trip to Moab in October. It was a good trip and hiking to delicate arch was a highlight.

25. Find a cause I am excited about and volunteer - completed 4/10/14, I found two ways to volunteer. Project Youth and Literacy Action Center. Both were amazing experiences and I found a lot of joy being involved with these programs.