These are NOT resolutions! "Goals" for 2011

I'm not good at sticking with new year's resolutions, but I have some goals for myself for 2011. I don't want to put a lot of pressure on myself to accomplish everything on this list, but these are the things that have been running through my head the last couple weeks.

Things I want to do more of in 2011:

• Read books. I know if I were to take time before bed I could get through a dozen or so books a year. I surf the interwebs to wind down at night. I used to read books for this same purpose. It wouldn't be too hard to make the switch. If I could break the internet addiction, that is.
• Cook. I want to try out new family-friendly recipes. Justin and I did a fairly good job of cooking a variety of meals before Alice came along, but her picky toddler taste buds sort of threw a wrench into things. This year's job/move fiasco further complicated things. So nowadays we eat about 10 different things, and Justin does the bulk of our cooking. AND we eat out 1-2 times a week. Fast food mostly, but still we'd like to cut this out. I really want to share the cooking burden with Justin, and I want to work to discover some meals Alice will devour. She's a good little eater when we find the right things.
  
• Take pictures. And not just snapshots. My dad bought me a user-friendly manual for my camera. I want to read it cover-to-cover, and I want to become more adept at using the manual settings on the camera. I know I already take decent photos, but I want to take my photography to a whole new level.
• Photo Documentation. I want to get my office/scrapbook/craft space set up so I can work on the kids' scrapbooks. I also fell behind on our family's photo albums, and I'd like to catch up. I'm stuck on March of last year, so I have a ways to go!
• Lose 8 More Pounds. Or 18! Last summer I joined a gym and counted calories. I lost 20 pounds fairly quickly. Then the whirlwind that has been this school year began. I stopped going to the gym, but luckily I haven't gained the weight back. I've gotten a bit "fluffy" since I lost some of the muscle I built, but I've maintained my "normal" BMI, which was my first goal for my weight loss journey. 8 more pounds would bring me down to my best high school weight. Another 10 on top of that would bring me to the weight I have never been but have always dreamed about being.
• Be Nice. When I get stressed, I tend to take it out on the people I love most. This is probably my nastiest habit. I loathe this behavior, and I want SO BADLY to change it. I get downright irrational when I go into my crazy "bitchface" mode, and it's like I'm an out of control train -- CAN.NOT.STOP. I need to do a better job of recognizing the onset of this crazy mood. I need to listen to my self-talk and train myself to respond differently to the stressors in my life. Easy to say, SO difficult to implement.