Birthday Musings and Goals

Alot has happened this past year. In just the last few months really. For the last few years I marked my birthdays with, "wow I'm 32 (or whatever age) and am still renting a 2 br apartment and have only a futon couch." We pretty much changed all that in the last 3 months: now we have our own home, 2 cars, each boy has his own bedroom, we have a dining room, a "nook", and a breakfast bar, and we don't have to share a bathroom with the kids anymore.

I feel like I should have something much more pithy to say on my birthday. I'm constantly getting more aware of how precious time is, and how easily it can slip through our fingers while we're busy "living".

Here are some things I'd like to do over the next 12 months:
- MEMORIZE 12 songs on guitar. Last year I got a guitar for my birthday and before this whole relocation thing popped up I memorized about 15 chords or so, and with the help of tabs can play about 20-30 songs. I have to get back in there though and get those songs committed to memory. There's a ward talent show in 2 weeks, and unfortunately I'm definitely not ready. My goal is to be ready for next June.
- LOSE 15 lbs. Nothing tracks the passing of time quite like the pounds slowly adding themselves to my waist. A goal? Let's see...a year from now I want to be 15 lbs lighter...but there has to be something more fun than that...maybe compete in a racquetball tournament or run a 10k? I'll figure that out soon.
- FIGURE OUT SCRIPTURE STUDY. In NYC, I had 40 mins on the train each morning to study, and as part of my calling always had great topics to dive into and develop thoughts, stories, and testimonies around. I want to keep pressing forward, choosing a theme each month and developing a printable talk at the end of each month. Seems to be the best way for me to keep my studying focused and effective. Goal: 12 talks.
- BE A TOURIST. We're new to the area and there's so much to take in. Any kind of nature you want (from hiking to fishing to kayaking) is within 45 mins. Great restaurants, lots of attractions, and tons to see and do. My goal is to at least once a month devote a day to being a tourist: go to the baseball game and have dinner in Seattle, go to the Experience Music Project and the Space Needle, take a road trip up to Vancouver BC, take the ferry over to Bainbridge Island.
- KEEP FAMILY FIRST. Above all else, I want to be a better husband and father. To be a better listener to Eryn and the boys. To be more patient, kind, and loving. To lighten up and bring a tone of joy and fun. To be a good teacher and a good example to the kids. To make Eryn feel cherished. How to measure this one? Tough to say, but it's definitely something I want to keep front of mind and work on and an area of my life in which I want to see a difference.
- MOVE FORWARD AT WORK. A year from now I hope to have revenue responsibility, to be involved in competitive analysis, to have 12 solid contacts throughout the company I don't know today. I need to keep up my learning and my networking. The Microsoft commitments process will help provide a framework for me to make solid goals around these areas, but right here I just want to say that it's my goal to take full advantage of the incredible opportunity I have before me in this job. I feel like it's the parable of the talents: I've been given so much on a platter, so many opportunities, and it's really up to me not to just take them at face value (bury them in the earth), but to take them by the reins and really make something great out of them.