So, because it is officially January 2010, that means it is time to list my New Year's Resolutions. Yes, I am "one of those" people who does New Years Resolutions.
I don't know why I do them because I FAIL at them some of them every year, but I will still continue to make resolutions & "attempt" to keep them.
Here were my resolutions from last year.
Let's see how I did....
1. Go to bed earlier. Seriously. I am RARELY in bed before 11:00 pm. This needs to change!! FAIL. I am now rarely in bed before midnight. Going to add this to the 2010 list.
2. Organize the closets in my house and KEEP them organized. Some of them are VERY scary!
I give myself a C- on this. I did really the first part of the year & also this summer I went through and organized ALL the closets. But, within the last month or so, half of the closets look scary again. *sigh*.
3. Read more books. I think I only read 5 books this year. SO pathetic. I want to read at least 1 book a month. I LOVE reading, I just need to make it a bigger priority.
FAIL. I read 7 books in 2009. Not even close to one a month. I read a lot of blogs, does that count for something?
4. I want to run a 5K or a 10K. Maybe a triathlon. These are things I have done in the past, but since being a mommy, I have neglected. I guess this means I need to start running again & I miss doing athletic competition.
FAIL. Didn't even go running once. Wow, I am really pathetic.
5. I want to volunteer more. I don't know what that looks like right now, (I have a few things in mind) but I want to give my time to something I am passionate it about.
HOORAY! A New Year's resolution that I actually accomplished! This year I volunteered in Kate's Sunday School class once a month, became a breast milk donor, was accepted as a volunteer affiliate photographer for NILMDTS and was part of Project 320.
6. Drink more water. I think my body would appreciate me more if I drank something other than coffee, diet coke & wine.
I give myself a B+ for this. I drank more water and I pretty much gave up diet coke! I only have 1 or 2 a month (as opposed to 1 a day). But, I still have coffee every morning & a glass of wine *almost* every night. Not giving those up. No way.
7. Floss my teeth everyday. I am a great brusher, I brush 3 times a day, but I need to floss everyday. My roommate (Brittany) from college is now a Dentist in Denver & she told me to only floss the teeth you want to keep. Yikes!
I give myself a C- in this. I was really good for the first part of the year, but then I slacked off. I floss more than I did last year, but still not everyday. The good news is I got a good report at my last dentist appointment. The best invention ever? Our Oral B electric toothbrush.
8. Stop buying little "things" at Target. I need to stay away from the dollar section. Kevin will appreciate this one. He hates it when I buy all that "crap".
I give myself a B- for this. I have been pretty good on my Target shopping excursions. And, I even challenged myself & didn't allow myself to go to Target in the month of October. That was HARD. But, i did it & it helped break my 2-3 time a week Target shopping habit.
9. Be more disciplined. Small statement, but encompasses so much.
Still have a lot of work to do on that.....
10. Take at least 1 picture everyday. Sounds easy, I wonder if I can do it. Don't worry, I won't post them all here, but today I will!
I took almost 10,000 pictures in the year 2009. I missed a few days, but if my girls look back on my photos for the year 2009, there will NOT be a shortage.
So, now that you have seen what a total FAILURE I am at New Year's Resolutions here is a new list for 2010. Will someone PLEASE help keep me accountable? I obviously need all the help I can get when it comes to keeping resolutions, so I will refer to them as Intentions, things I intend to do this year!
(You will notice that some of these are repeats from 2009)
INTENTIONS for 2010:
1. Go to bed earlier. Try and be in bed by 10-10:30 pm on school nights.
2. Start running again. Seriously people. Have I mentioned that I haven't worked out since MARCH 2006?!?! That is just wrong. I am so ashamed of myself for this lack of exercise. My college soccer teammates would be SHOCKED if they knew this!
3. Try a new recipe at least 3 times a month. I LOVE to cook, but find myself getting in ruts where I cook the same thing over and over and over again. Did I mention I got The Pioneer Woman Cookbook for Christmas? It rocks. I am trying one of her recipes tomorrow night!
4. Be more consistent with meal planning. I go in streaks where I am really good about this, and then I get lazy for a few weeks & don't plan our meals until the last minute. It is so much easier (and cheaper!) to meal plan.
5. Learn to sew! My mother in law got me a sewing machine for Christmas since I have been wanting to learn how to sew for the past 6 months. I have already made 3 things. 2 turned out "decent" and 1 was a complete disaster. I should do a blog post about it. It will make you feel really good about yourself.
6. Read 1 book a month. This is not a hard task, I can't believe I have failed at this the past few years. (I already read the Pioneer Woman Cookbook cover to cover on Sunday. Does that count as my first book of 2010?)
7. Try not to hit snooze 5 times when my alarm goes off. (This one is for Kevin). I am a REALLY heavy sleeper. And, I don't like waking up in the morning. So, it hit snooze on my alarm. A lot. It is a big pet peeve of Kevin's, so I am REALLY going to try and work on this. Old habits are hard to break.....
8. I am going to Simplify. We have so much "stuff". I am going to clean out our clothes, the girls toys and our closets every 3-4 months and donate stuff we don't need to those who DO need it. Less is MORE!
9. Bake or craft with the girls at least once a week. We had so much fun during Christmas Week. I want to incorporate more of that into our weekly routine!
10. Go on a date with Kevin once a month, no kids. So that we can reconnect & spend time together without distractions! (Thanks, Becky for the great idea!)
In addition to my New Year's Resolutions, I am also choosing a word to live by for the year.
I have read about this idea on several blogs that I read.
The idea was started by Ali Edwards a few years ago & the idea is to chose one word to focus on for the year. You can read about it HERE.
I don't know why I do them because I FAIL at them some of them every year, but I will still continue to make resolutions & "attempt" to keep them.
Here were my resolutions from last year.
Let's see how I did....
1. Go to bed earlier. Seriously. I am RARELY in bed before 11:00 pm. This needs to change!! FAIL. I am now rarely in bed before midnight. Going to add this to the 2010 list.
2. Organize the closets in my house and KEEP them organized. Some of them are VERY scary!
I give myself a C- on this. I did really the first part of the year & also this summer I went through and organized ALL the closets. But, within the last month or so, half of the closets look scary again. *sigh*.
3. Read more books. I think I only read 5 books this year. SO pathetic. I want to read at least 1 book a month. I LOVE reading, I just need to make it a bigger priority.
FAIL. I read 7 books in 2009. Not even close to one a month. I read a lot of blogs, does that count for something?
4. I want to run a 5K or a 10K. Maybe a triathlon. These are things I have done in the past, but since being a mommy, I have neglected. I guess this means I need to start running again & I miss doing athletic competition.
FAIL. Didn't even go running once. Wow, I am really pathetic.
5. I want to volunteer more. I don't know what that looks like right now, (I have a few things in mind) but I want to give my time to something I am passionate it about.
HOORAY! A New Year's resolution that I actually accomplished! This year I volunteered in Kate's Sunday School class once a month, became a breast milk donor, was accepted as a volunteer affiliate photographer for NILMDTS and was part of Project 320.
6. Drink more water. I think my body would appreciate me more if I drank something other than coffee, diet coke & wine.
I give myself a B+ for this. I drank more water and I pretty much gave up diet coke! I only have 1 or 2 a month (as opposed to 1 a day). But, I still have coffee every morning & a glass of wine *almost* every night. Not giving those up. No way.
7. Floss my teeth everyday. I am a great brusher, I brush 3 times a day, but I need to floss everyday. My roommate (Brittany) from college is now a Dentist in Denver & she told me to only floss the teeth you want to keep. Yikes!
I give myself a C- in this. I was really good for the first part of the year, but then I slacked off. I floss more than I did last year, but still not everyday. The good news is I got a good report at my last dentist appointment. The best invention ever? Our Oral B electric toothbrush.
8. Stop buying little "things" at Target. I need to stay away from the dollar section. Kevin will appreciate this one. He hates it when I buy all that "crap".
I give myself a B- for this. I have been pretty good on my Target shopping excursions. And, I even challenged myself & didn't allow myself to go to Target in the month of October. That was HARD. But, i did it & it helped break my 2-3 time a week Target shopping habit.
9. Be more disciplined. Small statement, but encompasses so much.
Still have a lot of work to do on that.....
10. Take at least 1 picture everyday. Sounds easy, I wonder if I can do it. Don't worry, I won't post them all here, but today I will!
I took almost 10,000 pictures in the year 2009. I missed a few days, but if my girls look back on my photos for the year 2009, there will NOT be a shortage.
So, now that you have seen what a total FAILURE I am at New Year's Resolutions here is a new list for 2010. Will someone PLEASE help keep me accountable? I obviously need all the help I can get when it comes to keeping resolutions, so I will refer to them as Intentions, things I intend to do this year!
(You will notice that some of these are repeats from 2009)
INTENTIONS for 2010:
1. Go to bed earlier. Try and be in bed by 10-10:30 pm on school nights.
2. Start running again. Seriously people. Have I mentioned that I haven't worked out since MARCH 2006?!?! That is just wrong. I am so ashamed of myself for this lack of exercise. My college soccer teammates would be SHOCKED if they knew this!
3. Try a new recipe at least 3 times a month. I LOVE to cook, but find myself getting in ruts where I cook the same thing over and over and over again. Did I mention I got The Pioneer Woman Cookbook for Christmas? It rocks. I am trying one of her recipes tomorrow night!
4. Be more consistent with meal planning. I go in streaks where I am really good about this, and then I get lazy for a few weeks & don't plan our meals until the last minute. It is so much easier (and cheaper!) to meal plan.
5. Learn to sew! My mother in law got me a sewing machine for Christmas since I have been wanting to learn how to sew for the past 6 months. I have already made 3 things. 2 turned out "decent" and 1 was a complete disaster. I should do a blog post about it. It will make you feel really good about yourself.
6. Read 1 book a month. This is not a hard task, I can't believe I have failed at this the past few years. (I already read the Pioneer Woman Cookbook cover to cover on Sunday. Does that count as my first book of 2010?)
7. Try not to hit snooze 5 times when my alarm goes off. (This one is for Kevin). I am a REALLY heavy sleeper. And, I don't like waking up in the morning. So, it hit snooze on my alarm. A lot. It is a big pet peeve of Kevin's, so I am REALLY going to try and work on this. Old habits are hard to break.....
8. I am going to Simplify. We have so much "stuff". I am going to clean out our clothes, the girls toys and our closets every 3-4 months and donate stuff we don't need to those who DO need it. Less is MORE!
9. Bake or craft with the girls at least once a week. We had so much fun during Christmas Week. I want to incorporate more of that into our weekly routine!
10. Go on a date with Kevin once a month, no kids. So that we can reconnect & spend time together without distractions! (Thanks, Becky for the great idea!)
In addition to my New Year's Resolutions, I am also choosing a word to live by for the year.
I have read about this idea on several blogs that I read.
The idea was started by Ali Edwards a few years ago & the idea is to chose one word to focus on for the year. You can read about it HERE.
So, my word for 2010 is going to be:
INTENTIONAL.
this is defined as:
"done with meaning, significance or purpose"
I want to live intentionally this year.
I want to do things with purpose & significance.
When I get home from work, I want to be INTENTIONAL with the time I have with my girls. I want to make my time with them count, enjoy playing with them & put my own agenda aside.
When Kevin and I have time to spend together when the girls are asleep, I want to be INTENTIONAL about it, not just zoning out in front of the computer, TV or movie.
When it comes to teaching, I want to be INTENTIONAL about it. Focusing on my students when I am at work & not counting the minutes until school is out.
When it comes to doing my Bible Study or quiet time, I want to be INTENTIONAL about it & making it a prority instead of saving it until the last minute.
When it comes to spending money (or saving money) I want to be INTENTIONAL about it. Think before I buy & be quick to put money in savings.
As a neighbor, I want to be INTENTIONAL. Inviting them over for dinner, lending a hand, making them cookies, saying hello.
As a friend (and sister) I want to be INTENTIONAL. Returning phone calls, responding to emails, commenting on blogs, listening when you need someone to talk to, doing random acts of kindness, watching their kids if they need a break or a favor.
And, finally....be INTENTIONAL on keeping my New Year's Resolutions.
What is your word for 2010 going to be?
INTENTIONAL.
this is defined as:
"done with meaning, significance or purpose"
I want to live intentionally this year.
I want to do things with purpose & significance.
When I get home from work, I want to be INTENTIONAL with the time I have with my girls. I want to make my time with them count, enjoy playing with them & put my own agenda aside.
When Kevin and I have time to spend together when the girls are asleep, I want to be INTENTIONAL about it, not just zoning out in front of the computer, TV or movie.
When it comes to teaching, I want to be INTENTIONAL about it. Focusing on my students when I am at work & not counting the minutes until school is out.
When it comes to doing my Bible Study or quiet time, I want to be INTENTIONAL about it & making it a prority instead of saving it until the last minute.
When it comes to spending money (or saving money) I want to be INTENTIONAL about it. Think before I buy & be quick to put money in savings.
As a neighbor, I want to be INTENTIONAL. Inviting them over for dinner, lending a hand, making them cookies, saying hello.
As a friend (and sister) I want to be INTENTIONAL. Returning phone calls, responding to emails, commenting on blogs, listening when you need someone to talk to, doing random acts of kindness, watching their kids if they need a break or a favor.
And, finally....be INTENTIONAL on keeping my New Year's Resolutions.
What is your word for 2010 going to be?
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteWith the exception of a very few, my friends and family could have read this post and thought that I wrote it. My husband came to me a week ago about how he wants this year to be one where we are more intentional about everything we do. I got a sewing machine for Christmas that I want to learn to use. The main "resolution" that I made was to read more books this year...because my husband says reading blogs doesn't count. I have vowed to not buy anything from the $1 section at Target this year (unless it's really cute). I could go on...but I just thought it was wild when I kept reading and there were so many similarities! Good luck with you 2010 intentions!
ReplyDeleteHey if you want help reaching the running goal, on my other blog Erin and I challenged each other to a 500 mile race. We asked if people wanted to join us to run/walk/bike/elliptical 500 miles in 2010. Almost 50 people have joined!!!
ReplyDeleteDetails here:
http://lauracsjournal.blogspot.com
I would say my big resolution that I have left off my blog is Family Meeting Night. On Friday nights, Jon and I have agreed to plan out our week for the following week. We never know when he will travel until the end of the week, but by Friday we know when he will be done.
So after the kids go to bed and before we can watch tv or have fun, we will meet to discuss:
* meal plan for the entire week
* plans for weekend
* chores that MUST be accomplished and who will do them
We've tried it before and it worked then we got lazy. But being more organized in those areas has helped us gain time back for things like reading, running, etc.
I think you can do all these things! As far as reading, you can get into the habit of reading for 10-15 minutes before you turn off the light for bed. :) I also bring my current book selection where ever I go. I get 10 minutes here and there to read all throughout the day!
ReplyDeletewhat a fun post! and thanks for being honest about what goals you didn't reach! it's refreshing to read something REAL!
ReplyDeleteyour goals are all great...and i know you can do it!
"being intentional" has been our family "word" for a few years...and it's amazing the way our lives have changed because of it!
i even have this sign hung in our family room as a reminder (http://cassadas.blogspot.com/2009/05/little-things.html)
blessings on you!
{oh...and if i could look as great as you without exercising in a couple years i would have a hard time getting around to it, too!}
Ok you just motivated me to make a list of my new year resolutions - thank you :)
ReplyDeleteI'm a "resolutions" person too. Aren't we the hardest on ourselves?
ReplyDeleteI love your #8. I can't believe the difference living more simply and having less "stuff" has made in our lives this year. So excited to see how this goes for you.
I want to see pictures of your sewing attempts! And you have totally inspired me to take more (and better) photographs this year.
"Intentional" is such a great word to choose for the year. I'm still thinking of one, but if I had to choose now it would be "slow". I need to slow down, relax, and enjoy a less-than-hurried pace.
Great post Mel, thanks for sharing. :)
I am all about resolutions...in fact I have a similar post saved in my drafts... since early December....
ReplyDeleteone of them...be a better blogger
Dont beat yourself up about resolutions! you do A LOT as it is, but i hope you accomplish more of what you wish to this year :)
ReplyDeletemy word for 2010 is release. i wrote about it here http://ofloveandababy.blogspot.com/2009/12/one-little-word.html
have a blessed 2010!!!
I can't even remember what my New Year's resolutions were last year! How's that for intentional? Oh, wait a minute, for the last several years it's been to be on time and to exercise, neither of which, I have accomplished. Ugh..Now you've got me thinking though...I like the word idea. For me it focuses less on being so strict with a specific resolution and more on doing whatever it is you set out to do with purpose. I'm off to think of a word, and hopefully the exercise, and timeliness will follow :)
ReplyDeleteI LOVE this post. I have the utmost respect for you as a wife, mother, friend....etc. I have no doubt that you are one of those people who can do anything! I think you did great last year, life is sometimes all about "baby steps." I share some of your resolutions as well. I almost never floss (gross but I HATE it because I have to use the threader around my permanent retainers) and I am the snooze button QUEEN! I never even remember the alarm going off, much less pressing the snooze button. :) Been that way all my life! I will do my best, as a friend, to help you uphold everything you have resolved to do this year. And I LOVE your word of the year. Made me cry.
ReplyDeleteI need to read more about this word idea.
ReplyDeleteAs for reading, do it! I love to read and read several books a month. It is truly one of my great pleasures.
I miss running. I'm pregnant and it makes my husband nervous, so I try to stick to walking and riding the stationary bike.
Good luck with your intentions! Oh, and I wish I could sew. I was given a machine over a year ago but never had time to learn to use it, so I gave it back. :(
I'll run with you anytime! I run at least once a week, sometimes more and I'm seriously considering the AFYMCA Mud Run at Camp Pendelton this year. Wanna do it with me?
ReplyDeleteAlso, our next book club book is the Ted Kennedy book if you want to start reading it and join us. I'll keep you posted :)
LOVE this post!! Best of luck to you with all of them, and yes PW's Cookbook totally counts as your first book!
ReplyDeleteI'm a resolution maker, too. I think just the act of thinking about where we need improvement in life is healthy, even if we don't fully accomplish them. Good for you! And yes, a cookbook does count as a book!
ReplyDeletei too, could never keep my new years resolutions so i decided to change them to goals. this way i know even though i didn't completely accomplish everything, i know i gave it my all. i really like your number 10. i have more quality time with my family as a goal, but i think more quality time with my husband would be great too! happy new years!
ReplyDeletehttp://thepinckney5.blogspot.com/
I'm glad I came across your blog- I really enjoyed reading your post! Your honesty is refreshing! I will be back to visit for sure! :)
ReplyDelete