New Year, New Me!!!

Each New Year I make a list of goals for the coming year.  Not resolutions, mind you, but simply goals I'd like to achieve or work up to throughout the coming year.  This year I had the bright idea to do 14 goals for 2014.  It was a little difficult to come up with that many, but I did it!!  Here is my list:

14 Goals for 2014:

1) Make more time for my husband/more date nights/make more of an effort to put him first above all else.
2) Limit computer time to nap/rest time and after bed.
3) Do more crafts with the kids.
4) Try to have more patience and to let the little things go.
5) Get back in to couponing and being more frugal overall.
6) Put together a cleaning schedule and stick to it.
7) De-clutter the house using the "52 Weeks to an Organized home" challenge.
8) Fit in 30 minutes of exercise per day.
9) Read 1 book per month.
10) Blog more often; at least one post per week.
11) Learn to can (salsa, spaghetti sauce, pickles, grape jelly, etc.)
12) Get caught up on my sewing projects.
13) Finish painting (powder room, hall bathroom and kitchen)
14) Join a church.

Now that the year is half over and i'm just now blogging about this, I can say that I've already put a great dent in this list.  I need to work on my sewing and limiting my computer time, though, but .. Rome wasn't built in a day! :)

2013 Goals!

In the past few years I've decided that I don't believe in New Year's resolutions.  I believe in continually trying improve yourself, and setting goals to try to help you improve yourself/life style.  I've been trying to set these goals for myself at the beginning of each year and try to live up to them throughout the year.  Now that I'm using my blog a lot more than I was a year ago, I'm hoping to remember to reflect on these throughout the year, and make sure I'm following through.

Here are the goals I've set for myself for 2013:

1) Make more time for myself.  Even if it's just to run an errand alone, or take a bubble bath in peace and quiet while reading a book, I want to make sure I make more "me" time next year.  It helps recharge me, and I feel like I'm a better parent when I focus on myself too.

2) Read one book a month.  I tried this in 2012, and about half way through the year I started lagging and only ended up reading 9.5 books the whole year.  That's just insane to me.  I know so many people who read one book a week!  I need to step it up some because I DO love to read. 

3) Do 4 crafts a month with the kids.  One craft per week is not too much to ask.  They both enjoy doing them, and so do I, so I need to make more of an effort to come up with cute things for us to make.  That's where Pinterest comes in, of course!

4) Only use my computer during nap time or after the kids are in bed.  I notice they are more unruly when I'm online too much, so I'm really going to make myself stick to this one.  I can still hop on Facebook or other websites quickly on my phone if the website has a mobile app, so I might still do that from time to time, but I will not be pulling my laptop out unless it's nap/quiet time or after bed time.

5) Get more organized!  I'm already really OCD about the house and my organization, but I just feel like I could do more.  I came across this awesome website with an Organized Home Challenge that I plan to start on Tuesday of this week, January 1st. It's a 52 week challenge to help you get your home organized and KEEP it organized.  I'm pretty excited to get started on this one.

6) Take more photos/get more into my photography hobby.  I love taking pictures and the art that IS photography, so I'm really going to make an effort to take more photos, and more artistic ones at that.

And, finally 7) Make more of an effort with my friends and family.  If there is one thing 2012 has taught me, it's that life is short.  You never know what tomorrow brings, so make sure the people you love know it.

I hope everyone else has a fun and safe New Year's Eve tomorrow, and an amazing 2013.  Cheers!

2012: A Year in Review

I had such high hopes for 2012.  I specifically remember on New Year's Eve last year kissing John and saying "this is our year, babe!" and it was to some extent, but it was also a year I'd love to just wipe right off the calendar.  Just a few hours after I made that statement, and about one hour in to the new year, I fell down the stairs at my in-laws house and sprained both my ankles.  :(  I was supposed to have lunch the next day with my sister, brother-in-law and my parents, but I couldn't even move off the couch without a LOT of help.  So, John had to take the kids by himself.  It was definitely not how I had planned to spend the first few days of the new year.  It took about three weeks for me to be able to get around properly and then a few more months before I was able to wear any shoe other than slip-on flats.

In May I was finally able to quit my full-time job and stay home with the kids.  That was a long time coming, but I've been so happy to finally be able to fulfill that dream.  It's definitely a hard job, but I wouldn't trade it for a normal 9-5 job, ever.

In August, we were finally able to move in to a bigger house.  I've loved decorating our new place and getting everything all set up.  I'm not done by any means, but what I have done looks so good!

October was both a good month and the worst month of my life.  Henry turned 2 on the 14th, and the day before we had his second birthday party at our new house.  That's been a dream of mine ever since we had kids, so to be able to actually have one of the boys' birthday parties at our house was just awesome.

Then, one week after Henry's birthday party, a tragedy struck our family.  My younger, and only, sister passed away at the young age of just 29.  It's been a rough time adjusting to life without her and trying to accept the fact that she's gone and never coming back.  We're just sort of taking things one day at a time.  One of my main goals for 2013 is to try to move past this constant grief I feel and start living my life again.

For Thanksgiving this year none of us felt like doing much, so we went out to eat.  Lame, huh??  For Christmas, we made more of an effort and I think we all had a pretty decent holiday despite that nagging thought in the back of all of our minds.  Our plans for NYE this year are to have some close friends over and my parents, eat some yummy food and drink some yummy drinks!

As for my 2012 goals, they are listed below ... I didn't complete even one of them, but I did get about 75% done with a few of them:

1) Wish every Facebook friend a Happy Birthday this year. (It sounds silly, but I feel bad when I miss one.)

Didn't do every single person, I'm sure, but I probably wished 75% of the people on my FB friends list a "Happy Birthday" this year. :)

2) Start eating more heatlhy and get in shape.

I've been slipping lately at this, but for the first 3/4 of the year I did really good, and I've lost 15 lbs since the beginning of the year, AND managed to keep it off despite the fact that I haven't been to the gym since May.

3) I'd like to attend church at least 50% of the year.

Big, fat FAIL. :(  Better luck next year?

4) Read one book a month.

Read 9 of 12 books this year. Not too shabby considering I used to only read maybe 2-3 books a year.

5) Swear a LOT less.

Was doing better about this, but not so much lately. :(
6) Control my temper a lot more.

Same.  Was doing okay, but not so much anymore.

2012 Resolutions/Goals

I don't really like to make resolutions as I don't usually follow through with them, but I have a little mental list of goals I've set for myself for 2012.  If I can accomplish at least three of these by the end of the year, I'll be so incredibly proud of myself!

1) Wish every Facebook friend a Happy Birthday this year. (It sounds silly, but I feel bad when I miss one.)

2) Start eating more heatlhy and get in shape.

3) I'd like to attend church at least 50% of the year.

4) Read one book a month.

5) Swear a LOT less.

6) Control my temper a lot more.

Ok, so I have 6 things that I'd like to accomplish ... let's see if I can do at least 3 of these things!

Happy New Year!!!

I hope everyone had as awesome of a Christmas as I did with my family!

This year was amazing for many reasons, but mainly it was made so special because of Jacob.  I love seeing things through my children's eyes. We started our Elf on the Shelf family tradition this year.  Jacob named him Hector with a little help from daddy.  He was actually a little sad to see Hector go (as was I!) on Christmas Eve.  We can't wait for him to come back again next year.  Here is a picture of Hector just hanging out on our chandelier ...

Christmas Eve was the cutest this year because Jacob is old enough now to "get" Santa Claus.  After an evening spent hanging out at home with me, Daddy, Henry, Gee and Pap; we set out some cookies and milk for Santa, and carrots for the reindeer, and sent Jacob to bed.  I went upstairs for something around 10:30 (an hour and a half after we put him in bed) and he was still  up wanting to know if Santa had come yet.  So cute! I reassured him that he would be coming just as soon as Jacob went to sleep.  When we went to bed at 11, he was sound asleep.  :)  John woke up around 2 to go to the bathroom and when he was on his way back to bed, we hear Jacob saying "Did Santa come?" We tucked him back in and told him he'd be coming sometime through the night.  Around 7 AM Henry woke up, so we were all up for the day ... Jacob jumped out of bed and said "DID SANTA COME?!?!"  He was so cute about the whole thing.  We got everyone out of bed and down the steps we went.  We came around the corner and Jacob's eyes were huge "LOOK AT ALL THOSE TOYS!" he shouted.  He was so excited!  It just made me feel like a kid again.  This is what he saw ..

We spent the day opening presents from Santa, mommy and daddy, and Gee and Pap, had a yummy dinner, and just generally enjoyed each other's company.  The kids got more than they knew what to do with.  They seemed a bit overwhelmed.  I really need to learn to turn it down a notch, but I just love Christmas and gift-giving so much, I don't really know when to stop!

I got my beloved Kindle Fire (thanks honey!) that I am totally in love with!  My mom and step-dad got me a ton of clothes and some new pieces to go with my Christmas village.  And, the kids got me a new Coach bag as well as a new charm for my pandora bracelet.  I feel totally 100% spoiled!!

John got his iPad from me and a remote control helicopter from the kids.  And, my parents got him a really nice Steeler hoodie and a bluetooth keyboard case for his iPad.  He was spoiled also!!

For New Year's we had planned to go to PA for visit John's family and my sister and brother-in-law.  I was so excited!!  We hadn't been up there since September!  We got up there on Friday night ... On Saturday we didn't do a lot.  Just hung around the house taking it easy.  Saturday night we went to a kid-friendly party at our friends' house.  It was so much fun!!!  I love going to parties like these, especially at their house!  The kids did amazing, too, for the fact that Jacob didn't take a nap all day, and Henry had been up from his nap since 4:30 PM ... they were both able to make it to midnight with NO problems.  So impressed!  I was pretty paranoid about driving home so late with them on NYE, but we did it anyway and had no problems.  The kids fell asleep, though, of course, so the plan was the carry them in and just put them to bed.  In the transfer, Jacob woke up and started screaming and kicking me, so I put him down and took the few things I had in my arms in to the house.  When I came back out to get him, he had run halfway down the block screaming he was SO mad (this is why I try very hard to go NO WHERE if I think he might fall asleep).  My mother-in-law had him, but he was kicking her too, so I took him from her and was carrying him downstairs to put him to bed (our room we sleep in is in the basement at their house) when I tripped on one of his flailing legs and fell down the last 4 or so steps, twisted both ankles and I think sprained the one.  I've never been in so much pain.  I'm pretty sure having my babies didn't hurt that bad!  Plus I couldn't walk on EITHER foot for a good day after it happened.  My right foot seems to be better now, but it's still very hard to get around on the left foot.  I spent the next couple of days just laying around and doing as little as possible.  My husband, mother-in-law and sister-in-law were amazing with all the help they gave me.  I really truly appreciate it!!

Anyway, that was our holiday week in a nutshell.  We had an amazing holiday season this year and I hope everyone else did as well!