Ten days into 2014, and I am ready for spring.
I've spent the bulk of this year so far not working on my resolution, not cleaning my house. Instead, I've been prepping and surviving a massive winter storm that hit Indianapolis. Not just stocking up on milk, bread and ice melt...it was managing employee and patient communications for a major organization in our community. All while juggling kids who were trapped indoors during -30 wind chills and unable to go to school, let alone play outside.
Friday's here. And I'm tired. And so ready to walk from my winter wonderland.
Thankfully we're blessed that warmer temperatures are on the horizon. The 30 (positive!) degree temperature today were such a blessing; and even with rain, I'm embracing this weekend in its entirety. No time on the computer; instead, we'll be coaching and playing basketball games, stomping in slush to sell Girl Scout cookies and hopefully enjoying the warmer weather and a less hectic time together (one that doesn't involve the phrase "Please be quiet! Mommy's on a work call.")
I'm ready to start my resolutions, and I'm refusing to beat myself up for these last days I couldn't make the time to taking the steps I needed to do. Instead of being upset I didn't exercise or read my Fitcee email of the day - let alone execute the day's goals - I made the decision to put it on "hold," and start fresh when I could commit to it.
So tomorrow marks my unofficial start to 2014. As the winter weather is behind me and the kids are starting to head back to school, I'm ready to refocus on taking care of me and my family. After a few good night's sleep, I'll have the energy to begin.
How are your resolutions coming along?
Showing posts with label resolutions. Show all posts
Showing posts with label resolutions. Show all posts
Friday, January 10, 2014
Wednesday, January 1, 2014
Changes for a New Year
I'll be the first to admit I hate the word "Resolutions." It holds promise - promises of success and promises of failure.
But that doesn't mean I'm not ready for a change, and I'm starting those changes already. I'm hoping that 2014 is the year these changes stick.
Here's what I'm wanting to work on for the new year:
1) Finally budge the scale. I've been stuck at point A for frankly, a decade or more, and I hate it. I've struggled with finding a program that works - I need baby steps to success, not a massive overhaul that I'll abandon with enthusiasm. I recently started the Fitcee program, which is doing just that. (Yes, in the week before Christmas even, the crazy week of programs and birthdays and multiple urgent care visits!) I'll admit I haven't been 100% faithful just yet, but now that the holidays are passed and the Christmas treats are left at my mother's home, I intend to make concepts stick. Even if it means, gasp, trying a heart-healthy avocado.
2) Dump my Diet Coke habit. Again, this is a habit that's been with me since I was a teen (yes, count the decades...) I admit I have an addiction to caffeine, and probably have something to do with the fizziness of soda. My goal is even if I can't completely dump the Diet Cokes, I'd like to be able to significantly reduce them.
3) Get healthy. I know that seems a bit lofty, but I want energy, and normal blood sugars. I'm on the right route but want to continue that journey.
4) Get my finances in check. I'll be honest in that we still haven't recovered from the three years my husband was without a full-time job. We received a Christmas blessing and I hope to use that to kick-start our financial recovery.
What are your goals for the coming year?
But that doesn't mean I'm not ready for a change, and I'm starting those changes already. I'm hoping that 2014 is the year these changes stick.
Here's what I'm wanting to work on for the new year:
1) Finally budge the scale. I've been stuck at point A for frankly, a decade or more, and I hate it. I've struggled with finding a program that works - I need baby steps to success, not a massive overhaul that I'll abandon with enthusiasm. I recently started the Fitcee program, which is doing just that. (Yes, in the week before Christmas even, the crazy week of programs and birthdays and multiple urgent care visits!) I'll admit I haven't been 100% faithful just yet, but now that the holidays are passed and the Christmas treats are left at my mother's home, I intend to make concepts stick. Even if it means, gasp, trying a heart-healthy avocado.
2) Dump my Diet Coke habit. Again, this is a habit that's been with me since I was a teen (yes, count the decades...) I admit I have an addiction to caffeine, and probably have something to do with the fizziness of soda. My goal is even if I can't completely dump the Diet Cokes, I'd like to be able to significantly reduce them.
3) Get healthy. I know that seems a bit lofty, but I want energy, and normal blood sugars. I'm on the right route but want to continue that journey.
4) Get my finances in check. I'll be honest in that we still haven't recovered from the three years my husband was without a full-time job. We received a Christmas blessing and I hope to use that to kick-start our financial recovery.
What are your goals for the coming year?
Saturday, January 1, 2011
To every time there is a season
New year's resolutions have always seemed an exercise in futility for me. After all, I've lost and regained the same 10 pounds for a decade.
But this year, I'm forseeing a bit more chaos in our lives, mostly driven by work, my husband being in school and the joys and challenges of parenting. So with that, I'm forcing myself to simplify on my own terms.
That means recognizing that there are seasons in life to make changes, and there are seasons for status quo. Much like the advice not to make major changes after a stressful event, I'm planning ahead.
For now, my focus is on decluttering my home, spending time with my family and ensuring there are systems for tracking our expenses on our dwindling funds as we wait (hopefully) for financial aid for spring or our tax refund, both badly needed to see us through the end of 2011.
Later this winter, I'm anticipating a good month focused - and I mean 70-hours a week focused - on work. I hope that whatever systems we come up with will suffice.
When that passes, I'll be back to working on myself and my family. That means eating healthier. Exercising more. Growing our own produce (I'm encouraged by the Four Season Harvest that my husband bought me for Christmas). And being smarter, overall, at the resources, time included, spent in our lives.
What about you? What are your goals for the coming year?
Wishing you a peaceful and happy new year,
Robbie @ Going Green Mama
But this year, I'm forseeing a bit more chaos in our lives, mostly driven by work, my husband being in school and the joys and challenges of parenting. So with that, I'm forcing myself to simplify on my own terms.
That means recognizing that there are seasons in life to make changes, and there are seasons for status quo. Much like the advice not to make major changes after a stressful event, I'm planning ahead.
For now, my focus is on decluttering my home, spending time with my family and ensuring there are systems for tracking our expenses on our dwindling funds as we wait (hopefully) for financial aid for spring or our tax refund, both badly needed to see us through the end of 2011.
Later this winter, I'm anticipating a good month focused - and I mean 70-hours a week focused - on work. I hope that whatever systems we come up with will suffice.
When that passes, I'll be back to working on myself and my family. That means eating healthier. Exercising more. Growing our own produce (I'm encouraged by the Four Season Harvest that my husband bought me for Christmas). And being smarter, overall, at the resources, time included, spent in our lives.
What about you? What are your goals for the coming year?
Wishing you a peaceful and happy new year,
Robbie @ Going Green Mama
Friday, December 31, 2010
Little lessons learned in 2010
2010 was the year of distractions. That much was evident from the response to my Christmas letter this year: "I can't believe everything you did despite things..."
2010 was the year of setbacks. Camping trips were put off after my husband's shoulder and knee injuries. Great plans put off due to financial hiccups. Little plans set aside due to the ups and downs of parenting.
So 2010 was not a year of great revelations. It was instead a year of little lessons learned, most at the hands of my children.
We watched as Hermie, and more Hermies, and still more Hermies (apparently caterpillars love my carrot leaves), found new life as a butterflies.
We went on hiking trips, played in ponds and destroyed mom's garden more than once.
We learned that generosity doesn't take a certain dollar figure, and sometimes love takes the form of cards to hospitalized kids or outgrown shoes sent abroad.
I learned that despite my summer gardening failures, there's always another season, and basked in a bowlful of fall carrots after my first real attempt at fall gardening.
What happens in the coming year I have no idea. I'm already viewing my year in pieces: the part before our big project that peaks in March, and the life after.
Maybe next year I should just stick with what my children told me: Just eat more dessert.
2010 was the year of setbacks. Camping trips were put off after my husband's shoulder and knee injuries. Great plans put off due to financial hiccups. Little plans set aside due to the ups and downs of parenting.
So 2010 was not a year of great revelations. It was instead a year of little lessons learned, most at the hands of my children.
We watched as Hermie, and more Hermies, and still more Hermies (apparently caterpillars love my carrot leaves), found new life as a butterflies.
We went on hiking trips, played in ponds and destroyed mom's garden more than once.
We learned that generosity doesn't take a certain dollar figure, and sometimes love takes the form of cards to hospitalized kids or outgrown shoes sent abroad.
I learned that despite my summer gardening failures, there's always another season, and basked in a bowlful of fall carrots after my first real attempt at fall gardening.
What happens in the coming year I have no idea. I'm already viewing my year in pieces: the part before our big project that peaks in March, and the life after.
Maybe next year I should just stick with what my children told me: Just eat more dessert.
Monday, February 9, 2009
One month down...
It's hard to believe we're already a week into February. Time flies when you're sleep-deprived!
So how am I doing on my resolutions for 2009? Here's my confessional:
Curb my passion for paper: D. Um, well, to be honest, a 38-or so page site map project at work, and all of its requisite revisions and approvals, isn't helping my problem. (Unfortunately my office hasn't caught on to the fact you can set PDFs for comments.) To tell the truth, I spent two hours on a Saturday sorting and recycling and filing in my office to no avail. But you now have a less trecherous path to my dusty Mac, if needed.
Grow a little more: A. We're working on plans for this year's garden, and my lovely husband is already trying to figure out where to put in raised beds. (We're not allowed to have just a garden plot in our subdivision!) We've got the order ready to place as soon as the details are worked out, and I'm trying to figure out how to fix my pH in my yard so I can grow blueberries for my other two required bushes. (Hint: Contact your extension office if you're stumped about growing, too!)
Give greener: B. My one gift-giving occasion involved maybe not the greenest gift, but I get points for a second life for gift wrap and a homemade card.
Plan my menus: C. I've tried, we just hadn't stuck to it the last two weeks due to other distractions in life.
Spend wiser: B. I've had a few oops'es, including a sanity lunch that I probably shouldn't have splurged on but did. And the Diet Coke thing isn't budging yet. But overall, I'm buying fewer things that we don't need in the pantry.
How are you doing on your resolutions?
So how am I doing on my resolutions for 2009? Here's my confessional:
Curb my passion for paper: D. Um, well, to be honest, a 38-or so page site map project at work, and all of its requisite revisions and approvals, isn't helping my problem. (Unfortunately my office hasn't caught on to the fact you can set PDFs for comments.) To tell the truth, I spent two hours on a Saturday sorting and recycling and filing in my office to no avail. But you now have a less trecherous path to my dusty Mac, if needed.
Grow a little more: A. We're working on plans for this year's garden, and my lovely husband is already trying to figure out where to put in raised beds. (We're not allowed to have just a garden plot in our subdivision!) We've got the order ready to place as soon as the details are worked out, and I'm trying to figure out how to fix my pH in my yard so I can grow blueberries for my other two required bushes. (Hint: Contact your extension office if you're stumped about growing, too!)
Give greener: B. My one gift-giving occasion involved maybe not the greenest gift, but I get points for a second life for gift wrap and a homemade card.
Plan my menus: C. I've tried, we just hadn't stuck to it the last two weeks due to other distractions in life.
Spend wiser: B. I've had a few oops'es, including a sanity lunch that I probably shouldn't have splurged on but did. And the Diet Coke thing isn't budging yet. But overall, I'm buying fewer things that we don't need in the pantry.
How are you doing on your resolutions?
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