Happy New Decade!

Wow, I'm really not sure what happened to this year. When I was living parts of it, I was amazed at how slow the time was going so it feels really weird that all of a sudden it's over. Apparently I missed the last couple of months because they just flew by without my noticing but with the new year here, I want to do a quick review of my goals for last year and set some for this year.


2009 Goals
* To find an exercise routine that I can stick with. The goal is to find some way to actually be physically active in a meaningful way, 5 days a week. Happily, I met this one. On average I workout 30min 4-5 days a week in the morning and now I've added in 2-4 KSW classes a week as well.

* Get out of debt except for the house payment. This one needs a little bit of outside luck and a whole lot of discipline but it's doable and I hope to be starting next year with the start of a downpayment for a bigger house under way. Unfortunately we didn't succeed on this one for a couple of reasons. Our debt is down by about 1/2 tho!

* Get our routines in place. This is one place where I really fall down. It's that whole self-disipline thing. I would much rather kick back and read a book than exercise, get after the kids to do their chores, or do the housework. I know that sleep deprivation has had a lot to do with it and there too is a place where I need to be more disciplined. Making that schedule which gives me enough opportunity for sleep and sticking with it for all our sakes. Unfortunately this one fell apart when we brought in Jason and my lack of self-disipline hasn't gotten over it. :(

* Lose 10% of my weight. Yes, the obligatory weight-loss one. I didn't make one for last year thinking that would be better to just say I'd make smarter eating choices but you know what, I'm up 2lbs from a year ago. I yo-yo'd big time and I'm really miserable about it. I know I feel better when I weigh less but again, that self-discipline. I've got a couple of books on weight-loss that I'm going to be reading soon and then using those in conjunction with the new WW plan. I can see what I've been doing wrong even when I was sticking to WW so I'm working on formulating a plan that addresses that specifically. I'm also looking into trying to find a group, either WW or with some local friends, to get that necessary support on this journey. I'm very happy to say that I made this one as well! I lost it in late spring and summer and while I haven't been able to fully get back on track and lose more, I have kept it off the whole time with only minimal fluctuations.

* Find some ways to get myself and the kids more involved in volunteering and community service. We are so very blessed in all that we have and I want to give back and teach the kids that there are more important things in life than the next time they get to play video games. I found a couple of places where we were able to start volunteering and things that they cared enough about to donate to. I hope to continue building upon it.

* Stay in touch with those important to me. I keep getting so caught up in the kids activities and trying to do too much in other areas that I let slide the important relationships in my life with family and friends. I worked on this a bit last year and it's something that I want to continue to work on. I've gotten a little bit better about this with the help of Facebook but I need to remember that not all my friends are there and I need to be more proactive about those that don't remind me to contact them by updating their status messages.

* Take a few minutes each day to stop and smell the flowers. I tend to be in a frenzied rush of always going, going, going and even when I read, it's an escape. I want to take a few minutes to stop and count my blessings. I keep trying to do this but it's not as consistent as I would like to.

* Continue to blog often. I like the journaling and it's neat to go back and see what the kids and I have been up to. The big thing is I really want to work on blogging more often on the homeschooling blog as well. I've been really lax about that one. Um, well, I did for a bit and then got caught up with the craziness of life. *sigh*

* Continue to be more conscience of my choices and try to make the best ones I can, in parenting, eating, consumerism, life, and taking care of the Earth. I always try but I will be continuing to educate myself to do even better. Yep, it's a cut and paste of last year's but it's a good one and something to continue to strive to be better at. Again, I think I've done better this year than last but I still have a long way to go.


So now for this years goals:

• Continue with my exercise routine.
• Get out of debt except for the house payment. Going to need some luck with that (no major car repairs or appliance purchases) but it's possible.
• Get our routines in place.
• Work on decluttering our house and lives of unnecessary STUFF.
• Lose another 10% of my weight.
• Continue finding ways for us to volunteer and causes that the kids can get behind saving and donating to.
• Stay in touch with those important to me.
• Take a few minutes each day to count my blessings.
• Blog more often on both blogs.
• Read 104 books (again *big grin*)
  
• Continue to be more conscience of my choices and try to make the best ones I can, in parenting, eating, consumerism, life, and taking care of the Earth.

Yep, I know they look a lot like last years but that's okay. I made good progress in a lot of these areas but I want to continue to work on them as they are what is important to me.