I Resolve

I put a lot of thought into my New Years Resolutions for 2009. Last year they were somewhat half-hearted since I knew I'd be birthing a baby and running on fumes for most of the year (and considering he was born in January and didn't sleep through the night until halfway through August I think "running on fumes" is a fair assessment of my 2008).

After taking a good look at my life I came up with 11 resolutions. Five spiritual, five physical and one (edit: three) silly. Because I do like having something ridiculous to focus on.

My spiritual goals are kind of personal so I won't go into detail, but they involve centering my life more on Christ. I know my weaknesses and I'm determined to conquer them.

Physical:

1. Run 10-12 miles per week after my 5k on January 24th

I've been running 2-3 miles a day 4 days a week for 2 months to train and I'd like to keep it up. I feel good, I'm looking pretty good in my spandex, and there's a certain peace of mind that comes with knowing you're doing something good for yourself.

2. Reduce and organize our house

I kind of started working on this mid 2008 but lost steam when Wes became mobile (which is pretty much the story with ALL my projects). I'm recommitting to a clean, organized house with less junk. The day before Christmas I sorted all the clothes Wes has outgrown and put them into labeled bins for potential future baby boys. We figured out we had a large extra bin laying around and it became his toy chest. I even cleaned his carpets! Technically it was still 2008, but it was a good start and got me excited to do the rest of the house.

A couple days ago Angela wrote that she wants to get rid of half her clothes and shoes and I was like, "Holy crap! That's a lot!" But then I took a good look at my closet and realized that between Gavin's yard sale in April and the quick weeding I did yesterday for Big Brothers Big Sisters Arizona I have gotten rid of well over half of the stuff I began 2008 with. I even took a picture of my closet to show you the hanger graveyard it has become:

I used to have to scrounge for hangers. Not anymore! I'm swimming in them! If hangers were dollars I'd have like...fifty bucks!

Which leads us to...

3. Be more discerning in my clothing purchases

I think I've finally turned a corner in my life. I am so very very cheap and up until now my philosophy has been, "Why buy one nicer shirt when I can have 2 cheaper shirts and money left over!" I realized last week that I don't feel that way anymore and I'd rather have higher quality stuff that fits well and lasts longer. Which means spending more money per item and buying fewer items and I'm going to have to be ok with that. And also not throwing caution to the wind and just tossing everything in the dryer aka Killer of Most of My Sweaters and Various Other Clothing Items.

4. Increase our food storage

We have tons of flour and sugar (which is awesome because I always have the basics on hand for baking) but not much else that could be made into a meal in the event of an emergency or sudden loss of income. We need more canned soups and potato pearls and that type of stuff. I'm just going to pick up a few extra things each time I go shopping.

5. Plan meals to encourage healthier eating

I have a brain. I should use it sometimes when it comes to food.



Silly:

6. Read more books than Janssen. She has set her goal at 120. I will read 121! As of today, I have read: 1. Wooo look at me go!

And, heck, might as well keep up with my movie resolution:

7. Watch lots and lots of movies!

And, actually, one more:

8. Do not get pregnant.

There. Now no one else needs to ask if we're planning on a brother or a sister for Wes this year.



Happy 2009 everyone! May you lose 5 pounds! And organize your closet! And drink more water! And may you be one of the good, lovely, and inspirational!

Hugs, kisses, and sparkling cider to everyone!