Resolutions

I try and set resolutions every year. And like most people, they usually don't last. My typical January starts with me setting some big resolutions, lose weight!, organize!,run a 5K, etc., etc. And a couple of weeks go by and nothing has changed. But then Lent comes along and I will go back to the resolutions and tweak them a little to fit into giving something up for Lent; they become, give up desserts!, don't save clutter!, etc. I'll make it through Lent with only a few cheats, but then spring and summer comes and the resolutions are long forgotten.

There's an old adage saying the only way to succeed is to write down your goals. This year, instead of declaring the same old resolutions, I've decided to write down more specific goals for myself and see if writing about these goals helps keep myself accountable. Some are big, some are small, but there's no harm in trying and if at the end of 2016, I've met them even partially, I'll feel quite proud! 

1. Grow my etsy shop. I have truly loved sewing and being creative again and have some ideas for some new baby items to add. My brother and sister-in-law gave me lots of good advice for improving my photos and Gianni is a great resource for the "marketing" aspect of etsy. I'm really excited to revamp the site and get some new, fun items listed.

2. Fitness challenge. This fall, the other crew coaches and I took part in the Concept 2 erg challenge. The challenge is to row 100,000 meters between Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve. It's a hard challenge because you have to discipline yourself to actually row for about 30 minutes 5 times a week but I did it. Finishing on Christmas Eve morning was an amazing feeling. Instead of setting a vague resolution of "work out 4 times a week", I am going to set a goal of completing 2 fitness related challenges this year. Whether it be another rowing challenge, a 5K, or something completely different, I am challenging myself to do 1 in the first half of the year, and 1 in the second.

3. Cut back on the swearing. My language isn't totally vulgar, but anyone that has worked in a hospital knows that swearing becomes second nature (you'd be surprised how many doctors will actually tell you "he's f*&%ed" ) and even though I'm not there anymore, old habits die hard. With a little girl that is starting to mimic everything, I'd like to keep her mouth as clean as possible!

4. Organize our hall closet, linen closet, and kitchen cabinets. This fall, I created a cleaning schedule for us that has made keeping up with little things like dusting so much easier. As we started getting really organized with cleaning, I realized that de-cluttering is a great feeling. I love to hang on to things and the reality is that so much of that stuff can be tossed or passed on. Our linen closet is filled with things like expired sunscreen, a million tubes of chapstick, and stray pillow cases. The kitchen cabinets can be cleaned out as well... no one needs dozens of mugs with radio station or business logos, and don't get me started on the number of tupperware lids we have.

5. More frequent girl's nights. Almost all of my girl friends are also moms and we all know that it becomes so hard to get together. One of my closest friends and I were recently talking about how whenever we get together, it's always with the babies and we end up spending the whole time talking to the kids, chasing them, feeding them, or pulling things out of their mouths. Two hours will go by, and we feel like we haven't even caught up! Luckily, we all  have husbands who are willing to stay home and do bedtime duty for the night so really we have no excuse!

So that rounds up my goals for this new year! To keep myself on track, I'll blog every so often about how it's going! I'll blog a Christmas recap next week, filled with lots of cute photos :)

Happy 2016!
xo,
Mary