Monday, January 6, 2014

Happy New Year!!

Soooooooo.......... once again, I fail at blogging. But it's a new year and one of my biggest goals for 2014 is FOLLOW-THROUGH. I am going to create new habits and keep up with them.

Goals, goals, goals. Of course, there will be the usual ones about eating healthier and making exercise and activity priorities and saving money and knitting. But I'm also doing a photo-a-week and a pic-a-day challenge so those are new goals for me.

I want to save up some money by the end of the year. Maybe just to roll-over into the next year. If I really want to have another baby in 2015 or 2016, we're going to need money for that. I have a plan for the money savings and that has already been started. I've created a schedule of savings based on this blogpost. It adds up to almost $1,400 by the end of the year! Even if I can't manage the last few weeks, it still will be quite a chunk of change. Less eating out will help make sure we have enough money to pay bills and whatnot, plus some leftover.

My knitting goals are pretty basic. Number one is to knit from stash, although I am generally pretty good about not buying yarn outside of the yarn crawl. I am giving myself permission to pick up one ball of yarn, if it becomes necessary to make a second blanket buddy for my brother (Mindy is having crazy pregnancy symptoms so they are slightly suspecting twins). I also want to get some organization accomplished now that I have to keep the yarn in the basement which ultimately will help me use my yarn more effectively. I currently have no idea where at least half of my circular needle tips are- NOT COOL. I also want to finish at least twelve projects this year, including some of my larger WIPs that have been around for years (ten-stitch blanket, workout bag, NaKnitMo2012 sweater, etc.). The 2014 Ravellenic Games are just around the corner and I think that I could definitely make a dent during that.

I have a plan laid out for improving my eating habits. It's just more expensive to buy fresh produce and with Thanksgiving, the move, unpacking, and the holidays plus finding new stores, it's been tough to get a rhythm going with shopping and cooking. Now that the holidays are over and we are slowly starting to get settled in, I think this will quickly improve. Matt wants to start training and working out again as do I, so we need to get the boxes in the basement unpacked quickly. I'll post a separate post about this later with the outline of my plan. I think it's doable, as long as I think about stuff ahead of time and stop just winging it in the morning. Exercise will come along as soon as we get the basement and our bedroom organized.

I've never been much of a photography buff, but I have really enjoyed making sure I had a picture of Hannah each day over the last year. Eventually (in all my free time), I'll go back and fill in the gaps from 2012, but with the exception of a few days in January, I have a picture for every since day in 2013. And that's awesome! So I'm upping the ante a bit this year. I'm going to continue taking pics of Hannah each day (with Matt's help), plus I'm adding a weekly photo group on Facebook and a photo a day challenge here.

Last but not least, I want to be a better wife and mother. Around the same time that I stopped blogging, life was rocky and not pleasant for two of the three people in my household. Things are better, but still tenuous. I want to work on that.

2014 is looking to be a big year for a lot of people in my life. My sister-in-law is having her fancy wedding/reception (they got married in a itty bitty service right before Christmas) in North Carolina. Yea for travelling with a toddler! Aaaand my brother is having a baby!! Currently, they're thinking late July or early August. According to what my brother told me, he is planning to propose in the spring and then have a small ceremony before the baby is born. He wants to do a big reception the following year, maybe on their anniversary. Everyone else can have all the excitement this year. I just want to fix the little things that are going to make my overall life better.

Although I admit, I'd love to get pregnant either at the end of the year or early in 2015.