Resolved

 

I secretly kind of love New Year's Eve. Not the parties, but the introspection and taking stock, the idea of looking at your life and thinking about the things you would like to change. I guess the flip side of all the wild revelry is that it's our national self improvement holiday. And who doesn't love that?

 

 

 

We went to the zoo for Wildlights this year. It was pretty fun. They had a big countdown to 7pm which I appreciate. They clearly know their audience.

 

And of course I'm thinking about my resolutions and checking the ones from last year to see how I did. One of the things I have read about goals and resolutions is that you are more successful when you make them concrete. For example, from my list last year I have: updated our emergency supplies, kept a book journal, and gotten my driver's license. But when you put vague things like, ahem, "explore my peace testimony" how do you measure that? How do you know when or if you have achieved it?

             When making my list this year, I tried to keep that in mind. Tried to find a way to make them measurable and thus do-able. So I have another long list (again, I love it) but I am trying to make it realistic.

1. Write for six hours a week. I thought about having a word count goal but I really just want to focus on the practice.

2. Do a cardio, a weights and a yoga/abs workout once a week. I already do Zumba once a week and I love it so much, and I sometimes do the other two but not consistantly.

3. Continue the book journal. It has been really fun keeping track of what I read and when. Especially when Chris makes graphs for me.

4. Write in my paper journal once a week. Before I had kids, I used to fill up a journal in six months tops. And now it's more like two years. Some of that is because my life is calmer and more stable than it used to be, which is a good thing. But I still want to make an effort to record this moments.

5. Chinook Book date nights. Ok I am really excited about this one. Since the Fall and the adjustments of Kindergarten, our incredible rotating date night has turned into a once a month potluck. It makes sense since we are all busy with our new schools, but it means that Chris and I don't have a date night anymore. Chinook Book is a coupon book that all the school PTAs sell as a fundraiser. My idea/goal is that Chris and I can have a date night twice a month where we use one of the coupons from the Chinook book to explore a new place in Seattle.

 

So, be it resolved. 2013 here we come.

Ch-ch-ch Changes....

 

One of the advantages of leaving home for a few days is that you get to see it with fresh eyes when you come home. After the kids had spent six days sharing a room in Arizona, we decided they are ready to do it full time. This was always my long-term plan. I have fond memories of sharing a room with my brother and the games we used to play at night when we were supposed to be sleeping. One of them involved throwing stuffed animals from the top bunk to the bottom. Another was called "Radio Station" and it involved me singing loudly until my brother yelled "switch" and then I would starting singing a different song. We were always so surprised when our parents came up to see why were still awake. But how did you know? we'd ask.

 

So, I'm looking forward to a good six years or so of all that. I'm also looking forward to Chris and I moving out of our little cold "temporary" bedroom we've been in for almost three years and into a room that will be warmer, if not any bigger. But first, we had to do some rearranging and purging and cleaning.

 

We got rid of some rickety old furniture and got a new storage unit to better organize toys.

Unity was a champ in helping put it together.

                                         And...organized! Chris predicts this will last six months.

We decided they are not quite ready for bunk beads yet, so the beds are

side-by-side for now.

                                              Blankets by Grandma Cindy.

 

Happy New Year y'all.