New Year, New Beginning

Every year, it seems like we rush around to celebrate Christmas and all of the sudden it's New Year's Eve. We don't do anything too special. We don't go to a party or even celebrate with friends. We have noticed our tradition has been to go to Cody's parent's house, have dinner, and play games until the ball drops, when we cheers each other with sparkling grape juice. Lemme tell ya...it gets a little crazy. We had a great time this year, and Knox even made it til midnight. 

One thing I always have intentions of doing but never get around to is making a resolution. Resolution, by definition, means 'a course of action determined or decided on; a formal statement of a decision; firm determination.' I love the idea of firm determination. However, even if I had thought of a resolution in the past, it was never vocalized or even thought of past the first few days of the new year. 

This year, as I was cooking for our New Year's Eve dinner, I asked Cody what his resolution was. We decided to each speak a personal resolution, then come up with one together. So here goes. If I vocalize it on my blog, I have to stick to it, right?!? I have two personal resolutions: to lose 40 pounds and to stay more organized at work and home. Our family resolution is to pay off half of our student loans (half is roughly $18,000). 

I know these are all three very lofty goals. I am hopeful they will lead to a happier, healthier life for my family and me. However, I know a goal without a plan is merely a wish. So I do have a plan for all three:

1. To lose 40 pounds, I am going to simply cut back on my caloric intake, try to choose healthier foods (if you're reading this, Nichole, I may even try the paleo route), and exercise daily. I still have to experiment with the working out part of it. We don't have a gym here since our town is so small, so I would have to do cardio at home and lift weights in the school weight room. I'll have to figure out what works best with my schedule. When I figured it up, I'll have to lose 10 pounds every three months, which makes it sound way more attainable. 

2. To stay more organized, I will get into a routine. At school I need to make myself stay an extra 15 minutes each day to put things away before I leave. 

3. To pay off half our student loan debt, we have enlisted the help of Dave Ramsey. We took the course last Spring and loved it. We kept up with it for quite a while but we fell apart this fall. Cody is in charge of the finances and since he was coaching, things got a little jumbled. Hopefully we can get back on track with that, sell the truck, and start throwing all our extra cash at our debt. It will feel so great to have only a house payment when those get paid off. 

I keep coming back to the phrase 'firm determination' and hope I can instill that into my everyday life. Wish me luck! 

Side note: maybe one of my resolutions should have been to stop hurting my child. Today, the following happened within a 6-hour (or so) time span: Knox dropped the hand-held vacuum on his foot, which immediately bruised and swelled up, he fell off the coffee table and onto his new, metal tonka truck (see the picture below), and then he decided to drink bleach. Don't worry, he is ok! I thought his foot or toe was broken but it seems better now. We are keeping his gash clean. And we think he only drank one squirt of bleach. He started drinking water out of a spray bottle I use for his hair. He found a spray bottle of bleach and tried to do the same. He came right to me and 'told' me all about it. When I couldn't figure out what he was saying, he leaned over and kissed me. I smelled the bleach and got him taken care of with lots of water. I swear! I was not prepared for such an active, curious boy. He definitely keeps me on my toes! 

       Knox's battle wound!

What's your New Year's Resolution?