Happy New Year 2014!

Happy New Year!

Wow, it's 2014! Is it really the first of the year?

Well, I said I would meet you back here and go over some New Year's Resolutions, didn't I? In all honesty, I haven't had much time to think about my resolutions. Oh, they've flitted through my head while doing other things, sure. But I haven't actually had time to sit and write them down.

Let's start by understanding what a New Year's Resolution is supposed to be. It is something that one decides to do or change about themselves over the course of the next year. Typically, these are things to help one improve oneself such as; lose weight, quit smoking, quit drinking, get organized (a standard for my list,) etc.. Yet many of us make these lists, but never seem to be able to keep them.

Are we making unrealistic goals? Are we just too lazy to keep up with them? Are we not ready to turn over a new leaf on the first of the year? Maybe we make too long of a list and it gets too daunting and overwhelming or too many things to try to remember to do/not do all at once.

Whatever it is, I still like to make out my list at the beginning of the year and see how far I get. One idea I had was to make a list, but start only one of them in January, then start the second one in February, the third in March, well, you get the idea. Since it takes 21 days to make something a habit, I thought that would be a good way of instilling each individual item on the list into my life. Make each a habit, one at a time. Although, now that I'm going through my list in my head, some things aren't under the category of "habit" and are just things that need to be done.

Now, for the list:

1. Organize the house (this may actually take more than one month LOL it actually needs it's own list of different areas)
a. My desk/office area
b. Master bedroom
c. Master bath
d. Guest bath
e. J's bedroom
f. B's bedroom
g. Kitchen
h. Living room
i. The garage (that is a whole entire project in and of itself that will take many months to complete, but leads me to my next main list item)
2. Go through a box a day from the garage
3. Get published!
4. Finish the books that I have started (I've got quite a few in the works and really need to finish them, a few are in a series of their own)
5. Lose weight (I've actually already started on this, having lost 9 pounds recently, but I want to get into regular sized clothing, rather than the "plus" sized stuff)
6. Start exercising (this should take care of the item above)
7. Start a garden (we've been trying, but can't seem to get anything to really "take" in our crappy sandy Floridian yard)
8. Get into major couponing
9. Finish the afghan I'm working on right now as well as one other I have planned as a gift
10. Write daily
11. Keep the van clean (I've got kids, what can I say?)

I've been working on a few of these things for a while, but really want to focus on them this new year, so that's why I've added them to the list. For example, this past November, I did NaNoWriMo, but now have to finish editing and getting the book ready to publish. Also, the afghan I'm working on is a project that I tend to only work on when going on long trips (a drive that will last at least an hour+) when my husband drives because I hate his driving and he hates me screaming at his driving, so crochet. Why don't I just drive instead of him? Well, I'd rather not and it gives me time to crochet when the kids are strapped in their child seats and can't come running up to me and climb all over me and my yarn with sticky fingers and drool. Enough said.

The main "habits" I need to establish are rite daily, exercise and going through a box a day from the garage. Now it's just a matter of prioritizing my list and getting started. The main thing I really need to do is get more organized. I still have Christmas cards that need to be sent out because I lost them! I had them, we got ready for Christmas Day, moved a few things around and *POOF* gone! Totally disappeared. I don't know if the little green men who live in the walls came out and took them or what. (That's something my Dad always said if we lost something; the little green men must have taken it.) So, better organization is my number one priority. With that, everything else should fall into place.

The main problem(s) is(are) that this house is too small (and I'm a packrat) and has no decent storage space. There are hardly any cupboards in the kitchen for pots, pans, glasses and dishware, there are only a few very small closets and the rooms themselves are small, so there's not a lot of space for our furniture. So, organization is a necessity that I've been putting off for waaaayyyy too long.

Starting a garden is also something that I want up at the top of the list because that could save us a ton of money in groceries. We'd still have to buy some produce from the store, obviously, but if I could grow my own bell peppers, lettuce, celery, squash, potatoes, sweet potatoes, etc., that would be a huge help! I've grown celery, but it only grows for a little while (about 3-5 inches tall) and then dies off. I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong with it.

Anyway, that's my New Year's Thoughts and Resolutions. What are yours?