2012 is going to be amazing. I've decided.
I didn't want to make any New Years Resolutions, but I do want to make some healthy changes in my life. Working full time, being a mom of 2 babies, taking care of my husband, cleaning the house, organizing, making dinner, couponing, working out, spending time with family and friends, volunteering at our church, and then having some much needed mommy time is not easy. So I've decided to break it down. Here we go! (It's a long one....)
WORKING FULL TIME
I will do my best this year to excel at my job. As of January, I am now starting a new job with the Tribe as the Tribal Media Relations Coordinator and I also help our executive assistant with her daily tasks if I'm needed since her work has tripled. She is getting closer to retiring so this is a job that I may be able to step into. I've been helping her for the past three years, but now its officially a part of my job.
MOM
My most favorite thing about my life right now. I love being a mom. Everything about it. I will try not to get frustrated. Chasing a toddler around the house, making messes, learning how to do things, baby spit up right after I got dressed....stuff like that. Its just a season and I'm going to miss it someday. So I am going to make the best of it and not get so frustrated.
I also want to focus this year on spending more time with my step daughter Laney. She lives in Kansas so I can't see her all the time, but I love facetiming with her on our phone, sending her care packages for holidays, going to visit (I had to cancel my last trip to see her since I went on bed rest, I was devastated.) She is growing up so fast and I want to be the best step mom that I can be.
TAKING CARE OF MY HUSBAND
The past two years have been hard on us. Being pregnant, having a new born, switching his schedule to early morning shift, being on bed rest......there hasn't been a lot of time to focus on us. Currently I get home from work at about 5:30pm, I make dinner and we eat, then Brad goes off to bed since he has to get up for work at 1:00am to go to work. So we aren't able to spend a lot of time together. If he isn't working he needs to catch some zzzzzz. This year I will make it a priority, to spend more time together. Have more family time. Go on dates. I fall madly in love with him every day we're together, but marriage takes work and I intend on being the best wife to him that I can be.
CLEANING THE HOUSE
Most people hate cleaning, not me. It makes me feel good. I love when people come over and the house isn't a mess and I'm not embarrassed. I love how when I need to find something I can actually find it because I clean up at the end of every day. Imagine if you only cleaned your house once a week. You would spend your entire weekend on it. So instead I do a little everyday. I have actually made a cleaning checklist that I use during the week and on the weekends. Click here to view my list. Click the arrow at the bottom right hand side of the box to download. You'll be amazed what you can do by making a list, crossing items off really helps me feel accomplished and organized. Enjoy cleaning! Do me a favor. If you download the cleaning checklist I made, please refer back to my page and comment below :) Thanks so much!
Please keep in mind, I do not complete every task, everyday. I look to see if it needs to be done. I strive to complete the daily list, but I don't always have time to do so. Sometimes I even finish Monday's chores on Tuesday. This list is tailored to my home. It's really just a guide to help you, if you want it. Since I have been spending a lot of time doing laundry on the weekends, I sort the laundry throughout the week. Lets say the baby clothes basket gets full, I do a load that night. That way I don't have a ton to do! Its worked much better for me. I also try to put clothes away right after I fold them. If I don't they just sit there and I never get to it.
ORGANIZING
Organizing makes my everyday life so much easier. I'm starting a challenge this year. My girlfriend Christy told me I'm rubbing off on her and she is doing the same, so she has decided to join me in this challenge. Here is a yearly challenge that will get my whole home done in a year. I think I'll tweek it to fit my needs, but the basic idea behind it, is just what I'm going for. I did a similar challenge last year from one of my favorite organizing blogs, a bowl full of lemons. It's a 21 day challenge, that took me a few months to work on. Here's a few projects I did successfully last year:
MAKING DINNER
Getting home at 5:30pm after working a long day makes it very difficult to make a yummy dinner. I am tired, I want to spend time with the kids before the go to bed....but I don't want to eat crap. I want to be able to sit down at our dinner table as a family like my parents did with us when were growing up. I loved it. So Christy is joining me in this challenge too. Friend support is the best! Here's what we are going to do. Have a meal marathon. Spend maybe a day a month and make a ton of meals. It's hard to make a lot of meals, but it is easy to make a double batch of something.....same mess you make, you just double the ingredients. So lets say I make a lasagna. I make one for my freezer, and make one for her freezer. Two meals for two families and we both get to try new things, so we aren't eating the same food every week. Great idea right? I plan on prepping things and freezing them so that I can pull them out the night before....such as chili to throw in the crock pot, enchiladas, stuff like that. So the awesome part about this is spending time cooking with a friend, making homemade meals in advance saving me time every night, and eating new food since we both make dishes. Imagine if you had a night where you had a few friends over and each person made a double batch to give to keep ojne and give one to someone else. Girls night that is productive. I love it! I'd also like to have a meal plan done for the entire month, but I don't know how to do that yet.....hmmmmm.
COUPONING
Last year I decided I would try my hand at couponing to save my family money on groceries. I had no idea that I would save so much money! I also love having things in my stockpile when I run out. Rather than running to the store every time I run out of something all I have to do is head out to my garage. If I ran to the store the BBQ sauce would probably cost me $4....I purchased them on sale with coupons and bought enough for an entire year. 12 bottles cost me $1.20....pretty amazing right. Couponing does require a lot of organization and a lot of time clipping coupons, researching deals, going to the store to get the deals. So I have decided to only go grocery shopping once a month. Get everything I need once. If I run out of my basics such as milk, fresh produce, eggs, I can just run to the store for those items or if I notice any really great sales that I can't pass up. So I'll try my hardest to spend 2 hours Friday afternoon during the kids naps to clip and organize coupons that came in the paper that week. I get 6 papers and clip all coupons that apply to products I use or would like to try. I look at the krazy coupon lady website daily on facebook. She posts every deal as a new facebook post and I check facebook pretty frequently throughout my day. If I see something really good, I make a note of it.
WORKING OUT
My biggest struggle right now is finding time to workout. I wake up at 6am with Jax to feed him, then Lily gets up and I need to feed her, get the kids and myself ready for work, drop off to Desire's house, then head to work. I tried working out on my lunch break, but then I was all smelly and sticky for the rest of my work day. I also didn't have a lot of time once I got changed into my gym clothes....besides....when am I going to eat lunch? When I get off work I need to make dinner and spend the only time I have with Brad right now before he heads to bed. Once he goes to bed, I clean up, give the kids a bath and get into pjs, laundry.....the list goes on. Because the kids are in bed and Brad needs to sleep because he leaves for work in a few short hours, I can't leave to go to the gym. So I've created my own routine at home in my living room! I'm calling it the Hot Mom's Program. My friend Desire and my friend Amy who lives in Ohio, is doing the same long distance. No matter how hard it is to make time, we promise to do 1/2 hour to an hour of exercise everyday. If you don't move, you don't lose. I also found it gave me a lot more energy to finish up my nightly tasks before bed. We check in on each other and give each other a hard time if we didn't work out. Motivate each other. And it also gives us some friend time! I love that.
FAMILY AND FRIEND TIME
I want to have more fun with my family this year. Going places, doing fun things together. I love spending time with them so they make this one pretty easy.
Since I've had Lily, I have struggled with making time for my friends. I love spending time with friends, but I am at a point in my life where I don't have a lot of time. If I do, I spend it with my husband and our kids, and at home. By incorporating friends into the tasks above, I am having friend time even if we can't always "hang out." Its not a lot, but its the best that I can do right now. Even just a phone call to see how a friend is doing. My girlfriend Janielle and I both are busy with work, kids, husbands, and home....but we manage to chat and catch up. I love that about her.
VOLUNTEERING AT OUR CHURCH GRACE COMMUNITY
I love being part of our church. Grace Community is a wonderful church and I do love how it has brought me closer to my faith. Our church has a Helping Hands program that help the homeless and low income families in Oak Harbor that I plan on couponing for throughout the year. (Seeeeeeee...combining two things, couponing and volunteering=same amount of time) Getting items such as toothbrushes, toothpaste, shampoo....items like that.
While I was on bed rest, Brad and I were so blessed to have help from so many people who didn't even know us from our church. They came to my house and had play dates with Lily, made meals, cleaned, sat down and chat with me, did errands for me, helped with childcare. I couldn't believe that people were so generous with their time to help our family when we needed it the most. I made new friends, spent time with old friends, laughed, cried and felt super blessed. Making meals for others who are sick, just had a baby, etc. or cleaning help is how I can help someone else. Pay it forward, make someones day.
MOMMY TIME
I promise to do something for myself once a month. Go get a pedicure, buy a new outfit, get my hair cut, go to the spa, watch a movie, spend some time with my girl friends, go to a class at the gym, take a long shower. Sounds easy enough, but making time for me comes last on my list when it should be way further up on the list.
Okay 2012.....I'm ready for you.
No comments:
Post a Comment