2012 resolutions - a new year, a new perspective.

Last year, you may recall that I set some GOALS -- rather than resolutions.  I'll be posting a little later on how well I did with those goals (there are still a few hours left, my friends)!  But, in the meantime, I thought I would get a jump start on 2012. 

For 2012, I am going to do the same thing -- make GOALS rather than resolutions.  I'm excited to share these with you, and hope that perhaps they can inspire you to do something similar in your life!

So, without further ado, here are my 2012 GOALS:

1.  Participate in Project 52 -- this will be my first year doing this and I am a bit nervous and excited.  I'll post more on this topic later, so you can follow along if you want to.

2. Lose 5 lbs -- since I am down 5 lbs since last year, I still want to get those pesky last 5 pounds off me -- and maybe that won't happen, since I plan on building muscle this year as well.  We'll see, won't we?

3.  Run a 10K -- since I made it through a 5K, I decided that I needed to step it up a notch for this year.  I might even consider trading a 10K for a mini - triathlon...baby steps, people...baby steps.

4.  Finish painting the rest of the house -- I got the upstairs mostly finished, and now I really need to be working on the downstairs.  I am happy with the amount of progress we have made in 3 short months.

5.  Save more money -- I am not ready/willing to go all out there and share things like my weekly/monthly budget -- or how much I am putting into our joint savings, IRAs, etc.  We are doing a really good job, but I want to do better.  So, part of this challenge for me will be to stop buying things I don't need, just because they are ON SALE.  I fully blame my Mom for this mentality -- it is not a bad thing, per se, especially since most everything I buy is at a huge savings.  I just want to work on doing less buying overall, and living a more simple life.

6.  Go green with ALL (or almost all) my household cleaners -- I am really excited about this challenge!!  I have made baby steps over the past year experimenting with different combinations of homemade cleaners and I am really excited to share them with you to help you 'green' up your life too!  Some of these combinations work EVEN BETTER than store bought stuff (I was already using mostly green cleaners like Seventh Generation and Method -- but homemade cleaners are even better!  And CHEAPER!!)  So, not only will you be helping the environment, you will be helping your pocket book!

7.  Be more present in the moment -- it is amazing to me how many times I comment on or realize how fast life goes by -- how my youngest is ALREADY 20 months old...it seems like he was just born.  I want to be more in the moment to be experiencing all these moments in their childhood.  It seems silly that I should need to remind myself to be more present, but I do.  There are so many distractions out there -- Internet, magazines, TV, etc.

8.  Take a class or learn something new -- Not only do I want to keep my body active, but I want to keep my mind active too!  So, taking a class is a perfect way to do this -- maybe it will be a pottery class...maybe it will be a writing class....let's see where this year takes me!

9.  Plant a Garden -- with a new house comes a new yard...and this one comes with no garden.  So, my goal is to get out there right after the spring thaw and create a garden.  I already have the spot picked out!

10.  Show the people in my life who are important to me JUST how important they are to me -- certain circumstances last year really opened my eyes (again) to just how fragile life and relationships are.  We really take this for granted!! So, I want to be particularly mindful about what I say, what I do, how I act, and especially how I treat those around me.  It might be something as simple as sending someone a care package when you know they need a pick me up, or flowers when you know they are down.  I used to be really good at sending 'happy mail' and I really want to pick up on this again -- especially since I know how wonderful it feels to open the mailbox and find a package in there filled with love!

11.  Get caught up on all the photos/photo books, etc that I am behind on -- since I am not the best about keeping up the baby books (I do alright, just not stellar), I make the boys a photo book for each year of their lives with milestones, etc.  I am embarrassed that Sam doesn't have one yet, and the last one I did for lil Max is from 2010.  It could be worse, but I want to get caught up again.

12.  Do something for ME at least once a month -- whether that be to read a new book cover to cover, or to go get a massage, or to continue to exercise at least 3 times a week.  Nobody is happy unless the McMomma is happy.