Project 366: Week 50

344|366 two little boys entranced by the snow

345|366 delicious cheese snack

346|366 xmas tree 2012

347|366 Dec 12, 2012 - visiting Santa at the mall.

349|366 Dec 14, 2012 - the xmax tree needed ornaments and presents.

349|366 Dec 14, 2012 - it was nice enough outside to do some chalk art. This was Max's drawing of baby Jesus.

350|366 Dec 15, 2012 - hanging out with my ladies at an xmas party

Project 366: Week 49

337|366 sam made me wear his hat

338|366 have to burn off those holiday calories some way!

339|366 daddy has some big shoes to fill

340|366 crafting time!

341|366 over 100 xmas cards ready to go!

342|366 max and I at his company Christmas party

343|366 pretty fat snowflakes at night

Project 366: Week 48

330|366 - Nov 25, 2012 -- Max gives new meaning to a "ham"burger

331|366 my boring desk

332|366 my trusty coffee cup at work

333|366 the peacocks at the zoo are out year round.

334|366 max was tired after a long day at school

335|366 sam is a great coffee date!

336|366 waiting for more xmas cards

Project 366: Week 47

323|366 - Nov 18, 2012 -- what? He's 5!

324|366 - Nov 19, 2012 -- impromptu lunch date

325|366 - Nov 20, 2012 -- sometimes I get creative with lunch....

326|366 - Nov 21, 2012 - foggy sunrise

327|366 - Nov 22, 2012 -- our thanksgiving feast!

327|366 - Nov 22, 2012 -- we wrote on rocks all month long and then read them over dinner

328|366 - Nov 23, 2012 -- leftovers are arguably the best part of thanksgiving....

329|366 - Nov 24, 2012 - I love this little stinker

Project 366: Week 46

316|366 - Nov 11, 2012 -- mom, my eyes just need a little rest....

316|366 - Nov 11, 2012 -- having some friends over from his new school.

317|366 - Nov 12, 2012 -- first 'measurable' snow fall

318|366 - Nov 13, 2012 -- these two are best buds lately

319|366 - Nov 14, 2012 -- my new hair cut

320|366 - Nov 15, 2012 -- fruit platter I made for Max's 4K thanksgiving celebration

321|366 - Nov 16, 2012 -- our little pilgrim.

322|366 - Nov 17, 2012 -- it's still warm enough to enjoy the park!

Project 366: Week 45

309|366 - Nov 4, 2012 -- check out that nap hair!

310|366 - Nov 5, 2012 -- trying out some new styles with some new outfits.

311|366 - Nov 6, 2012 -- I did.

312|366 - Nov 7, 2012 -- guess who?

312|366 - Nov 7, 2012 -- guess who?

313|366 - Nov 8, 2012 -- I love getting happy mail!

314|366 - Nov 9, 2012 -- my Friday frump look.

315|366 - Nov 10, 2012 -- sam and I went to cow class at the zoo

2012 Resolutions Check In

I realized today that, four days into the new year, I haven't posted any new goals/resolutions on here...nor have I given you a full update on where I ended up on last year's goals.

Let's fix that, shall we?

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.

I upgraded this goal to Project 366 -- a picture a day for the full year.  I have to upload the last pictures of the year, but I am happy to say I had a picture for ALMOST EVERY DAY of 2012.  There were some days I didn't, and I'm not going to beat myself up over that.  It was a fun project, but I don't think I will be participating in 2013.  I will continue to update the blog with all the weeks until the year is finished up.  I hope I can do that by the end of January.

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?

DONE!  I met and exceeded this goal!

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.

DONE!  Ran an 'official' 8K and ran a 10K with my running buddy Laura.  It counts.  Nike says so.

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.

I painted the playroom, the dining room and the family room.  I still need to do the foyer/stairway -- but that also involves stripping wallpaper...and that was NOT a part of this goal.  :)

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.

We did pretty good saving money this year.  We cut some unnecessary expenses from our budget, we refinanced our house (less than a year after buying it, but we went down over 1% on our rate!), and we increased our monthly allotments to savings.  We still could do a better job on this one, but baby steps are good too.  Something is always better than nothing.

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!

I did pretty good on this too.  I also was introduced to Norwex towards the end of the year and I have a feeling that is going to have a big impact on our cleaning over the next year.  I am super impressed with their products.

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.

I will say I only did a FAIR job at this one.  Technology is SO distracting.  It is something I want to continue working on.

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.

I can't say I completed this one.  But that's ok.  I had lofty goals.

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!

We didn't get a chance to build a large garden last year with everything else going on.  WE did plant a small backyard garden that didn't produce much but that helped satisfy the need to dig in the dirt.  We also planted a small memory/prayer garden in the back corner of our yard.  Next year we will work on the bigger garden and also implementing the landscape plan we had drawn up for the front yard.

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!

I think I did OK on this one, but again -- its something I would like to continue to work on.

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.

Nope.  Not even close.  OH WELL.  :)

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.

I sure did!  And it was GREAT!  :)

Next year's goals coming up soon!

Project 366: Week 44

302|366 - Oct 28, 2012 - pancakes for Max and his friend the next mornign

303|366 - Oct 29, 2012 -- max drew his own shapes on his pumpkin to be carved by daddy

304|366 - Oct 30, 2012 -- elicit love affair

305|366 - Oct 31, 2012 -- trick or treat!

306|366 - Nov 1, 2012 - waiting in the car with an apple snack

307|366 - Nov 2, 2012 - sweetness from a certain sassy little boy

308|366 - Nov 3, 2012 -- running with the stomach flu is not fun...but I did accomplish it.