2014 Resolutions

Whoo hoo!  A new year!  I told Tony I was really looking forward to a year without so many changes.  Then I realized we're having another baby and my world will probably be thrown into upheaval.  Change is a part of life, I guess!

I've been reading past resolution blog posts and goal setting is a big part of my life.  Many of the resolutions I've had have turned into habits that make me such a happier person.  I guess that's why I like working on goals?  It's exciting to choose goals each year, knowing that each one can be turned into a strength when it currently isn't.

Here are the goals I've picked for 2014...

Spiritual
1. Keep the Sabbath day holy by not playing on my phone or using social networking.  I have a confession: I am addicted to my iphone.  I am constantly checking my FB, instagram, email, pinterest and at the end of some days I get frustrated with the amount of wasted time I spend there.  Am I going to give up my smart phone?  Um no way, but I can see that doing these things on Sunday is hurting me spiritually.  An uplifting Sunday strengthens my testimony, gets me ready for the week & makes me a more patient mother.  I need Sundays.

2. Continue reading the Book of Mormon and finish journal.  If you've read my previous goal posts you'll know that in 2013 I was reading the Book of Mormon and summarizing/writing notes in a journal.  I'm currently in Mosiah 26 and in order to complete the entire book I need to get to Alma 48.

Social 
Plan something once a month to look forward to, something just for me.  I love having something to look forward to.  The thing that sets this goal apart is that whatever I plan has to be "just for me."  Being a mom is wonderful, but in order to be a good mom I need to get out of the house do something that has nothing to do with being a mom/wife every once in a while. Last weekend I met up with some girl friends in SLC for lunch.  It was nice to get dressed, go out and see friends (I also saw my SIL and parents afterwards for a bit and that was great too), and when I came home Tony had finished some house projects, the boys were happy, house was clean AND he had dinner ready.  First of all, Tony is awesome.  Second of all, it was good for me to leave and see I don't have to be in charge of everything all the time.

Physical
1. Eat cleaner and transition family into cleaner eating.  Isn't this everyone's goal this year?  Yes, it's a trendy one.  The past 4 years my health goals have revolved around exercise.  Guess what?  After 4 years those goals turned into habits and I don't need to make a goal out of them this year.  I know I will do them because it's just what I do.  Now I can focus on what I think is harder than exercising and that's how I eat. My goal is to only eat FOOD.  Sounds silly, right?  But when I read the food labels on some of the things I buy I'm shocked at what's in them.  Take bread for example.  I know how to make homemade bread and only a handful of ingredients go into it.  Looking at the back of the bread I bought and the first ingredient is enriched flour then followed by about 15 other ingredients (half of which I have no idea what they are or how to pronounce them.)  So I switched our bread to a bread where the ingredients are whole wheat flour, water, honey, fresh yeast & sea salt.  Simple switch.  I've had fun going through our foods and finding alternatives that only have "real food" as the listed ingredients.  It hasn't been that hard, but it does takes extra planning and thought.  No, I'm not throwing out everything, but the majority of what we eat is food that either isn't processed or has minimal ingredients in them.

2. lose baby weight. 

Marriage Goals
1.  Accomplish the financial goals we've set for this year.
2.  Attend the temple together 4 times. 
3.  Date once a month.  Our goal is to get out of the house &leave the kids with a babysitter once a month.  Yes, Peter will be tagging along for a bit, but that's okay :)

Family Goals
1.  Go on 4 family hikes.
2. Daily Scripture Study.  We were doing so well, for so long (over a year!) of reading our scriptures every night before bed.  We got out of the habit this summer.  We used to read at bed time and realized that's not the best time for us anymore.  Bedtime isn't always the happiest time around our house ;)  We decided the most consistent time in our family's life is dinner time.  We always have dinner, at the table, together.  This is our new scripture study time.  I bought us all new Book of Mormon's and we read several verses after eating.  It is fun seeing how much Charlie has grown since we used to read.  He now asks questions and remembers who is we are reading about.  We started at the beginning since Charlie is most familiar with Nephi's story.
3.  Take a camping trip. 

I'm excited about these new goals!

  Happy 2014!

Looking back at my 2013 Resolutions

I normally have my goals taped up where I can see them, calendars to track my progress, etc but with moving and all of our changes, I wasn't as organized with this year's goals as I have been in previous years.  Even with all that, I enjoyed the goals I worked on last year!

Here's a look back at my 2013 Resolutions

Goal 1: Finish the Book of Mormon with a journal

In order to finish the entire book, with a journal, I needed to get to Alma 48 (click HERE for why I started mid-book)  I'm currently in Mosiah 26.  I'm pretty darn close!  When we moved into our new house I lost my BOM and journal.  I had packed everything from my desk in a cooler (why?!) and couldn't find any of those things for about 2 months.  I thought I had lost my mind! Thankfully we found them after needing to use the cooler :)

I have really enjoyed this goal.  I have a horrible memory so writing a brief summary each night has helped me retain what I read.  It's also awesome having a journal with every single BOM chapter summarized in my own words.  This journal will be something I keep forever.

Goal 2: Yoga & Strength Training

My goal was to become more well rounded in my physical activities.  I picked two different types of exercise to incorporate into my week.  I first picked yoga because it's something I've always wanted to do & my flexibility is awful.  I learned I don't really enjoy the "stretchy" yoga, but rather the kind that focuses more on body weight training.  This year I felt the most fit when consistently practicing yoga.  My body feels stronger, my mind is clearer...I feel more connected body & spirit.  Does that sound cheesy?

I also wanted to focus on strength training. I wasn't super consistent in this area until I became pregnant.  Strength training is something I really enjoy during pregnancy.  I've even increased the amount of weight I lift so I know I've become stronger.  I've been been lifting (using machines, not free weights-to be safer during pregnancy) 2-3 times a week for the past 23 weeks.  I track all of my workouts on a calendar and it's motivating to look back and see consistency.

This goal was fun because it gave me two new hobbies I really enjoy.

Goal 3: Teach the Book of Mormon Stories

All right, this goal was pretty much a fail, BUT my goal was to teach the stories during FHE and you know what? We've been having FHE so I'm not going to stress about it.  Sometimes FHE consists of us only playing hide and go seek.  Sometimes we have lessons on prayer or the sacrament.  No, my FHE's haven't had a consistent theme to them like I planned, but we're doing it and I think that's good enough :)

Highlights of 2013

2013 

  From Tony changing jobs, moving back west, becoming pregnant, moving into a new home...

I think the word "CHANGE" sums up this past year quite nicely. 

Here's a look back at our family's 2013 Highlights... 

We started the year off with a visit from Tony's parents

Charlie became a sunbeam!

first day of primary

 Utah trip

 Tony was asked to join the BYU recruiting trip for work. 

 The boys and I were able to go out as well and visit with family!

Messer girls (minus Hailey--where are you?!) at Laura's baby shower. 

enjoying Utah snow

We met our goal of attending the temple together 4 times 

Little did we know, this would be our last trip to the Oklahoma City temple.

We turned this trip into an overnight vacation.  

We visited the Tulsa zoo and had fun in a hotel with swimming, pizza & movies.  

March 2013

 

Tony accepted a job in Utah

After 4.5 years in Arkansas, it was time for us to make some changes.  Tony accepted a new job that was more in line with what he wanted to do further in his career.  It wasn't an easy choice and I miss our old lives there.  However, I know this was the right thing for us to do.   

 Our house was on the market the day after we accepted the job.  Within 24 hours we had an offer. 

 We were truly blessed.  

visiting Tony's new office 

Birthday Celebrations

Tony turned 29

The offer on our home came during his birthday dinner.  Happy birthday Tony!

Joey turned 2

we celebrated with a family birthday party at my parent's home

I turned 26

Tony took me for a night away in Park City, Utah.

Charlie turned 4

He had a Super Hero birthday party with 9 boys in our new neighborhood.  It was crazy fun!

April was filled with crazy hours of packing and cleaning.  

We said goodbye to beautiful Bentonville Arkansas and our dear friends.  

My last night out with these great friends.  

We visit taught each other, became moms together, celebrated holidays together, etc. 

These friends became such a wonderful family.

Moved to Utah

My parents were kind enough to let us stay with them while we waited for our old house to close and while we looked for a new home.  We got to spend lots of time together!  It was fun being home with my siblings since I moved out when they were so young.  

Crew & Finn's blessing day

celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary

Spent Memorial day weekend in Southern Utah

hiking in Snow Canyon

fun in St. George

Charlie's first sleepover with cousins

Became pregnant with our 3rd baby!

Moved into our new home

This area has been extremely friendly, the ward is wonderful, we're close to Tony's work--we're in a good place.

moving day

Charlie started preschool

Exploring our new area

We've enjoyed finding new parks and places to explore!  

Found out baby #3 is a BOY

  3 boys in 4 years--can you believe it?!  

There is no shortage of cars, lightsabers or tools at our house!

Daddy & Charlie went camping

Tony took Charlie on his first real camping trip with our ward.  Charlie still talks about it.

Tony spent 3 weeks in India

Tony definitely has the "travel bug" so exploring a new country was definitely a highlight for him. 

 He spent 3 weeks working with his teams and got to see quite a few sites with them while he was there.  

Halloween

We celebrated Halloween with a neighborhood party, Charlie's preschool program, trick or treating at the office and in our neighborhood.  We learned this is Joey's favorite day of the year!  

Joey-a ninja & Charlie-Captain America

Celebrated Thanksgiving with our Messer Family

Celebrated Christmas Eve & Day at home with our favorite family traditions

had family over for Christmas dinner & movies

took a little vacation to Southern Utah to visit with our family down there

Goodbye 2013!

Christmas Vacation to Cedar City

December 26th we drove down to Cedar City to spend 5 days with Tony's parents and sister's family.  It was great having somewhere to go for "Christmas vacation."  One thing I loved about this Christmas is we were able to spend it at home AND see family without getting on an airplane, dividing vacation time between both families.  It was really relaxing.

We had a great time in Southern Utah!  While we were there we went bowling, worked on puzzles, ate way too much yummy food, saw movies in the theater, slept in, etc. One afternoon the big girls went out to lunch while the dads watched the kids at a play place.  Charlie had a sleepover with his cousins and felt very big in doing so.  We had a great time.

Joey bowling

does it look like someone is having a good time or what?!

opening Christmas presents from Grandma & Papa

Joey & Barney

Grandma and Papa had a new arrival to their family this year...Barney!  Labs have always been a big part of Tony's family. Barney is a great dog and I was impressed with how great he was with the boys.  Joey was very good at telling him, "No!" if he got a toy and quickly tattled by saying, "Papa!  He did it again!"  The boys are looking forward to seeing him on our next visit.

Charlie wanted "a church shirt like daddy & a tie" for Christmas.  

Here he is wearing them for the first time to church.  

Deacon in training :)

a photo from our drive through the canyon one day--I love the red rock!

We had a special family dinner and FHE all together one night.  Grandma baked cookies & Joey took being "Grandma's cookie tester" very seriously.  Pretty sure he had 4-5 cookies that night.

cousins

Papa helping Joey cut paper

We love these guys so much.  Such cute kiddos.

Thanks for the wonderful visit Grandma & Papa!