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!