I am a classic “Resolutioner”. I live and die for the first of the year to come so I can magically transform myself. As it was said by Lenore in Forrest Gump: “Don't you just love New Years? You get to start all over. Everybody gets a second chance.” That’s how I always lived my life. Of course I never stuck to my resolutions and therefore never really gave myself a second chance. But this year is different. Why you ask? Well I realized I have the following things going for me that will help me become the best person I can be in 2012:
- I don’t have any kids yet. Meaning by default I have loads of free time.
- I’m not a student anymore, although that might change at some point. Meaning, once again, that by default I have loads of free time.
- I just got laid off from my job. Now that doesn’t mean I don’t work at all. I’ll get into this more later on but for now here’s the scoop. I’m a nanny and I have been with the same family for over three years. The husband lost his job and while he looks for another one they can’t afford to keep me. So in the interim, most likely a couple of months but we’ll see, I will be doing temporary and fill-in nannying and babysitting on nights and weekends. So I’ll go from working a steady 38 hours a week to approximately 25 hours a week. Therefore having more free time.
- I have a gym membership with a pool. Enough said.
- I have a loving boyfriend who supports me through everything and cheers me on the whole time!
- I have wonderful friends who support me.
- I have drive.
- I have tons of resources! When you have a laptop and internet, the world is at your fingertips. (Not to sound to cheesy.) I have books, blogs and Pinterest to help me become a better person.
- I am getting engaged this year.
- I want it. I want to be the person I always thought I would be. I want to live every day like it’s my last and stop waiting for my life to start.
So with that being said here is my 2012 New Year’s Resolution. I will report back daily, weekly or monthly on each one and the progress I’ve made. I’ll share my thoughts, concerns and pictures about the subject with you. Ask me anything, I am an open book. This list is long and demanding, I know. But I’m not saying I’m going to master all of these things in one year. I’m just going to start them, work on them and do the best I can with them.
- Lose weight. Typical I know but I have a lot to lose. I am 5’2” and I currently weight 210lbs. My BMI is 38.4 which means I am obese. I started Weight Watchers in August 2011 when my weight was 227lbs. My goal weight is 127 and I plan on continuing with Weight Watchers to lose it.
- Become a triathlete. I love swimming and running. I like biking:) One thing I have always wanted to do was complete a triathalon. I plan on training for a Super Sprint Triathalon that will take place in September 2012.
- Save $20,000 for my wedding. Sean and I plan on getting married on 12/31/13. This is in almost exactly two years. We want to spend this year saving for our wedding so that when we start planning it next year we will not be worrying about paying for it. $20,000 is a rough estimate, it may go up or down by a few thousand.
- Start couponing again. Two years and a half years ago I leanred how to “super coupon” and I got most of our household items for free or 80-90% off. I stopped doing it about a year ago and I want to get back into it. This will be one of the ways we save for our wedding.
- Create a budget and stick to it. Sean and I will be merging our finances in about a week and I want to cut back on frivolous spending. With the help of our friend Dan, I want to create a sensible budget that will allow us to build up our savings but also still have a fun social life.
- Keep a better home. I am a messy person. I always have been. I was raised in a house where we would make it so messy, use every last dish and every last pair of clean underwear before we spent two days cleaning everything. Then we would do it all over again. I HATE that! I want to be a neater person, put away the laundry and make sure the dishes are always done. If someone stops by unexpectedly, like our landlord who needs to randomly get into the apartment when we aren’t home, I don’t want to worry about what it looks like. I will go more into this goal later. I want to make a scheduled plan of attack when it comes to all things “household”.
- Learn to sew. I have wanted to learn how to sew for about three years now. My grandma has offered to teach me and she even has a sewing machine I can use once I learn. All I need to do is schedule some time to visit her in Wisconsin so she can teach me.
- Decorate my apartment. I sorta kinda live in a jail cell right now. Blank white walls, boring furniture and hardwood floors. (Okay not really like a jail cell, more like an empty apartment.) I have so many ideas for things to put up on the walls, linens to buy to match and knick knacks to make. I want to have a super cute “Pinterest Approved” apartment.
- Organize my craft stuff. We have an enclosed back porch in our apartment and it is currently full of my craft crap. I have stuff for card making, scrapbooking, canvas painting, headband making and busy bag creating. It needs a place to go! I have the space, now I just need to organize it efficiently. It’s a tad cold out there right now, it’s enclosed but not insulated, so this will most likely be a big Spring project. However, I would like to pull mini projects out of there once a week and organize them. Like all of my stickers and embellishments, I could grab all of them and there compartmentalized container and organize them by event/season in my living room where it’s warm and then put them back out there. That way when Spring hits it’s not a huge job.
- Be a better couple with Sean. We have been together for nine and half years. The “been there done that” mentality is full blown. It has nothing to do with love, I love him more and more every day. It has to do with trying new things, spending “quality time” together and pushing each other to be better people. I want to start going on dates again, start spending time with other couples and maybe starting a hobby together. He is my life and I just want “us” to be better.
Okay could this post be any longer? I hope you guys enjoyed my rambling. I’d love to hear your 2012 Resolution.
