Happy New Year!!!

And so it begins. A new year. A fresh start. Another chance to let my NY resolutions go straight down the tubes. Kidding. I'm looking at things a little differently this year. I think things can only (God willing!!) get better. It's been a rough couple/few/four years and I'm ready to break the cycle!!!

I'm looking at everything that way these days. If you don't like something it's up to YOU to change it. I saw a quote somewhere and I'm sure I won't get it correct but it goes something like you can't control everything but you CAN control how you react. Seriously, that is way off the quote but ykwim. And, you know what? It's SO true. I try to live my life without judgement (okay, aside from the catty comment here and there, everywhere lol, but who doesn't do that?!) because at the end of the day it's only MY life I have to live. What you do in your life is your deal. If you are happy then I am happy for you. If I don't agree with it - well, who the hell am I?! I'm just another opinion and you know what they say about those!

So. In light of my new outlook - controlling how things are with ME - I'm making some resolutions. I know people go all out at the beginning of every year with resolutions but these I really do intend to hold on to. They can only make things better for me, my family, my life. That is what matters. (feel free to stop reading here because God only knows how long I'll be listing!)

1. Spend more *quality* time with my family.

• there is a big difference between being with your family and being WITH your family. I want to be WITH my family. Make more of an effort. Just because I'm home doesn't mean I'm with my family.

2. Date nights.

• John and I really need more one on one time and I'm going to make it happen. I'd like to get at least one a month on the calendar. We are more than just Mommy and Daddy. We are husband and wife. We are friends. I need to put effort into my friendship with my husband just like I put effort into my friends.

3. Excercise.

• In order to be healthy I need to get into shape. I can't get into shape without exercising. Time to start USING the gym membership that I've been paying for. I haven't been in probably two months. That's $64 in the TRASH. Or might as well have been in the trash.

4. Lose weight.

• I NEED to do this for me. I have a *very* unhealthy sense of myself and I need to work on that. I think it will really start with my losing weight. My goal is 20lbs. I know it's a marathon and not a sprint so I need to commit to keeping ON it even if the pounds don't fly off of me a la Biggest Loser on tv. (I'm not that big and I don't spend the WHOLE day in the gym!)

5. Friends.

• Another area I am going to work on. Monthly Girls Night Out and monthly Family Dinner / Game Night with friends. If we can get some kind of set schedule for this (IE: the 1st friday of the month) it would make all of us get together which is something that would benefit everyone. Scheduling it can only make it easier!

6. Money

• Save money. Things have been so tight since John got hurt at work. I think sometimes we spend money that doesn't need to be spent. I need to stop shopping just to shop. I want to get rid of our cc debt. We don't need to eat out all the time. I don't need to buy something that we don't really need just because I can. Our kids don't need another STITCH of clothing until the spring time. (okay, they might need a couple of things for FL in April.....wait, isn't that spring?! Score!!)

I guess that is it for now. But I think that is a good start. ALL of my resolutions are attainable. There is nothing so far out there that it can't be done. I'm being very realistic. Now it's just up to me to make it all happen. New year, new start!!