I know "they" say that you should pick pretty much any other day of the year to start making new goals, and that the majority of New Years resolutions are broken by Valentine's Day, but I don't care. Heck, I'm already 5 days late with posting these goals anyway! But that's besides the point; I'm taking this new year, this fresh starting point, & I'm jumping into it with some new goals. Call me an optimist, call me naive. I don't care; all I know is that I need to get this mama butt in action. & who are "they" anyway?
2013 Goal #1
To lose 30lbs by Kate's birthday
Yes, that's right, I want to be 30lbs (at least!) skinnier by July 27th. Which, in its entirity sounds like a lot, but works out to a VERY achievable 3.5lbs a month. That is... as long as I don't follow my usual dieting path, which is doing well for the first 3 weeks & dropping a good amount of weight quickly only to be discouraged when I hit a plateau, resulting in my pulling out the chinese food menu again. No. I am deermined to NOT let that happen (again) this time. & I'm putting it out there on the internet to try to hold myself more accountable to it. Whether 5, 50, 500, 5,000 people read this I want you ALL to hold me to this.
Because I'm not doing this for me. I'm doing this for Kate. I want to be healthier for her, to set a better example for her. (ok & a little bit for me because lord knows I HATE the size jeans I'm in right now... so much so that I cut out the size tag)
2013 Goal #2
Learn to take better pictures. I love my iphone camera. Probably a little bit too much. Too much to the tune that I've taken over 10,000 photos on it since Kate's been born. & honestly... most of them aren't great. (thank you instagram filters!) True, a vast majority are of me doing some crazy-repetitive-clicking in hopes of catching that "just right" baby smile/laugh/smirk/etc. But truth be told most of them are weird/blurry photos. Especially now that she's getting so active. Who knew it would be even harder to capture one of those adorable smiles on film now, when she's smiling 90% of the day, than when she was first giving us those little grins at 6 weeks. (most smiles now are accompanied by head tilting back belly laughs, happy arm grabbing/flailing/massive amounts of kicking, or rolling). So in 2013 I vow to (attempt) to take less photos, but BETTER photos. A seat in this "Taking Better Photos" class by Anna Sawin (who I think we all know I LOVE) is high up on my birthday wish list. (February 23, in case any of you were wondering). :)
2013 Goal #3
Budget, Budget, Budget
Now this one I am already ahead on (by a tiny bit). I know for a fact that we (Dan & I) throw away good money. I'm tracking all of our finances this January & then based on that am creating a realistic monthly budget that we'll follow for 2013. I made an ugly one up in excel back during my maternity leave, when this idea originally came to mind... but somehow am only getting started on it now. Again, better late than never!
Especially now that we've got college & a wedding to pay for someday now!!!
2013 Goal #4
Get into a better pumping schedule at work. I'm formulating a mini-novel on breast feeding & pumping sucessfully in my post drafts here, and someday will get around to publishing it (probably in multiple posts). I never expected to feel so strongly about something as I've begun to feel about breastfeeding. Not in a "are you mom enough" life Time Magazine kind of way by any means, but it's something that has become very important to me that I can do for Kate. We've been so successful - by means of a lot of hard work (nobody tells you how much work and how diffuicult breastfeeding can be) - but I know that it takes a lot of dillegence & planning in order to continue our success. Part of that for me, a working mom, is to prioritize a pumping schedule into my workday. I know that there will be unavoidable meetings/conference calls/travel that will interfere at times, but I NEED to get into a better work pumping routine. For myself. but moreso for Kate.
2013 Goal #5
Date night. I'm starting small with this one, with planning for 1 night a month & 2 daytime activities a month but I can already see how our life's priority has shifted to be 100% about Kate. (of course it has) BUT I also know that we NEED to make sure that we spend some time when our attention is 100% on each other, so I am forcing (in a happily forced way) date night to happen at least once a month. & adding in a bonus 2x a month day activity - wether it be lunch, shopping, running errands together, an afternoon movie, etc... all of the things we used to do just the two of us that now are always 1 person doing alone or all 3 of us. It's scary to say that I think that this might actually be the hardest goal to keep!
& for now... that's it. I'm going to try to re-evaluate these goals on a quarterly basis (hello business me talking) to see where adjustments need to be made, but sitting here now on January 5th, I feel pretty good about them. What do you think? Are you making any goals or resolutions? & please, any feedback or ideas on what the heck I should continue to (attempt) to blog about are welcome! I'm still kind of waiting to see what this will evolve into here... time will tell I guess!
Happy New Year!!!
xo
p.s. because I can't not include a cute baby picture in this post... oh I love her...
2013 Goal #1
To lose 30lbs by Kate's birthday
Yes, that's right, I want to be 30lbs (at least!) skinnier by July 27th. Which, in its entirity sounds like a lot, but works out to a VERY achievable 3.5lbs a month. That is... as long as I don't follow my usual dieting path, which is doing well for the first 3 weeks & dropping a good amount of weight quickly only to be discouraged when I hit a plateau, resulting in my pulling out the chinese food menu again. No. I am deermined to NOT let that happen (again) this time. & I'm putting it out there on the internet to try to hold myself more accountable to it. Whether 5, 50, 500, 5,000 people read this I want you ALL to hold me to this.
Because I'm not doing this for me. I'm doing this for Kate. I want to be healthier for her, to set a better example for her. (ok & a little bit for me because lord knows I HATE the size jeans I'm in right now... so much so that I cut out the size tag)
2013 Goal #2
Learn to take better pictures. I love my iphone camera. Probably a little bit too much. Too much to the tune that I've taken over 10,000 photos on it since Kate's been born. & honestly... most of them aren't great. (thank you instagram filters!) True, a vast majority are of me doing some crazy-repetitive-clicking in hopes of catching that "just right" baby smile/laugh/smirk/etc. But truth be told most of them are weird/blurry photos. Especially now that she's getting so active. Who knew it would be even harder to capture one of those adorable smiles on film now, when she's smiling 90% of the day, than when she was first giving us those little grins at 6 weeks. (most smiles now are accompanied by head tilting back belly laughs, happy arm grabbing/flailing/massive amounts of kicking, or rolling). So in 2013 I vow to (attempt) to take less photos, but BETTER photos. A seat in this "Taking Better Photos" class by Anna Sawin (who I think we all know I LOVE) is high up on my birthday wish list. (February 23, in case any of you were wondering). :)
2013 Goal #3
Budget, Budget, Budget
Now this one I am already ahead on (by a tiny bit). I know for a fact that we (Dan & I) throw away good money. I'm tracking all of our finances this January & then based on that am creating a realistic monthly budget that we'll follow for 2013. I made an ugly one up in excel back during my maternity leave, when this idea originally came to mind... but somehow am only getting started on it now. Again, better late than never!
Especially now that we've got college & a wedding to pay for someday now!!!
2013 Goal #4
Get into a better pumping schedule at work. I'm formulating a mini-novel on breast feeding & pumping sucessfully in my post drafts here, and someday will get around to publishing it (probably in multiple posts). I never expected to feel so strongly about something as I've begun to feel about breastfeeding. Not in a "are you mom enough" life Time Magazine kind of way by any means, but it's something that has become very important to me that I can do for Kate. We've been so successful - by means of a lot of hard work (nobody tells you how much work and how diffuicult breastfeeding can be) - but I know that it takes a lot of dillegence & planning in order to continue our success. Part of that for me, a working mom, is to prioritize a pumping schedule into my workday. I know that there will be unavoidable meetings/conference calls/travel that will interfere at times, but I NEED to get into a better work pumping routine. For myself. but moreso for Kate.
2013 Goal #5
Date night. I'm starting small with this one, with planning for 1 night a month & 2 daytime activities a month but I can already see how our life's priority has shifted to be 100% about Kate. (of course it has) BUT I also know that we NEED to make sure that we spend some time when our attention is 100% on each other, so I am forcing (in a happily forced way) date night to happen at least once a month. & adding in a bonus 2x a month day activity - wether it be lunch, shopping, running errands together, an afternoon movie, etc... all of the things we used to do just the two of us that now are always 1 person doing alone or all 3 of us. It's scary to say that I think that this might actually be the hardest goal to keep!
& for now... that's it. I'm going to try to re-evaluate these goals on a quarterly basis (hello business me talking) to see where adjustments need to be made, but sitting here now on January 5th, I feel pretty good about them. What do you think? Are you making any goals or resolutions? & please, any feedback or ideas on what the heck I should continue to (attempt) to blog about are welcome! I'm still kind of waiting to see what this will evolve into here... time will tell I guess!
Happy New Year!!!
xo
p.s. because I can't not include a cute baby picture in this post... oh I love her...
(note, the instagram filter?)
Great goals!! Many of mine are similar ... Especially the pumping, date night, & budgeting ones!!!! :)
ReplyDeleteGreat post, we'll be attempting to tackle a lot of the same things! :) strength in solidarity? :)
ReplyDeleteLove your goals. I have some similar ones (take better pictures, budget, etc.) but will be a first-time mommy in March and I bet following how you manage breast feeding, date night, life, work, baby all of it will be super helpful!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing - cheers to happy and healthy New Year!
~Sara
looking forward to reading your pumping manifesto... still at home now on maternity leave and very committed to breastfeeding but going back to work part time soon and super nervous about how it will all work out...
ReplyDelete