I mentioned setting some goals for the year earlier this month, but here is a list...hopefully by posting some of these, I'll hold myself a little more accountable! It will be a busy year for us, but I'm hopeful that I can keep up with most of these, and that it will keep our household running more smoothly....
--meal plan: I would like to plan out the week's meals at the beginning of the week. This will include shopping for those meals, and doing any prep-work that I can do ahead of time so that I'm not struggling after work to make dinner when everyone is already hungry. I'm hoping to make dinner at least 4 nights a week. The other nights will be leftovers or something on the fly, but I would like to have at least 4 meals planned out each week. It might not be a fancy meal (most likely not!) every time, but at least it will be a meal that we can all sit down and eat!
--become a better shopper: I would like to get better at shopping sales and at using coupons. This is mostly for grocery shopping, as I feel like I'm a pretty smart shopper for other things. I'd like to set a day of the week for groceries, and will plan meals based on things that are on sale or coupons that I have. I would love to spend less money on groceries, and really USE the items that we buy too!
--do the dishes: This maybe sounds silly, but we have a bad habit of letting the dishes pile up at our house. My goal is to tackle the dishes right away, every night, so it's not such a big job after letting them build up for several days.
--get organized: I'm always trying to figure out new ways to keep things organized. I need to organize our files better, figure out a good system for incoming mail and bills, organize my photos, etc. I always feel better when things are organized, so I hope to find a system that works, and stick with it!
--keep the house clean: I'd like to come up with a schedule/routine for keeping the house clean. Maybe certain rooms or chores are done on certain days, or one day is devoted to cleaning...I'm not exactly sure yet. Might take some trial and error to see what works best for us to keep things maintained. It's hard keeping the house clean with a busy kid running around, and I know it will only get worse with two. I don't expect to live in a perfectly clean house all the time, but everyone feels better when things are cleaned up, so we need to find a routine that works for us!
--scrapbooking/other crafts: I really enjoy doing crafty stuff and scrapbooking, but rarely take time for it lately. I'd like to devote some time each week to working on some sort of project. I have tons of photos to scrap for Mara's book, and I want to get started on a stocking for the new baby, as well as one for myself. Once the baby is born, I'll need to start a scrapbook for him/her too! So, plenty of projects, just need to set aside some time each week to work on it! I may have to set a more specific goal on this one, or I'm not sure it will happen, but I'll see how things go.
--date nights: Even if we can't actually get out of the house to do something, it would be nice to set up a 'date night' with Jay a couple times a month. Maybe just a nice dinner and movie at home, or playing a game or something that we do after Mara (and baby) are in bed. If we can get out of the house to do something, that would just be an added bonus!
After the baby is born, I'm sure I'll have some goals to try to get back into shape, but I'll wait until then to figure that out. For now, I think I have enough to focus on. I don't think any of these goals are difficult, it will just take some time to get into routines and form some new habits. In the end, sticking with it will benefit all of us, so I'm going to really give it a good try! Wish me luck!
