Happy New Year

Ok I went to start this post last night and got as far as the title when Dave received a call from our friends Joe and Christen. Dave had invited them over earlier in the day and they were calling to let us know they were on there way. Of course this was the first I heard of this so I had to go change back into my jeans and nicer t-shirt than the one I was in. So that put an end to my post which I had all figured out and was really liking.

Now that I have a moment to think I thought I would get on and write my post finally. Only there is one problem, I can't remember what my original thought was. I am really sad about this because I can remember that it was really good. So instead I will write what I am thinking about.

Growing up my mom never did the resolution thing so as a young adult I didn't either. I do know people that do them but it seems like they never follow them or stick with them. So last year Dave and I decided that we would set some goals (not resolutions) for ourselves and our family.

Mine two were very simple and probably pretty common things people pick as a resolution but remember this was a goal for me (yes I'm crazy but I like the sound of goal better). First up was to loose some weight. I had been unhappy with my body since I had Emma and having Ian only made it worse so I set a small simple goal that I thought was reasonable for a person that didn't do diets well at all. I wanted to loose 10 pounds and by May I had reached my first goal. If I was smart I would have kept going because there are still somethings I need to work on but I didn't. I stopped there to take a break and haven't gone back since. I will say though that I am blessed with the gene of not gaining weight easily so I am still at they same weight I was in May.

My second goal was something a little more personal and something that until now I've never talked about with anyone even Dave. 2007 was a very emotionally stressful year for me because of finally learning the truth about my biological dad. I was going through a spell where I just didn't know who I was anymore and for me that was a HUGE deal. So I decided that if I was ever going to change some things about myself that I didn't like it was going to be now or never. I've always been a person that doesn't take allot of risk or try new things and I wanted to change that. While I still have allot of work to do I think I did a good job of this. Starting off with this blog. I'm not a good writer and it's never been something I enjoyed but I took the risk of looking like an idiot and did it. I think this was one of the best decisions I have ever made. I have gained some new friends from it as well as learned some things about myself through some of the post I have written. I also took some risk at work and wound up holding a training seminar for a week where over 150 people attended, again this was HUGE for me since I freeze when speaking in front of groups. I did a great job and all the feedback was positive from my training class. Lastly I took some new risk with my looks. For the first time in my life I had my hair colored and I loved it. I also started forcing myself to try on different styles of clothes and add some color to my wardrobe which has paid off. As little as it seems those small things have really made me feel better about myself which is making me a better mother, wife, daughter, sister, and friend.

I haven't completely decided what goals I would like to set for this year yet but I do know I want to continue to improve on the ones I set for last year. Dave and I have also talked about living a healthier lifestyle for ourselves and our kids. We don't eat badly but we also don't eat like we should and we want to teach our children while they are still young how to eat a balanced diet. We both had single mothers which resulted in a lot of junk food growing up and we don't want that for out kids.

So what are your goals/resolutions? Do you stick to them?