2012 Review and 2013 Resolutions

2012 was a fantastic year over here in {not so} clean land.  My maternity leave continued, and then ended and I quit my job.  M graduated from her first year of Preschool in June and we had a great family vacation and road trip to Great Wolf Lodge, Portland and Seattle.  We met some amazing friends and had a blast.  The rest of the summer was fairly uneventful, and the school year started with M increasing her school time to 3 days per week at Preschool.  The last four months have seen an increase in my business, and our house has become more busy.  But it's all very exciting.  

My goals for 2012 were to have a better schedule, to eat better and to continue to simplify.  Our schedule has almost been forced into a new normal, with M being in school more.  I've found a relatively comfortable balance between family, house and work, and hopefully will continue to get better at that.  Eating better is hard to evaluate at the end of the year, with the holidays, the treats, the good food.  And simplifying has gone great.  Overall, I think I did a pretty good job at last year's resolutions.

Now, my goals for 2013.

Continue to simplify-I could probably have this as a goal for the rest of my life.  In the last few months, I've found, and gotten addicted to local buy/sell/swap groups, and a local bidding wars site.  I sold my maternity clothes as soon as I fit back into my regular jeans.  No excuses!  Then, after passing on my baby stuff to friends that could use it, I started listing and selling what I could.  And as I started cleaning up different rooms of the house, I found more stuff I could sell, either on the buy/sell/swap group, or if it was a higher ticket item, on the bidding site.  THAT one is fun because if more than one person wants something, and I've priced it right, that can drive the price up.  Items that aren't in good enough condition to sell, I can donate to the thrift store where my Mother in Law volunteers.  A fast way to simplify the house, and perhaps to make some pennies as well.

Do something everyday for myself-part of being a good wife, mom, employee, or person, includes taking care of me.  So whether I throw on wii fit and do some yoga, or take a bath, watch a movie, go for a walk, or coffee, or something else, I want to try to do something every day just for me.  Time to take care of myself, re-focus, and be better able to concentrate on all of the other things I have going on.  

Hold myself accountable more- I have enough lists, or apps, or just know in my head what I need to do but fail to follow through and get them done.  Like house cleaning.  I could very easily get off the couch and go wipe down the counter.  But I don't.  It could take two seconds, but I stay where I am.  If I held myself more accountable to the lists I've made, the daily, weekly, monthly etc tasks I want to accomplish, then I would get a lot more done, and would feel a lot better.  Wait, isn't this why I started this blog?  HAHA!  Ok so I want to use the blog more.  I need more accountability in my life, more follow through.  

What are your resolutions for this year?  Or goals, or just things you want to work on or keep in mind?  Let me know and we can hold each other accountable to get everything done that we need to.  Let's start 2013 with some great goals and some great friends!

Happy New Year to everyone!