2013

Its the beginning of a new year, which usually means it's time to set some goals and make some new resolutions.  I read through my post from last year of my goals and I was a little bit proud of myself seeing how far I've come this year and recognizing changes that I've made.  Some things definitely took me all year...like reading the Book of Mormon, but I can say that I actually accomplished some of my goals and really worked at balancing my life.  There is still a lot of room to grow and change, but I feel like I am headed in the right direction.

I'm not choosing a word this year, but I still have a list of goals for myself that I plan to work on.  Some are too personal to share, but what I found super fun was an article from pinterest...don't ask me what it was cause apparently I didn't pin it and I can't seem to find it anywhere...but it was a list of questions that Cody and I asked each other as we drove the 7 1/2 hours home.  These were questions about our past year, how we felt about our accomplishments, what our difficulties were, what we want to accomplish in the new year...etc...etc...etc.  It was actually a lot of fun to just sit there and talk and reflect on the year and think about the things we were looking forward to in the next year.

As I've been thinking about where life is headed and what is important it's been fun to read other peoples blogs and read about their ways of doing things.  My sister has decided to try something new, learn something new and .... something else (can't remember what the things were exactly) everyday.  She's focusing on trying new things...I love that!  I tend to be set in my ways...but that doesn't mean other peoples ways of doing things are wrong, they're just different.  What a great way to change your perspective and maybe find some new favorite things in the process.  Some other blogs do monthly goals...another great idea!  I'm good at making lists, but if I had a monthly goal list of things I want to accomplish that month I think I could get a lot done!!  Hmmm.  I'm thinking I like that.  hehe!  And then of course I've browsed the one little word list of all the different words people have picked in the past and words people are thinking of this year.  I really loved that process last year and loved focusing on a word that encompassed all aspects of my life.  One word that jumps out at me is "Create."  Not just because I really want to get back to scrapbooking this year and being creative in those ways, but because this year I want to create opportunities for myself.  There are so many different ways to approach your goals...and I love them all.

This is going to be a great year...one where I am going to push myself to grow a little more.

K :)

And p.s....I should explain why I posted that picture of Ryker from today.  We met my mom and sister...and kids and went sledding.  It really was so much fun and the kids all loved it.  But one of the reasons I posted a picture of my sweet little Ryker is because he is the most determined person I know.  He is such an example to me of trying new things...and trying again.  If he sets his mind to something he's going to do it.  This kid eats pretty much anything.  Seriously...fish, sushi, olives...(I'm trying to think of anything that people don't like) but the one thing he's never really liked is tomatoes.  The funny thing about that though is that anytime he sees a tomato he has to try eating it.  My mom always has tomato plants in the summer and Ryker has been known to pick the tomatoes and try eating them.  This summer he was determined...all on his own...to like tomatoes and he tried them and tried them and tried them until he could say he liked them.  Now the look on his face tells a different story, but he will always eat a tomato if its in a salad or whatever.  He's such a good example to me and it's something I really admire about him!!

A Little Chocolate

The Easter Bunny made his appearance last week and the amount of chocolate consumed was ridiculous.  Maguire's lips were constantly covered with the yummy goodness...so this momma had to step in and hide the chocolate.  hehe!

We spent Easter weekend at the cabin and loved playing in the sunshine.  It is spring there...so bike rides, walks and playing outside and at the park took up most of our days.  Cody hates that there are always projects to work on, but I keep reminding him that if we want to be able to come and enjoy the cabin during the summer months we need to get everything done now.  We managed to get all the blinds done which has been on our list for a long time...and I even spent an afternoon shortening some of the blinds upstairs.  I should have asked Cody how he would do it before I started cause the first one took me forever.  He came upstairs as I was starting the second one and made a comment like "why didn't you do it this way....??" and man was that sooooo much quicker!  Everything is coming together and hopefully the next time we go I can get some pictures to share.  I love love love it there!!

It's been super busy around here...but when isn't it??  hehe!!  These boys keep me hopping every minute of the day and with school and other activies there doesn't seem to be much time for anything else.  We had a kindergarten meeting this past week and I honestly started thinking to myself "do I have to send him to school??"  It's making me sad that Ryker will be in school every morning...how is that even possible.  My kids are soooo ready to grow up and move onto the next stage of their little lives, but I am not.  Seriously.  I'm going to have two mornings a week next year with no kids!!!  WHAT!!???  What will I do with myself???  I'm not so great with change, and this is almost too much for me to handle...haha!!

I've been contemplating my goals for this year...and thinking about my word...BALANCE.  I feel like I'm on the right track with everything.  Sometimes life pulls me in one direction and leaves no time for other important things, but thinking about balance in my life helps.  I had a situation this past week where I was literally needed in two places at once...and so of course I had a breakdown over it, but after some tears and a chat with my bestie I realized that the choice of where I really needed to be was more important.  Sometimes it really helps to have friends to talk to and complain to :)  My progress might be small sometimes, but I'm doing what I can to move in the right direction.  Life just sometimes takes over and I get sidetracked.  It happens!  Maybe I need to pull that chocolate out...hehe!!

K :)

 

The Simple Things

This past week I was once again thinking about goals...resolutions...and what I really want to accomplish this year.  I don't know if it was the fact that I've been super busy around here lately and haven't been posting on my blog much...or if I've realized that my life is completely unbalanced at the moment...but I needed to be reminded of the life I was trying to create.

It happened last Sunday actually as I was sitting in Relief Society.  The Stake Relief Society presidency was visiting and one of the councillors shared a message that really stuck with me.  She too was talking about "Balance" and encouraged us to do the important things first.  She demonstrated how if we do those things read our scriptures...say our prayers...basically do those things that strengthen us...then we will also have time to do the everyday things and also the fun things too!  I really needed to hear that message.

I've been mentally stressing about Ryker's school next year.  Not the fact that he'll actually be going to kindergarten...although I did have a moment where I contemplated what would happen if I just never sent him and he got to stay at home with me for the next 12 years...haha!  But I've just been stressing about making sure he's in the right spot for him.  It's such a big decision to make.

And then every minute of my time has been spent working on Maguire's room.  It needs to get done.  Projects...they seem to consume me.

And so I was thinking about how unbalanced my life was right now...in this moment.


I've made some changes.  Let's hope this week gets better.

K :)

Welcome 2012

This year I'm approaching my goals...resolutions...a little different.  It feels like I make a list of things I want to accomplish each year and then feel like I only end up doing bits and pieces.  I've been thinking long and hard about what I want this year to be and where my time and energy should go...and contemplating my struggles this past year.  I immediately knew where and what my life was lacking.  balance.  As a mother I feel like I'm weighted down heavily in some areas...giving to one side and never enough time for the other.  I over extend myself and often feel frazzled trying to "get it all done" when I know very well that I'm not able to do it all.  I'm just not.  

This year I plan to focus on one little word...balance.  I'm not planning on doing all that Ali offers with this concept, but I'm inspired by her idea of letting a word help to make my life better than it is today.  

With this word I plan to...

Take time for myself more often (okay...probably not the first thing I'll accomplish, but something that needs to happen a little more often)

Learn to say no. (I've never been good at this, but it needs to happen)

Read The Book of Mormon with my family (this is a goal given from our Bishop...find out more here)

Make a cleaning schedule that works for me

Exercise

Eat Healthy and Meal Plan

Serve

Document Life...through blogging, journaling, scrapbooking, pictures...etc.

Project Life (read more about it here)

the list could go on....

(I'm so proud of my 2011 project life album.  I love that it's complete and an honest not so perfect look at our life.  99% of the pictures were taken with either my iphone or a little digital camera...but each blurry picture is perfect.  I LOVE it!!!  ...and it was a goal I completed.)

I don't expect to accomplish everything on my list, but what I am hoping to accomplish is a more balanced life....

A life that is a little better than the one today.

K :)

21 day challenge

Today I am revisiting my goals.  I've been trying to do this all year...every so often.  I kind of need to remind myself what I was actually committed to at the beginning of the year, otherwise I just seem to forget and nothing gets accomplished.  So today I thought I'd start working away on the "organizing/cleaning out" goal I set.  It really is something constant in my life, but I'm thinking that maybe if I just tackle one small thing a day that at least the junkiest spots will get cleaned up and the rest of the house will start to feel a bit more organized.

I found 2 inspiration posts.  The first was this one....

(read more here)

 and the second you can read here.  It's a 21 day challenge with the same kinds of ideas as above.


I thought I'd kind of follow along, but adapt it to my house needs...cause um scrapbook stuff will take me more than a day!  Seriously.  That's a week in itself...haha!!  You get what I mean :)  I wanted a realistic time line and didn't want this to be something I was doing for months on end...cause it feels like to big of a thing.  21 days.  That's what I'm giving myself.  They say 21 days forms a new habit, right??


So today...junk drawers.  How many of those do you have in your house??  We have way too many.  haha!  I have two in the kitchen and then I'm going to include my front entrance table drawers in this since I've been wanting to clean those out for months and just haven't.  Out of site out of mind...I never open them so don't even ask what's in there cause I have no idea!


Wish me luck!!!


K

cleaning and scraping and all that fun stuff!

okay...

just sharing a recent layout i managed among all the sorting in my room.  super simple...but some of my favorite pictures!

now onto the more important things...


spring cleaning is in the air around here.  i really don't know what it is about spring that makes me want to purge and clean out EVERYTHING.  okay, maybe i do know that it's the looonnnggg winters that get to me.  there's just something about cleaning up.  i took some time last week to remind myself once again about my goals for the year and realized how off track i've been.  i'm not doing well.  no excuses, but life really does get in the way sometimes...or maybe i let life get in the way.  whatever the reason for not moving forward i'm ready to go at it again.  along with 'spring cleaning' i had set a goal to clean out every closet in this house.  this is a constant for me in my life since i always feel like i'm cleaning in these areas, but things pile up so quickly and it just has to get done.  i've really been thinking about the importance of living with less and getting rid of things if i'm not using them.  really if i haven't used it within the last year...or even couple of months i don't need it.  i need to go through our towels and sheets and see what's in that closet....  uugghh.  i secretly enjoy cleaning, but i'm not very good at sticking with it.  i'll start something and start something else until i have 3 or 4 projects on the go.

soooo......

on the top of my list this week is working away on the closets around here.  how nice would it be to look back at the end of the year and be able to say i accomplished that goal...not only once, but twice!!  organize and organize again :)  haha!!


the quilt goal is actually headed in a good direction.  i recently ordered a bunch of material i now just need to get going on it.  so that one is coming along.


the work out thing has not been happening.  it's another one that is high on my list.  i keep thinking that i'll start once the weather is a bit warmer, but i can't keep waiting around for that.  haha!  i have managed walks and jogging every so often and even crunches...sit ups...push ups...but there is no real routine.  and that is key.  I need to figure out how to make it a daily routine.  so check back with me on this one ;)


the house projects are coming along.  i've done good with this.  i have a couple of items i need to just take some pictures of and then they are ready to share!  i actually finished something really cute and started another....it's coming!



Project Life is good too.  I need to catch up on some journaling, but i have it all ready to go.  i'm on top of this one and it feels good!


okay...so the pictures of myself...umm...ya...not so good.  i could improve here.  i should set a goal to capture so many shots of myself or hand the camera off to someone else....  i can definitely improve.


study my scriptures.  this is an important one and one that always can use improvement.  one thing that i am really excited about is The Living Scriptures  that my parents got my kids for Christmas.  i really wanted these for my kids since i thought it would be a great tool in helping teach them the stories.  my parents paid for the first few and then we paid for the rest, but i think they are totally worth it.  we have watched them for family home evening or even just on a sunday night.  they are great!


we are onto blogging....  this is a personal goal for me since i use my blog as a journal of my little families life.  some months i seem to manage more posts than others, but right now it's hard to even post once a week...or once a month for that matter.  haha!  i know it's important though to be documenting and recording our life and so i really want to try harder on this one.  there are so many funny things that the kids say and do...i just don't ever want to forget these precious moments.


and last on the list was taking time to read.  i kind of told myself that if i could read one book a month i was doing good.  some months have been good and then this month hasn't happened.  it's not because i don't have anything to read either...it's just that i haven't felt like reading.  it's staying lighter out now and i'm spending more time in the garage working on projects...haha!  and when i read it takes over my life.


it feels good to take a look at each of my goals and think about them...look at where i can make improvements and feel good about where some of them are headed.


K :)

p.s.  I have more layouts to share this week.  thought i would break it up and maybe post a new one each day.  so check back :)

evaluating

So today I'm evaluating my goals.  Every once in awhile it's a good thing...otherwise I forget completely about the things I've been wanting to improve on.  It happens.  

I'm doing good in some areas...like finding time to read.  I finally finished reading little bee...which was a good read...and instead of looking through my pile of books to read under my bed I made a trip to Chapters Monday night.  I love buying books.  If only I could read as fast as I'm buying...haha!  

Project Life is coming along...I'm just not very patient at getting my pictures in.  I want it done now.  But I have a year ahead of me.  It's coming though.  The album is all put together and I absolutely love it!  I have it in our living room and keep flipping through the one week that is completed.  :)

I've managed to get a few pictures of myself.  As long as there are a couple it's an improvement from last year.  haha!

Yesterday I finished a little table that I had started back in the summer.  I'll have to share some pictures when it find a home :)

And the big area I need help in is the exercising.  I'm having such a hard time fitting this into my schedule.  I know the gym is out for me, but there has to be something I'm willing to spend time doing at home.  Anyone that has workout equipment at home...is there something you think was worth spending money on?  Like a treadmill or eliptical?  I'm not sure I want to spend money on something like that, but I keep throwing the idea around.  I kind of think I'd use it for the first month or two and then fall back into my routine of not doing anything.  Okay.  Maybe this week I need to evaluate my time and see where I can fit it in.  I think I need to cut some laying around out and fill it with exercise.  hmm....

Today the boys and I made cinnamon buns...gluten free style :)  They are just getting ready to go in the oven and I'm hoping they taste good.  I don't know why I keep attempting to bake gf when Cody doesn't seem to really like the result.  haha!  The boys and I always end up eating the baking and Cody won't touch it.  I try.  :)

I hear a little boy bouncing in his crib, so I should run get him before he pulls everything off the walls like yesterday!  I just can't keep up with these boys...it's seriously been one of those weeks.  That's a whole other post though.....

K :)

it's a new year!

A new year means so many things...a new start...new goals...new outlooks...new experiences...okay so a lot of 'new' things, but it's also a time to reflect.  This past year seemed like it was busy.  Full of exciting and good things.  Of course some not so good things too, but overall it was a great year.  I took a little time to look back at my goals from 2010 and I'm embarrassed to admit that in some areas I didn't do so well.  And I have no excuses.  It just didn't happen.  It's okay though...it's a new year...a new start.  My list this year seems long.  I figure that if I just write everything down here then I can look at it as a "to-do" list that I can check off as things get down or are worked on.  Some things can be accomplished quickly and then others are habits that need to be formed...not an easy fix or change, but will take time this year to work towards.  Okay....I'll just begin the list (I'll warn you that it will be random, but it's for me, right?)  :)

- Clean out every closet in the house...and I mean every closet.  I feel like I'm always doing this, but it's something that needs to get done.  If I was even more on top of things I would have cleaned out the coat closet before it snowed and realized that Maguire needed another winter hat and that Ryker could use a scarf.  Instead I waited until after it had snowed a ton and was searching through baskets of winter stuff to figure out that we had unmatched mittens!

- I'm thinking of starting another quilt.  This time I want to make one for the basement that we can snuggle under when we're watching t.v.  Yes, we already have blankets and quilts down there, but it's time for something new.  (and some of the blankets down there are just too small or not my favorite)

- I need to figure out a workout schedule.  So this is a similar goal to last year, but I feel like I actually accomplished my goal from last year a little bit.  I had said I wanted to get in better shape and I have...eating wise.  After getting married and struggling a bit with some things and then having a baby I gained some weight.  Common problem.  But I was ready to do something about it.  After one of my besties introduced me to this book I really started to figure out what works for me.  I changed a lot of my eating habits (partially due to Cody) and the way I cook.  Just by making some simple changes to the way I eat I have lost about 15 pounds!  It's amazing what eating can do.  I feel so much better and even so much more educated on nutrition.  I have done no exercising though...and that needs to change.  So that is why I am making this one of my goals.  I'm not great at going to the gym, I'd actually prefer to figure something out that will work for me at home.  

- I have some house projects to finish.  Things in the garage that need to get done...these are decorating projects.  We have a heated garage too, so there is no excuse on this one either.  I just need to take a couple of nights and get it done.

- Project Life!  After thinking about it a little I decided to just go ahead and do it.  I think it will be soooo worth it.  I'm acutally really excited about this!!

- Another creative goal I have is to take more pictures of myself this year!  Not that I need pictures of me...but my kids need to see that I was there too.  That I was a part of their lives.  Cause the way it's going right now I'm the one that's always behind the camera.  They'll have millions (literally) of themselves and of course pictures with their daddy...but when am I ever in the picture with them?  Today I started by just taking a picture of me.  Nothing exciting, but one day I'll look back and either think "I liked that haircut!" or "What was I thinking wearing that?"  haha!  But I need to have a few of those pictures thrown into the rest of the pictures of our lives.

- A more spiritual goal...really study my scriptures.  Again this was a goal last year, but I need to always keep it as my goal because I'm striving to always improve in this area.  There's reading...and then there's really studying.  There's a difference.

- Of course I want to blog more.  This is one of my main forms of journaling at the moment.  It seems a little sad that this is sometimes the best it gets for me, but it's something.

- take more time to read.  This is something that I love to do, but never seem to find the time.  I've tried carrying a book around with me, but a few minutes here and there doesn't get me far.  I have some good books that I'm dying to dig into, but just haven't found the time.  I think I need a holiday so I can get some reading done...it's one of the only times I get to really read.

Okay...there's really way too many.  I should just stop here.  There's lots.  And I'm okay with the list.  I don't mind that the list is long...it's okay.  I'm going to do my best.

I'm just excited for a new year!

K :)