No Resolution New Year

Happy Tuesday Girls!  

It is hard to believe that tomorrow is the last day of 2014!!!

We are ready for 2015!!!!

Each year, I realize more and more how quickly time does truly pass.  I am always sad to see the holidays end, however I really love the fresh start and clean slate of a new year!  

For years, I would always make new years resolutions, the basic, generic, resolutions that most of us make, lose weight, eat healthy, go to the gym, save money...blah blah blah!  And usually by January 16 I have pretty much fallen off the wagon!!

I saw this and just laughed...yup that was pretty much me!!!!

I realized for me, making a New Year's Resolution just never works, my intentions are always good January 1, but I just can't do it.  This year however I am not making one of those "generic" resolutions, yes I need to lose a few pounds, yes I need to not drink so much Pepsi, yes I need to eat better, yes I need to save more money...and hopefully I will be able to do all those things!  But, for 2015 I have decided to write down at the start of each month, small goals to try and achieve, that I know will make a BIG impact on my life!  

I really noticed last year (with some friendly reminders from my husband), that I was spending way too much time "plugged in".  I was constantly on my phone checking emails, checking Facebook, checking Instagram, etc, and not focusing enough of my time on my family.  It is so very easy to get caught up in the social media world, feeling the "need" to know what every single person is doing at that exact moment.  Now, don't get me wrong, I absolutely LOVE social media, and all the wonderful people that it has brought into my life, but I can never ever allow it to take precedence over my own life and family.  I definitely feel like there may have been some little moments over the past year that I missed, simply because I was too busy doing something on my iPhone!  My husband is pretty fantastic, and we rarely ever argue, however his absolute biggest pet peeve is the amount of time that I spend on my phone, it really aggrevates him.  We have discussed it like a gazillion times, and I have always said I would put away the phone at night, and well, I never do.  And then over the Christmas holiday I thought to myself, how selfish of me to spend all this time on my phone or iPad, my husband does so much for me, and asks for so little in return, just for us to spend as much time together as we can, and I can't even give him that!!!  Well, once I had that realization I just knew something had to change, how unfair to him, and my children as well.  So going forward I am going to make a conscious effort to really not use my phone after dinner! 

(not sure why the picture quality is so awful)

 

- turn off my phone after dinner

- wake up 30 minutes earlier each day

-go to bed each night with Mark

-play at least one game a week with the little kids

 

Turning off my phone will allow me to really focus on my family!  Trying to wake up a little earlier in the mornings will hopefully help make each day start a bit smoother, so I don't start the day feeling rushed!  Going up to bed each night with Mark, this is very important to him, so it is important to me.  This will give us some peaceful time to chat or watch some TV, just the two of us!  Playing at least one game a week with the littles, this may sound so silly, but with 5 kids, and a very busy, crazy life, I often feel like I don't give them all enough one-on-one time, so I am hoping this will let them know, they yes even though our lives are super crazy busy, I am never too busy to spend a little alone time with each of them!!

So there you have it, my list of my January Goals, they are small little things, that I know are attainable, that will make a BIG impact on my life.  I am definitely not perfect, and I may slip up along the way, but I am really hoping that at each month's end, I will be able to cross each goal off my list as "completed", and hopefully these new things will become routine over time in my day to day life. 

 

So how about you....do you make resolutions, do you set goals for yourself?  I would love to hear what others do to start off a new year!!!

 

Thanks so much for reading today!  Have the BEST day!!!!