2012 Resolutions

It was fun and fulfilling to set my own goals/resolutions in 2011, so I think I'll do it again this year. And just like last year, I've taken my sweet time trying to figure out what they will be.

1. Continue on my weight loss journey. It was a HUGE deal to loose 60 pounds last year, but I still hope to loose a bit more. I still haven't ever set a final goal, I am just going to trust my body to tell me when it is done. So for now, I'll just say, I'd like to loose another 10-30 pounds.

2. Exercise. Yes, I think this does need to be a separate goal. Exercise is what has helped me loose so much weight. I'm sure I could have lost weight just changing my eating habits, but not near as fast. I've also come to terms that I will probably have to exercise the rest of my life just to maintain once I hit my goal weight. I'm hoping at that point, I'll be able to cut back and not have to exercise as much. But still, I know that if I don't want to put the weight back on, exercise is key.

3. Get a handle on our finances. I know I'm overstressed because of all the upcoming things in the next few months, but I think if I had planned ahead better, the stress wouldn't be so bad. In 2010, I was paid ahead on all our bills so I didn't have to worry about them through the winter months when life gets crazy. I didn't do that last year and now I'm wishing I had. It has been so stressful, I even put off my own birthday presents! (But they will be here soon enough.) Then, I just want to spend less and save more. The cruise is just over 3 months away and I still need to pay a little bit more to get it paid off (which I think I'll be able to do in about 2 weeks). Then I just need to turn right around and start saving for excursions and souvenirs.

4. I want to cook more at home. Its so much healthier and cheaper. Well, actually we don't eat out a lot. Our problem is more that come dinner time we have no dinner menu and therefore no groceries. So then we rummage around in the freezer for elk streaks or frozen pizza. Steak is not my favorite thing and even I can get sick of pizza after a while. So I'm going to work harder at planning out weekly menus. Thanks to Pinterest, this is so much easier then it used to be. And when Josh is back to working out of town, I want to be better about cooking for myself and not eat cereal in place of dinner each night.
5. Don't be so wasteful. I am so bad at buying stuff for meals and either over buying what I need, or forgetting what I bought and then it goes to waste. One night we decided to make Pizza Monkey Bread. I was worried I wouldn't have enough pepperoni, but I found 4 packages! (Two of them were opened and half gone, so it was more like 2 new packages and 2 partial used packages.) Another day, I called Josh at home to check for cream cheese in the fridge. I thought I had some, but wasn't sure how old it was. He found two, BOTH were expired, one of which expired in February 2011. I need to find a better way to organize my small kitchen so this doesn't keep happening. I don't want to throw anymore food away. Already we've been working on this. I can't believe how much cheese was in my fridge! We've been working hard to use up what is the fridge before doing any grocery shopping. Next I need to move on to my cupboards and what horrors of waste lay there.

6. I follow a blog that has participated in this 40 day challenge. The first year she got rid of 40 bags of junk in 40 days. The 2nd year she completed 40 craft project in 40 days. So I'm not really sure what the whole idea is, or if this is something she made up on her own, or found on a different blog. But the point is that my house needs dejunked. So I want to try and get rid of 40 bags or boxes of stuff, but I'm giving myself all year to do it. I'm hoping to get in a yard sale this year and that will help me get rid of a lot of stuff. If not, there is always the DI. Or the garbage can.