May Goals

It feels like so long ago I shared my April goals, yet I can't believe it's May already. I love May though. It's my favourite month of the year, and not just because it's my birthday month. Ok, partly because it's my birthday month. We were spoiled in April with amazing weather, but usually it's May where we finally have super warm days and can feel that summer is just around the corner. Mother's Day is also in May, so now my family has double the reason to celebrate me (not narcissistic at all over here!). And there's finally a long weekend again. So ya, I love you May!

Let's take a look at how I did in April before we get into May goals.

APRIL GOALS REVISITED 

1. Work out every single day: DONE. I'll talk about this more in another post, but I'm happy to report that I've now "worked out" for 28 consecutive days. Anything from strength training, to long walks, running or just relaxation yoga. The goal is to get moving every single day.

2. Wake up at 7 every single day: I can confidently say this happened zero times. Haha!

3. Do one load of laundry every single day: I should have kept track. I don't remember. I know it wasn't every day, but I feel like I was on top of the laundry more than I usually am.

4. Watch one show or movie with my husband every second night: SUCCESS! Maybe not every second night, but we finished off season 5 of The Walking Dead, a few episodes of Brooklyn Nine-Nine and we watched 4 movies so I'm thinking we did pretty good.

5. Clean up the kitchen every evening: I still struggle with this. I did better than I normally do, but some nights I seriously just couldn't be bothered. I found listening to an audiobook or propping up my laptop so I could watch a show on Netflix while doing the dishes and tidying up made the experience much more enjoyable though!


So where does that leave me for May? Well, since I'm trying to build better habits in my daily life, I want to continue working on the above. I'm not ready to take a complete rest day from working out because I'm afraid I'll fall off the wagon again. I've been incorporating a lot of yoga this past month, and I'd like to keep that up. As for getting up early in the morning...I'm not sure if I will ever be able to make this happen, but it's still something I'm going to try for. But I'm also not beating myself up over not making it happen right now.

As for more specific goals, here they are:

MAY GOALS

1. Continue with my workout streak, but include a daily yoga practice.

I've discovered some neat yoga accounts on youtube and there are a lot of 30 day challenges out there. I'm going to do one from start to finish for 30 days (I haven't started yet though). I can either include it as my workout for the day, or as an addition to my daily workout.

2. Give my blog a makeover.

I've been wanting to purchase a new design for my blog for over a year now, and I have my eye on a few on etsy. It's not even the money, I'm just putting it off. But it's time for a refresh! Happy birthday to me!

3. Create blog categories and an About Me page.

I'm embarrassed to even make mention to the fact that I don't have an About Me page. Totally taboo, I know. But I think it's the hardest thing ever to write. I have a partially written one in drafts, but I cringe every time I read it over. Why is that? I talk about myself all the time on here!! It shouldn't be that hard to do.

4. Finish Sully's room.

The current bedroom Sully is in, needs a lot of work. It was painted a horrible colour, the closet needs to be redone and the light fixture switched out. So, we are in the process of painting the spare room next to his and will move him into that room when it's done. The closest also needs to be rebuilt. And then I need to find new curtains and decorate his room. He deserves a finished room, and I feel guilty that it's taken us a year to finally get started on this.


And that's it. Of course, I'll continue working on past goals, such as keeping on top of the laundry and tidying the kitchen every night, but if I listed every single thing I want to work on in my life, this post would never end.

May feels like such a busy month - I have 3 runs coming up, another fun group workout with the Blog Squad, my birthday, Mother's Day, and then Jim's folks arrive for the whole month of June! So if I can continue with my workout streak and new yoga challenge, I'll be happy with that!


Did you make monthly goals for May?

What's something you hope to achieve this month?

April Goals + Some Real Talk

I'm not going to lie, I feel like I'm falling behind in keeping up with my monthly goals. Or not even falling behind, but more that I start out the month well, then have a couple of bad days or a week, and then I can't get back on track. And some days my life feels like it's go-go-go and all I've accomplished is one thing on my list of many. And then of course I can't help but wonder how other people seem to manage it all. They work full time, raise kids, keep a clean house, exercise regularly, eat well, read books, watch their favourite TV shows and a few movies. They meal-plan, grocery shop with a list, write, read and comment on blogs, keep social media updated. It's not that I'm feeling sorry for myself or seeing other people's lives through rose-coloured glasses, it's that I truly know people out there who seem to accomplish "it all". Or maybe that's the key word right there: seem.

I've been trying to look at my daily life from a birds eye view to gain some perspective. I don't really want to give up one thing for another (like reading instead of watching a show, or blogging instead of watching a movie with my husband), but I know sometimes something has to give. But I'm confident that I should be able to find a better balance. And ultimately, I'm quite sure this comes down to being better organized. Gee, how fitting is that, considering my word for 2016 is 'organize'? Very.

I think my main problem is going to bed too late, and it's the one thing this month, heck, this year even, that I really need to work on. I like to think that I get a lot of things done in the evening, but truthfully, once Sully is in bed, I don't. Sure, that's when I often blog, but it's also the time I do a lot of  puttering from one thing to the next instead of fully doing one or two real things. Things that would at least make my evenings feel more accomplished. I'm also quite fortunate that I have a child that doesn't wake up at the butt crack of dawn. Of course, this works great for my night owl ways, but I can't help but think that I need to be starting my day before he gets up. Even if it's just half an hour to get myself dressed and ready for the day ahead.

Easier said than done. I know. The other weekend, I woke up around 7:30, and even though Sully and Jim were still sleeping and I knew I could easily will myself to fall back asleep, I actually got up and went downstairs, made a pot of coffee and finished off my current read. Two whole hours I had to myself and it was glorious. I told myself not to forget that feeling of getting quiet time to myself so that hopefully it would motivate me for future early wake-ups. But a morning person is not built over night, and this is obviously something I'm going to have to work really hard on if I want to achieve it.

Anyway, my monthly goals have all pretty much been the same..."workout/run/meal plan/read", and those are still things I will continue to work on/do every month, but I don't feel the need to rewrite them out for this post. My workouts have decreased this past month, as has my running. Reading has been great, and I even finally started my online book club! You can read more about it here and it's not too late to join! First post is on April 20, so as long as you read the book by then, you are good to go! Meal planning hasn't been consistent, but I haven't thrown in the towel completely yet. I'm a work in progress, guys!

So thank you for bearing with me, and if you skipped ahead to this part, I don't blame you! Here are my more specific goals for April:


APRIL GOALS

1. Work out every single day.

This could mean anything from a body pump class, to a quick online yoga class, to a long walk outside with my kid. I am going to talk about this more in another post, but long story short, I was recently inspired by Kristin's post, and I need to force myself to move every single day. It is much too easy for me to let one day, then two, then a whole week go by with literally no workouts and even very few walks done.

2. Wake up at 7 every single day. 

I am not a morning person, and I'm pretty sure everyone knows it. But, it's not that I can't get up early, it's just that I don't particularly like it. But sometimes we have to do things we don't like in order to change our habits or develop new ones. I usually let myself sleep until Sully wakes me up, which can range anywhere from 6:45am to 8:45am, but for the most part, he sleeps till after 7am. Even if I just use that time in the morning at first to read my current book or a few blogs, that would still be quiet time for me. If my husband can get up early, then I should be able to too.

3. Do one load of laundry every single day.

Between clothes, workout clothes, towels, sheets, and rags, laundry never ends. I might not need to do a load every single day, but if there is laundry there, then I should put in a load. There is nothing worse than having to do 3-4 loads in one afternoon trying to play catch-up! And it would be nice to not always have overflowing laundry baskets.

4. Watch one show or movie with my husband every second night. 

I know, this seems like an odd one, but Jim and I have a lot of shows we love watching together and I'm constantly making him wait to watch something with me because I'm either blogging, reading or doing something else. It's something we enjoy doing together and it's important to spend time together, even if it is in front of the TV.  I'm sure most of you can agree that watching a good show with someone else who also enjoys it makes the experience all that much better!

5. Clean up the kitchen every evening.

Another thing I've gotten lazy with. Once dinner is over and Sully is in bed, sometimes the last thing I want to do is clean up the kitchen. I know it doesn't take long, and the reward is totally worth it, so I just need to make it a daily habit. I love starting off the day with a clean kitchen as it makes breakfast time way less stressful.

And that's it. Well these and my other ongoing goals that I continue to work at. I know what needs to be done, I just need to stop making excuses and do these things. But I do believe that the more I do these things, and if I can get myself to regularly do them, then they will become a habit and part of my daily routine. Sounds so easy, doesn't it?


How often do you do laundry? Do you keep on top of it or have a designated laundry day?

Do you struggle with balancing all of your hobbies?

Did you make any goals for April?

March Goals

Whoa! I feel like I blinked and February was over. And we even had an extra day in the month this year!

I knew February would fly by - it always does so I kept that in mind for when I made my goals for the month. What I didn't plan on though, was getting sick for almost two weeks last month. Two weeks! That's half the month. I'm not sure what hit me, but I had one of the worst colds I've had in years and I just couldn't shake it. Usually I recover really quickly when I come down with someone, but not this time. And when I'm sick, or feeling under the weather, I lose control in almost all areas of my life.

Regular workouts? Didn't happen. Meal planning? Lots of pinning of recipes, but little making of them. I didn't even get to bed at a decent time most nights, which you think would be an easy one to accomplish when you aren't feeling well! My daily steps also suffered, but that's not surprising considering how little we left the house in those two weeks.

Anyway! I'm glad to finally say that that brutal cold and lack of energy I was feeling is behind me and I feel back to my normal self. So I'm not going to dwell on last month and feel badly about the things I didn't accomplish, instead, I'm moving forward and I'm going to use March as a refresher month to get my life back on track!


MARCH GOALS

1. Be in bed, lights out by 11p.m., every single night.

While I had more success with this last month than I expected, I still had some really late nights and I only have myself to blame for them. But it's not easy to ditch your night-owl ways, so I'm sticking with this same goal for March. And amazingly, when I do get to bed, with the lights out by 11p.m., I actually feel really good in the morning! So even this still relatively late bedtime is working better for me than midnight and beyond (obviously).

2. Walk 10,000 steps a day and strength train (BodyPump) 3x per week.

I basically took half of February off from working out, but I've already been back at it for a solid week. I've been participating in step challenges with my fitbit and I really need to step up my game. I'm usually a really competitive person, but for some reason, getting my steps in isn't bringing out that side of me. Although I wish it were! I feel so great when I go to BodyPump that I'm committed to getting to a class 3x a week, even if that means I have to go in the evenings.

3. Run 3-4x per week.

I talked about it in this post, but I need to step up my running game. I was working at building up my running strength by following a 5k training plan in efforts to focus on getting stronger as a runner both mentally and physically. I took many months off of running and I should stop expecting my body to be able to just jump back into running a 5k comfortably. My goal is to feel ready and confident for my first 10k of the year, which is at the end of May.

4. Read 3 books

I've been doing really well at making reading a priority, and my goal is just to continue with that. I have a few book club commitments to read for this month so my focus will be on getting through those books.

5. Start an online book club on the blog.

I keep saying I'm going to do this, but then I give an excuse as to why it hasn't happened yet. Honestly, I'm nervous to officially put it out there and then not have it received well. But it's something I really want to do, and since I read anyway, it's not a total loss if no one participates.

6. Meal plan once a week (on Saturday/Sunday), and grocery shop only once a week.

Like I said above, February was a bad month in the meal planning department. Many meals were made last minute, I went to the grocery store more than once a week and a lot of nights were "fend for yourself" nights which are fun once in awhile, but we had too many of them. I really just have to commit to taking the 30-60 minutes to sit down and pick out my meals for the week, because if I don't do it on the weekend, it doesn't end up happening.

And that's my plan for getting back on track (keeping in mind my word for 2016 was organize!) and I'm hopeful that March is going to be a better month! I know these goals are repeats, but they are things that I'm trying to make into habits and habits are definitely not made overnight. So I'm not giving up yet!

Do you make mini-goals for the month? Did you make goals for March? 

I'd love to hear about them! 

February Goals

I'm so glad January is over with. Not that anything particular bad happened in January, it's just my least favourite month of the year. Christmas and the holidays are over, it's a long month with no holidays (I don't count New Years Day because that's lumped in with Christmas holidays), and it's usually one of the coldest and dreariest months for me to get through. I hit a rough slump for a few days near the end of the month; I was exhausted for no reason and really struggled to motivate myself to do anything other than keep my toddler fed and entertained. Thankfully, February is off to a brighter start!

I haven't thought to hard about what I want to accomplish in terms of goals for this month. Looking back at my January goals, there are a few that I didn't complete to their fullest extent so I might just carry some of them over so I can continue to work on them.

Here's a quick look at what I wanted to achieve in January:

1. Drink a cup of tea every night. 

This did not happen. I had a strong start, but more often than not, I just completely forgot. The nights I did have tea though, I really enjoyed it. I think I need to set reminders for myself to really make this a habit.

2. Walk 10,000 steps a day.

I had some great days and some not so great days, in terms of steps taken. Definitely something I have to work at.

3. Go snowshoeing.

This is 100% my most successful goal from last month! I got out snowshoeing twice, once with my good friend Carol who was visiting me for the night, and another time with Ange and Jen as part of the Alberta Adventure Girls weekend retreat. We snowshoed for 10km UP A MOUNTAIN. (This was also my best day of steps taken - 22,331!)

4. Meal plan every Sunday night.

Actually, I was pretty successful with this! I started out strong, picking my meals on Saturday night, and then getting groceries on Sunday. It was so nice to not have to think about what to make every night. After my weekend in the mountains, I let the meal planning slip a bit since I wasn't organized come that Monday morning. This past week I didn't meal plan either (my mom has been visiting, and then Jim and I went to BC for three days), and I'm really noticing how much I miss being organized in the meal department. I'm feeling stressed at not having any idea on what to have for dinner, and I really miss having leftovers for lunch.

5. Read 3 books.

Done! I thought I could sneak in a fourth one, but my current read is taking me much longer to get through than I thought it would.

6. Be in bed, lights out, by midnight.

Oh dear. The month started out with really, really late bedtimes. But then, about mid month, I think these late nights finally started catching up with me because I was actually starting to feel exhausted by mid-afternoon with no perking up after Sully went to bed. So I think that was a good thing since I have been better at getting into bed around 11/1130pm, which is a huge improvement for me.


FEBRUARY GOALS

Even with the leap year, this is a quick month. And it's also the month that Sully turns two, so I know this month will busy and just fly by. With that in mind, I'm keeping my goals for February simple and borrowing from last month to continue with making better habits in my daily life.

1. Be in bed, lights out, by 11pm every single night. 

Sully is waking up earlier and earlier every morning and not going back to sleep like he used to be known to do. It's not fair to either of us for me to be so tired in the morning. Baby steps with this one as I'm pretty sure morning people aren't made over night!

2. Walk 10,000 steps a day and strength train (body pump) 3x a week.

I've recently returned to the gym and reignited my love for body pump. It's my favourite class ever and I love how strong it makes me feel. I need to schedule time for myself to do this class 3x per week. (On top of continuing to get in my 10,000 steps per day).

3. Read 3 books. 

I read a lot, but sometimes even I need to make time to read over doing something else (like mindlessly scrolling through social media, or going upstairs to bed half an hour earlier so that I can get some time with my book).

4. Continue with weekly meal planning.

Meal planning equals less stress and chaos, less money spent on groceries and more healthful foods consumed by myself and my family.

And that's it for this month! I know, it's not very exciting, but I believe that in order to continue to work on my personal growth and well-being, while also keeping in mind my WORD for 2016, these goals are the building blocks for achieving the best me that I can be. And Rome wasn't built in a night, right? (Or something like that...)


Do you make monthly goals for yourself?

What's one thing you are hoping to accomplish this month? 

Do you find it takes you longer than a month to create new habits?

January Goals

I've never broken down my yearly goals into monthly ones, but I noticed a lot of bloggers do this and I'm hopeful that it's just what I need to stay on track with my goals (which I've gone into depth in this post in case you missed it!). In the past, I write up all my goals for the year, and then I rarely look back at them until it's time to do a recap. Not very conducive to being successful!

Taking into consideration some of the things I would like to achieve this year, here are my goals for the month of January.

JANUARY GOALS

1. Drink a cup of tea every night. 

When I get on the tea bandwagon, I love it. But when I fall off, I completely stop drinking it altogether. But, in the past, if I have a cup of tea in the evenings, it often prevents me from mindlessly snacking and I'm hoping it will encourage me to skip the glass of wine or beer I've been privy to these past few months. Also, I was so excited when I got my David's Tea Advent calendar, but then we were away for the first bit of December, and with all the busyness of the month, I never even cracked it open. So this month, my goal is to complete the calendar. I started last night and I'm excited to try a new tea every day!

2. Walk 10,000 steps a day.

This will most likely be a goal every month. I noticed though that yesterday, after walking on the treadmill for 50 minutes, my fitbit didn't register any of the steps, nor did it register any active movement?! Well, that's annoying. Yet, when I rock on the rocker in Sully's room, it will register steps for that! Silly devices. So on days that I hop on the treadmill, I will take the mileage on there into consideration (in case you follow me on fitbit and think I'm cheating….!)

3. Go Snowshoeing.

This is an activity I've been wanting to try for years, and I'm almost a little bit embarrassed to say I've never done it. January seems like the right time to try it since we have lots of snow on the ground!

4. Meal plan every Sunday and grocery shop on Sunday or Monday morning.

I think the hardest part of this for me, is choosing the recipes/meals for the week. Do I go based on what's on sale? But then I have to look at flyers and go to multiple stores. Do you eat the same sort of foods for the week so as not to waste ingredients? Chicken every night would be boring. I'm starting to recognize that meal planning has been avoided this long because it definitely seems overwhelming! I'm hopeful it will get easier with time and that I will finally make use of my pinterest boards!

5. Read 3 books.

January is a long month and I should be able to get in three books. Right now, I'm reading The Revenant for my book club on Friday, and then I can't wait to see the movie, (HELLO, Leo!). Anyone want to see it with me??

6. Be in bed, lights out, by midnight.

When I say that I am a night owl, I mean it. Midnight is my usual bedtime, but that means I'm usually in bed, but still reading or scrolling through social media until around 12:30/1a.m.. I know I can't change from being a night owl overnight, so baby steps.

That's it! I think this sounds like a doable month. I'm pretty sure the hardest part will be the going to bed early thing, ha!



Do you make mini goals for the month?

What's the first book of 2016 that you're reading?



*affiliate links have been used

My Goals and Word for 2016

I remember around this time last year, reading blog posts about choosing a word to live by for the year, instead of focusing on just goals/resolutions. I loved that idea and knew I wanted to do the same for the following year. I've been thinking a lot about my word for 2016, I wanted a word that encompassed all my goals for the year, but one that wasn't too limiting either. I needed my word to work for me, my current lifestyle, and my new goals and dreams for the upcoming year.

I want my goals to be realistic and achievable. I don't want to forget all about them (like I did last year), and I want to work on self-growth and becoming a better version of myself. I don't want to continue complaining to my friends and family about how I want to lose weight, run more, eat healthier, etc,  when I'm doing nothing to actually put these ideas into motion. No more wanting, just doing. But HOW am I going to do these things? For me, that's where wishes and wants turn into goals. What do I really want to achieve this year? What is going to make me a happy, healthier, better version of myself, a mom, and a wife? And most importantly, how am I going to achieve these things?

It's too easy to say: I want to lose weight, I want to be more flexible, I want to be more active. I want to eat better, I want to meal plan, I want to cook more. I want to be a better friend, a better mother, a better wife. In theory, all these things are great, but I need actual ways to execute them.

With that being said, and before we get to my specific goals for the year, my WORD for 2016 is:

This might seem like a silly word, but hear me out. With all the thinking I have been doing these past few months, the main thing I started to notice in my life is the lack of organization going on. Somewhere between becoming a mother and not going back to my day job, I started to just fly by the seat of my pants on a day to day basis. I've learned now, that that is a horrible way to live life if you want any sort of order in it.

Most days, dinner is decided on only hours before it needs to be ready, which means a lot of half-assed meals are thrown together, or if we're being honest, take out is ordered. I've missed appointments and scheduled activities. I'm often doing ten loads of laundry in one day to play catch up. I find myself blogging well into the middle of the night because that's the only time I can find to do so. Birthday cards are mailed out late, or not at all. I've stopped working out because I declare I don't have the time. I go to bed way too late, despite being a night owl, sometimes just because, not because I'm actually doing anything.

Something has to change.

As I looked over my list of goals, it dawned on me that my best chance at success to achieving my goals was if I became more ORGANIZED. Light bulb moment! Everything started to make sense to me. There is no way I am going to achieve anything in 2016 if I don't organize my life. This doesn't mean I expect to do it all, or become super mom. Far from it. It just means that what my life has been lacking, and what I have essentially been craving, is some form of order. Pre-baby days, heck, even pre-husband days, I craved organization. I loved my day planner and lived for writing in it. I'm not sure if I feel like becoming a mom didn't warrant having a day planner (can't I just keep track of playdates in my phone!?), but somewhere along the line I just started winging it instead of maintaining some sense of organization.

I feel like, no, I'm confident that, if I can bring my life back to a more organized state, then things will start to fall into place. I'm the queen of wasting time or not utilizing the time I have to accomplish things I want to accomplish. I'm hoping 2016 will see a big change in how I choose to use my time.

My Goals for 2016

These are my overall goals for the year. They are a bit more vague in nature. In order to remain accountable and hopefully, successful, I plan to break these down into smaller goals month by month. I believe it's easier to make lifestyle changes with baby steps.


FITNESS GOALS

1. Incorporate working out into my daily life. Aim for 3 days of active activity a week (such as running, strength training, workout video). I need to make this a habit and my plan is to actually schedule my workouts into my daytimer.

2. Walk 10,000 steps a day. I started wearing my fitbit again and I forgot how motivating it is to keep moving! I'm hoping this will be the motivation I need to get out of the house more often for walks.

3. Take up Yoga again. Whether through at-home workouts or at a studio, I need to bring Yoga back into my life.

4. PR a 10K. I ended up running way more than I ever imagined I would last year, and now this year I want to get more serious about my running and beat my 10K time of 1:06:13.

5. Try something new. Like snowshoeing, or cross country skiing.


NUTRITION GOALS

1. Make meal planning a weekly event. Everyone in my household suffers from my lack of meal planning. I want to spend less time in grocery stores and less money. I want to know ahead of time what's for dinner the next night.

2. Drink more water and tea, and less coffee and pop. I'm a horrible water drinker, and while I have no intentions of giving up coffee, I would like to cut down. Unfortunately, I just cannot drink coffee black, and those "little bits" of cream and sugar definitely add up over the week! Luckily, I enjoy tea with nothing added. I've been pretty good with my pop intake, but I too often sneak it back into my life here and there.

3. Drink less alcohol. My intake has gone way up over the holidays and as much as I enjoy a nice, cold beer, or a glass of wine once Sully goes to bed, it is doing absolutely nothing for my waistline! Limiting it to special occasions or weekends will be my first step.


BLOG GOALS

1. Utilize a blogging schedule. Almost all of my posts are churned out the night before they are published. I keep track in my head of upcoming posts to write and blog post ideas. This is a horrible, horrible system and definitely accounts for 99% of my inconsistent posting. I'd like to aim for posting consistently three times a week, but I'd also like to have an outline for the month ahead on what I'm going to post about.

2. Get a new blog design. I've seen so many I love on etsy and while I'm sure I could upload a new design myself, it's not very expensive to pay the designer to do it for me.

3. Add an About Me Page. I keep putting this off because it seems like the hardest thing ever to write. I've started and stopped about a hundred times. Time to finally cross this one off the list.

PERSONAL GOALS

1. Utilize my day planner daily. Schedule everything from appointments, outings, activities and workouts.

2. Go to bed earlier and wake up earlier. I'm a night-owl, it's no secret, but it doesn't always work for me. While I like to think I'm accomplishing things late into the evening, often that isn't the case, and I'm just up and awake for the sake of being awake. If we don't have to be anywhere in the morning, Sully and I waste a good portion of the morning lounging in bed, which then gives me less time to accomplish things during the day. It's a vicious cycle I desperately want to stop.

3. Read 30 books. That's two and a half books a month. More than doable when I consciously choose reading over social media.

4. Travel somewhere new this year. A city, a province, a state or a country we have never been to.

5. Work on my overall wellness. Learn to enjoy bubble baths again. Take better care of my skin. Take my vitamins. Go to the chiropractor and massage therapist regularly, not just when a problem arises or I'm trying to use up my benefits.

Phew! I think that's it. In summary, my overall goal is to organize my life in such a way that my more specific goals start to easily fall into place. If I get up earlier, get a workout in, then my whole day is set up for success - I will want to make better food choices and drink more water. I will have more energy and won't turn to coffee to get through the day. If meal planning is consistent, I won't waste time everyday running to the grocery store for items, and the daily stress of what to have for dinner will be eliminated. This in turn should provide me with not only more "free" time in the day, but a more calmness during the day. (Or as much as is possible with a toddler running around!) I don't want to always feel frazzled, and like I'm always "go-go-go!".

Sounds like perfect plan, doesn't it? We shall see! Baby steps, my friends. Baby steps.



Do you pick a word for the year? 

What are some things you want to work on, goal wise, this year?



**Linking up with Jill for Living a Life of Fitness, Health and Happiness!

Looking Back at 2015

2015 has been a fabulous year. Of course, it wasn't without it's ups or downs, but whose life isn't? Myself and my family went through a lot of changes this year, and sometimes I forget that these things happened in just this past year alone. The biggest change was our move to Calgary beginning in February. But things didn't go as planned, and after living in two different temporary accommodations, Sully and I went back to Edmonton to live in our house there until it sold. It was the first time Jim and I had ever spent so much time apart, and while it was tough at the time, it was worth it in the end.

Because with that move, I was introduced to the world of Southern Alberta Bloggers, and little did I know at the time, that some of those girls would become really good friends of mine. I'd even go as far as to call them my tribe. They are supportive, insightful, inspiring, and fun! I signed up to run my first race of the year - a 10K! - and I truly feel like that race was the beginning of it all. I continued to meet new people, continued running, and pushed myself physically more than I ever had before. It's weird, and non-blogging people might not get it, but it's hard not to wonder how much lonelier my life would be here if I hadn't met these women.

2015 also brought some fun travel. In May, I went to New York City with my best friend (kid-free!!), and we spent a week together there, exploring a place I can't wait to return to. My sister visited me for a week in August, and we ran our very first race together (the Spartan Sprint). I travelled to Wateron, Alberta, in September as part of a blogger retreat with some of the most inspiring and amazing women I know, and in November, I spent two weeks in Florida with my family and in-laws.

We also celebrated Sully's first birthday, watched him learn to walk and talk, experienced the Calgary Stampede for the first time ever and visited Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump. We took mini road trips to Edmonton to see my mom, to meet friends at Kraay Family Farm, and went to the zoo several times. We explored our new city, went on hikes, and lots of bike rides.

2015, you were alright.

I've been reading a bunch of my favourite blogger's 2015 goal recap posts and the whole time I was thinking to myself, I wish I had posted my goals for the year. Well I can wish no more, because it turns out I did in fact publish my goals for this past year. How's that for mommy brain?

I've said it before, and I'll say it again here: I love making goals (I no longer use the word resolution because that sounds too definite and a good chance for failing), but goals I can get behind. To me, it means you are going to make a conscious effort to work on a few, or several aspects and areas of your life. With goals, it's not black or white: no I MUST accomplish this, I MUST get better at that. Instead, I'm saying, this is what I want to work on in order to be a better, happier, healthier version of myself. Less room for failure, more room for growth. All growth is good, and sometimes, certain things take longer to learn or even master…like learning to be kind to oneself. Learning patience. Becoming a faster runner. Becoming a better cook. Etc, etc. We never stop growing, just like we can never stop learning.

It's far too easy to get caught up in the busyness of day to day life, and I'm finding now, that as I get older, time is passing much too quickly for my liking. Which means not only do days just fly by, but so do weeks and months. This is why I think it's important to not only make new goals, but to reflect on your past goals. Were they good goals in the first place? Were they even achievable? Why did I make 'x, y, z' a goal in the first place? Do I still have some work to do on said goal? Do I want to continue with a particular goal or are there other areas of my life I want to focus on?

I'm very excited and feeling very passionate about my goals for 2016, but first I want to look at the goals I made for myself at the beginning of 2015.

1. Simplify My Belongings

When I made this goal, I had just finished reading Marie Kondo's book, The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up, and I was inspired. It also worked out well that we were preparing for our next greatest adventure, our big move from Edmonton to Calgary. Jim and I purged our belongings like it was no body's business (it wasn't - that's such a weird analogy, isn't it?). Anyway, contrary to what the book says about how people rarely regret things they get rid of, I would have to say that we may have gone over board on a few things. We got rid of things that we have wished during the year that we had held on to. Like fishing poles, old camping chairs, extra extension cords - things that seemed needless at the time, but have found ourselves wanting throughout the year, but don't necessarily want to spend money on again. But such is life. I did purge about 75% of my closet, and I would honestly get rid or more of it if I didn't actually have to get dressed in the morning. While I'm starting to feel like my home is becoming cluttered again, I think we did a great job at executing this goal this year.

2. Buy Only Things That Spark Joy in Me

This goes hand in hand with the book mentioned above. No sense in purging if you are only going to continue bringing useless crap into your home. I don't feel as good about this one. I definitely made impulse purchases and have purchased clothing that I don't love, but needed to dress a body shape that I'm hoping I don't have forever.

3. Make a Smoothie Everyday

I definitely didn't make a smoothie every single day, but our vitamix is without a doubt, the number one used appliance in our kitchen next to my coffee machine. The beginning of the year started out on a stronger note with smoothie making, and I definitely notice a difference in my energy levels and digestion when I go long periods without having a smoothie. This is something I will for sure want to keep going into the next year.

4. Take 5-10 Minutes to Clean Up the Kitchen Every Night

A clean kitchen in the morning makes me SO happy, yet I wasn't able to execute this goal every night. Sometimes I was too tired, or I told myself I just didn't care, or I knew that the mess would take much longer than 5-10 minutes to clean up. In order to keep my sanity, I will definitely continue to work on this one.

5. Get Outside More

My goal was to get outside for a walk 3 x a week (I become a bit of a house hermit when the cold weather permits). There were definitely months (like in the summer and fall), where I got outside, either with Sully during the day, or by myself in the evenings, but I know there were weeks where it didn't happen as often. I feel like a goal like this needs to be more specific in order for me to be more successful. Or I need to find a way to make regular walks outside a part of my daily life. And no, I'm not getting a dog.

6. Read 20 Books

Done and done! I think I'm at 37 books read this year. If I can power through my current read in the next 24 hours, I'll hit 38. This was a huge improvement from the year before, so I'm happy with this one.

7. Run One 5K and One 10K

At the beginning of the year, when I made this goal, I really had no idea that I would find a love with running again and that because of it, I would meet and make some really awesome friends. I didn't just run one 5K and one 10K. I ran three 5K races, two 10K races, and two obstacle course races (a 5K and a 13+K). I don't like to register for races too far in advance, but I'm looking forward to racing again in 2016!

And that was it. Some of these, or versions of these may end up on my 2016 goals. I also think I will start breaking down my yearly goals into smaller, monthly goals. For one thing, that way I won't completely forget about my goals. And sometimes breaking things down makes it easier to accomplish in the long run. Baby steps. Or maybe it will just make me more aware and more accountable and there is nothing wrong with that!


Do you make goals for yourself? At the beginning of the year, throughout the year, or both?

Do you like specific goals or more broad ones?

Looking Ahead to 2015

I always find the start of a new year so inspiring. I don't care if most resolutions or goals don't get met, it's the feeling of hope, motivation and inspiration to do better that I love so much about it. It's also a time to reflect on the year behind us, and often, it can be a fresh start. The possibilities a new year can bring is such a wonderful feeling.

2014 will always be one of the best years of my life. It's the year I became a mother for the first time, and while navigating the paths of motherhood can be challenging and trying at times, it was still a great year. Much of 2014 was spent learning all about my new role as a mom and figuring out how to care for a newborn. This year though, as Sully gets older and I've become more comfortable and confident as a mother, I feel I can focus a little bit more on things I want to do and accomplish.

This post took me a while to write because I really had to think about what it is I want to happen in 2015, the things I have some control over anyway. And I wanted to have more specific goals, not just "lose the last bit of baby weight", "read more",  "be more active", "stop biting my thumb nails", etc. Sure, those are all things I want to happen, but I need to know how I am going to make these things happen.

So in the spirit of new years resolutions, here are my goals for 2015 (in no particular order):

1. Simplify my belongings: These past few months, I've really felt the strain and weight of all the clutter in our home. I'm so tired of things not having a "home", and I'm equally as tired of the boxes upon boxes of old memorabilia in the basement that I just can't bear to get rid of. Inspired by a few blogs, this one in particularly, and by this book I just read, the journey to decluttering my home and life has begun.

2. Buy only things that spark joy in me: I'm not a big shopper, but I am bad for buying mediocre things that just end up cluttering my home further and then even worse, being donated a few months later. I want to be more selective and thoughtful in the items I choose to spend our money on and bring into our home. If I don't love it in the store, how can I expect to love it once it's in my home?

3. Make a smoothie everyday: Usually, this is when I vow to clean up my diet, eat more healthy, eat less take-out, etc. And while I hope to do all those things, they are too vague in the grand scheme of goals. But smoothies every day? THAT is something I can do. When Jim and I got our vitamix a few months back, we were making 1-2 smoothies a day and felt so much better in a short amount of time. My stomach was digesting fruits and veggies so much easier than if I were to try eating them (I have a history of Ulcerative Colitis and IBS). I lost the last bit of baby-weight (which has since crept back on), and we were making better choices in the rest of our diet because I believe that when you eat healthier foods, you crave more healthy foods. We still make a lot of smoothies, but not consistently. Sully also loves smoothies, so this goal is really a no-brainer: everyone eats better and everyone feels better.

{mommy and baby smoothies}

4. Take 10-15 minutes to cleanup the kitchen every night: I can't stand coming down to a messy kitchen in the mornings. And it doesn't help that we live in a home with an open floor plan so the mess in the kitchen just seems to take over the whole main floor. In the evenings, once supper is done and Sully is finally in bed, tidying up the kitchen just seems too exhausting. Jim recently told me he feels the same way when he comes home from work, that walking into the home when the kitchen is a mess is a bit deflating. So, we have agreed to work on this. I will do my best to have the kitchen tidied for when he comes home, if he will help me in the evenings with it. Apparently, happy kitchen = happy life!

{this makes me happy}

5. Get outside more: I find it so hard in the winter months to bundle up the baby and go for a walk. In the summer and fall, I tried to get outside every day, even if it was for a quick 10-15 minutes. I'm embarrassed to admit that we almost never go outside anymore unless you count from the car into the store. I know fresh air is a vital part of life and it's not fair to Sully to be cooped up. My goal is to get outside for a walk at least 3 times a week, weather permitting.

6. Read 20 books: You can read about my bookish goals for 2015 here. This means I have to choose reading over other things such as mindless scrolling through instagram, perusing Facebook, pinning things on Pinterest, etc. I used to always read before bed, even if it was just a few pages, but lately my phone is the last thing I read before turning out the light.

and lastly…

7. Run one 5K and one 10K this year: I used to quite enjoy running, although I'm not sure you could have ever called me a "runner", despite how much I wanted to be one. But, I've ran a few races, including a 10K, in the past few years, and I want this year to be the year I start running again. I love the atmosphere of running in a race and I loved that feeling of accomplishing something as exhilarating as running 10K.

{the only race I ran last year - the edMUDton 5K obstacle race - 6 months postpartum}

Do you make resolutions or goals for the new year? 

What is something your hoping to accomplish in 2015?

2014 in Books

I'm not sure whether to be proud or embarrassed of the number of books I read last year. On the one hand, most of 2014 was spent raising a baby, and contrary to what people assured me of, no reading happened in the middle of the night during feedings. On the other hand, I still managed to read a little more than a book a month, which is more than a lot of people I know can say! This was my third year pledging to read a certain number of books in a year. In 2012 and 2013, I pledged to read 50 books and I fell short both years, so for 2014, I said I would read 30 books. I had a good start to the year so this seemed more than doable. But, alas, I only managed to read 15 books, and that's not including the four books I haven't finished reading yet. Not too shabby, but less than half the amount I read in 2013!

But I will not be discouraged! I can appreciate that there are going to be times in my life that I am able to read more, and times where very little reading will get done. I figure, as long as I consistently have a book on the go, I'm winning at this whole reading thing. So for 2015, I'm pledging to read 20 books. That's about a book and a half a month and if I make an effort to read a little more before bed and spend a little less time scrolling through instagram at night, I should be able to succeed.

Here's a look at my piddly stats for 2014:

Number of books read: 15

Number of pages read: 4615

Percentage of female authors read: 67%

Percentage of Canadian authors read: 47%

Percentage of non-fiction read: 20%

Longest book read: One Great Year at 456 pages

Ratings: 3 five-star reviews (20%); 5 four-star reviews (33%); 3 three-star reviews (20%); 3 two-star reviews (20%); and 1 one-star review (7%)

Compared to the average goodreads ratings:…

*I rated 6 books higher, with the most underrated book being The Rosie Project (but not by much!). I rated this book 5 stars, while the average goodreads rating is 4.02.

*I rated 9 books lower, with the most overrated book being Pigeon English. I gave this book 1 star, while the average goodreads rating is 3.48.

*I rated 3 books almost on par with with the average goodreads rating of around 4 stars: Come, Thou Tortoise, Sold, and A House in the Sky.

One book read in 2014 that I think everyone should read:

And the one book read in 2014 that I think everyone should skip:

Sorry John Green fans, but this one just didn't do it for me. And I'm having a hard time understanding why anyone would enjoy this book (or give it 5 stars!). It was dull, unbelievable and a bore to get through. 

I'm looking forward to the books I read in 2015! I got a few from Jim for Christmas that I'm really looking forward to reading, and I'm hoping to finish up the ones I'm only part way through from last year. It bugs me to have unfinished books on my end table. 

Do you make reading goals?

What books are you looking forward to reading this year? Any book I *must* read?

 Let me know in the comments! 

2013 in Books

For the past two years, my goal was to read 50 books in one year. In 2012 I fell short by 11 books. In 2013, I fell short of this goal by 18 books! In theory, 50 books a year doesn't seem like it should be that hard. That's a book a week with a 2 week grace period. This year, I decided to lower my goal to 30 books in one year. Seems more than doable - heck, I'm already ahead of schedule! Except let's not forget I'm having a baby in February, so who knows what will happen to my reading habits!

Here's how my stats for reading in 2013 stacked up:

Number of books read: 32

Number of pages read: 9502

Percentage of female authors read: 75%

Percentage of Canadian authors read: 22%

Percentage of non-fiction read: 16%

Longest book read: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire at 636 pages

Ratings: 5 five-star reviews (16%); 12 four-star reviews (38%); 10 three-star reviews (31%); and 5 two-star reviews (16%) - {yes, I realize that with rounding, this adds up to 101%)

Compared to the average Goodreads rating (thank you Laura for this stat inspiration!)...

*I rated 13 books higher, with the most underrated book being The Great Gatsby. I rated this book 5-stars, while the average Goodreads rating is 3.82.

*I rated 18 books lower, with the most overrated book being 13 Reasons Why. I rated this book 2-stars, while the average Goodreads rating is 4.06.

*I rated 1 book on par with the average Goodreads rating: I gave Snow Flower and the Secret Fan 4-stars, and the average Goodreads rating is 4.01.

One book read in 2013 that I think everyone should read:

And the one book read in 2013 that I would recommend skipping:

I always enjoy seeing my reading stats even though said stats do not weigh-in when I'm picking which book to read next. Meaning, I don't consciously choose to read a female author over a male author, or a shorter book over a longer book. Although, I have always made more of an effort to read Canadian authors when the opportunity arises.

With baby coming late February, I expect my reading habits to change - a lot. The majority of my reading is done when waiting for appointments, on my breaks in my car when I'm working, or late at night. All things that won't be happening when baby comes. Except maybe late night reading during feedings (one can hope!). So it will be interesting to see how this year goes. Hmmm, just writing that makes me think even 30 books is a lofty goal! But reading has always been a big part of my life, so as long as I always have a book "on the go", I'll be happy.

Tell me: What are your 2014 reading goals? Any must-reads on your list?

 Happy Reading!

 

Winter Reading Roundup

I always find April a little bitter-sweet. I mean, I'm happy that it's finally spring and the snow is starting to melt and the weather is getting warmer, but at the same time, where has this year gone?! Last year, I didn't do monthly recaps (because I never felt I had enough to say for one), but I did do a 6-month recap. This year, after I wrote my 2013 goals post, I decided I would do quarterly updates. Mostly to keep myself in line and more accountable to said goals.

So here's a quick look at where I'm at:

1. Get Back to Basics: I haven't been meal-planning, but I have been cooking much more often, although I haven't tried any new recipes. I've been packing my lunches for work, but only the snacks portion. I'm still struggling to find foods to take for lunch that are easy to eat in my car. Someone mentioned using a thermos so that I could then take leftovers to eat (which are my favourite lunches). Does anyone have a type/brand they recommend?

2. Get Off my Butt: In February, I bit the bullet and got myself a gym membership. When the gym I had been wanting to join, opened up another location a block from my work, I took it as a sign. I'm proud to say I've been going 3-4 times per week since I joined. Except for this one workout fail.

3. Walk the Dog: While he still gets out at least once a day, it's not always in the morning on my days off and Jim and I don't always go in the evenings together even when we can. I like to believe that the cold weather had something to do with this - why should we ALL suffer from the freezing temperatures when we can divide up the time spent out in the cold? And sometimes, when it's not freezing cold out, we don't just walk, we RUN.

4. Cook-Book Scrap Booking: Fail. Haven't even started. But I think about it a lot.

5. Abolish Clutter: Working on it. The Shit room is tidier  but that's just because Jim organized the junk in there into neat piles because we had a guy coming over to look at the furnace.

6. Write: While I often fall behind several days in writing in my Q & A book, I have been staying caught up with writing in it. It's fun!

 7. Finish Unfinished Projects: (ie. finish unfinished furniture projects). Saving this one for the warmer weather!

8. Catch Up:  Hmmm...well, I can't say I've caught up on my "reviews", heck, when's the last time I even posted a review - besides Harry Potter musings?!

9. Read: Goodreads says I'm 3 books behind if I want to make my goal of 50 books per year. Which is pretty good considering I have about 5 books on the go right now. But there's always room to read more...every time I choose to play games on my phone, spend time on the computer, or watch TV...is time I could have spent reading instead.

10. Stop Biting My Nails: Ha...Hahaha!

In Other Bookish News:

- I'm still trudging along with The Harry Potter Readalong. I've fallen behind ever since going to Mexico last month and have been struggling to catch up. These books are HUGE! But I really want to finish reading them or I worry I never will. And not because I'm not loving them. You just know how it is...books constantly get pushed to the back burner for newer books! Jim and I have also started watching the movies as I finish each book in the series and we're quite enjoying them. 

-I recently just finished listening to Sophie Kinsella's, I've Got Your Number in my car while I'm out and about working, and I loved it! The story was fun and cute and the narrator was a pleasure to listen to.

-Last weekend I started at the top of my bookshelves and started scanning all my unread books into goodreads. I will never say I will stop buying books, but I thought if I had a real list of all the unread books I own, I might be more inclined to read more off this list. I'm only half way done scanning and I'm already at 80 owned and unread books. Sigh. This little project has only proven to raise my sense of feeling overwhelmed. But it's also nice to feel somewhat organized about my TBR.

The Stats:

Books read this year so far: 7

Harry Potter and the Philospher's Stone (Readalong posts #1 & #2)
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Readalong posts #1 & #2)
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Readalong posts #1 & #2)
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Readalong posts #1 & #2 to come)
The Secret Daughter by Shilpi Somaya Gowder
Beautiful Creatures (Caster Chronicles #1) by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl
I've Got Your Number by Sophie Kinsella (audio version)

Number of pages read: 2340

Percentage of fiction: 100%

Percentage of female authors read: 100%

Percentage of Canadian authors read: 14%

So let's bring on spring! As much as I love reading all snuggled up on the couch, I much prefer to sit outside on the deck and get lost in a book. Warm weather, I am ready for you!

What books did you read this winter? 

Do you prefer cozying up indoors to read or taking 

your book out into the sunshine?

Here's Looking at You, 2013!

Throughout the year, I always hear people saying how you don't, and even shouldn't, wait until January to make a change or set some goals. While I get what they are trying to say, for me, there's something really exciting and re-energizing about starting a new year. It's like a fresh slate, a blank page in your book. Maybe the previous year wasn't such a great one, or maybe it was your best year yet. Either way, it's always exciting for me to start that next chapter in my life. That doesn't mean I save all my goals for January. If I want to start eating healthy or working out regularly, I won't wait for months to start. But I find the fall months leading up to the holidays always pass by quickly and before I know it, January is right around the corner and I've let a lot of things in my regular life fall to the way-side. Like eating well, exercising regularly, keeping documents from work organized, meal planning, staying on top of household clutter, etc, etc, etc! For me, January has always been a quiet month. There are no holidays in January, very few birthdays and overall it's just a cold, slow month. Which means I find it the perfect month to re-evaluate all the things in my life that I've been neglecting and decide what's important to me to work on for the new year.

While in the past (pre-blog), I've never written down my goals and resolutions, (because then I might feel more inclined to follow-through with them!), I think it's time I started. And putting them somewhere public and somewhere where I can easily refer back to, has encouraged me to be more thoughtful and thorough in the goals I decide on.

Things I'd like to work on in 2013, in no particular order:

My Bible

1. Get Back to Basics: A few years ago, around this time, I discovered Tosca Reno and her Eat-Clean Diet. I purchased The Eat-Clean Diet Recharged book and read it cover to cover in a matter of days. I loved everything about Tosca's philosophy to eat clean, wholesome foods. It clicked. It made sense. I was obsessed. I started paying attention to nutrition labels and actually cared about what I put into my body. I made a lot of healthy changes in a short period of time, and I stuck with the basic principles for a long time. But then, with a move from another province, coupled with wedding preparations and buying a home, I lost my way. Now that we are settled (more or less), I can no longer make excuses. Eating well, meal-planning and cooking healthful foods make me happy. I will resume meal-planning on Sundays, grocery shopping with a purpose, cooking more suppers and packing lunches (instead of always buying something on the run).

2. Get Off My Butt: It's very easy to become house-bound and sedentary during the winter months in Alberta. It's bloody cold out there for months on end and it's hard to leave the house when it's all warm and cozy inside. But exercise, like eating well, make me happy. And for me, the two go hand in hand. When I'm regularly active, my body craves healthful foods. I already play soccer and Ultimate Frisbee once a week, but often these sports are followed by a beer at the pub. Which I've been told, sort of negates the whole exercise component of each. So in addition to the sports, I will start including other neglected activities such as yoga, running and fitness classes at the gym (bodypump!). Once I get going, I'm pretty good at keeping it up! It's just building it into my routine those first few times that's tough for me.

3. Walk the Dog: Don't get me wrong, Saigon gets walked regularly, sometimes even twice a day. But there's no routine with when he gets his walks, and sometimes I feel this is unfair to him. In BC, I was really good at walking Saigon first thing in the morning. Now, the majority of his outings are in the evenings, even on my days off. My goal, on my days off, is to walk Saigon first thing - before I sit down at the computer, before I catch up on a show or do a few chores. That way I can go about my day without feeling guilty for not having walked him yet. On the days Jim and I both work, we will start walking Saigon together in the evenings, rather than trading off like we are often inclined to do.

4.  Cook-Book Scrap-Booking: On the last day I could use my book-store staff discount, I purchased this recipe binder. All my recipes that I've copied from friends, family or from on-line are on scrap pieces of paper held together by one big paperclip. It's a horrible, ugly system and I'd love to start a scrap-book for all of my favorite recipes.

5. Abolish Clutter: Clutter is my nemesis. I can't stand it, yet it constantly has a presence in my life. It's on our counters, on our kitchen table, but the worst of it resides in our second spare bedroom upstairs. I not-so-lovingly refer to it as our shit room. It's an abyss of things that don't really have a place in our home but we can't bear to part with (yet), boxes that still haven't been fully unpacked since moving in, and the place where clutter from downstairs gets thrown when we're tidying up the main floor. I usually keep the door to this room closed so I don't have to acknowledge it, but I hope that by posting a picture, I'll be shamed into tackling this room once and for all.

For Shame!

6. Write: Before Christmas, I bought myself this Q & A journal. A different question every day for the entire year. Repeat x 5 years. Simple yet brilliant. It's not overwhelming, it's not time consuming yet it still provokes thought. Is it realistic to think I can keep it up for 5 years? Probably not. But I desperately want to try my hardest. I started the journal on January 1 and make a point of taking a few (literally) minutes to answer the question of the day.

7. Finish Unfinished Projects: In the summer I started on a few furniture projects. But before I knew it, cold-weather was upon us and the projects got moved from the garage down to the basement, where they have sat, unfinished, since. These projects include the repainting/refinishing of two small bookshelves, an end-table and a small chest of drawers that I plan to use as a jewelry cupboard.  Our basement is unfinished, so there's really no reason why I can't finish these projects before summer rolls around. I mean, other than my sheer laziness.

Future Home to all my jewels.

8. Catch Up: It's no secret that I fell behind in blogging sometime last year. I struggled to find my groove, and in feeling pressured to post more often, I ended up just not posting at all. 2013 is a new year and while I'm not going to dwell on last year, I do want to write about the books I read but didn't blog about. These posts will most likely be shorter posts and more for "me", but it's something I need to do or it will always bother me.

9. Read:  Duh. More specifically though, read 50 books this year. It shouldn't be that hard, yet I didn't make it in 2012. I really want to hit that number this year.

10. Stop Biting my Nails: Self-explanatory. It's on my "resolution" list every flippin' year and it never happens. And no, that gross-tasting polish does not work. But I'm open to other suggestions!

Tell me: What are your resolutions for 2013?