2012 Stuff

I absolutely love the clean slate that comes with a new year. I know everyone feels like this year is going to be "their year" but for me it's true! I set a few personal goals and Jack and I set quite a few goals as a couple. We also set a yearly theme for our little family. Goals that are not written down are just wishes.... so here is how our year is going to go. 

We decided to set a family theme this year. We really wanted to focus on becoming better and strengthening our marriage at the same time. We chose "I love us" as our family theme. We set goals to help us become the people we want to be. We are constantly saying we wish we were skinny people, or wealthy people or more spiritual people. Our goals, at times, might feel like we are denying ourselves the things we want-- but in reality we are doing this because we deserve better. We love us enough to give up the things we want now to get the things we want most. Our goals will also help us reach the point where we can be the people we have always wanted to be. We can honestly look at every aspect of our lives and feel like we love the people we have become. I'm so excited about this! 

We set 8 goals for our marriage that we will work on together. 

#1   Attend the Temple 

We have gotten a little lax on our temple attendance and this year we are setting a realistic goal to increase our visits. 

#2   Finish the Book of Mormon

We've started reading the Book of Mormon many times in our marriage but we've never actually finished the entire thing. This year we're going to finish reading the entire thing. 

#3   Date Night

We're taking the time out every Saturday to spend quality time with each other. Instead of the fast food/watching tv dates we're used to we're going to plan out fun "quality time" with each other. 

#4    Walk Anne

This might seem like such a silly goal but we've really slacked on our dog walking. Anne is such a sweet puppy and walking her more often will give us more exercise as well as chill her out. We found a make-shift dog park near our house and we're looking forward to spending a lot of time there. 

#5     No Eating Out During the Week

Jack and I both do weight watchers and we allow Saturday to be our "free day". We plan on keeping Saturdays special by not eating out at all during the week. This will also help keep more money in our bank account. You don't even want to know how much we spent at restaurants in December. (we added it up-- it was scary!) 

#6     Finish the Basement

We are currently sitting on 1350 sq ft. of unused home. We have the coolest plans for our basement and we even have the money set aside to do it! We just have to get our buns in gear. When we're finished we'll have a huge family room with a HD screen and projector as well as a small reading nook, a large office/work out room big enough to fit our treadmill and weight machine while still giving Jack his office space and room for his music recording equipment, an enormous spare bedroom, a cold storage room and a 3rd bathroom. It will really add a lot to our home and we're looking forward to finishing it. 

#7    No Impulse Purchases

Jack and I are very fortunate to have great jobs that provide us with enough money to pay our bills and have some play money. Because of this we have got in the habit of buying things whenever we think we want them, regardless of the need. This year we are really going to pull back and think about purchases before we make them. 

#8    Pay off our Credit Card

We went through most of our marriage without having any credit card debt, but a few years ago we fell into the trap. We've slowly been paying it off but we've really just been paying the interest every month. We have $900 on our card and plan on putting $150 towards our bill every month until it is payed off. 

Personal Goals 

I decided to really focus on 2 personal goals this year. There are so many aspects of my life that I want to perfect but I chose 2 that I am really passionate about right now. 

#1    Lose 64 pounds. 

I know this is letting the cat out of the bag but I've come to realize that weight is just a number. I pretend if I don't tell anyone that they will magically think I am skinny. Everyone can see the way I look. You knowing the number on the scale doesn't automatically make me look fatter or skinnier. I weighed in yesterday at a whopping 264. This is sadly not the heaviest I've ever been but it's not a number I am proud of whatsoever. I stopped living my weight watcher lifestyle and put 23 pounds on in less than 2 months. It's a sad and disgusting reality, but it is a reality. I'm determined to hit One-derland by the end of this year. I bought a treadmill and have pre-planned my meals for the week. It's a start. And a start I'm very excited to make! 

#2     Expand my Craft Business

I absolutely love that I can make money doing something I love in my free time. I love making blocks and knowing that my work is decorating hundreds of people's homes. I love doing custom orders for people and I love coming up with new ideas that I know are going to be so cute! This year I plan on expanding from just doing the Holly Fair to either selling in a boutique or doing at least 1 other craft fair. This scares me to death because I have to put myself out there one more time, but I'm really excited about it! 

So there you have it. The (very long) breakdown of how 2012 will really become "Our Year"