Goals for 2019

So I'd like to start this post by saying I'm officially calling these goals for the year rather than resolutions. I know I've mentioned I don't like the term resolutions before and I've gone back and forth, but I'm officially settling on goals. When I was pregnant with Gwen I wasn't feeling as connected to her in the beginning of the pregnancy (so sad, but true). The thing that changed that was I would talk to her in the car whenever I was alone and one of the things I always did was on my way to work I'd talk to her about the goals of the day and what the plan was and it really helped me feel connected to her, but also helped me when I thought I was having a stressful day. After Gwen was born I would still do goals for the day since having a newborn can be stressful, at least for me, and that really helped me keep my head on straight.

So without further adieu, here's what the goals for 2018 were and how I did on them:

Organize, organize, organize: I at least started my totes that I had planned, but I haven't finished them. The biggest reason being that I need to read through my magazines to get ideas to add to them. But I did get as much done as I could and I found a way to manage my time better to feel more organized in just life. Of course, adding a newborn made that feel a little more upside down, but things are a bit better and I'm on a better track.

Complimenting a stranger: I could've done better with this, but I did give a few compliments out there. This one was important because it makes you feel better when you make someone's day. Unfortunately I just felt people focused on my pregnancy so I didn't get a lot of opportunities to compliment them back without it sounding fake.

Do one craft/organization/project thing each month: Yeah...definitely didn't do this. I attempted it, but it really took a backseat to other things. Whoops!

Stay caught up on the blog: Hahaha yeah, didn't do well with this. Yes, if you read back it looks like I kept up with it, but I didn't. That was a big whoops.

Backing up photos: I backed my photos up onto my computer frequently, but I haven't put them on the hard drive as often. I did right before Gwen was born so that I knew it was done, but not since then.

Keep with the frozen meals: Yeah...I also gave up on this. Frozen meals were nice, but I found a way to make cooking work so as long as I meal plan at the beginning of the month and remember to actually cook the meals (I forgot to start crock pot ones quite a few times throughout the year) then we make it work.

See family more often: Yeah, I maybe should've read through these throughout the year. I didn't even realize this was on my list. I saw them more towards the end of the year, but not throughout.

Well it's embarrassing to see I didn't do so well with these this last year. Hopefully I can do better thsi year :\

And my goals for 2019:

• Potty train and move Cara into a toddler bed. This we aim to do when she turns 2. She's definitely moving to her new room after her birthday and we'll transition her into a toddler bed. Then we'd really like to start potty training then. I got a potty training book from my Dad and his family so I'm excited to read that and see what good pointers it has.
• Compliment Strangers. I've really enjoyed having this one on the list and it's brought me more meaning than any other goal so I'm going to keep this on there indefinitely.
• Give Larry more "me" time. This guy is going to have two girls on his hands when I go back to work, and as I've seen already they are going to be a handful. I'm hoping to pick one weekend a month to take both out and give him a couple hours just for him to enjoy the silence. I would say he could leave the house while I stay in with them, but he prefers to stay in so I figure I can take them out. Fingers crossed this one doesn't make me go crazy haha. I'd also like to do more 1:1 with each girl, if possible, but we'll see if I can squeeze that in as well.
• Keep to my weekend plans. Speaking of weekends, I have a set idea for what I'd like to do each weekend that are things I'd like the girls to be used to growing up so that it's just a fun thing for us. The last weekend of the month I'd like to be a super clean weekend, the first weekend is a spa weekend (a deserved one since we spent the one prior cleaning) where we do our nails and maybe a mud mask (really whatever we'd like that feels a bit like pampering ourselves), one weekend I'd like to bake something (though I may put this one on hold until I go back to work so it's not just me eating the baked goods), and then I'd like another weekend to see family. For months that have 5 weekend I'd like to incorporate some sort of service project. I think I should be able to squeeze in time for Larry during the baking weekend or visiting family weekend so it shouldn't be too overwhelming.
• Workout regularly (including Diastasis Recti workouts). This one isn't really a hard one, I love working out! I love that it is me time, I love that it gives me an excuse to watch shows/movies I've recorded on the DVR, I love the feeling of the endorphins! So working out isn't the issue, it's making sure I keep to it regularly. Once I go back to work I like to do this after the girls go down (especially since we can't guarantee that Gwen will be down by 8 just yet) so right now I do it once Larry is off work and it's still just so nice to be able to get away for a bit.
• Break my sugar habit. This one I did in 2018 technically, but I don't feel it's complete yet. I'm actually proud of myself because I found a way to not only break my habit, but I felt I got to the root of my problem. I was able to mostly avoid temptations that came my way even. I remember when it started to get cold and I saw a car off to the side of the road and it had it's heat on (you could see the smoke coming from the muffler) and feeling like that used to be a trigger to want hot chocolate and I realized I didn't have that trigger anymore. I did end up falling off the wagon a tiny bit, but I've found such a good reward system. We do our Saturday Movie Date Night and I tell myself if I haven't had any sugars throughout the week I get a treat for movie night. If I've had TOO much sugars throughout the week, not only do I lose my movie treat, but also my soda and possibly the popcorn too. Then on months we accomplish something extra (good doctor visits, pushing a baby out, birthday months, etc.) we get to have a dessert night on the last Tuesday night of the month. It's been SO helpful in helping me and I plan to continue this into 2019.
• Reach my savings goals. This one I've found actually shouldn't be too hard, as long as I keep my spending under control. I'd like to eventually open an IRA for myself (Larry has one and it's been SO nice come tax time and it helps us get our retirement savings bulked up). In order to do this I'd like to have a set amount set up in my short term savings and a set amount in my baby savings. I've already reached my baby savings goal (thank you Colonial Life for that!) and I'm more than 3/4 of the way to my short term goals. The beast part is once we file taxes that will cover our vacations for the year, so literally everything else I make goes to my savings this year. Once I reach my short term savings goals I plan to put that in a dedicated Savings and then anything over my set amount will go into a second short term savings and eventually my original one will be turned into an IRA. I'm oddly (and totally nerd-like) excited for this one, it makes it so I can't just spend like crazy like I have been, but if it means we can retire and live comfortably I'll take it!
• Update blog regularly. This one I had issues with the past couple years. I'd also like to re-format my entries to make them more like a fun lifestyle blog. I feel my posts get really wordy and might border on boring if anyone else were to read them. I like to keep the details, but I think I can make the posts look better while still keeping the details. Also, when I re-read them later it seems I make a ton of typos. I need to make sure to fix those before posting them. Hopefully I can still keep up with this.