New Year's Goals Follow-Up... Already

For my own benefit, I wanted to post a follow-up on my New Year's Goals...and I know, it's just February. I don't want to jinx myself, but I do want to keep up with my "progress"...or lack thereof. So far, I really feel like I have started off on the right foot with this little list. Even though I'm only a month into it, I am hoping I have gotten the momentum started, and that I will keep it going throughout the year. It may also be that we're just getting back from vacation, so I may just be feeding off of that relaxed, refreshed feeling.

Either way, something's working thus far. :)

Here goes...


1.) Be happy. I really am happier. I think it's a culmination of doing some of these other things on the list & lots of time to heal from the past year, but I really feel like I am.

2.) Pray more. I am working on this, so I'm not marking it off yet.

3.) Exercise more, and have FUN with it. I got up a few Saturday mornings and ran. I LOVED it!! It has been freezing cold, but I would get up out of bed, bundle up & hit the neighborhood. One recent Sunday afternoon, Zach & I took both dogs for a walk around the neighborhood. But, I can't seem to find the time to do much of this during the week. It is dark outside when I get home from work. I do want to start using our Wii more for exercise. It's not used enough. So, that is why this item is halfway marked off. :)

4.) Focus even less on the things that don't matter. Focus even more on the things that do. Here again, another halfway marked one. I really am focusing more on the good things in life. I am trying to spend more time with my sweetie. All we have together during the week are a couple of lunches & weeknights, and lately he has been taking off from work right when I get home. He is still very busy at this time of the year (praise the Lord for that!), but he is taking a break at night, which is good for both of us. We have been catching up on Netflix & relaxing, which is definitely a good thing.

5.) Surround myself with positives- positive people, positive thoughts. Still working on this.

6.) Blog more. This has easily been accomplished! I am spending less & less time on FB, and focusing more on blogs- my own & others'. I have already made many blogger friends in the past few weeks, and hope to keep that list growing!

7.) Try more new recipes. Done! I have tried a few new ones in the past weeks (they have all been good, but not any that just blew us away- still looking for that one)!

8.) More home improvements- anything to make our home better. My sweetie has already accomplished two big things (well, big to us) around the house. All it took was a quick trip to Lowe's & a few minutes of work. I stayed away. He replaced two switches in our kitchen, and we now have a perfectly-working disposal & light above our sink. Before his little handywork, the light would flip on only occassionally, and the disposal would come on sporadically. I have started a list of things we want done, and we hope to start marking things off (more on that in the final paragraph of this post). 

9.) More projects in general. I SO want to mark this one off. I have a project or two that I will do soon, but because of me working on #4 so much more, I don't have the time for projects during the week. Vacation has gotten me missing projects even more, so we'll see. 

10.) Spend less on nothing. I could not tell you the last time I stepped foot in a thrift store. I have, however, been shopping the last two weekends before the trip (mainly because we went out of town both weekends for my birthday, and I can't go out of town & not shop). BUT, I only used gift cards for my purchases. Go me!! I am not planning on shopping any more any time soon, just because I have projects still left to be done, and I can't keep piling things up in our guest room. Also, I realized the other day how many sweet friends of mine will be having babies very soon, and Miss Sheena will be tying the knot in just a few short months! This gal will be busy spending on wedding & baby gifts!

I am really happy when I look back at this list. If you know me, you know I LOVE to make lists. I love even more marking things off of said lists. I make lists even for small things, just so I can mark things off of them easily. At any given time, I will have 3 or 4 post-its or pieces of scrap paper in my purse with "important" lists on them. I have found that it just works for me. I have recently bought a cute little "J" notepad that I am keeping my lists in. This helps with #8- the house is cleaner without my little notes scattered everywhere. :)

Hope everyone had a great weekend &
Happy (Early) Valentine's Day!!