My resolutions have been dancing around in my head for weeks, but I haven’t been ready to say them out loud just yet… because saying them out loud makes them REAL. And maybe I needed extra time to think. Or just one more solid week to eat inordinate amounts of oatmeal cookies and pasta. Whoops.
oatmeal, chocolate chip and pecan cookies via smitten kitchen
arugula ravioli via smitten kitchen
Here goes…
1. Eating Clean(er) and Getting Back to Spartan Shape. This means more gym & more veggies / less beer & tater tots… and every evening, doing a little thing I like to call my superpower secret weapon – my Jane Fonda ab video, ca. 1984. On VHS. I’m going to be (holy pajamas) 30 in March, and I’d like to look something like this by then:
Alright, let’s get serious. My waist wasn’t that small when I was 4. But for real, it’s about 12 past time to get a bit healthier. Not only for vanity’s sake, but because sweating it out every day improves my quality of life in E-V-E-R-Y possible way. YAHTZEE!
2. Less Facebook. More REAL Books.
I am a Facebooking FOOL. #1 – because I have the cutest little nieces and nephews EVER, and feel it is my solemn duty as their Aunt Stephie to keep up with them.
#2 – because social networking is a big part of blogging and growing your business. #3 – because when all that’s done, it always seems like a good idea to see wassup with the girl I sat next to in the 2nd grade or, ye know, whether or not my ex-boyfriend got fat. Stuff like that that makes me lose brain cells. Plus, I love to read – why don’t I do it more often? Goal = one book per month. Currently reading this (…so original, right? Eh, I had to see what all the fuss was about):
3. Re-Master French.
Remember the time I studied French in college, tutored other French majors/minors, was near-fluent, then lost it all when I didn’t use it for 7 years? Sacré bleu! Thank heavens for Rosetta Stone. I’m on that like white on rice. Starting with 30 minutes per day. Je don’t mind if I do.
4. Stop Texting and Driving. Coincidentally, I’m typing this as I finish my online “Traffic Safety School” course – a mandatory torture device from the time I turned left when there was a ‘No Left Turn’ sign posted. Oosie. (In my defense, it was dark, raining, and totally inconspicuous.) But texting and driving – even though I can text with one hand without looking – is my WORST bad habit. Oprah would be so disappointed in me.
via msnbc.com
UPDATE: I just received the email below from my grandparents. If it’s not the cutest thing I’ve ever seen, then I dunno what is…
“Dear Steph: I have been watching the TV and they have told how many people have been killed because they drive and text. I hope that you will WAIT until you are not driving to text. It just takes a minute off the road to wreck and your life is much more important than texting. So please WAIT to text. You are too precious to lose your life because you texted and drove. Don’t mean to boss you but you are everything to us and we certainly don’t want anything to happen to you.
Hope you are getting along O.K. and keeping warm. Give my great grandpuppy a hug for me. Hope to see you before too long. It’s freezing here. Brrrrr.
Love and Kisses,
Granny and Old Ugly”
5. Organize My Universe. This entails a slew of different things, including: Cleaning out closets…
Jenna Lyons’ House. Swoon.
Finishing the oodles of design / artwork / furniture restoration projects currently underway…
Finding a better way than a check register to keep track of finances. Perhaps I should get on board with the 21st century. Suggestions on what works well are appreciated.
Cataloging the bajillions of design magazines and torn-out articles into neat little binders for clients (and for my own sanity), and shelving/recycling the rest.
Wouldn’t this be nice?
Going to the family doctor I don’t have to get a full physical, since that hasn’t happened in 12 years. Whoops.
from normal rockwell’s collection
Streamlining my daily routine, so I don’t feel like this:
Writing in a journal at night – something I always forget to do, but think is excellent for your mental well-being. There’s something about the transference of your thoughts and worries onto a piece of paper that seems to lighten the load, or help you work through things that might be all jumbled in your head. And that also helps you to remember and celebrate the small triumphs of the day… though I guess we all spout those as our Facebook status updates these days.
via by nature
The thing about goals & resolutions – for me at least – is that I can’t just say it and cross my fingers it comes to fruition, I have to chart HOW I plan on doing it. Ever heard the expression, “When you fail to plan, you plan to fail?” Truer words were never spoken. When I have a lofty goal – or if something seems insurmountable – it helps me to chart it out day-by-day, or week-by-week, and break it down into baby steps so it’s not so overwhelming. And if I know what I need to have accomplished by the end of each week, then I’m cognizant of that in the decisions I make every single day. My college volleyball coach (what up, Sher-Bear?) used to always say that you have to get better EVERY day in the gym. I’m no expert, but it seems to me that the same probably goes for most things in life. So when I lay my froey little head down at night, I want to know that I did something to help somebody… soaked up some knowledge… had a few laughs… accomplished something, however small… and maybe hauled a little ass on the treadmill that day. Stuff like that.
What are YOUR resolutions? Do you have a trick for keeping them?
xoxo,
