New Year’s Resolutions

Well, 2011 is slowly coming to an end. Like every year, this year flew by! We had quite the year: moved 4 times, traveled to Asia, celebrated wedding anniversary number 1;  it was definitely a lot of fun.

Every year, I (like many people) make new year’s resolutions and I (like many people) rarely stick to them. Here were some resolutions from last year:

1. Find a New Job– I may have mentioned before that I am interested in pursuing a career in physical therapy. While living in Chicago, I worked at a physical therapy clinic as an aide and loved it. It was an incredibly stimulating job….also a lot of fun. Currently, I’m working at a restaurant. After moving to Dallas, I searched for a job in physical therapy but was hard pressed finding one….finally, I decided to just get a job-ANY job that paid any amount of money. So, restaurant it was. Although it does pay pretty well….I am just not a fan of working in restaurants. It’s amazing how stressed out I get with such a simple concept! Either way…I’ve eliminated restauranteur from my potential careers. Hopefully, I’ll find a more satisfying, less irritating job in 2011.
2. Apply to Physical Therapy School- I am still very much interested in physical therapy. Therefore, in 2011, one major goal of mine will be to apply to school’s again. It’s so easy at this point to give up on that dream….the fact that I still need to apply, get in, go to school for 3 years, THEN start working…by that time I’ll be 30. I’ve argued back in forth with myself on what I should do…”won’t I be too old then?” “won’t I want kids by then?….then what if I don’t want to work after kids?” All these “what if” scenarios that are so hard to plan for. Ultimately, I’ve decided 30 is not old…and if I want kids by then…we’ll cross that bridge when we get there. I can’t live my life based on “what if” situations…I’ll never get anything done.
3. Eat More Vegetables– This is a fairly simple goal….but not really, since I keep telling myself I’ll eat more veggies, and never do. I find myself only eating them with dinner…so let’s say, 1 serving a day-not enough. Somehow, I will try and incorporate more veggies into my day. Maybe start slowly…..adding some at lunchtime….then maybe a couple snacks throughout the day. I have no problem with fruit (like most people I’m sure)….but I could really go without veggies. So, a challenge I face in 2011-veggies!!
4. Try a New Recipe at Least Once a Week-At this point, I don’t think this should be a problem. Since starting this blog, I’ve been pretty inspired to try new recipes as often as I can. I already have a few up my sleeve for the next few weeks. The real challenge for me is keeping the recipes healthy….and budget friendly. I can easily get carried away in grocery stores buying all the ingredients I need for 1 dish….that’s the problem: 1 dish.  Then I end up with a bunch of leftover ingredients that run the risk of going bad. So maybe in 2011, I’ll think the dishes through a bit more and choose recipes that have “everyday” ingredients.
5. Eat Out Less- Lately, I’ve been pretty good about this. It’s so easy (especially around the holidays) to eat out constantly. I love eating out too….good food, good people, good drinks…what more could you ask for? Maybe in 2011, I’ll suggest more “dinner parties” instead of going out. I think dinner/house parties can be equally if not more fun than going out. Throughout my adult life, this has sort of cycled. In high school, it was house parties…college, it was bars…now house parties are makin’ a comeback! It’s a much more laid back atmosphere, plus you can bring your own dish…making it as healthy or unhealthy as you’d like!
6. Make My Own Cheese- That’s right, cheese. My sister in law got a cheese maker for Christmas from my Mother in Law and it’s sort of inspired me to try and make cheese. I was told mozzarella was the easiest cheese to make….so I might try my hand at it. I don’t have a cheese maker…so it should be interesting. Nonetheless, it sounds like a fun experiment and if it turns out well, all the better! Maybe I’ll get my own cheese maker and go into business!
7. Have a Garden– This is something I really look forward to. I’ve always lived in an apartment (since college) so never had the space, or sun, for a garden. We did grow our own cucumbers and tomatoes in Chicago and they were pretty good! It was so much fun just walking outside to get your veggies. I love the idea of growing herbs, veggies, and fruit all in your backyard. So first, we need a backyard  . Hopefully, we’ll be renting a house starting in March….so a garden couldactually be in our future!
8. Take Better Care of Our Cars- I am not the most responsible when it comes to car maintenance.  I pretty much hate anything having to do with cars, therefore try to avoid it at all costs. We are going to try and sell my jeep though….so I know maintenance is important (still hate it though…can’t Cliff do it??). If we get a new car in 2011, I will get the oil changed regularly and keep up with the car’s maintenance. It pains me to say it…but I will do it!
9. Own Chickens- This is another sister in law/brother in law inspired goal. They own a couple chickens and although they’ve had a few issues (one turns out was a rooster…one attacked by a raccoon..not laying many eggs) they seem to have a good time with them. This kind of goes along with the garden…I like the idea of walking outside and collecting eggs from the chickens. I’ve actually owned chickens before and they’re pretty fun. If the city of Dallas will allow them…I’d love to have some hens livin’ it up in our yard.
10. Run Another Marathon– Since I took 2010 off, I feel I’ve given my body enough rest to train for a race in 2011. Because Boston is the ultimate goal for me, the sooner I can qualify, the better. That is, of course, assuming I can qualify. If I can’t…another goal of mine is to not beat myself up about it. It’s definitely not easy. All I can do is try…which I will do in 2011. If this year doesn’t work out, maybe 2012 will.
11. Do Something Special for my Husband At Least Once a Week-If Not Once a Day– I think this is going to be a lifelong goal of mine. It’s so easy to get stuck in routine that you sort of “forget” that you’re lucky enough to be around and spend your life with the person you love most. When I stop and think about how much I love my husband, it reminds me not to take him for granted. I want to remind him as much as possible how much he is loved. I think (although I’m no expert) this will not only help in creating a happy partner, but also a happy marriage.
12. Go on More Trips with My Husband- Speaking of the hubby, we haven’t gone away on a trip together in like, 3 years!  We do have a honeymoon planned (Thailand in March) but I’d love for us to do more exploring together. We received a ton of camping gear from the wedding so hopefully in 2011, we can put that to good use! We’ve talked about a trip to Yellowstone…now that we have the gear, we’re good to go!

(isn’t it funny how cats love to sit in things?)

We definitely eat out less so I’ll check that off my list. I did do a marathon so that’s checked too! I’d like to believe I make my husband feel special every day too, at least I try!

So, 3 out of 12…hm….not very impressive. It’s just so easy to forget about new year goals isn’t it? We all feel so motivated come January 1st but by March, all is forgotten.

I tried to make specific goals last year since vague goals can make them even harder to achieve. Here are some of the top new year’s resolutions according to the US government:

• Drink less
• Eat healthy food
• Lose weight
• Get a better job
• Stop smoking
• save money
• take a trip
• manage stress

These are all great goals and would definitely equal a healthier life, but they are also extremely vague. Goals are much less intimidating and more attainable when they’re more specific. “Lose weight” is not a very motivating goal (at least I don’t think so), changing that to lose 5lbs. in a couple months is much better. It gives you something more specific you can work towards; something you can actually measure.

Since most of my previous resolutions were a total fail, maybe this year I’ll have fewer goals and keep reminders of what those goals are. Isn’t that what post-it’s are for? By the way, I invented post-it’s (name that movie!). Here are some resolutions for 2012:

• Revamp my workout generator- working on it already so I’m sort of cheating on this one :).
• Possibly add a new addition to the family.…? 😉
• Do more yoga. I love my strength training and running, but yoga makes me feel so good I think I need to incorporate it more into my life. I took a class while I was home and although I’m not that good, I still felt like I got a great workout. I’m not the best at stretching, so yoga helps with that too.
• Own chickens. I’m carrying this goal over to 2012! Now that we have a yard, I think we can actually do this one. Maybe we’ll wait a couple months so the chickens don’t freeze to death, but how fun would that be to just walk outside and get your eggs?
• Read More.  I realize this is vague so maybe I’ll narrow it down to read 1 book every 2 months? That seems doable. I got a few for Christmas and already started one. I have a tendency to start books then forget about them and never finish. Not this time!

That’s only a few resolutions, but I think they’re all doable (of course, expanding the family depends on a lot of things…so we’ll see about that one). 2011 was a great year, I look forward to lots more fun adventures in 2012!

 

Do you make New Year’s Resolutions? Have you kept them in the past?