Happy New Year!

Welcome to a new day, a new month, a new year! I can't believe a whole year has gone by! I feel like time keeps moving a little faster than it used to. 2012 will be a big year. Ella will turn five & begin Kindergarten, Kenton may start preschool as well & my days will be a lot different. But I'm getting ahead of myself! I want to say that I have really enjoyed the holidays this year. Yeah we were busy, but not as booked up as normal. We had time with each part of our family & we didn't feel like we were rushing around. And I have to say that this past week has been so relaxing! We have not done a thing & I've been loving it! No last minute shopping to do, no wrapping gifts the night before you give them & no more stressing. We've been sleeping in & the kids have been playing with their new toys. School starts back this week & I wish we had a little more time! It will be hard getting up early again :)

It is that time of year when people start making their resolutions. Of course you don't have to wait until January to make changes in your life. But something about starting over makes it a good time of year. We all have a fresh start, a clean slate & a brand new year to look forward to. So I thought I would share some of my goals for this year.

I've been wanting to get into running. I've never really liked it, but after watching Greg complete his first marathon last year I was inspired to try it. Especially since he burned so many calories & was eating whatever he wanted! So in order to get into a running schedule I signed up for my first 10K. I have a meeting next week & training starts at the end of January. I am doing the training program through the YMCA. I hope to run/jog most of it, we'll see if that happens! I will definitely be updating on my progress!

Along with running, I want to be more active & healthy. My training schedule will have me working out 4-5 days a week. But after that I hope to keep up 2-3 days per week. And I want to make smarter decisions with what I eat. I don't want to cut any food out of my diet or limit what I have. But I want to make better meals for myself so that I don't binge on junk food. And I want to be better at planning meals for the week & creating good grocery lists. When I have no idea what to make for dinner, I end up buying a bunch of stuff that I don't need & I end up making another trip to the store for things I do need. 

As I mentioned above, Ella will be starting Kindergarten this year. I want to make more time to sit with her & practice writing & reading. She got the Leap Pad for Christmas & has been playing with it a lot! Spending some time each day would really be beneficial for her.

And this guy! He is so sweet & so smart! I hope to start potty training this spring. If anyone has advice for potty training boys I'd love to hear it!

This year I'd like to learn more about photography. I took a class 3 years ago, but I've forgotten a lot of what I learned. I'd like to get out of Auto mode more. When kids are playing there is not enough time to mess with the settings, the shot will be gone by the time I get my camera ready. So I shoot in Auto a lot.  But I want to spend time practicing in Manual. My pictures will not get better or look the way I want unless I put in the time to learn & practice!

I want to spend more time on my blogs. I would like to post a couple times a week, so that it is consistent. I'm trying to figure out my place in the blog world. I wish I could take amazing photos & write up a beautiful story to go along with them. But I'm not much of a writer. And I'm not much of a photographer (yet!). I just want to be better at documenting our days & posting pictures that give people a glimpse of our life. And I've been having so much fun with my new blog, I have more ideas for posts there too!

The last thing is making more time for myself & time with Greg. I want more date nights, dinners out & movies on the couch. I also want to make sure I set aside time for me, to shop, read, run or whatever I feel like doing!

Overall I'm excited about the upcoming year. It is what you make it & I plan on making it a good one. Oh yeah, I also turn 30 this year! 2012 - bring it!