Looking Ahead

Looking forward to:

• March 10 - Our 10 Year Anniversary. We'll be leaving the kids behind at Grandma's house and heading to Disney World by ourselves! I cannot wait. I have all sorts of "Grown Up" dinners planned and a tour that we couldn't do with the kids. We might even try parasailing.
• June 4 - We're leaving Mike behind and I'm taking the kids, my mom, and my sister to Disney World!
• Summer vacation - since the kids are getting older we can do more and more fun stuff! Maybe another camping trip?
• Our annual Dell's vacation with Mike's family - Quinn is truly swimming now and I have a feeling Liam might be close by that time!

I resolve to:

• Stop using Drive Thrus. Think about - nothing good ever came out of a drive thru window. This shouldn't be too difficult, the only drive thru I've been relying on has been Starbucks. So, now if I want a Vanilla Soy latte, I'm going to have to get out of my car and go in there and get it. Or, send Mike. =)
• Use my reusable bags more often.
• Continue checking food labels and only buy/eat food that has simple ingredients.
• Try rock climbing at the gym.
• Plan a vacation for 2012 that is not to Disney World. I know there's more to see than Mickey and Minnie - it's just there's a magnet there that pulls me towards it all the time!

Looking Back

Favorite memories:

• February trip to Disney World with our good friends! Not sure when we'll be going back with them, but that was our second trip together and everything went so smoothly. It's amazing that our entire family and their entire family get along so well!
• Christmas with my family - this year was definitely one of the best and I have so many happy memories from that day!

Best finds:

• I started drinking tea at home instead of coffee. I used to have to add a ton of sugar and milk to my coffee. I can drink my tea "black". I really love Stash's Spicy Chai tea in the morning. And then Stash's green tea during the day. Right now, I'm enjoying an herbal bedtime story mix by Lipton. I can drink my tea iced or hot.
• Yoga. My goodness. It took me years to figure this out. First, "yoga isn't about being good at it," is what a good friend of mine told me once while I was complaining about not being "good at it or flexible enough." But that's not all, I found a teacher that holds that same philosophy. As she says, "Let go of your ego and honor your body for where it's at in the pose." She has so many great phrases, one of my favorites being, "smile!" Since I've let go of my ego I've come to really enjoy my yoga time and I've been able to go deeper into most of the poses. Now I feel as if I'm a yoga pusher - anyone that shows any slight interest in yoga I can't help but encourage them and encourage them and then ask if they've tried it out yet! I've learned what yoga classes to avoid at the gym (fitness yoga or warrier sculpt) and which ones I enjoy (vinyasa or hatha).

Things I wouldn't mind not doing again:

• Quinn's surgery and recovery.
• Dealing with the budget cuts at work. (This, I'm afraid will be rearing it's ugly head early in 2011.)

I said I would (and what I actually did):

• read more news magazines and books - I've read quite a few books this past year. I tried a few news magazines, but didn't really enjoy reading them at all!
• read less blogs - I feel sort of guilty, I rarely check my google reader. If a friend posts a link to a blog post via facebook, I'll check it out.
• eat less McDonald's - Did it! Not only that, we very rarely get any fast food now. I can cound on one hand the number of times I either ate McDonald's or got it for my kids. I'm planning on zero trips for 2011.
• try cooking more often - Ugh. Still can't get into the cooking thing. I think I tried one meal in January. If I do cook, it's the old stand by of spaghetti.
• buy less stuff - Hmmm... after the shopping spree I was on today I'm not too sure. I will say, our Christmas was scaled way down. The kids don't need so much and when I'm shopping I find myself putting back a lot of the things I pick up. I've still go to work on this, but I have gotten better.
• donate more - yup! I'm constantly going thru our toys and clothes and packing bags up to donate.

Run more.

Run more and find less excuses. Another one of my resolutions for 2010.

I got pretty good at running. I got to the point where enjoyed running, sort of. I mean, it was still hard, but I enjoyed it. And then I got sick at the beginning of December - strep had me out for almost two weeks. And then I had a mole removed from my forehead and was told not to exercise until the stitches came out. And then the stitches came out and I ran again - and woah. It's almost as if I'm starting over again, but not really.

Anyway, I no longer prefer running on the treadmill. Especially since the people at the gym have the heat on so high - I swear I was dying last time I ran there - it was so hot in there! But I did start to like running outside.

And then it got cold. Very cold. Bitterly cold. And I didn't have any warm running gear.

I took care of that yesterday and also discovered just how un-sexy running leggings are. But that's okay - I got myself a pair of underarmour running pants, an ear band thingy, and gloves. I know I've got enough exercise-type jackets - so I'm pretty sure I'll be all set for my run on Wednesday.

My plan is to run Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. If I miss a run, then I'll run Sunday morning.

At least now I have the gear to get out in this weather. Also - if I find it's too cold - then no excuses - I'll drive my butt to the gym and sweat it out on a treadmill.

Eat less McDonald's

Mike and I recently watched Supersize Me. Haven't heard of it? Basically I guy goes from eating fairly healthy and exercising regularly - to eating a diet consisting of nothing except for McDonald's and no longer exercising. In fact, he starts taking more cabs, because he wants to keep the amount of steps he takes in a day at the national average.

Anyway, I was really hoping this movie would totally gross me out.

But it didn't. I was hoping it would make me think, "Man, I'm never going to want to eat at McDonald's again." Instead, I thought, "Hmmm, I could go for a Big Mac. I love my Big Macs."

Of course eating nothing but McDonald's for a month is not a good idea. Especially, if you insist on getting a meal every time - french fries twice a day and soda. Woah.

But what he did discover, which I totally believe is this - McDonald's food is addictive.

I could go weeks without a Big Mac or a Cheeseburger Happy Meal (with apples), but then once I treat myself and the kids - I want it again - right away.

So, I'm going to try to go to McDonald's less this year. I'd really like to say I'm not going to go at all, but that's just not realistic.

Also - I'm going to try to cook. Once a month I'm going to make something that seems difficult or fancy to me. I've always said, "I can't cook healthy foods." The only things I know how to make are loaded with carbs or come from a box or both. So, I'm going to try to cook from the meat and produce aisle. Once a month. Also, crock pot recipes do not count.

*Oh - and another surprising thing from the movie - he showed some school up in Wisconsin serving amazing school lunches - organic/fresh vegetables and the lunch ladies were actually putting together lasagna for the students. It looked amazingly delicious.

Read less blogs

This year for Christmas Mike and I gave his grandma a subscription to Time Magazine. I have to thank my aunt who told me, "Uncle Fred's mother still reads Time Magazine and she's 94, but likes to know what's going in." I knew Mike's grandma would enjoy the same thing - she is always aware of current events.

Me?

Not so much.

Sadly, I can tell you what's going on in people's lives I don't even know. I know who likes to complain about work and people they work with all the time. I know of three children who died this year, whom I never met. I know who is on a diet. Who got a new camera for Christmas. What kind of lens so and so likes to use. Who got a Snuggie for Christmas. What some people think about just about anything.

I know a lot of useless stuff.

That's not to say that reading blogs hasn't been a good thing for me. I've learned of other's compasion. I've learned of other's struggles. I've gotten strength from reading of other's strengths. I've been inspired by others.

So, my resolution to read less blogs?

There were some blogs in my google reader that I would skip over if I was in a hurry. The ones where the author rambled on and on (sort of like this), or the ones where the author complains almost every post, or the ones that, yes, they are funny, but I really didn't feel a connection to them.

So I deleted them.

I kept the blogs with good writing.

With the people I feel connected to.

With those that are more positive than negative.

Chances are - if you're reading this - I still read your blog.

And I'm not just saying that.

Oh, right. So anyway - I decided to try to stay current on current events. To read something other than blogs. I'm trying out different news magazines to see which style I like the best, before getting a subscription. So far, I've read Newsweek, Reason, and The Week.

Do you read a news magazine? Which one?

My Resolultions - More or Less

Read more news magazines and books.
Read less blogs.


Eat less McDonald's.
Try cooking more often.

Run more.
Find less excuses.

Buy less stuff.
Donate more of what we have, but no longer really need.