Okay, so this is my third fourth attempt at a New Year's Resolution post, and the third fourth time is the charm right?

My first attempt was a post about how I was going to make New Year's "Objectives" and not "Resolutions" for multiple reasons, but I stopped myself, deleted the post, and started over.

My second attempt was then to write a post about my 2011 New Year's Resolution of Simplifying and how although I made progress last year, I still have a long way to go, so that was going to be my one resolution again for 2012.

Delete. Rinse. Repeat.

My third attempt was then to talk about how I was making this way too complicated (which was ironic considering I was trying to post about simplifying), and I was trying to have all these profound resolutions but I couldn't seem to boil them down like I wanted to.

But now I'm back to square one where I'm not making resolutions, but goals for next year. Resolutions get a bad rep, because no one ever keeps them. At least not the majority that's for sure. I'm a goal-oriented person, so this year, its all about 2012 Goals!

Instead of trying to make something all profound, I'm throwing in the towel and just posting everything that I want to achieve in 2012 (subject to change by the minute apparently). I'm going to try make things a little more specific this year. In no particular order...

Actually Budget

• Update budget spreadsheet for 2012 financial goals/anticipated expenses.
• Update budget spreadsheet weekly with actual expenses.
• Once a month, review, update spreadsheet, and add new budget goal for the following month.
• Reduce total credit card balances by 75% by December 31st, 2012.
• Start Emma & Jackson's college funds by March 31st.

Home Resolutions - Become a Better Do-It-Yourselfer

• Update DIY Home Improvement list and plan by January 31st.
• Complete six home improvement projects before December 31st.
• Start the great basement clean-out of 2012!!
• Set up a regular cleaning schedule to free up our weekend time for more fun with the babies!

Continue to Simplify

• Do a 2012 Brain Dump and re-evaluate it monthly.
• Complete Project Simplify by May 31st.
• De-clutter one "thing" a month. Whether that's a whole room, or just a closet.

Health - Take Better care of Me

• Get into a routine where working out three times a week is the norm.
• Set one smaller "healthy" goal to focus on each month.
• Get back into pre-Jackson shape (i.e. lose 13 pounds total)
• Lose 5 lbs by my 32nd Birthday (February 19th)
• Lose 10 lbs (total) by May 31st
• Lose 13 lbs (total) by the 4th of July
• Wean myself off of my daily coffee!
• Continue Photography as my hobby!
• Learn to actually use my speedlite as opposed to just turning it on and hoping for the best.
• Master my camera!

Keep on Blogging
Life passes us by way too fast. I have really enjoyed blogging and it's been almost like therapy for me. I can't believe that its been three years already! It's kind of amazing too about which posts get the most hits (the ones you wouldn't expect). So I really want to keep it up and maybe even try something new!

Since there are only about 5,435 goals that I want to accomplish next year, and most of them probably have multiple parts, I decided to create a 2012 Goals page! One of the things I love about blogging is that it is a great reminder for me on a lot of different things. This is the perfect way for me to keep track of my goals for next year and share any tips or tricks that I may find along the way!

So here goes nothing!

 

Project Simplify: Update & Hot Spot #2

Okay, so clearly this was a little bit of bad timing and unrealistic expectations on my part when it comes to Project Simplify because I am already behind and it's only week ONE! I managed to take before pictures of my closet and dresser, but that was about as far as I got. It ended up being kind of a bust this week because all three of us were sick with colds and it was pretty much all I could do to get out of bed everyday, come to work, and then make it through until Emma's bedtime which meant Mommy's bedtime was shortly behind.

I already know that Hot Spot #2 isn't going to happen this week either! Although I was actually really hoping that Simple Mom was going to pick something like this because we have the perfect project to work on. Since we are still going through the never ending transition (or at least it seems never ending) from our downstairs Living Room to Office to now Emma & Jackson's Playroom, this is the perfect Hot Spot for us to work on. So....

Hot Spot #2 is Paper Clutter!!

And I know just the area that we are going to start with! We have these two file cabinets that are still in the playroom taking up space that are not only FILLED to the brim with old paperwork/bills/documents, etc, but the pile on top is growing by the day. Part of the problem is Emma's daily "tidbits" that come home from daycare everyday. They say the cutest things about what she did that day, etc, that I can't bring myself to throw them away!! That, mixed with old paperwork from my wedding planning business, and now also the tons of little art projects from Emma that I also can't bare to throw away, makes for quite the unruly paper clutter!

So we will see how far we get with this one! It was certainly on my list of things for maternity leave, and I'll probably try to go back and finished Hot Spot #1 first too!

Project Simplify: Hot Spot #1

Bright and early this morning, Simple Mom revealed the first Hot Spot of Project Simplify!

Hot Spot #1 is your wardrobe and closet!!

Had this project happened a few weeks or months ago I would have had a much bigger job ahead of me and probably wouldn't have come close to getting it done within a week (especially Monday - Friday)! But since we turned our guest room into Jackson's room, I was kind of forced to go through a BUNCH of clothes when cleaning out his closet. It.was.a.big.mess. It took probably all weekend, and then several days after that to actually get rid of and donate most of what came out of that closet. I think we ended up donating about 8 - 10 bags of clothes, bridesmaids dresses, etc to goodwill and had to move some more stuff into the basement.

So had I not done that, I would be in big trouble. :) Here I was thinking that we would start off with something easy too ha!

Now, that's certainly not to say that I don't have my work cut out for me because although THAT closet is all cleaned out, it's been on my list of things to do for weeks now to do the same for my closet and dresser. I ended up procrastinating and leaving it on my maternity leave list of things to do, but this will be better if I can tackle it now.

My closet is pretty much a disaster zone right now. I had a ton of clothes in there, and then got pregnant and adding a ton of maternity clothes. Instead of taking all the clothes that don't fit out, I just crammed more in. PLUS, I also added more clothes that I ended up keeping from the big clean out of Jackson's closet. My dresser is also a big mess in that it's so full, I can barely open and clothes my drawers when all of our laundry is done. So, I certainly still have my work cut out for me.

So this week, as Simple Mom says, we we are going to touch every. single. item of clothing in our wardrobe, and make a decision whether it stays or goes. We will then find a new home for the items to pass on, organize the clothes that stay, and take inventory of what we might need in the future.

Here’s the basic plan of attack for this week:

1. Make sure all your clothes are washed and in one place.
2. Set aside all items you already know you don’t want — wearable in the “give” box; unwearable in the “toss” box.
3. Try on all the rest of your clothes — no cheating. (Umm...I'll be skipping this step haha)
4. Anything that doesn’t fit well, put in a separate pile.
5. Anything that isn’t the right color on you, put in the “give” box.
6. Anything that has un-mendable holes or stains, is unwearable, or underwear that’s seen better days, put in the “toss” box.
7. Once your closet and drawers are empty, clean them.
8. Hang, fold, and put away the clothes you know you’re keeping.
9. Reassess the items in your doesn’t-fit-well pile.
10. Tackle your shoes, jewelry, and other accessories.

For more information and tips on how to get started and what you might need, feel free to check out Simple Mom's Hot Spot #1 post. Here we go!

Some New Pages!

Well, you may have noticed that I decided to add a couple of new pages to our blog! I decided that since I am really starting to get into this photography thing as a hobby, and I plan on doing even more since I have a lot to learn, I started two different "Photography" pages at the top of our blog. I also decided, that since I have gotten a lot of emails and comments about the budgeting and simplifying and organizing stuff, that I would dedicate a new page to the upcoming Simple Mom Project Simplify! A lot of my friends and family are new moms and whenever we get together we end up talking about the exact same struggles and challenges that we face. I by no means have any answers to any of those challenges, but I can at least document the challenges that we have as a family and talk about how we are handling them (good or bad).

All of the posts will still show up on the Home page, so you will just have to ignore the ones you aren't interested in haha, but these extra pages are just places to help keep information on different subjects. I probably won't post quite as much on those pages, especially with the new addition on his way, but I have learned a lot through other people in both being a new mom and photography so I thought why not try something new!! I am by far a professional photographer, and I clearly have TONS to learn, so those pages will be more about my start in Photography and things that I am learning along the way and things I hope to learn. I have really enjoyed it as a hobby and thought it just might be fun to share!

Project Simplify!

If you happen to check out one of the blogs that I follow (list on the left of my blog) called Simple Mom, you may have seen that she is kicking off Project Simplify starting a week from today! It couldn't have come at a better time and is exactly what I need to keep my New Year's Resolution going!

Here is the quick description of Project Simplify...

With spring right around the corner (it can't come fast enough if you ask me), it's about that time for spring cleaning and although I have already started to try to get myself on this path of picking one area at a time to organize, I think this is just what I need to keep going. For five weeks, starting on Monday, March 7 to Friday, April 8th, I (being guided by Simple Mom) will be tackling five different areas in our house. Now, obviously we are going to be having a baby right in the middle of that window, so we will see how far we get at first, but it will be a good project to continue and hopefully complete during maternity leave. Every Monday, Simple Mom will announce the week’s “hot spot.” That Friday, we will share before and after photos.

If anyone else is interested in participating, all you h ave to do is post your “before” and “after” experience (photos are a must!) on your own blog, then link to it on Friday’s Simple Mom post. Or you can just follow along with me and I will post about what the hot spots are from Simple Mom and hopefully keep up with it! I think the hardest part will be that the weekend's aren't really involved, so all the organizing will have to be done during the week. With small projects it may not be too bad, but if Simple Mom rolls out like the entire kitchen, that may have to wait until maternity leave!

So stay tuned for more!!