New Year's Resolutions - The Mom Maven

Since mid-December I have been part of a group on JessicaKnows. Jessica helped us refine our goals for the next year. It was a great experience for me. Jessica also introduced us to a great website 43Things. On 43Things you can create your list of goals, resolutions or your bucket list. You can make your list public or private and others can cheer you along the way. We used 43Things as a place to list our resolutions and cheer others in our group on as they work towards their goals. I have created a list of 11 resolutions for 2009. They are in no particular order, but here they are.

Read More-in 2008 I didn’t read even half as many books as usual and I missed it. I also want to read a variety of genres, especially Christian romance, Business, Leadership, Inspirational and of course, my Bible.
Budget Better-we have taken plenty of courses about finances and we have home a long way, but we have further to go. I want to be more organized with our finances in 2009.
Declutter-we have a small house and a lot of stuff. The house is clean but cluttered and the clutter is starting to drive me crazy. I have created a schedule of 1 room a month to focus on decluttering it. The schedule lasts 6 month and then starts again. I also need to get control of all the papers. I haven’t figured that one out yet, but I will.
Fight the Frump-there are 2 parts to this one. The first is to exercise regularly. I plan to use the WiiFit 30 minutes 4 days a week to start. The second is to work to add new casual clothing to my wardrobe so that I wear fewer jeans and t-shirts.
Drink More Water-I like to drink water. I have always drunk a lot of water when I work outside of the home. When I am home I hardly ever choose water to drink. I have started to drink water and alternate it with my sodas.
Eat Healthy Snacks-I haven’t been snacking much at all but, when I do I need to choose healthier snacks. I don’t keep fruit in the house because it always goes bad before we eat it. That is going to change. The rest of the family needs healthy snacks too.
Take More Pictures and Scrapbook Them-I love to take pictures, I have a decent camera-I just haven’t taken a lot of pictures in the last few years. I am also way behind in my scrapbooking and I am sure somewhere subconsciously I feel that if I don’t take a lot of pictures there won’t be a lot of scrapbooking to catch up on. I have added scrapbooking time into my schedule 2 days a week to help me start getting caught up.

Learn New Things

Step Out of my Comfort Zone-I need to network and meet new people. I have a fear of new people and don’t make friends easily. I am going to step out of my comfort zone and meet new people and create relationships with them.
Connect More with my Husband-We are together a lot. We both work out of our home and homeschool our kids so we see each other all the time. Being physically in the same place isn’t the same as connecting, talking, dreaming together. I am also going to shut off the laptop (aaaagh!) at least once a week and curl up on the couch with him to watch a TV show or movie.
Budget my Social Media Time– It is very easy to let social media take over your life. There is Twitter, Facebook, the 2 fitness forums and 6 .ning networks that I belong to all taking time away from my family. There is nothing wrong with any of these outlets in and of themselves. There can be too much of a good thing. I’ve been asked to join 3 other .ning networks that I have yet to join. After taking January to decide which fitness forum I like better I will cut back to one. I am also not actively participating in 2 .ning networks, participating weekly in 2 and focusing on the 2 that I feel will best benefit me and my family.

What are your goals for this new year? I hope my list has helped you remember some things you wanted to change in your life.

Happy New Year!