Ringing in 2014

We ended 2013 with a whimper. After a night out for margaritas and Mexican food for our anniversary on the 30th (nine years - craziness!), we were in bed at 10:30 New Years Eve. We did have pigs in a blanket as part of our New Years dinner - for some reason I feel that is a requirement, even if it did happen at 5 pm with high chairs involved. And I did wake up for about an hour after the ball dropped to hand off the girls we were sitting for back to their parents. The kids had a nice time and I enjoyed my cozy bed.

New Year's morning we hosted our second annual pajama brunch. It was lots of fun with our local friends and we had yummy food, a good turnout, and the kids played nicely. Since there were about 25 kids between the ages of 2 and 5 (I think Kel was actually the youngest in attendance this year which was weird!) having them all play nicely was pretty miraculous. It was lovely to catch up with friends, and somehow my house was tidy when everyone left. Amazing!

 

I am excited to see what 2014 holds for our family. And I am making a few resolutions that I hope to stick to this year!

1. Get Healthy Again
I have not been watching what I eat or doing well with exercise with the exception of running. I am going to count calories again at least 5 days a week, do strength training of some sort at least twice a week, and my running goal for the year is 600 miles. I am signed up for a half marathon in May and am seriously considering doing the full Baltimore marathon in October. We'll see. 50 miles a month seems reasonable though at the pace I finished out 2013.

2. Prioritize Family
I am an iPad addict. I am an extrovert who loves to be social. I need to put down the iPad more, say no to more social events, and spend more quality time with the family. I am going to try to make sure all electronics are off when we eat, even if it is frozen waffles Friday mornings or another dinner without daddy. And we are back to blocking off family time on some weekends.

3. Take Time for Me
I need more sleep. I need more down time. Yes, I like to be busy all the time and am an extrovert, but I can't get up at 4:05 and go to bed at 11 every night and be happy and healthy and pleasant. My kids also happen to be really clingy (which is sort of surprising since B and I are not the touchy feely types). They want to be attached to me all the time during our together hours. I need to find more ways to take some me time so that I can be a better mom, wife, worker, and friend.


4. Stick to our Budget
Bryan and I did a pretty good job keeping to our weekly budget this past year. In 2014, my goal is to be under budget most weeks so that we can put money in a house fund. We want a new kitchen, and also need some work outside and some painting inside done. The kitchen is a few years down the road (yay end of daycare and loan payments in 4 years!) but some of the smaller projects need to be done soon.

5. Work on our Prayer Life
I love the prayers of our faith. The fact that everyone around the world is sharing in the same words and readings makes me really happy. But sometimes I think that takes away from some of our other prayer life. I want to do more praying as a family, teach our kids more about Jesus and the bible, and talk to God more often on my own. I am still figuring out how to do this better, but have high hopes for our family in this area in 2014 and I know if I turn it over to God we'll be fine.

So, welcome 2014. I have high hopes that you'll be another fabulous year for the Saxton Four.