new year

I wrote most of this on the road driving home from Minnesota Saturday night. That it took me a day and a half to get it finished is a pretty accurate example of how much effort it takes to blog regularly! But I press on...


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We are driving home from our final family Christmases of the year. It's 10:15pm on Saturday and we left my parents' at 5:20. This is supposed to be a four-hour trip, but thanks to a standard Great Plaines winter windstorm, we've been driving like dripping molasses through a veil of blowing snow. We're finally about 30 minutes from home and I'm going to be so relieved to be home- to sleep in my own bed, eat my own food, make my own coffee to my own specifications. Traveling always makes me thankful to get back home again, which has nothing to do with whether or not I enjoyed my trip. I just love my home, you know?

Being among family and enjoying the unending supply of foods with no real nutrient value (monkey bread, eggnog, fudge, you get the idea) which we all seem to silently agree are staples of our holiday experience, always leaves me with a strong need of dietary purification. And hearing about my relatives' lives, their careers and achievements, goals and disappointments, and change in general, tends to remind me that we have an entire new year fresh to be plotted. So much potential! It's no wonder to me then that so many start fresh with resolutions to get healthy or achieve more or gain fulfillment in new ways at the beginning of the year. 

One of my dear friends and I were talking specifically about New Years resolutions, and how she has gone from being a resolution cynic to a resolution-maker herself. Last year, as a challenge to herself and to the notion that nobody ever fulfills their resolutions of January by the time December closes, she made a few specific goals for herself and committed to do them as often as possible, not giving up even after days when she failed. She was amazed and pleased to see how much she accomplished with that motivation spurring her on, and noted that even in areas where she didn't technically follow through completely with her goal (example: drinking green tea everyday) she still did it more than when she had no set goal. 

Such an optimistic view- seeing resolutions as opportunities. I'm going to run with it. I'm a few days late for setting some official resolutions, but that's ok! Better late than not at all.

Here are some of the resolutions I'm making for 2015:

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Write {something} everyday 

Plan and prep 5 weeknight meals every Sunday {inspiration and logistical model: the fresh 20, which is the book associated with the website}

Paint/draw at least once a week

Clean every night instead of one huge cleaning marathon every weekend 

Put extra $$$ toward student loan principal every month

Night-wean/sleep-train Roger

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So far I'm making slow but steady progress on most of these. Look at me, I'm writing right now! And miracle of miracles, Roger went to sleep in his crib on his own last night! He only cried a little as he fought the fatigue until it overtook him. I'm over the moon, this is such a HUGE step for him. And before tonight, his crying always escalated to the point where I couldn't let him work it out. It's like, whoa, ok he really is capable of self-soothing now! At last! Now I'm going to do everything in my power to keep this going.

What have you found is a good way to keep a resolution? It will be interesting to see how well I keep so many resolutions at once this year.

Happy Monday!