Happy New Year!

Ok, so my one week break turned into a month, but that's to be expected with the holidays.  However, I'm back and ready to share more about our family and life.

That said, I wanted to kick off the new year, by listing some changes to the blog and my goals for the year. 

The first thing I wanted to talk about was blog changes.  Originally, I just wanted to chronicle our family for those that lived far away, which at the time I started the blog was all of our family.  However,  I'll be honest, most of our family doesn't read the blog...and I started to meet a lot of nice people through this medium, so I thought why not change a little.

So from now on, my blog posts are going to comprise of a few things- funny family updates (because who doesn't love stories about a three year old obsessed with Spiderman), our journey into a more sustainable & CHEAPER lifestyle, and finally, our growth in our faith.

Expect about three post per week, as I'm a stay at home mommy who also has to teach twice a week...

Secondly, no resolutions for this girl this year.  I'm afraid that word has become something you abandon after a month.  So I'm going with goals, which include detailed ways to make it happen.  Here's my list, and you might grab something to drink, it's a bit long.

1. Become more patient. 

This means less yelling and arguing.  I know what you are thinking, "how on earth could that sweet, redheaded girl ever yell"??  One word- redheaded. Ha, ha.  No, I do have a temper and it isn't due to my red hair.  But I do plan to be more conscious of my words and actions this year.  How do I plan to achieve my goal? Prayer and more prayer.  The more I focus on my God, the more conscious I am of what He wants me to do.  Plus this will help my poor husband lower his stress.

2. Be more active in the church.

I've already started this, by joining the choir.  We are also attending Sunday School and bible study.  Good start on the year...we just have to keep it up.

3. Save more money.

I'm teaching less this semester and without my postdoc continuing we're working on a smaller budget.  But that's ok, because we were already saving a bunch of money with some small changes to our life.  Now we're going for bigger changes to save even more. In fact, this is something I'll be blogging about, such as raising our own chickens, making a lot of our own foods, and finding other ways to save.

4. Become sustainable.

In order to rely more on ourselves, be healthier, and change the way we impact the world, we're making some great lifestyle changes.  They also tend to save us money.  Look for future blogs posts on rain barrels, gardening, raising animals, and making your own foods.

5. Become more organized. 

I've started this too.  We've organized a lot of closets and only have two to go.  Next we plan to tackle the garage, basement, and attic.  A lot of work, but worth it in the end.

6. Lose weight.

Isn't this what everyone says?  But to be honest, I've not been strict with myself in terms of exercise and eating.  Plus I've let the appetite I've gained nursing take control of me.  It's time I cut back.  Does this mean diet?  No, not really.  I'm not up for no calorie foods that also have little to no nutrition.  Instead, I'm going for balanced, portion controlled meals coupled with lots of activity.  I've got two kids and a mini farm to run, so I'm sure I'll gets lots in the spring and summer.  This winter I'm going to focus on jogging/walking as much as our schedule allows.

7. Be a better mom.

Who doesn't want this too??  But truth be told, I want to be a little more patient and help the girls learn and grow as much as I can.  I'm going to continue some things like bible study, kindermusik, and story time at the library.  But I"m also going to add play time with them every day.  Too often I focus on what needs to be clean or what has to get done...and I miss just playing with the girls.  So from now on, we're playing!  We'll also do a craft morning a week and a baking morning.  That way we can have some other fun learning experiences too.


That's all of my goals!  A lot right?  But with ideas of how to achieve, I think we'll be doing great!

Expect some year end review posts in the next two days, followed by my new format the following week.  Hope everyone out in bloggy land is fabulous and Happy New Year!!