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Wednesday, December 26, 2018

New Year's Resolutions 2019

Hi all! I hope you had a very Merry Christmas! We spent the end of last week/the weekend with Devin's family in Wilmington, and then headed home to Charlotte to celebrate with my family on Sunday. We kicked off our family Christmas celebration with a trip to the Panthers game on Sunday, and then spent Monday and Tuesday with family as well. It was the perfect way to spend the holiday.

As you've heard me mention before, I am really big on my New Year's Resolutions. I'm probably the only person I know who actually takes their resolutions seriously... it's a little ridiculous, I know, but it's my thing. Towards the end of each year I try to reflect on areas of my life that I feel are going well and WHY they're going so well. For example, this year at work has been easier because I did a lot of professional development and research into what new STEM projects and ideas I could incorporate in my classroom. Then, I wrote and received a grant for $6,000 of new materials we could use for our projects. It made a world of a difference! 

I also try to do a lot of reflecting on areas I feel I could work on. One year I felt I was stuck in a routine doing "the same old things" all the time. I wanted to try something outside the box and new for me that year, so I started running which I used to HATE. Now I have run multiple half marathons and full marathons and I LOVE running (who saw that coming?? Definitely NOT me!).
Lily Grace, Devin and I after I ran the Charlotte Half Marathon in November 2018.
So this year I am doing some reflecting and thinking about what areas I want to improve on in 2019, and the first thing that popped into my head was continuing education. 

Resolution #1: Continuing Education: Why when we graduate from college do so many of us feel like our education is over? Immediately after graduating and getting my first "real" job (at the school I'm still at!), I felt a void. I was loving "adulting" and all most of the responsibilities that came with it, but noticed that something was missing. I missed being the student at a school rather than always being the teacher. I started doing research and found a Grad school program that spoke to me, so I applied, was accepted and started. I LOVED it. It was exactly what I needed. 

But we don't always have to go through the hassle/financial strain of taking the GRE, applying to, and going back to school in order to keep challenging yourself to grow. One of my resolutions this year is to take the opportunity to learn something new/improve on something I already know a little bit about. 

In Charlotte we have a company called SkillPop which leads classes on various topics (home decorating, photography, hand lettering, blogging, etc.) and I plan to take a few of those classes. We have a few language schools in our area too and I plan to take a few classes to keep fresh on my Italian (more motivation to go back one day... this could be a good plan for me 😉). We have various courses/classes offered for free at our public library and inexpensive courses I could find online through community colleges. I hope that when Lily Grace grows up she sees that learning is a life-long process and that her mom set a good example for wanting to continue to improve herself. You're never "done", there's always room for growth. 

Resolution #2: Save Money For Renovation: Another resolution I have this year is going to be saving up enough money to get started on our major renovation. We have been talking about this resolution for FOREVER but didn't do the best job saving for it this past year. We have decided that once we have x amount of money saved up for this project, we will be ready to pull the trigger on it. I'm hoping for that sooner rather than later!

Resolution #3: Read 39 Books: Every year I try to read more books than I did the previous year. In 2018 I read 38 books, meaning I am looking at no fewer than 39 in 2019. This includes audiobooks, otherwise I don't think I'd accomplish even half of this!!

Resolution #4: Make Fitness a Priority Again: I used to be so good about making sure I got my workouts in every day. I was that person who woke up at 4:30 am every day in order to be at the gym at 5 am right when it opened... and you'd think I would've been exhausted all the time but I actually had significantly more energy then than I do now! I think that getting a good workout in daily helped me to sleep better at night, among other things. I don't know about you, but I've noticed that if I put my workout off until later in the day, I am much less likely to do it. Something always comes up, or one the days something doesn't come up, I'm always "not in the mood" or "too tired". So one of my resolutions this year is going to be getting back into the routine of going in the morning as often as possible. I know that with Devin's travel schedule and having a toddler, that might not necessarily work out as well as I'm hoping, but my plan is to try my best. What else can you do, really??

Resolution #5: Hopefully Add Another Family Member: I reeeeally hesitated to write this because of how personal it is, but in an attempt to be completely transparent, I'd be lying if I said this wasn't my real #1 goal for 2019. For my friends and family who know me in person, you know we have been trying to conceive for several months now. I understand that this will happen in God's time and stressing over fertility is a huge factor in why it may not be working... but it is MUCH easier said than done. We will continue trying and praying and hopefully God will bless us with another healthy baby in 2019. 

Have any of ya'll made your resolutions yet for the new year?? If you've blogged about them, I'd love to read it! Please share in the comments below!

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