Pretty Good Year

10:30 AM

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Oy! With the resolutions already! Every year I do them, and every year I fail at most of them. Last year I did my best to keep up with them each month, I think that worked until about July, and then, who knows. Is it going to stop me from making more again this year? Nope. I am however, going to try my best to take a different approach this year. 

1) Fitness routine- Instead of just posting that I want to lose 15 pounds, I want to keep a good fitness routine. Right now I am about halfway through Insanity and although I am getting my ass kicked, I really love it. When it is over, I would like to try another program, and also do more yoga, ballet, and go on more hikes. I also have not been rock-climbing since I was in middle-school, so I would love to try that again. 

2) Finances- I did a pretty decent job of making up a spreadsheet in excel to keep track of our finances, as well as downloading our bank's mobile app. I just need to keep up with it, because having bills paid on time is always a good thing. 

3) Quality time- When I think of 2013, I think of a year of fun, but also stress. One of the easiest ways to see all of our friends is to have everyone over, or to all meetup at a bar for some drinks. However, this also leads to people constantly crashing at our house/us getting nothing done the next day. This year I need to do things differently. An occasional night out is one thing, but I would like to plan more activities during the day, so that I can still have some free time during the rest of the weekend. I also just need to say "no" more to always hanging out. It seems that there is always an excuse: It's someone's birthday, we haven't seen so-and-so in a long time, etc. What happens is that we end up hanging out with people 3/4 weekends per month, and also during the week and I just get too burnt out. Not to mention Kyle is still working full time, and is in school full-time, leaving me with all of the rest of the household duties (as well as working full time myself) and I need time to do said duties. Staying up until 2am on a Sunday night to make sure that our underwear gets put in the dryer so we have some for the week is not something I can do because come Monday I will try to murder all of my coworkers on account of lack of sleep. This is going to be the hardest one, as friends and family already get disappointed when I have to say "no" to them, but it is a work in progress. 

4) Scarf- Okay, this is the only one that a 'typical' resolution, but I want to crochet the Fourth Doctor's scarf for Kyle to wear to Motor City Comic Con in May. And for me to wear all of the time. 

5) Be realistic- I love projects. I love being busy, especially if the result is something really positive. For instance: working on the house, or gardening. What I have to keep in mind though, is that these things take time. I cannot try to finish an entire room in one weekend. The garden will need to be watered/weeded regularly. This also ties into having to say "no" to people in order to get these things done, because I often try to cram too much into one weekend. As much as I want to, I am not going to be able to watch a new movie each week, or finish a book per week. Mostly because things come up (hello broken dryer!) and beating myself up for not getting ALL the things done is not worth it. Also, sleep, I need to be better friends with you!

6) Punctuality- I am lucky in the sense that my work is very lenient on punctuality. I can pretty much come in whenever I want, as long as I work eight hours. Cool. However, I need to be on time for other things. Again, it also comes down to trying not to fit too many things in one day. I probably should not schedule a coffee date with a friend, even if I have not seen them in awhile, on the same night that I have to babysit/plan on painting my hallway. 

I am going to leave it at that for now. I am nervous about tackling some of these items, but I am trying to stay optimistic about it. What are your plans for 2014? 

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18 Musings

  1. DUDE. You and I are the same person I swear. I always try to squash as many activities as possible and I can already feel myself slowing down. I'm also a pretty late-runner. My work have put up with it so far in life but damn, I wanna get that shit together and be adult about it *sigh* You got this. I m looking forward to seeing that scarf! and reading about the active adventures.

    I wanna make more time for my blog friends this year. And me. I wanna do more me now that I'm single. It's the year for mo-f'ing me. And you. WE got this.

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  2. ps. Is this title an ode to Tori Amos? If so, I wish you weren't married already :p

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  3. At the expense of sounding old and sappy (I am both)...I sometimes stumble upon your site from time to time, you were one of the first blogs I followed when I started mine about 3 years ago...Sometimes I feel like a proud father when I see how you've "grown up."...I'm proud of you...Ron R

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  4. These are great resolutions and I love how you're one of the few people I know of who takes a realistic approach to them - I think that's important! Hope you had a wonderful holiday! I'm currently catching up on your blog :)

    xo
    Rachel

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  5. I plan to work more on my fitness & diet. I'd like to be healthier by the summer & beyond. Obviously.

    MCCC! I said last year, if I had the money, I would go. I hope that's the case this year. It's funny that you're making 4's scarf because I was recently looking up patterns for 7's sweat vest. I can't knit though (I can crochet), but I can learn! If not I'll just buy it somewhere.

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  6. You are so active. You do get a lot of your goals done. For us..we don't do anything on Sunday night with anyone. Except Mom and Dad. We don't go to bars because..well..we are cheap. However, I did get to go to Spirit World on New Year's eve...oh..and there are no ghost there, but just local booze.

    All the best to a new productive year.

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  7. Just don't hurt yourself..but I'm sure you've heard that from your Mom already. Stay strong. Drink less and enjoy each other's company..and of course, lots and lots of good books.

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  8. I do think its hard when to say to your friends...its time to go home. A close friend I went to school with dropped in recently..and it was 2 in the morning before she left. I had to go to work the next day.

    It isn't easy growing up.

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  9. I like the way you have set out your goals and I wish you the best in achieving them. I feel like I get nowhere with the changes I want to make. That’s why I like the fact that your goals are realistic and also specific (like you said setting out a fitness routine instead of just posting about a more general goal). More than anything, I need to stop wasting money this year.

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  10. These are great Sara. I love how you mix up your exercise routine doing different things. I think the main reason why people get bored is that they do the same things over and over. Good for you in taking charge of your quality time. Going out is nice, but as you take on more responsibility it becomes less important. Your friends will understand. Your finances will thank you. Your body will feel better. So good for you! I really enjoyed reading this. Thank you so much for telling me about my blog. It shows you care doll. I was truly touched my friend. I didn't realize how much I loved it, until I couldn't access it. LOL I think I had a mild heart attack. LOL
    http://www.averysweetblog.com/

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  11. It sounds like you're seeking essentially the same thing I am -- balance. Achieving the right balance between socializing and relaxing, working and playing, prudence and frivolity. When you find the answer, let me know!

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  12. Quality time...YES! I am so trying to figure this out myself, as well. It's so hard to balance everything. I feel like I'm always working on a new project and never doing this for my social life.

    xx

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  13. Oh yes. I am so down with 3)

    I cannot say no to fun things. This is probably because my resolution about 3 years ago was to say yes to things more but it's gone too far the other way and I found myself running around to try to fit it all in too much.

    All your other resolutions are pretty stellar too I may steal them all.

    Except punctuality - I have that one down. There is one bus that will get me to work on time and if I miss it I have to walk. So I have perfected the art of getting the fuck out of bed and out the door in under 15 minutes.

    Happy New Year.

    Fx

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  14. Great goals for 2014! Choosing realistic goals is something I'm always working on. I'd rather complete a dozen realistic, doable goals than choose one enormous, unreachable goal.

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  15. I feel like we are kindred spirits in that we are both so goal-oriented and want to do ALL THE THINGS! I enjoyed how you did monthly resolutions updates early last year.

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  16. You've inspired me to do my own list! Happy New Year!

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  17. Here's to you and your resolutins. I have a couple. Hopefully I can keep up with those. Happy New Year and keep warm!

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  18. I though spelled checked that dumb resolutions!! ARGH!!

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Talk nerdy to me.