Hello - 2010

Well hello 2010 ~ Oh how glad I am to see you arriving...
2009 was ok...but I have big hopes & dreams for me and you - big plans...

Resolutions? Nah, not really...but a series of little goals if you will ~ I'm hoping you'll join me & it will be both easy and fun.

• Taking more pictures with our kids - sounds easy enough right? We'll see. You can track my progress here if you want to...A lot of people I know have a resolution to take more pictures, not me...I take billions...I need to focus on taking pictures WITH our kids so they know that I did actually exist!
• Get Away More/Travel More - I am soo looking forward to this! Starting with our big huge trip to Disney soon (the hubs & I's first 'vacation' in 5.5 years! ACK! I am also hoping to do several mini trips around the midwest over the next year. There are sooo many places to discover & explore & the kids are the perfect ages! We already have Fridays off, if I can convince the hubs to take a few with us and find dog friendly locals or beg someone to watch him, this one should also be easy. Any great places within a half a days' drive you care to suggest???
• Get myself in better shape & health. I had gestational diabetes with both of our children & diabetes runs in my family. I owe it to myself, and our kids, to take better care of myself. While I have no desire to run a marathon - I would like to be able to pull off a 5k without batting an eye. I know JUST the 5k to train for too-if I am in tip top shape, I should be able to both run the 5k & be a volunteer like last year...

The bummer is, I'm told over and over again how much more fun it is to run with others. Living in this large metro area, my friends are spread all over the damn place - making it a chore to go for a jog with anyone other than the hubs...but he has taken to jogging as well, and if we can figure out this kid thing...perhaps this will be one thing we can do together and even include our furry baby Bosco as well. We do have a decent jogging stroller but when you are a beginning runner, pushing that and being dragged by a 100 pound dog just aren't conducive to good form.

• Which brings me to the next thing...doing more things with the hubs. With no family in town it's tougher for us to get out together alone than most of our friends. We are blessed with a wonderful SIL who makes the drive 1.5 hours one way to watch our angels and we do have some fabu neighbor friends who help us out from time to time too but we don't like to ask them very often because it's just hard for me to ask for things...so this year, hopefully this is the year we can find a reliable 'babysitter' who doesn't charge $20 an hour to watch our tv while our kids eat frosting out of the can.
• Get more organized. I'd like to think I'm getting there, though if you ask the hubs he would most likely choke if he heard me say that. Where did ALL OF THIS STUFF come from anyway? Sheesh! I have begun trying to clear out the clutter & our guest room is piling high with stuff we can do without. I am not big on holding rummage sales but I owe it to myself, and our bank account, to try to sell off some of this stuff before tossing it or taking it to goodwill. What doesn't sell can be donated, but if I can put a little money in savings while clearing out the clutter - then that's a double bonus! I have started listing some things on craigslist here and there & had some pretty great success - I will keep doing that between now and rummage sale time because it don't cost nuthin' but a few minutes of my time to try!
• Make our house a home. This one will seem silly to most of you but we bought this house 8 years ago and it was our starter house. Neither of us really thought we'd still be here this much farther down the road. Well, thanks to our great neighbors, our affordable mortgage & the collapse of the housing market...we're not going anywhere any year soon. So...it's my hope to make this house our home. It's going to take a LOT of hard work and a lot of money....to do some of that. Our master bathroom has no working shower (& has been like this since we moved in) and our kitchen could also use an overhaul as well to make our home more friendly for us and our guests. These are pretty big undertakings and most likely won't happen this year...but there are many other smaller projects that can happen to make our space more enjoyable...I already put in a new perenniel bed last spring and cannot WAIT to see what survived the first winter, planting more flowers and trees around the yard and hopefully a beautiful new deck that our small family can actually all be on at once seem like attainable goals for this year...(Know anyone who specializes in awesome decks at afforable prices?)

So....there are just a small handful of my goals and hopes for 2010...there are more, lots more, and you might hear about them as we go along...but I think I covered most of the big ones. What are YOU hoping to get out of 2010?