One Thing

One thing I will learn: How to better handle my stress. Sometimes I find things so overwhelming and I just turn into this giant stress ball. Luckily I have a wonderful husband who picks up the pieces, but this is definitely something I need to work on.

One place I will go: No idea. We don’t have any trips planned for the near future because of our gorgeous little girl. We may take a few day trips when Tyler takes his vacation in the summer, but we have nothing definite planned.

One physical habit I will break: Being inactive. About three years ago, I went hard core and lost 30lbs in about 2 months. When we moved, I totally lost my motivation and ended up gaining it all back, PLUS another 30lbs. It was ridiculous how much this move affected me. I will playing baseball again this coming year and I vow to take the dog for more walks with Olivia once the weather turns nice again. I also want to start working out again once I get Miss Olivia onto a more consistent schedule.

One physical habit I will cultivate: Same as above. I need to start getting back into shape.

One mental habit I will break: Over-analyzing EVERYTHING. Sometimes people have no hidden meanings behind their comments and I need to realize this.

One relationship I’ll repair: I don’t have any particular relationship that I think needs to be repaired, but I do vow to strengthen my relationships with my family and friends. I also need to figure out how to make time for some of my friends. Between Olivia and everything else happening in my life, sometimes I feel like I don’t have enough time for some people.

One work habit I will change: Constantly checking my e-mail at home. If someone needs something right away, they will call. I need to learn not to bring my work home with me.

One thing I’ll throw out: All of our extra stuff! I have SO much clothing and I never wear most of it. I’ll donate it instead of throwing it out though!

A second thing I’ll throw out: Paper!! We have so much stuff filed away and we will never need most of it. I need to sort through our files and get rid of it.

One thing I’ll eat more often: Healthy,  home cooked food. It is so much easier to just order take-out, but it is so bad for us!

One thing I’ll eat less: Take-out. I eat way too much of it.

One thing I’ll drink more: Water.

One thing I’ll drink less: Pop. This is a huge vice for me. I don’t drink alcohol, so at least there’s that, but I need to find something else to drink instead of pop.

One resentment I’ll get over: I have a bit of a tumultuous relationship with a certain member of my family and I just want to let the past go and deal with the future. It’s so not worth it.

One person I’ll treat more respectfully: My husband. I find that I get very easily frustrated sometimes and he’s always the one having to pick me up. I don’t tell him enough how much I appreciate everything he does for me.

One thing I’ll spend less money on: Food. I always buy stuff that looks good at the market and then I end up not eating it and we throw it out a week later.

One other change I’ll make in my finances: I want to start saving for our future. We already have our own house and two vehicles, but I want to be more prepared for other stuff that will inevitably come our way and I want to start an RESP for Olivia.

One thing I’ll spend less time doing: Complaining. It’s true that it doesn’t get you anywhere.

And a thing I’ll spend more time doing: Being present in the moment. I need to focus more on what’s right in front of me and less on what’s going on at work, etc.

Resolutions for 2013

1. GET ORGANIZED – I have 10,000 projects that I want to do around the house. I want to sort through our closets and drawers and cupboards and get rid of all the extra stuff we have. I probably have over 1000 pieces of clothing, but I literally wear the same 20 pieces over and over again. I made a huge list of EVERYTHING I want to get done, but Olivia takes priority for me and I would rather spend the entire day snuggling on the couch with her and get nothing done than not give her the attention that she deserves for a single second.

2. BLOG MORE OFTEN – My blog writing has been severely lacking since I had Olivia. I just haven’t had time to blog. But now that she’s sleeping earlier and getting up later (and not at all during the night!!), I’m going to make a conscious effort to blog at least once a week.

3. BE A BETTER WIFE AND MOTHER – Sometimes I feel like a total failure in these departments. Any wife or mother can attest that these feelings are completely normal, but I want to keep striving to be a better wife and mother.

4. LOSE WEIGHT – I make this resolution every year. Last year’s resolution to do this got completely derailed on January 1st when I found out I was pregnant. I’m already down 21lbs from my weight as of January 1, 2012, but I still have a long way to go (I have a very specific goal in mind, but I’m not comfortable sharing my starting weight at this point). I’m still trying to figure out how to diet and exercise properly while breastfeeding, so anyone with any advice on this subject, please please please chime in and give me any tips you have! It would be greatly appreciated!

Moving…

We are in the process of moving everything to our temporary home until we find a house that we both love. Everything is everywhere and everything is a mess. My bedroom is torn apart and half of my furniture is in the new place, including my desk and computer. There are boxes everywhere and I keep finding new things at the apartment that we need to fix before we move (i.e., the big hole in our wall because our old bed frame was poking into it and dug a little bit more every time someone sat down on the bed). Half of my clothes are at the new place and there is currently no where to put them all. Unfortunately, it feels like I’m doing double-move duty. I’m moving everything out of the old place and then I’m sorting through old stuff at the new place to make space for the stuff from the apartment. We’re slowly moving the big things, but I feel like we’re never going to be out by August 29th. There is so much to do and I officially start my new position tomorrow. And every weekend is booked right up until moving day. Next weekend we’re camping, then we have a family day on the 14th and I work on the 15th, and then I have a baseball tournament. I will admit that I am eternally grateful to my parents though. They have already come up to Guelph once and are planning on making several more trips so that we don’t have to pay for a moving company and so that we don’t have to do everything alone at the last minute. My parents are also letting us move in until we find a house that we both like. Tyler and I have already toured quite a few houses, but haven’t seen anything that we absolutely love yet. I think that the best route for us may be to just build something in my hometown. Hopefully we can figure it out soon because I don’t know how much longer I can live in the basement. I just don’t feel like it’s “home” to me. I mean, yeah my stuff is all there and so is Tyler and my parents, but it’s not my own space. My parents have really been trying to give us the majority of the basement to convert into a mini apartment for the time being (including getting rid of some of their old furniture so that we can have our own living room, office, and bedroom). I just really want our own place in town. I want to be close to everyone while still being able to have somewhere that’s just ours at the end of the day. We’re going to REALLY try to find something as soon as Tyler is done his thesis. I can’t wait. I am so freaking excited to have somewhere to decorate and make our own. We lived in the apartment for two years, but I was of the opinion that we shouldn’t do a ridiculous amount of renovating because at the end, we’ll be forced to leave anything permanent behind. I also want more space. The apartment was big enough, but it wasn’t a “house” by any stretch of the imagination. I’m looking forward to two bathrooms and a bigger closet! Those are my main requirements, lol. I’m not too picky!

Anyways, that’s my life right now. Work and moving. I kind of like moving because I keep finding little things that I forgot I had and I’ve been trying to purge some belongings that we don’t use or that don’t fit. I’m a huge organization person and everything being everywhere is starting to drive me bonkers. I wish that I had all of August off so that I could get everything done. I feel like I’m going to run out of time! Thank God for family!

Does anyone have any packing or moving tips? Or any tips on buying a house? I’m very nervous about this and would love ANY advice!

Organizing Binge…

In the past few weeks, I have been on an organizing binge! I have been focusing mostly on the living room up to this point, but I have made it my goal to tackle the bedroom this weekend. I’ve already sorted through everything that was on our bookcase and in all of our drawers. I now have a completely empty drawer and I threw out half a black garbage bag full of stuff off of the bookcase and out of the drawers. Even weirder, is that I’m super-excited to be working on this project. I used to HATE cleaning my room and sorting through the clothes in my closet, but now I actually enjoy spending my weekends this way.

This weekend’s project was cleaning out my closet. I didn’t really manage to get rid of much, but I did get everything organized. I still have a few things that I need to find a home for, but it’s much better than it was. I have posted before and after pictures below. Next up on my list is Tyler’s closet and our nightstands. Mine is FULL of dozens of bottles of perfume and more make-up than I ever thought I would own. The weird part of it is that I’ve never really been a huge make-up girl. I’ve worn the same foundation, blush, and mascara for years, and I only own about 5-6 different eye shadow palates, so I don’t know where all of this is coming from. Hopefully I’ll get a chance to work on those two areas this weekend as well. My ultimate goal is to find every item in our bedroom a place. I find clutter very stressful and organization will definitely make it easier to move should the situation arise in the near future.

I’ve also included a photo of my new and improved organized bookcase!

My Closet – Before

My Closet – After

I’ve also decided to include a picture of what I wish my closet could look like. I hate how small my closet is!

I think my new found love of organizing is just one more sign that I’m getting older. I don’t know what I’m going to do with my time once I get everything organized. More likely than not, by the time I’ve finally got everything the way I want it, Tyler or myself will get a job elsewhere and we’ll have to move, lol. It’s okay though, that’s what my ultimate desire is anyways.