Resolutions 2013

It's amazing how sad it is to me to look back at my resolutions from last year. I mean, I did okay, it wasn't completely dismal. Except, possibly, (yes, very possibly) for the music resolution. In all honesty I think I sat down at the piano maybe twice in the last year, maybe. Well, I probably sat down at it more than twice... but to play??? Twice at the most. Very sad. I do want to do better at it this year. But even more than playing the piano I want to paint it. Is that crazy? For several years now I have felt a little unfaithful (unfaithful?!?! when I sit down to it to play twice in a year?!?!?) to the piano I have been *playing* since I was five. "Why?" You might ask. Well, I like to go to craigslist and various online classifieds to look at old pianos. HORRORS! I know, how mean am I? My poor humble piano that has stood by me quite faithfully for 3 decades... waiting patiently to be played, I might add.  However, I discovered chalk paint this past year. So, even though I can't make my very own piano "old" I can make it more me, hooray! Because of the sentimental value I just couldn't see selling it to buy an old piano- especially since I know nothing about piano restoration or how to tune one or what a good deal might be, etc. I just realized that this has nothing to do with resolutions anymore so I'd better move on. But, plan on seeing pictures of a painted piano in the next 1-5 years depending on when I get brave enough to give it a go.

Resolution #1 Books, books, books
If you know me you know that I don't need to make this resolution. I inevitably will read. However, there are a few books that will remain on my "to read" list until kingdom come if I don't do something proactive about it- like a resolution, so.....
Okay, so I made the dumb mistake last year of reading a few of my choices right away and the other 7 in the last 3 mos. SO- this year I'm going to assign myself a book a month. That sounds doable.
January- Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing
February- Peace Like a River by Leif Enger
March- The Lord God Made Them All by James Herriot
April- Caleb's Crossing by Geraldine Brooks
May- The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
June- The Well-Trained Mind: A Guide to Classical Education at Home by Susan Wise Bauer
July- The Forsyte Saga by John Galsworthy (okay, technically 3 books but I generally have more time to read in July and if I only finish the 1st one that's good enough for me)
August- The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
September- Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell
October- Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking by Susan Cain
November-Citizens of London: The Americans Who Stood With Britain in It's Finest, Darkest Hour by Lynne Olson
December- Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story by Ben Carson

Of course, if the mood strikes me I reserve the right to change any of these. Silly. It's like I think someone is actually reading this and going to check up on me, ha.

Resolution #2 Craft more.
In the same vein... if I don't choose specific crafting projects I will end up only painting things when I really need to stretch my sewing muscles since they pretty much don't exist at this point. I'm serious. I think I sewed something once in like 7th grade, when there was home ec. and it was required. I couldn't tell you what it was. Oh, yeah, I forgot I have sewed some quilting squares together and then forgot to sew the squares to each other to form the quilt itself. Hmmm, maybe finishing that project should be on the list? The problem here is I don't know precisely when my sewing machine will be accessible this year so here are 12 projects I want to do this year and if I need to switch some of them out so be it. Honestly I don't think I could do any worse than last year in which I think I completed about 5 crafty-type projects.
In no particular order:
1-Advent Calandar: Inspiration @ Sunlit Pages
2-Family Rules: Inspiration @ here and etsy
3-Family Home Evening Sign: Inspiration @ scatter sunshine
4-Tree Skirt: Inspiration @ Amy Butler Design
5-Mason Jar Wall Vase: Inspiration @ Very Jane
6-12 months of pillowcases. This is an idea that I got at Education Week one year and I have been wanting to do it ever since. It's time. I went to a lecture on fun family traditions and this woman made different pillowcases for each month of the year. Her kids loved it. Each month they would run to the linen closet to get out that months pillow and I believe there was a special birthday pillow as well for the week of that child's birthday. I may need to do this little by little as it's easier to find cheap material for certain months when that particular holiday is over. Pillow case tutorials I've pinned:
notes from the patch and twiddletails. I can't wait to pick out material that fits each month!
7-Hanging dish towels (will probably finish as soon as my toddler gets bored of pulling them down: Inspiration @ Kleio's Belly
8-patch Abby and Ginny's pants knees. Okay, for some people this would not need to be on a list like this. Were you listening above when I said I sewed once in the 7th grade? I was serious. Most things that need to be darned, etc. in my house get pitched. In the current economy I'm realizing I need to make some changes. Inspiration @ designmom
9- Build our family kitchen table (I know, this is the BIG one): Inspiration @ Our Vintage Home Love and Shanty 2 Chic and Ana White 
  10- Build pallet bookshelves for kids bedrooms: Inspiration @ Six Sisters Stuff
11- Paint the girls bunkbeds (okay, another big one).
12- Make Christmas Stockings. Inspiration.... okay I have so many cute stocking ideas that I've seen I honestly don't know which to pick. I will have to narrow it down, obviously, and may just go with whatever looks easiest. Which won't be a bad thing since all of the designs are stinkin' cute.

Resolution #3 Be a Better Mom
Full Disclosure: The biggest things to suffer from my cooking, cleaning, laundering, etc. a house of 11 people, the things that have gone out the window are the little things. The simple little wonderful things that make a life. I feel like a lot of them have gone out the window because I've been too busy with less important things or (mostly) too tired/grumpy. I am really looking forward to having just my little family to myself again here pretty soon. My brothers family is a family of TV. There it is. My biggest complaint. OUT. I am really looking forward to being able to say, "No TV" and be able to enforce it. I know getting rid of TV is not going to get rid of noise but it will get rid of the unwanted noise that has been filling my life as of late. 
I've been reading chapter books to my girls in the evenings along with the picture books that we inevitably pull out through out the day. I have loved this and am excited to keep this going. Abby has been wanting to learn how to play chess and I think we'll turn it into a family event. I also want to spend some more time outdoors in the coming year. I feel like I've gotten really lazy about the outdoors this past year. Being pregnant can do that to you. I'm feeling nature deprived and I'm pretty sure my kids are too. I'm going to work on building some traditions of things we do during the different seasons and hopefully in 2014 I will have a well defined plan for what I want to do in this area. For now, this year is going to be trial and error.

Resolution #4 New Recipes
Just like last year I want to try a few new recipes every month. I don't think I'm going to say one a week or anything like that. I don't need the added guilt if I miss a week. And honestly there were some weeks I tried several recipes and then I would go a month without having the energy to try anything new (pregnancy, again) and while I don't plan on getting pregnant in the next year I DO plan on being a tired mother of 4 at least once in a while. I have 100+ recipes pinned so I don't think I'll have any problems in this department. 
I do think it would be fun in conjunction with res. #3 to highlight a certain place, possibly one that our current chapter book is taking place in,  and cook recipes that come from that area also talking about that part of the world. When we read Danny the Champion of the World  it mentioned Danny's father's favorite dinner being "Toad in the Hole". It might have been fun to try that out when we were reading it. Food for thought. (I am SO not funny, excuse that last sentence). 
 
Resolutions #5, 6 etc.
Another thing that has suffered living in a home of 11- my spirituality. This is not something that I would normally share on a blog but I feel like it has gotten so bad that I need to make a commitment to more than just myself.
We have remained pretty good at family scripture & prayer, FHE and church attendance. However, on the personal front, not so much. I also need to work on my feelings towards my brothers family- it's really bringing me down. Even though I know that living with family for 2 1/2 years is not ideal and that most people would struggle I feel like I could have done better in this area.
 Everyone's resolution: Lose weight. It is SO time to take care of this. I've been saving clothes from before my first child was born. I HAVE lost some weight between babies but I've never gotten down to my pre-first-baby weight. Now that I've had my 4th I'm afraid that none of it will be usable style-wise when I open that box. Not that being way out of style has stopped me from wearing something before. Still... my plan: I need to use the handy dandy app. on my phone. In the past if I have a bad day I've stopped doing this. I need to just input the bad day and move on from now on. Bad days happen. I just hate putting them in. It looks so bad. But it's much worse to stop completely and I know that even though I hate counting calories it works. Exercise: Okay, I know I'm weird but I actually love to exercise. It's the food that really gets me. It's also the time commitment it takes to exercise so I really need to get better at time management.

Time management: this may be my most important goal. I'm going to start planning out my week each Sunday. I do really well with lists . Some people are not list people but I am and I know it. I love checking boxes. I also want to get really solid morning/bedtime routines. I feel like I keep putting so many things off until we move. Hopefully that will happen in the next month. January may be a wash as far as time management goes but I will be figuring it out and getting ready to be super organized really soon.

Well, that about does it... well I want to make a goal to refer to this post at least once a month if not every Sunday to remind myself of my goals and recommit. It also might be o good idea to resolve to write on this blog more often. I really think that's why I was sad looking back at my resolutions from last year. I was planning on sharing my progress and I took a lot of pictures of food and crafts and then never shared them. So that will be my last resolution of all. What are some of your resolutions? I'd love to hear what yours are too so that we can cheer each other on!!! Good Luck with 2013 to all of you.

Healthy Tips

These are some tips from a nutritionist at my church. I don't want to forget them and have very few posts for a healthy lifestyle so......

Lifestyle changes for weight control

Don’t eat after dinner, (by 6:30 or 7:00) and try to have dinner three hours before bed.

Cut all meal servings in half. This is amazing. You will find that you are not really any hungrier- Save the other half for mid morning snack. (Ideas: half a breakfast burrito, breakfast sandwich, or one pancake with a peach half or small serving of egg and one biscuit with applesauce, one serving of cereal, (measure it!) with half banana, though I don’t recommend just cereal for hunger control- I am starving in less than an hour. ((Lunch – half a sandwich and fruit fills as much as a whole sandwich, load it up with cucumber, spinach, tomato for freshness instead of slathering it with mayo type spread.)) Don’t let yourself get too hungry or you will grab the first junk food snack you find and not stop until you've consumed and easy 300-500 calories.)

Visit and talk during the meal- Good for family time, but also allows for the 20 minutes it takes for your body to register that it has eaten, to be filled with more than just shoveling food in. Less calories in- better family relationships WIN-WIN!

Drink your 64 oz of water every day. Try drinking a glass before you have that snack. You will probably eat less.

Dish up your plate at the stove, then put away the rest - Do not put food out buffet style to allow for seconds.

Add a brisk walk with your spouse or child 5x /week - do this in addition to your regular exercise with Becky.

This one is a bit harder, but cuts more calories than most of us can imagine--You’re your desserts/sweet to only three/week. I usually start with none for one week, then allow myself the 3/week. You should find yourself saving for that treat you know will be coming at the party or something, then suddenly you only ate two- wow! You are awesome.

If chips or high fat foods are your challenge, get them out of the house. I don’t know a way to stop once you start in on these high calorie monsters.

Check out the www.caloriecount.com I think they have great email tips and inspiring stories. You do need to register for this site, but it is FREE.

No eating anywhere but at the kitchen table, absolutely no snacking while in front of a screen or reading, etc. Those calories add up so fast and you never even knew the food went in your mouth.

Add more color to your meals. Try adding one more fruit or veggie to every meal. Cut down on the meat and starch size and load up on nutrition.

Hope these help! Let's get started early since the New Year is right around the corner!!

Thank you Janice!

My lifeline

When the deep waters of dieting (I hate that term) are dragging me down the one thing that saves me is keeping an account of what I eat. I am not a fan of counting calories or becoming obsessed with every little thing that enters my mouth. I spent too many years listening to this or that roommate list everything they ate that day, Ugh!

However, I HAVE found that when I am righting down everything I consume I am more particular about what I eat. I can't sneak. My food diary is sitting there saying, "You eat this or drink that and it will be forever recorded... indelible." On the other hand if I put good things in my body, "Hooray, I get to record the healthy foods I ate and that I drank a gallon of water today!" It's wonderful. Not to mention if something is wrong with me I can take my journal to my Dr. and he can have an extra hint into what's going on with my body. It's like keeping a mileage log for my body.

You can also discover things about your body that you didn't know. My husband did this when he lost 100 lbs. and he found out that bananas are a trigger food for him. When he eats bananas he doesn't lose weight. Who knew?

Winter is for beauty sleep

I wish. Okay, as much as I would like to sleep my winter away I wouldn't get much done, I don't think my family would appreciate it and I don't think it would really improve my looks.
January 1st is in two days!!! That means that I need to scarf down any yummy foods as quickly as possible before midnight tomorrow. Yeah, I'm not going to do that. Although I may order a pizza tomorrow night... what can I say, Papa John's has a great special going on.
After that I am determined to lose weight. I have a goal of 2 lbs per week. This way I might be okay with getting into a swim suit next summer. I'm going to start keeping a journal of all oral intake and exercise specifics (how long, what type of workout, etc.) I know that if I have to report everything I'm doing I am more likely to actually work out and less likely to reach for a second roll, or whatever. So I really need to get on forming and dividing now that beautifying (which is supposed to come last) is planned, as far as the short game goes. More reports to come!