2011 Resolutions

Happy New Year!  2010 was a pretty great year for the Swans, but we're excited to see what 2011 will bring.

Each year I always make a list of resolutions.  I have a hard time paring the list down and it usually ends up way too long and I stick to them for a week or two and then everything falls to the wayside.  But I always make resolutions.  I can't help myself.  It's something about a new year and a clean slate.  So, inevitably I've been thinking all morning about my resolutions for this year.  I usually do pretty generic resolutions - e.g. lose weight, save money, etc.  But this year I decided that I needed to think about my general goal and then pick a specific action to resolve to follow in hopes of actually following through with the resolutions for more than a few weeks.

Here are my resolutions for 2011:

#1 (GOAL: cook more meals at home/eat out less) - RESOLUTION: To prepare a weekly meal plan each Saturday and follow said meal plan.  Good thing I already created this handy dandy meal planner sheet.  I now just need to use it and STICK WITH IT.  I have a really bad habit of planning something for dinner and then deciding that I'd rather order in or go out to dinner.  Lukas has curbed our going out to dinner, but we've still jumped ship on our good plans to cook dinner to order pizza or pick up Mexican.  And it's usually me, not Mr. Cob that wants to veer off course.  It ends now.  I'm going to become a better cook and save money in the process by eating at home.

#2 (GOAL: get in shape and lose the baby weight) - RESOLUTION: Do some sort of physical activity for 10 minutes 6 days per week.  We now have a treadmill, so the least I can do is walk on the treadmill for 10 minutes each day.  Or do sit ups and push ups for ten minutes over the course of the day.  And hopefully most days, once I get started and do the initial 10 minutes I'll feel good and continue for a longer work out.

#3 (GOAL: keep a cleaner house) - RESOLUTION: Clean/organize the house for 10 minutes each day and clean the bathrooms each Tuesday.  I once read in a magazine that a good way to keep your house tidy is to set the kitchen timer for 10 minutes each day and devote at least those 10 minutes each day to picking up/cleaning/organizing around the house.  Be it folding laundry, doing the dishes, picking up toys, etc., this small task of cleaning 10 minutes a day can go a long way to keeping the house more orderly.  And I hate cleaning the bathrooms, but I figure that if I just decide to always clean them one day a week, then perhaps I'll stick with it and each cleaning won't be so bad.

#4 (GOAL: save money) - RESOLUTION: Put a little more thought into purchases before they are made; pay off any credit card balance each month; use mint.com to see where our money is going and change our habits where necessary; and set up a monthly automatic savings payment into our savings account.  Now that we have finally paid off the credit cards, I do not want us to carry a balance on them again.  This is definitely doable (assuming we both keep our jobs, etc.), but I'll admit that I don't always think about what I'm spending my money on, so I just need to be a little more aware of where our money is going - which is where mint.com comes in.  I've signed up for an account but don't spend time using it wisely.

#5 (GOAL: stay happy/positive) - RESOLUTION: Meditate 10 minutes each day.  When I was pregnant I listened to a relaxation CD each day and found that this quiet time really made me feel good and refreshed.  Since Lukas' arrival I've stopped taking this time each day to just relax and be quiet, but I think it would benefit everyone in the family if I took just 10 minutes a day for myself to turn inward and reflect/relax/recharge.

Here's to a happy and productive year!