Resolution #2 Goals

Well, nearly two months have passed already into this new year and I'm letting you in on my second resolution. Every year I tell myself I'm going to have goals and check them off to see what I have accomplished by the end of the year. I never do and when the year is done I'm left wondering... what have I accomplished?! That's not to say that I don't accomplish things within the year it's just harder to see one's progress if you don't have it written out. So, in order to make my 2013 goals more tangible I'm going to post them here. I may need to update as I don't have them all gathered at the moment.

Goal #1 Learn a language.

I should qualify this a bit. I want to learn a language to the point where I could confidently, if not haltingly carry on a conversation. The Spanish language is a part of my heritage and I would like to know how to speak that language and pass it on to my daughter. After taking 3 years of Spanish in high school and one semester in college, I still can't speak spanish to save my life. Granted, I did fair "ok" when Marc and I were in Spain, but I'd like to do better than ok. This goal is currently in it's early stages as Mom, Sara and I are working on Rosetta Stone. It's supposed to be the best to learn from on your own so it's a start!

I'm also working to learn ASL. Teaching M baby sign language helped get me started. ASL is something I've always wanted to learn and this was the perfect opportunity. I already make faces when I talk anyway! :) Now it's just putting the right faces with the right signs!


Goal #2 Go somewhere I've never been before

This should be a goal for every year. Even if it's only one new place in the state of Colorado! We live in a big world that is continually becoming smaller through social media and new technology but if we don't get out there and experience it for ourselves it will only seem bigger!

Goal #3 Teach M how to hunt for Easter Eggs

Gotta include the smaller goals too! Easter is only a month away and this year M can walk and hunt for eggs. The other day she had her little shapes bucket and she loved tossing the shapes into it. It got me excited to see what she'll do for Easter!

Goal #4 Plant a garden

This goal also involves getting our backyard in order so that's the meat of the goal including a new deck and replanting our lawn (preferably as an environmentally friendly and sustainable to drought) so there's a lot to do on this one.



... work on more goals :)

I'll keep you updated on how these goals progress. Make a list of your own! It feels good to cross things off.

First Steps

This past Friday marked a major milestone for our little one, she started walking! She had taken her first real steps on the weekend before Christmas but was still content crawling to make her way around. She started in the toddler classroom at daycare last Tuesday and that's all it took, four days and she's a walker :) As with all milestones, it's a bittersweet for the mama. I'm so excited that she's growing and learning but these are her first real independent steps into this crazy, beautiful world. I smile at her confidence in her new found abilities and I hope that she'll always have that confidence, never doubting her ability to overcome new obstacles. For there will be many in this life as we all know. It's amazing how much my one year old can teach me as I watch her try to navigate obstacles like a toy or something in her path. She pauses, assesses what she needs to do and then takes tiny sidesteps around it. Other times she feels she can just plow over it. Sometimes she's successful and other times she trips but she keeps getting back up! She reminds me that life is the same way, sometimes you need to pause and assess, and other times you need to take the chance to just plow ahead. You may stumble but don't let it keep you from getting back up! I'm so lucky to have such a wise toddler! Wisdom beyond her year :)

Resolution 1

With the start of a new year many people try to make resolutions of things to change. Sure, there are those that will say, "don't wait until the new year, make changes as they come", but sometimes it's the ending of one thing and the start of another that may cause the pause and reevaluation. The last half of last year, I must admit, I was down about the monotony of my job and its restrictions on my ability to enjoy home life, i.e. time with my little one, my husband, the dog or visiting the fam. Weekdays and nights of rushing through routines sometimes makes a perceived rut seem deeper. But with many of the sad events that came last year I have (once again) realized that we have to make the most of every moment, no matter how busy or tired one may be. Even the moments when I'm trying to finish cleaning the bottles, the baby's in her high chair kicking and screaming because she hasn't had a nap and just wants food, the husband has the music playing in the background while he makes dinner and the dog is under heel in the kitchen hoping something will fall to the floor. So one of my resolutions for the new year is to take each day as it comes, not to stress the little things. Only 5 days into the new year, I feel like I'm doing pretty good with it. At work this week, with the attorney that drives me nuts I've been making an effort, when he starts getting on my nerves to stop rolling my eyes (hard as it may be) and look at my little girl's picture, smile and carry on with my work. Yes, it may be hard to maintain some days but the intention is there.

That's all for now. I'll be back with more resolutions this week.