My 2016 Resolutions

I am posting my 2016 Resolutions a couple days early!  At our church every year we are encouraged to write down our goals, and then we consecrate them and pray over them at one of the services.  This year the service is tomorrow, Dec. 30, so I am making sure I have my goals ready to go prior to the service!

1)  Make gluten, sugar and (mostly) dairy free eating my normal lifestyle.  I have never been able to lost weight as an adult with diet and exercise except by literally starving myself (1000 calories or less a day)--and the one time I did that I suffered all kinds of digestive problems as a result.  This year I went gluten-sugar-dairy free for a couple months without increasing my exercise, and the pounds melted off!  Then I fell off the bus for a week and gained back 5 pounds.  In one week.  Part of my thinks this isn't fair!  I eat healthy, I make my food from scratch, I eat homemade bread...and it still makes me fat!  But I want to fit in my clothes, I want to be able to run around the yard with my kids, I want to be able to go hiking and camping with them in 10 years, and to do that well, I need to lose weight.  So I will give myself "cheat days," which is a whole day here and there where I can eat whatever I want!  These will mostly coincide with holidays or special occasions.  And the rest of the time I will not cheat.

2)  Get ready to homeschool!  We have pretty much made the decision to homeschool for the first few years (it was initially a financial decision, plus God really pulling on my heart).  I was thinking that I would start Laurel at the pre-school level in the fall, but as I've looked into it, I feel like she has already accomplished much of what would be taught at that level!  She knows all of her letters by sight and know what sounds they make.  She can write her name.  She can tell you what letter words start with.  She recognizes numbers by sight.  She is obsessed with volcanoes.  So I am considering starting her with Kindergarten, and see how it goes.  She'll be 4 1/2, so if I need to, I can take more than one school year to finish it!  So my goal for this year is to plan out a full school year of K for Laurel, and "pre-learning" activities for Nicolas for during the school day.  I know some homeschool parents will scoff at my desire to have a whole school year planned in advance.  But that is how I roll.  I plan an entire month's worth of meals at one time.  I have a 2 year calendar in my purse.  I like to plan in advance.

3)  Read my Bible and write in my prayer journal at least 4 times a week.  This past year I failed miserably at the "read it every day" goal, so I'm making it something more achievable.  And if I over-achieve, that is great!  I'm going to schedule Bible time into our homeschool day.  :)

4)  Read at least 7 of our devotional books.  Last year I aimed for one a month and failed at that, so again, I'm making a more achievable goal.

5)  Exercise!  When the weather is nice, I want to be out riding the bike once a week (as long as both kids fit into a Burley), and do the entire bike trail most of the time!  Also, go hiking, go on walks, play outside with the kids, play at the park...and work some body weight exercises in when doing so.  Why not do push-ups and squats while watching the kids at the park?

6)  Improve my reaction to being ignored.  I HATE BEING IGNORED!!!!  There, I've said it.  When I say something to someone and they do not give a verbal response, my anger level rises quickly and dramatically.  I am tempted to explain the many reasons why not responding is not good, but doing so right now would only serve as an attempt to justify my anger at being ignored.  I'm annoyed just thinking about it! *deep breath*  I live with a 3 1/2 year old and an almost 2 year old.  Guess how often they verbally respond when I tell them something?  Not very often.  I also live with a man of few words who doesn't always respond verbally.  Does my getting angry and immediately annoyed help the situation? NO! I'm not saying that in 2016 I'm going to believe that not responding to someone is ok.  But I am going to work hard to improve my reaction to it.  I will not get angry at my daughter and yell at her when her imagination is stronger than her ability to listen.  I will not mutter under my breath when my husband does not immediately answer a question.  I can only control myself and my own reactions.

7)  Make money doing crafts.  As a stay-at-home mom, I have re-discovered how much I like to make stuff!  I do crafts with the kids on a regular basis (Laurel asks me almost daily if we can do a craft!), and I have taken up crochet recently.  I don't think I have the time or wherewithal to make a living selling stuff that I make, but perhaps I can make an etsy shop and sell crochet coffee cup cozies and things made from old books.  I will have to come up with a clever name ("The Caffienated Book Worm" or "Bibliophiles and Beverages") and just start stockpiling small things.  In my dreams some day I could even do bigger projects, but I'm not sure how well that will mesh with homeschooling...