A Fresh Start: January 2016 Goals

Hi! Happy Monday! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! :)

How were your Holidays?

We had such a wonderful Christmas break! It was the perfect mix of being busy, having time to relax, visiting friends and family and overall- just an awesome time!

And now here we are, it is Monday- back to "reality." My girls go back to school today and Aaron starts an extremely busy month of work and traveling.

I have spent the last couple of days thinking and praying about how I want to approach this new year and first month of 2016!

I know almost everyone right now is sharing their new year's resolutions and goals- so this post is not very original- but reading about what other people are working on and hoping for- well I just love it! And I find it very motivating and inspiring!

So with that being said- here is what I will be working on this month!

So- looking at the big picture- 2016 is a BIG year for us.

First- we will be welcoming our 5th baby at the end of April!! While I am not worried at all about the addition of the new baby or the transition our family will go through with a newborn in the house again- it is DEFINITELY a big life change! But one our whole family is SO very excited about!!

Secondly- Aaron will be starting his 3rd and final year of residency in July, which means he will start to actively look for jobs! Which is SO exciting- and scary at the same time!! It also means he will be traveling quite a bit, as we are hoping to move to a different state to be closer to my brother and his family.  

Sprinkle in a big family vacation with Aaron's side of the family at the end of July, 2 weddings on my side of the family, another new school year for my girls, including my 2nd oldest daughter starting kindergarten, along with regular "stuff" life throws our way and we have a pretty full year ahead of us.  I am excited and ready for it :)

 I don't know about you- but if I start to look too far ahead and think about all the big stuff at one time...well...my head starts to spin a little bit.

That's why I love monthly goals. They don't scare me as much! HA!

Here is what I am hoping to work on and accomplish this month!

Goal #1: Get off of my computer and the internet and READ. As a child and young adult- I was easily classified as a book worm. Enter college and graduate school, then young married life and now 4 kids later- well...the amount I have read over the last 10 years is embarrassing. So- along with my daily devotionals that I am reading for the year, my goal is to read one new book a month. I actually just finished my first book, Winter Street, by Elin Hilderbrand over the last 2 weeks of December!! I have the sequel, Winter Stroll, on hold at my library and another Elin Hilderbrand book already checked out.  Over the past two weeks, I definitely had to make a conscious effort to put down my phone and pick up my book- but as I got into reading- it was easy to choose my book over my phone :)  I really enjoyed Winter Street and can't wait to read Winter Stroll!  If you have any book recommendations for me- please share them with me!!

Goal #2: Keep Moving.  While I still have a good 4 months to go in my pregnancy (and continue to feel great), I am getting to the point where exercise is starting to not be as fun :) I am the type of person that really likes to work out HARD, get it over and done with and go about my day.  When I am not pregnant, while I am not a Crossift Elite athlete or a super marathon runner, I consider myself to be in pretty good shape.  That alllll changes once baby comes on board :)  I feel a lot more sluggish, obviously heavier (hello Christmas cookies:) and in general, just not overly comfortable working out.  But I am DETERMINED to keep up some form of exercise to the end of my pregnancy!! It is SO important not only for my physical well being- but my mental sanity :)  My goal for this month is to make it to the gym (we belong to a local YMCA) at least 4 days a week as well as hit 10,000 steps (I use my Fitbit to track my steps) every day.  I might have to jog some laps or run the stairs in my house to get my 10,000 steps in (especially with the frigid weather that is in our forecast), but I want to make sure, at the very least, I am moving enough to hit that goal of 10K steps a day!

Goal #3: Be Joyful and Patient- Even when it is HARD. I consider myself to be a very optimistic, happy and positive person- but let's be real. Life can be tough. My husband works A LOT. I have some particularly hard things happening within my extended family. I have 4 very young kids that all seem to need me at the same time :) 

I am just a smidge tired :)

Most of the time- I find it easy to be joyful, have a great perspective on life and to not "sweat the small stuff," however, I also have a lot of room for improvement when it comes to losing my patience with my kids- especially when there is a lots of whining, talking back, and just overall "special" behavior- HA!  I have a tendency to react immediately to situations and that is not always the best way to go about working with a 3 year old who is having an epic tantrum or a 5 year old who is bound and determined to be the one IN CONTROL :)

My goal for this month- not only when things are easy and fun, but when I am tired, my husband is working late and I have just had it- is stay to stay joyful and patient. And more importantly- if I am in the midst of a difficult situation with one of my kids- to walk away for a couple minutes and gather my thoughts before addressing her and the situation. 

This is something both my myself and my husband are working on and it feels really good to have each other to support and encourage when the going gets tough :)

So there you have it! Nothing too earth shattering or major- but definitely three goals that I feel convicted to work on!

I just love this quote.  I don't think it could be more on point for anyone looking to make some changes. Big changes happen one SMALL step at a time.

Do you have any New Year's resolutions? Or goals that you are hoping to achieve this month?  If you feel like sharing them- I would love to hear about them!!!

I hope you have the BEST day and happy FIRST week of this NEW year!