New Years Resolutions

I have made New Years Resolutions in the past, but never really stuck to them. Life gets in the way, or I just became lazy and decided that my resolutions were stupid. Well, in an effort to improve myself, I am going to list a few of my resolutions and hope I can stick to them.

1) It's something I have struggled with for about 7 years, but I want to get myself down to a healthy weight again. I've had some really great stretches, getting myself within 15 pounds of my goal weight, and then awful setbacks where I gain all the weight back again. I've done Weight Watchers, and had great success, but when money is tight, that is not something that is high on the spending priority list.

Me at my largest, just before Hannah was born.

Me in summer of 2005, in the bright pink shirt.

Most recent picture of me. Christmas 2012.

My friend has been working on a plan to take baby steps towards a realistic goal, and I think I am going to do the same. If we go slowly, there is less room for failure. 

2) Become a better parent. I will admit it, I am not the best mother in the world. My kids, like every other, are flawed. There are many more bad days than there are good (between the fighting, hitting, screaming, crying, etc.), but they are kids. I sometimes have a hard time remembering that. There will be messes, there will be struggles. These are things I need to remember. 2 and 4 year olds do not realize that grabbing something the wrong way will probably cause a ginormous mess. Or that pouring their own glass of milk while mom is in the shower is probably not the best idea. What I need to realize is that messes can be cleaned up. Being hard on your kids for stupid reasons is not a good way to build a relationship. I do not want to be the kind of parent that has a terrible relationship with their children. I do not want them to fear me. I do not want them to go through their teenage years hating me, counting down the days until they get to leave my house. Again, this will probably involve baby steps. 

3) Continue my education. I have completed 3 semesters, and have 3 to go, and am so far thrilled with my progress. 13 classes down, and all but one completed with a 4.0 (that pesky 3.5 will haunt me forever). It has not been easy, juggling kids, school work, a once a week job, but it will eventually be worth it. It has been exciting for me to prove to myself that if I put my mind to it, I can achieve it. When I was a senior in high school, I didn't care about grades or college. I was more worried about boys and having fun, and picking up my life and moving it across the country. Looking back now, I wish I would have gone to college right away. But when you're 18 years old, you don't always do the right things. 

So, what do you think? Doable? I really hope so. The past few years haven't been stellar, but they haven't been awful either. I am hoping that 2013 rolls in and will be the best year that I've had in awhile. 

Happy New Year to you all!