New Year's Goals

It's early morning on January 3rd. I laid in bed listening to every move and escalating cry. Now, the house is still once more.
This, after hearing and settling Nathan down at 5am when he heard daddy driving away for work.
{It did not help that he heard Jeff close the front door, start his car, then come back in, close the door once more, then drive off.}

So, I am up and I will take a moment for the blog...
Jeff and I are not ones for celebrating New Year's or making resolutions and such. Growing up New Year's Eve and day consisted of games and food and more food. My parents had a standing tradition that their Bible study group of 6 couples came for dinner and dessert on New Year's Eve while playing music or singing, laughing, and laughing some more around a fun game of White Elephant Exchange.
The next morning everyone would come back and partake in my dad's waffle feast!
We would sit and eat and watch the parade, perhaps take a walk, and then resume eating.
During that day we would prepare a spread of nachos, dips, veggies, chips, chicken wings, chili, soups, ... you get the idea. There was so much fun...an endless buffet!
Jeff and I as a couple have joined them a few times. Other years we have joined his folks up in Shaver Lake, and still other years we have opted just to stay home and relax together for a quiet celebration. On those years, there have been a few times that I have snuck out of the house while Jeff was napping just to partake in the food grazing!
I miss the food (and the folk) and think fondly of the tradition they have set years ago.
This year we went to the cabin at Shaver Lake for a few nights. It was nice (outside of Emily barfing from 3am-11am). It was Nathan's first trip to the snow, and both Emily and Nathan's first sledding experience.
(see future blog to come).

Back to the point of this New Years post...This year as we were driving home from Shaver, Jeff and I started talking about some goals for the new year. Polite conversation, nothing too serious and in depth. Well, when we got home, he wrote these goals on the fridge, and then a while later, I heard him speaking about them with a neighbor outside.

Ladies, we all know that most of our men are short on words, and when something is said, even said twice, we must take heed!

So, since Jeff has listed his list, I too shall set some goals for myself and perhaps by publishing our goals as a family and individuals, you may be encouraged as well AND keep me accountable for mine.

Here goes.
Family goals...

1. Eat consistently as a family at the dinner table.
(Half the time, I feed the kids at 5:30pm and Jeff and I eat at 7pm. The other half, Jeff and I eat standing over the sink and the kids are at the counter eating.)
2. Consume less processed foods.
Shop more healthy. Being aware of labels, NO "partially hydrogenated..." We started this thinking last year, and we have done pretty good, perhaps a little lazy since Thanksgiving.
3. Conserve more...Think GREEN.
Replace as many light bulbs as possible, and recycle as much as possible.
(Last year, mid year, I started challenging myself to overfill the Recycle container and see how little I could use the regular "trash" can. I have been pretty good. I also am very aware at how frequently we let water run. When wiping the counters, loading the dishes, brushing our teeth, waiting for hot water...we waist so much!)
4. Kids play outside more...even when the weather is not ideal.
Now that they are getting older it's getting easier for me to let them play with out my constant supervision.

Personal Goals...
1. Read through the Bible.
(I have not yet done this successfully. I have started and gotten behind, and stopped). Day 3 is looking good!!
2. Change my sleeping pattern to coincide with Jeff's.
Sleep when he sleeps (instead of watch TV until midnight) and get up when he gets up. I figure 9-5 is 8 hrs. and that is totally do-able, it's just breaking the cycle.
With that said,
3. Read from 5:30-7am.
No computer or TV. (This will help goals 1 and 2.) P.S. Don't look at the time stamp of this post...though, I did already finished my Bible reading.

There are about 8 other gals that are going through the Bible-in-a-year with me, so hopefully we can keep each other encouraged and accountable in this particular area. If you too are interested (it's not too late!) let me know.

I will keep you posted on our/my progress.