New Year 2018! (I've got a new attitude)

I can't help but chuckle a little when I see that I traditionally make a New Year's Day post and then disappear off the face of the blogging world.  I have no real blog followers, but I still feel the need to write and express myself in some way.  So doing it here seems logical and natural.  I'm going into this year with a different attitude towards resolutions.  First off, let me set the tone a bit...
Last night we were all set up, decorated, food cooked, showered and ready for our annual NYE party, but quite unexpectedly ice occurred and we had to cancel.  As we live on top of a curvy mountain road, it would have been completely irresponsible to encourage the drive for a night of partying. So, for the first time in my 22 year marriage, we celebrated at home alone with our son (that was a treat) and truth be told, I didn't really "ring" in the new year.  I fell asleep on the couch before 10:30 and then moved myself right on to bed.  The beauty of this situation is I didn't wake up to a messy house and tons of dishes to wash!  My mom used to say that whatever you did on New Year's Day you'd be doing all year, so she made a point of not doing serious chores like laundry, etc. on that day.  I'm thinking I'm setting myself up for a pretty great year in that regard.

Resolutions-what are they exactly and why do we constantly see the need to make ourselves "better" or try to become something we're not? I'm starting to feel that when we constantly focus on what's wrong with us, we set ourselves up to fail anyway.  So this year, I'm thinking, "I'm nice, I'm a happy person, I'm a good friend and I like myself".  That's refreshing.  I'm also thinking, "I eat really well most of the time" is eliminating entire food groups to lose unwanted pounds really healthy and a way to keep weight off?  No, no it's not and I'm sick to death of thinking about those damn extra pounds. In the way of exercise goals, I'm thinking, "I like to walk, do yoga, and dance." Let's do a bit more of that and see what happens to my mind, maybe even my body, and then perhaps I'll care even less about the extra pounds because I will feel healthy.  I love to read, I have a great book my son gifted me for Christmas, so I'm going to keep on reading!  I love to make stuff, any kind of stuff, and thanks to my ATC (Artist Trading Card) swap, I'm involved with a creative outlet. I'll keep doing that and maybe even some other cool things will grow from that.  Have fun with it, don't force, let it flow.

I love the idea of a word for the year, so I think, quite spontaneously I've just stumbled upon mine. GROW. I'm a sprout, I'm going to spend my winter nurturing. Come spring I'll reach upwards to the sun, let the March winds blow, feel the April showers on my face, and by May I'll be ready to BLOOM!

I love where this is going and if anyone happens to read this, yay! If I happen to come back to share a little before January 2019, yay!  If not, that's okay...I'll be doing what I'm doing and treating myself with a little more understanding and kindness.

New Year's blessings to you and yours!

Happy 2012!

As it's always a good idea to verbalize your intentions and goals for the New Year, I decided to do it here at "Tales From My Nest".
It's been a long time since I have posted on here. Just to fill you in, 2011 was a tough year for my family in the financial respect. As a result of my husband's business being very slow, it was a blessing that I had two sources of income. I also decided to go back to school to get my K-6th grade teaching certificate, so starting in August I was not only working two jobs, serving on a search committee for our school's new principal, heading up the Parent-Teacher Council, and taking two online classes. Needless to say, Christmas break was a welcome one. It gave me time to ponder what is really important to me, what has worked, and what needs to be improved upon. Here's what I determined:

• I like being busy and am actually quite organized and efficient when I need to be.
• I am tired of thinking about food all the time and for considering food to be "good or bad" or my eating habits to be "naughty or nice"
• I really want to hang out with my kids more
• I miss my husband and having date nights
• I miss doing arts & crafts projects
• I must make more time for my friends and family
  

Therefore my intentions and goals for 2012 are reflective of all of those things. Here's my list:

1-To add more movement to my daily routine
2-To quit weighing myself daily
3-To create one thing each week, my theme is "birds"
4-To write one haiku every day
5-To try one new recipe each week
6-To zone clean my house

Some of my sources of inspiration in 2011 were:
Sarah Ban Breathnach's book, Simple Abundance
Mireille Guiliano's book, French Women Don't Get Fat
Misty Mawn's mixed media art book, unfurling
and the make something 365 blog about the book, Unstuck

As a result of all of this, I hope to blog again in 2012. My plan will tentatively be to share my haikus in a weekly re-cap, if not daily. I also plan to post photos of my 52 bird-themed projects. I am also working on the preliminary stages of a notebook that will help women organize their homes and lives, freeing up time for their personal interests.

Having said ALL of that in my lengthy post, I wish the blog world a healthy and prosperous 2012!