Shirley's 2015 Resolutions

Live More Simply

Since Qori died, I knew I had lost not only my best friend but one of my greatest sources of stress relief.  And I don't handle stress well.  So during my mourning, I tried to figure out what I needed to be happy without Qori, and how to minimize the stress.  The one glaring thing that I kept coming back to was embracing simplicity.  Whether this was in my cooking, in my shopping, around the house, at work; I just needed to remove the complexity and live a simple life, to avoid stress 

Goals:

• Remove clutter, organize house and desk at work
• Don't be wasteful in your spending.  Do you really need another OPI nail polish shade?
• Continue your goal at clean-eating in the kitchen
• Take time to appreciate nature

Be More Active

My Fitbit really helped me out last year, but there are some things that it was just lacking.  The fitbit focuses on number of steps, but I've got more I need to work on, namely lifting my butt and flattening my belly.  I will continue working with my fitbit, but I know I've got to look for some other apps to help me feel accomplished on my butt and tummy.  Additionally, I'm just not that active naturally.   As a homebody and introvert, I can't just get up and go.  So I'm going to do some fighting against my own natural tendencies, and take myself "out" of my comfort zone, so to speak.


Maintain Happiness

This one is fully-loaded.   I went through a depression with Qori's death.  I know it's not possible to always be happy, which is why "be happy" is not my resolution.  There will be highs, there will be lows, and my resolution is to stay as positive as possible during those lows.

What makes me happy?

• Animals - I'm very close to getting another dog.
• Nature - I will need to surround myself in nature more often
• Photography - Watch out Instagram!
• Video Editing - I stopped this awhile back, but I'm losing out on preserving my children's childhood moments
• Journaling - I'm going to need to pick up the pace on this blog again!

Enrich Family Time

This year, Diego will be entering Kindergarten.  I want to make sure he's prepared, so enriching our time spent together is key.  We have a lot of days where we get stuck in the Skylanders or iPad rut.  My plan is to add more arts & crafts, book readings, and mini-chalkboard lessons into our routine.

We'll also be enrolling him in an extra-curricular activity.  Some type of Karate is looking promising at this point.

Hubby too, is included in this resolution.  We'll need more date nights.  We might have only had one or two this year. In 2015, I'd like to try to have 1 every 2 months or so. 6 in one year?! Seems like a steep goal ;)

And finally, time with my extended family is important as well.  Especially, my parents and my sis (and her family).  We'll continue to invite my parents to some of our weekend outings, but we'll also extend invitations to my sis.  That way, the boys will bond more with their cousin Emily, uncle & aunt, and grand parents.

Let's see if I can stick to these!

Shirley (Mama-Ruff)