2016 New Year's Resolutions

Howdy-ho~!

So I missed yesterday's blog post...
And that might have been because I didn't write it down here, which is something of a tradition for this blog :D
As seen here, here, here, here, and here.

To remedy that in the hopes that it will keep other days in 2016 from being missed, today's blog post is about Resolutions.

First, a look at what my 2015 Resolutions were, and how well I stuck to them:
(I failed to write a blog post about them, but did keep the paper version hanging on my desk upstairs!)

[x]  Maintain 130 lb. weight
[x]  Keep knitting!
[x]  Get rid of 10 items from the house a week
[x]  Stick to a budget

Okay, wow that was a very short list, and apparently very easy to stick to! :D
For the first and last one, I'd actually written down specific guidelines to accomplish those goals, and they were as follows:

1) Maintain 130 lb. weight by...
a. not having sugar, seconds, or snacking except on Saturday and Sunday
b. walking 10,000 steps a day
c. using the car no more than three days a week
d. having alcohol only three times a week
e. doing weekly weigh-ins with George and Kathy-neechan

I didn't really stick to a. nor d. but the rest I'd say were pretty spot-on.

I use to have to rely on my cell phone to be my pedometer, but that was crappy because I don't always carry it on my person. But now I have a FitBit that Dash got me (thanks, love!) so I feel it more accurately records my steps. And apparently 10,000 steps is not all that difficult to reach. It just takes one good long walk at some point in the day, whether to the downtown or on my nightly Chat-Walks (as I call them) with Kathy-neechan. :)

Then, being in Spain without a car made c. easy enough but made d. an absolutely moot point. Ha!
That will change this year, as you will see below.

Moving on...

2) I stuck to a (monthly) budget in terms of...
a. $40 eating out a month
b. $300 food bill
c. $40 entertainment
d. +$300 extra income (tutoring, modeling, eBay etc)

Okay, so a. was not so easy to stick to since we are freaks for El Sol De Mexico here in Corvallis ;)
But I like to think that c. balanced it back out since monthly "entertainment" was probably closer to $0 a month. Ha!

Granted none of this was adhered to for the entire summer while we were in Spain.
And really the only reason I created this Resolution in the first place was because of our trip to Spain. It justified the expense that the trip would mean for us. And I must say it felt good to really tighten our belts for those first five months, and then feel completely at ease financially for the next three...especially in a country that is so very affordable in general anyway! Spain for the win!!

Okay, so that was 2015.
Now for 2016's New Year's Resolutions.
Here goes!!!!

[ ] learn how to drive stick shift
[ ] do something big about the student move-out in June to reduce waste
[ ] insulate the house
[ ] paint the exterior of the house
[ ] get rid of an item from my house every day (or equivalent, 365 by the end of the year)
[ ] get the children their Spanish citizenship
[ ] beautify/make productive the front yard
[ ] get unfinished projects done to completion
[ ] get William to stay asleep in his own bed at night.


Phew!
That's quite a bit more than last year, but I think they will be quite doable.
Now a little word on each one:

1) learning to drive stick shift
Dash will teach me using the truck he bought this past fall (for $800, daz right!)
And I know how to drive a motorcycle, so the concept of gears is not completely lost on me.
It should be a good one to know, since I've also always considered it a post-apocalyptic life skill ;)

2) doing something about the student-move out in June
In the past, I've taken advantage of the students' grand exodus through dumpster diving and though it was fun and brought many things into our home we needed and used, it is (unfortunately) technically illegal, so I want to find a way to divert this stuff before it even gets carelessly tossed. In a big outreach kind of way.
I'm not going to share any details yet, but I do have a plan in the works that I will be starting on as the spring draws nearer. Stay tuned ;)

3) insulating the house
It's about time we insulated the house to save on heating and make our home overall more comfortable. Looking to do this some time in summer when the service is (presumably) a little cheaper due to it being the "off-season".

4) painting the exterior of the house
Long overdue and something we are still trying to decide between doing ourselves and hiring professionals... Hmmm...

5) getting rid of items daily
This sort of already happens, so it's here more as a reminder and hard number to aspire to ;)

6) get the children their Spanish citizenship
Also long overdue! And relating to our 2017 plans...far in the future and yet necessary to start planning for already. No spoilers!!

7) the front yard
I really want to make a productive garden, build a new trellis for the grapes, get some blueberry and raspberry bushes, etc etc.

8) complete unfinished projects
This is mostly because of this giant pile of clothes that need mending and fabrics that need to be sewed into something sitting on my desk upstairs as I write this. I just want to DO IT, as Shia LeBeouf so eloquently puts it. ;)

9) William staying in his own bed
This past year, as I've mentioned, both kids have finally taken to the idea of sleeping in their own beds, but whereas Ella is at least showing signs of starting to stay in her bed, William will inevitably join us sometime in the wee hours which would be adorable except that it's not. So my hope is to get him to go to his bed and stay in his bed. Wish me luck~!


All right, well PHEW! That turned out to be a long, wordy and photo-less blog post.
Pardon all the chatter, but I look forward to revisiting this post next January to see how everything went.
I am feeling good about 2016. Really good! Really on top of things, and with lots of projects to tackle, but also an inexplicable amount of relaxing time in the evenings. Amazing!!

Well, I hope you are feeling as good about 2016. Do you have any Resolutions? Let me know~!
Til next time, take care and Happy 2016 New Year's Resolutions!!