Resolutions

I find that the best way to hold yourself accountable for New Year's Resolutions are to write them down where others can see them and hold you accountable. So, be kind, but here they are:

1. Make a bigger deal about holidays, birthdays, and anniversaries. Now, that doesn't mean that I don't celebrate stuff, but I could definitely do a whole lot better about sending cards, decorating, texting those people, and generally making a bigger deal out of the "big deal" days. 
2. Do The 52 Week Money Saving Challenge, as seen on The House of Rose blog. I won't be doing the portion that asks you to open a new saving account since I already have a shared one with my husband, but I love this idea. My husband also loved this idea. So, instead of having $1,378 extra in our savings account by the end of the year, if all goes well, we should have $2,756 extra in savings because we're each going to do it with our individual incomes. This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the overall plan to be more financially stable...
3. Get rid of as much debt as possible. We know we need a reliable savings should anything go wrong ~I'm looking at you, vet visits and random ER visits~, but we also need to snowball this debt. I've taken a little chunk out of it from my same resolution in 2013, but I'm planning on going even bigger this coming year. I'm done with owing companies money. The more debt I take down, the more I can save and relax. 
4. Become more active. Notice how I did not say lose weight. I'm done with that resolution. You can lose weight and be completely unhealthy. I'm more in it for the health factor. I already eat pretty well, if I do say so myself, but I am awful at just getting up and doing something, especially after a ~12 hour day at work. I need to be better at just getting up and doing something: walking the dogs, doing yard work, doing a work out DVD...something. Again, not for weight loss. I'm actually pretty okay with the weight I'm at. I just would like a little more definition and strength. How else am I going to be able to put up with all of my nephews, nieces, and, one day, my own kids? 
5. Don't let myself get bogged down with work. As you saw in the last resolution, I'm exhausted by the end of every day. Then, I make an excuse to just sit on my butt and be lazy because I'm exhausted. Well, that makes for a very boring life. Because of this, I don't exercise as often as I should. The house that we moved into this summer is still not as decorated ~ or even painted ~ as much as I would like it to be. I'm constantly "catching up" on chores that I haven't gotten around to during the work week, which makes for a very lame weekend most of the time. Time to change that. And hopefully be a little more efficient at work, so I can leave at a little bit more of a decent hour. 
6. Keep this poor blog up to date. I've finally gotten all of the events from this past winter up, and I can finally not just blog about what I've been up to, but what has been on my mind. Maybe even a few more everyday moments, not just the giant trips we've seemed to take a lot of this year. I just need to keep up with what I plan on blogging about and not putting it off. Then I won't feel overwhelmed about what I have not done and instead be excited about what i have done. And, lastly...
7. Enjoy every moment of this year. I don't want to get bogged down with work and chores, walking around like a sleep-deprived zombie. I want to soak in everything this year has prepared for my husband, myself, and my family. I don't want to miss it because I'm checking my work email on a Saturday and get upset. I don't want to miss it because I'm so exhausted from the work week that I sleep in until almost noon and miss half the day. I want to bask in all of the glory with whatever 2014 brings.