Do you make resolutions? Let me ramble to you :)

I think this is my first post without a project, it feels wrong LOL however one of the things I'd like to do this year is ramble aimlessly to you more :D  Seriously though, I was considering stepping away from the online word (ie facebook/blogging/blogs/etc) because I feel like it is taking up too much of my very stretched out attention and time, then I decided I'd miss everyone and all the projects so instead I'm going to try to limit my time online but also include more of my actual self/family in my online time.

Besides the cliche idea of New Years = resolutions, this time of year does make me think forward to the coming year and look back at the past year. January is sort of a thinking time for me, the world (at least in freezing Michigan) is wrapped in a blanket of snow and sort of hibernating waiting for spring to start anew, similar to this are my thoughts... I'm thinking and planning and deciding what changes I hope to bring about this coming year. I also need to really commit to something in my head before I ever hope to make it happen in real life, I'm a huge planner like that LOL

So here are some of my top ideas that I'm going to sort of toss around in my mind and hopefully come to terms with incorporating into my life.

1. the before mentioned reorganizing of my digital life... both in cutting back on the time I  waste  spend online and in how I present myself online.

2. spending more 1:1 time with my girls, I'm with them 24/7 but much of this time is spent with the whole "in a min..." routine as I'm doing something else (um pinterest much?) or with them dissing me as they do something (not so much Lily she is my little shadow but Aliya has this pesky habit of growing up and developing her own interests) I want to make sure we spend some quality time together making memories and enjoying each others company, not just existing in the same space. (this goes for time with my husband too, maybe we'll get a chance to go out on our 6th date in 9yrs this year... I wish I was kidding here people... no one ever watches our girls).

3. I've only been saying this for 9yrs... but I want to get back in shape. I went from skinny (I actually used to get paid for modeling) to "OMG you got big" when I was pregnant with Aliya, and I've never lost most of it. Actually the thinnest I've been in the past 9yrs was when I was pregnant with Lily 3yrs ago and so sick I couldn't even keep down water, yup I was my thinnest pregnant. I hate dieting, I can't follow any sort of plan (being told what to do goes against my very being LOL), and exercise sucks in my mind but I really want to get back into my skinny clothing (they should be coming back in style soon LOL) and just feel better about myself. I remember that feeling of my pants sitting low on my hip bone, I loved that feeling. Much better then the one of my chin resting on my other chin. I'm going to start easy with more/more intense walking on my treadmill, playing xbox kinnect with Aliya, dancing & bouncing on the trampoline with the girls etc. I might even bust out the expensive juicer I bought last year (I went a little too crazy, made intense green juice that I gagged so bad choking down I haven't used it again) maybe we'll do some fruits and a touch of spinach and save the kale for later. All in all I'd love to be back in a few months talking about how I lost 10, 15, 20+ lbs (my ultimate goal would be 30ish lbs)

4. This will actually be the hardest for me, yes even harder then losing weight. I saw this on pinterest today and it's actually what influenced this whole post for me.

we were really broke when I was growing up, it was just my mom & I and things were very tight. I was a teenager before I learned about actual malls & stores that carried a shirt in more then one size (we only shopped at TJ Max where if you liked a shirt you better hope it was in your size because there was only one), I treasured my toys because I didn't have many, I was teased at school for wearing the same jeans all week (I only had one pair!), etc. So now that I'm an adult and am blessed to have a husband who makes a nice living I openly admit to going a bit totally overboard. My girls want for nothing, I know we have too much "stuff" but I can't seem to stop buying more. I remember having nothing and now I go into crazed squirrel must hoard everything mode w/o even realizing it. The irony is that I hate clutter, a cluttered house affects my mind and I feel awful just staring at stuff everywhere. I keep my decorating all neutrals like creams/white/dark browns because it soothes me and yet we're tripping on stuff. I need to change this. I need to change it for my (and my daughters) well being, and frankly to stop wasting money. We had to rent a house when we moved back home to MI almost 2yrs ago since we were selling our house in NJ, obviously buying at the market high and selling at the low meant we had to short our house... and now we're rebuilding our savings that we depleted trying to float the NJ mortgage while paying rent in MI for a year while we waited for it to sell to save up for a house of our own again (I'm so not a good renter you guys, I like painting things... sure shades or cream or brown but still LOL) and I want to change light fixtures, hang curtains, and replace appliances and all that goes along with making your house your home. I need to remind myself that every little silly trinket I get myself or the girls is money taking away from my dream of owning my own house again. Honestly they have enough toys to NEVER EVER EVER run out of things to play with even if they picked something new every day. They don't treasure their belongings like I did because they have so many. I have enough craft supplies to open my own craft store and started hoarding tools this past month. Enough is enough. I'm committing here (where my husband might see this YIKES) and to all of you that I'm going to make an honest effort to save and not spend. To use the things I have instead of just hoarding them (yes I'm talking about you countless containers of glitter & stickles & packs of paper), and I'm going to force myself to part with things that we don't use or need anymore instead of my typical "but we paid good money for that, we might need it in the future" if I haven't used it in 5+yrs there's a good chance I won't need it in the next 5 either. 

So I guess my main "resolution" is to declutter. Declutter my mind, my house, and my body. Wish me luck!