Resolutions - A Look Back

Ok, first of all, how in the world is today November first? Seriously? What happened to October? We are exactly three weeks away from Thanksgiving… What??

Since there are only two months until the end of the year I wanted to check in and see how I was doing with my New Year’s Resolutions. They were to:

1. Become an extreme couponer.
2. Get into a routine with my housework.

I did pretty well at becoming an extreme couponer. Except, I’m not that extreme. I would say I am a moderate couponer. There are so many regular products I don’t use because of the parabens (drugstore shampoo, makeup, body wash, etc) that even if they were free, it wouldn’t be worth it for me. But we are all stocked up on contact solution, deodorant, Steve’s body wash, laundry soap, razors, toilet paper, and paper towels for a while. I stopped going every week, and just go now when I see something that I really want/need. It works for me. I’m going to say this was a success!

The housework routine was not quite as successful. It started out pretty well, but then things got a little crazy. We started getting serious about buying a house, and packing disrupts everything. Then we moved, which is even more disruptive. Morning sickness/needing 12 naps a day kicked in a few days after the move, and poor Steve had to do everything for a while! But even if I was feeling fine, keeping a 2000 square foot house clean is MUCH more difficult that keeping a 900 square foot apartment clean. There are so many more surfaces, more floors to sweep or vacuum, more corners to dust, more space for junk to accumulate! But I’m getting there. I haven’t been behind in the laundry for over a month, and I’ve managed to get dinner on the table almost every night. So even though this didn’t go as well as I had hoped, I still say it was marginally successful.

The good news is, I still have two whole months before the year is over. 61 days to get better!

Not So Extreme Couponing

One of my New Years Resolutions was to try extreme couponing. It seemed easy enough, you get the coupons, you buy stuff, it's cheaper. Simple, right?

Not so much.

There are about a million websites out there dedicated to coupons for a reason. It's complex! And time consuming. So while I'm not too extreme yet, I have seen some results.

First off, I get the Sunday paper for $1 a week, so if I save a dollar that week, I count it as good. So far I have saved more than that every week I have gone, so at least I am getting a return on investment. Some of my best deals so far:

• Free bottle of salad dressing. And it was the good stuff too!
• Box of whole wheat pasta for $.37.
• Two bags of peanut M&Ms for $.50 (we're talking full size bags here, not the single serving ones).
• Two boxes of baking soda for $.47.
• A dozen eggs for $.99 (ok this wasn't couponing, they are just on sale at Walgreens this week, but I never would have known that if I didn't coupon!).

I can see how people get addicted to it. It is super fun! And getting the best deals give you such a rush! I have already learned a lot, and I look forward to being much more 'extreme' in the future. So if you get a basket of toilet paper and toothpaste from me on your next birthday, don't be too surprised!!

New Years Resolutions

I finally narrowed down my huge list of things I wanted to accomplish this year to two actual New Years Resolutions.

1. Establish routines for cleaning the house. Our house never really gets that dirty, there are only two people living here, but I never feel like I am really on top of things. I am going to start with small morning and night routines, and add one thing every few weeks until I get where I want to be.
2. Become and extreme couponer. I'm already starting to get frustrated with this. I ordered the Sunday paper a few weeks ago, but it STILL hasn't come. I'm tired of calling the newspaper company every Monday to complain... If it doesn't come in the next two weeks, I am going to take it as a sign that it isn't meant to be and forget it!! I know there are other ways to get the Sunday coupons than by getting the paper delivered to my house, but I am lazy, and I don't have time to go searching for them...

I was really leaning toward running 520 miles, but I decided that I am just hitting my stride (pun totally intended) with running, and I don't want to put a lot of pressure on myself to run a set amount and not make it fun anymore. If couponing doesn't work out, I'm going to go with trying one new things from Pintrest every month!

One More Thing...

Thanks to Pintrest, I now have one more thing to add to my ever growing list of New Year's Resolutions. Add cleaning and de-cluttering to the list! Not that I have THAT much stuff. I'm a serial thrower away-er after all, but living a more minimalist lifestyle has been appealing to me more and more lately.

I went to a baby shower last week (it was super fun, great food and no one made me smell chocolate in a diaper!) and I was so overwhelmed with the amount of STUFF that you get when you are having a baby... As if adding another person to your family wasn't enough, now you 'need' 20 bibs with coordinating socks and enough bedding to last the child through his college years. Then I watched the documentary Babies, and it showed that kids that grow up without all the 'stimulating toys' that we think are so important, develop at almost exactly the same pace! So, once again - our stuff basically means nothing.

So the point of that little rant is, I am thinking of becoming a minimalist. Because I'm tired of the stuff.

I still have no idea what I would like to focus on in 2012, and only one more week to figure it out. Is it possible to focus on 20 things at the same time?? That way I won't have to choose!

Four Day Win, part 1

I decided to focus on each of my goals for one week. Since there are roughly four weeks in a month, it should work out well!

My first goal was to improve my relationship with God. I like to think that I have a very personal relationship with my Father in Heaven. I have had many prayers answered, and I try to listen to the promptings I get from Him. But I know I can do much, much better. I am too quick to forget my dependance on Him when things are going well, and only remember to really pray when I need something.  For this week, my four day win will be to read my scriptures each morning for 15 minutes.  I know it sounds simple, but that's the point!

To make this happen, I will need to do a little bit of preparation at night (I could get up earlier, but I don't want to!). I need to get out my clothes, make our lunches and pack my gym bag so I have the extra time to add one more step to my routine in the mornings.

Next week I will be focusing on my health and fitness!

Cool-Whip, Continued

I posted last week that I wanted to start looking at how I was spending my time. I have been thinking a lot about how I spend my time, and I have decided that I need to be much more intentional. The conference talk A Time to Prepare really drove this idea home for me.  The whole talk is amazing, but I especially liked the end:

Time marches swiftly forward to the tick of the clock. Today would be a good day, while the clock of mortality ticks, to review what we are doing to prepare to meet God.

After thinking about how I spend my time, and think about what I actually want to accomplish, I found three main areas in my life that I feel need more focused, intentional attention:

1. My relationship with God.
2. My health and physical fitness.
3. My relationship with others.
4. My home.

My inclination is to rush into all of these things, set lofty goals, work furiously toward them for about a week, burn out, and then watch TV for three straight days. So I decided this time to set small, achievable goals, modeled after Martha Beck's Four Day Win.

I'm going to write a separate post for each goal, so stay tuned!

If you're interested in learning more about designing a life with intention, try reading the very inspirational blog Make Under My Life (there's a link over on the right).