Happy 2014!

2014... what!??!!?  Where is time going?  I can't believe it is already the start of another new year.  2013 was a good year for us.  I think back on it and we really accomplished a lot and made so many wonderful memories.  There are always challenges, and tough weeks however, as a whole we had a great year.  That is always encouraging when you head forward, to keep the good times rolling and keep making memories.

As is custom at this time of year, we make resolutions.  I am once again trying to not make big giant (more apt to fail) resolutions.  There are a few things I am trying to focus on for this year as a whole.

First, to continue to try to do something active everyday... whether it be going to the gym or just running around with the boys... just moving.  I worked on this last year and was quite successful, I was even able to lose 20 pounds! I have kind of stalled there though, so my goal is to amp it up a bit and lose a few more pounds to reach my weight goal.

Second, I want to clean house, declutter, simplify and keep it that way.  Having two adults and two small kids in a house means stuff and mess almost constantly.  My plan is to start with one room and sort, purge and organize (with a method that will make staying organized more feasible), then move on to another, until I can get through the house.  We have so much storage space that is just not well used at the moment, and if I really set my mind to it, I can make this house more organized and functional.  We are all tired of tripping on clutter, so I will also be enlisting the help of the kids with their toys and books and clothes, and Chad with his stuff too.  Once things are organized and cleaned out, I want to just simplify life.  We don't "need" anything else right now, it's time to appreciate all that we have and live in a more basic, simple way. 

Third, is actually all about me.  Now that the kids are older, I feel more comfortable taking time for myself (as if they need to be older for me to feel this way... it should always be fine to look after me, but that's the mom guilt for you I guess!).  I want to be able to take some time each month, to have me time.  Not just my mornings at the gym, but actual time for me.  Whether it be dinner with friends or my hubby, using our benefits and getting a massage, getting my haircut more than twice a year, or an hour or two of shopping by myself... whatever.  I am so fortunate that I am able to stay home with my kids, but it is a 24 hour a day, 7 day a week job, where I am always on call and don't really ever get weekends or vacations.  Yes, I get help from Daddy, and when family and friends come... I am not that hard done by, but I do feel like it is important for my sanity and my self worth to spend some time on just me.  Being a stay at home mom, it is very easy to lose your identity, to just become "Mom" and nothing else... because I have no other role outside the home.  I love being "Mom", it is the greatest blessing I could have ever asked for, it is all I have wanted since I was a child playing with my own baby dolls and playing house, but sometimes it would be nice to just be "Stacie".  She was a pretty fun girl too and sometimes I miss her! I think there is room for both of us and it feels important to me to not get so caught up in being mom that I just don't know how to do anything else.  Seems simple enough... now to find the time and just do it!

I was going to add some picture highlights from the year, but there are just too many great things that went on.... it was too time consuming to narrow it down.  You can look back through the years worth of blogs to see all the fun we had!!  I wish you all health and happiness in the new year!  I am looking forward to many great things to come!

Stay tuned for all the picture highlights from our holiday season!