New Year's Resolutions......a month late!

I never posted about it, but I did set some New Year's resolutions this year. New Year's resolutions can be tricky. There have been times that I've felt like NY's is a time to examine all your faults, pick the worst ones, and build your goals around that. The process of doing this? .....not so good on the ol' self esteem.

One of my friends posted a great idea about resolutions here and the follow up here. I love the idea because it seems to focus more on the positive and less on the negative.

I mulled it over for quite a while and decided that the world I would love to emulate my year in 2010 is .....

GROWTH

I feel like I've been stuck in a rut for too long. It's time to embrace Growth. I'm comfortable where I'm at, but being in a comfort zone isn't the way to learn and challenge yourself. I want to Grow together as a family. I want Mike and I to Grow closer together as a couple. I want to Grow spiritually. I want to Grow in the knowledge of how to better take care of myself nutritionally and physically.

So, now, 1 month into the New Year, how have I been doing?

I heard through the grapevine that a girl who had moved into our neighborhood was looking for someone to do monthly babysitting swaps with so that she could attend the temple more. I talked to her and we've arranged it so that we can each go to the temple once a month. In the past I usually wait for a time when Mike and I to be able to go together, but he's so busy and his work schedule is so crazy that we don't end up going very often. I'm uncomfortable going by myself, but I know one of the surest ways to Grow spiritually is to attend the temple. I'm excited about this. I went last month and I get to go again tomorrow. The great thing about regular temple attendance is it seems to have a domino effect in your life. You attend the temple more and it makes you want to study your scriptures more, which makes you want to teach your children about the scriptures more, which improves your family home evening.......etc. It really does bring blessings without number.

My sister and I are also doing babysitting exchanges so that we can go on monthly dates with our husbands. It's working out great so far! This last weekend Mike and I went to Crystal Hot Springs and spent the day chasing each other down a waterslide and sitting in hot mineral pools. Spending some one-on-one time together helps us in so many ways. We're more patient with each other, we start teasing and flirting with one another more, we talk more....we really Grow closer together as a couple.

We've also been trying to spend more time Growing together as a family. It's so easy for everyone to get caught up in our own interests and not BE together. Mike working on the add-on to our home, me on the computer or lost in a book, Caeden watching TV, Tanner off making a mess (serioulsy, that's what he does with his free time), Weston, being the sweet mellow little guy he is, just content to sit there by himself and suck on something. We've been trying to spend more quality time with each other. We're letting the kids earn family activity days when they get marks for doing their chores, right now they're working towards 10 pts. for an ice cream trip, 20 pts. for a Happy Meal lunch, or 30 pts. to go to Chucky Cheese. I've been trying to play with the boys more and really show an interest in what they love.......even if I have to fake it (Pokemon!). I'm trying to be with them even when I'm doing everyday stuff, like having them help me with cooking or picking a family movie that we can all watch together. Even though there are days that feel like the boys will never grow-up I know that it's really all so fleeting. I want to enjoy them more. I want to cherish every stage they go through and not focus solely on the challenges that come with that stage.

For the last little while I've been trying to educate myself more about nutrition. I think our family eats too much sugar and unnecessary additives. The thought of going completely over to whole foods is overwhelming to me....so I haven't done it, back to my comfort zone. I'm wanting to embrace Growth in my awareness of my and my family's health. So, I've just been making little changes in our diet and so far we're all doing great with it. I'm cooking from scratch a lot more so that we can enjoy the same foods, such as breads, hot cereals, even goodies, without all the extra garbage that comes with store bought foods (no, I don't bake ALL of our bread homemade, but every little bit helps). We've cut a lot of sugar and almost all high fructose corn syrup from our diets by limiting our treat night to a homemade treat on Monday night at Family Home Evening. During the week we've been eating mostly whole foods, tons of produce, grains, lean meats and we usually do vegetarian meals at least 3 times a week. I don't want my boys to grow up feeling deprived or feeling like processed foods are forbidden so we ease up quite a bit on the weekends. They can pick whatever cereal they want on Sunday or we may order a pizza on a weekend night. So far we're doing great, the boys have been eating most of what I make without complaint and not only have I lost 5 lbs, but I can't believe how much more energy I have these days. I don't feel that afternoon lag that I used too. I've also noticed the less sugar I eat the less I crave it......who knew that change would make it easier to eat healthy and not harder like I always thought?

We're not doing perfect in all areas, there are still times I ignore my children more than I should, I still don't read my scriptures often enough, I occasionally still have a chocolate binge, but I'm doing better, my family is doing better......so far, we're GROWING!