Tuesday, December 20, 2011

New Years Resolutions....

This year has flown by for me! I can't believe it's almost over.

A lot has happened to me this year, the biggie being I went back to school to study nursing. Made the dean's honors list, too!

So as the end of 2011 approaches, I have been contemplating changes that I need to make in my life and around the house. Most of these will make it easier to be a mom to 2 teenagers, a supportive fiancee to Mike and still make honors in school.

Did I mention that the wedding is in August?

So, here is a list of things that I am doing in 2012...

1. January 2, 2012; inventory all of the pantry and the two freezers. I will also inventory the stockpile in the garage and organize everything.

I need to know what I have so that I can shop for groceries more effectively. With the stock pile I have built now, I haven't had to grocery shop for anything except fresh produce, bread, milk and eggs for about a month now. I did buy a HUGE ham this week. It was .99 a pound, and I couldn't pass it up. It was baked yesterday, we had some for dinner last night and I am cutting it up to freeze for meals tonight.

2. Make the bouquets for me and my bridesmaids.  Hobby Lobby often puts stems of calla lilies on sale for half off. These faux flowers look and feel real...they are $5.00 a stem. I will buy them at half off when they go on sale and make my own arrangements.

3. I will try Once A Week Cooking. From every thing I've read, this might make my life a bit easier in as much as all I will have to do is pull dinner out of the fridge or freezer and voila! All that I will need to do is take care of the sides.

4. I will Christmas shop throughout the year. We have good intentions when it comes to a budget, but we always go over. NO MORE.  I am a savvy grocery shopper, and if I apply this savviness to Christmas, Birthdays etc, we should do well.  Since Mike and I have a wedding to pay for, this will be really helpful.

5. I will do the favors for the wedding. I've decided that personalized M&M's are the way to go. When the favor tins go on sale for half off, I can stock up.

6. I will NOT add anymore people to the wedding guest list!!!!!!  200 people is quite enough, thank you very much!

7. I will expand my vegetable and fruit garden this spring. So far, so good with what I have planted so far, so why not expand it. Fresh produce is better for us anyway.

8. I am refining my housekeeping schedule. It's pretty good now, but it can be improved upon. My biggest pet peeve is the DAMN PET HAIR and the DAMN DUST!!!! Oh, and the CLUTTER that keeps accumulating on this one counter in the kitchen.  GAH! It drives me nuts!

9. This falls in with the pantry inventory, I am re-organizing the pantry too. The above mentioned counter and cabinets in the kitchen will be used for lesser used items. The cabinets are in between the pantry and the fridge. I don't do prep work on this counter. Theoretically, it's supposed to function as my command-ops center where I keep the calendar, laptop etc. Maybe if I get all mean mom about it, the clutter will stop gathering there. WHO AM I KIDDING?

10. I am NOT going to lose weight...I am rather going to shape up what I have. I am, shockingly happy with what I weigh, I'm just not happy with the flabby parts. Gravity after 40 is a bitch.

11. I am going to have an AWESOME wedding. People will speak of it in the decades to come, it will be that awesome, and I am going to do it for LESS THAN $12K.

12. I am going to finish redecorating the master bedroom. I only have some touch ups to do, and I have to stain the furniture. I have everything I need, except the stain. I just have to do it!  It shall be done BY THE END OF MARCH!!!

13. I will complete all of my prerequisites for nursing school this year. I will make dean's honors every semester.

14. I will blog more. The adventures of a 40 something in college with a ton of 20 somethings. It should be interesting  if this first semester was any indication.


That's it for now. I'm sure that I will come up with more, though. I've always been an over achiever.

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