Monday, January 2, 2012

Looking forward

The thing to do, especially in the blogger world, is to make New Year’s resolutions.  And you all know I’m all about lists, so this really is right up my alley, partially because I like to check things off my lists as I accomplish them, and partially because putting it on here is going to hold me accountable for it.  And I wouldn’t call these resolutions really, they’re more like goals I have for this year.
1.  Get Abbie potty trained.  I’ve been half-heartedly working on this and it’s not going very well at all.  This probably isn’t the best time to potty train her since she’s already adjusting to having Ben in our lives, but I KNOW she’s ready to do this and it’s just a matter of her being stubborn.  And the reason I know this is because when we took her to the nursery at church last month, she told them she had to go potty and actually peed when they took her.  I’ve been putting her in training underwear at home, trying to get her to go on her potty, but more often than not, I’ll ask her if she has to go potty, she’ll say no and leave the room and go pee in her pants and then come back with new underwear and pants and ask me to change her.  GRRRR!!!!  It’s beyond frustrating and I don’t really know how to deal with this.  Anyone have any tips??
2.  Expand on my photography skills.  I love taking pictures.  I like the challenge of trying to get the shot I’m aiming for and I like having all the photos of the kids and places and people to look back on.  I’ve been shooting mostly in manual mode lately and I feel like I have a pretty good grasp of how to get the camera to do what I want it to do, so it’s just a matter of getting faster at it and better.
3.  Be more comfortable in my own skin.  I’ve talked about this before – about how most of my friends here have a very “polished” appearance.  They have the super cute skinny jeans with the nice pair of boots, along with nice fitting shirts, accessorized with scarves and necklaces, bracelets and earrings.  Their hair almost always looks great and their make-up is perfectly done.  I, honestly, have never been like that.  Ever.  At least I don’t feel like I have.  I’m all about comfort and convenience, so put me in a pair of jeans (preferably loose fitting), and a big sweatshirt over a t-shirt, along with a pair of tennis shoes, and I’m good.  Pull my hair back in a pony tail so it’s out of my face and, on a good day, put on a little mascara, and I’m good to go.  That’s how I’m comfortable, until I get around a room full of my friends who are dressed up and “polished”.  Then I feel quite frumpy and like I don’t fit in at all.  I either need to conform and get a new wardrobe or repeatedly wear the three things that might make me fit in with the rest of them, or I need to get over it and just be comfortable with the way I am.  This one is going to require some work, and some soul searching.
4.  Spend more time on my marriage.  Mark and I have a good relationship.  I’d say we’re both pretty happy and he truly is my best friend and the person I’d rather spend time with more than anyone else.  But with that being said, I think we get complacent in our marriage sometimes.  We tend to be more like roommates than spouses and we fall into these ruts where we get so caught up in daily life that we forget about “us”.  He turns in to daddy and fighter pilot and I turn in to mommy and maid and we don’t really put any effort in to our marriage because it’s all going in to being parents, working and running the household.  Anyone that has kids knows that having 2 little ones can suck all the life out of you pretty darn quickly and when you finally get them to sleep all you want to do is crash yourself.  And while iPhones are a great things, they’re also the devil too since Mark and I both spend more time messing with our phones at night than we do talking to each other, mainly because that’s our ways of catching up on what’s going on everywhere else.  I’m going to try really hard to spend at least 30 mins a night just talking with Mark and discussing whatever, without the distraction of kids (ha, yeah right) or electronics.
5.  Get healthy.  This is my main goal for this year.  And it’s not so much about losing weight (although I definitely do want to shed a few, or 30, pounds), as it is about being fit.mbj21101
This picture was taken in September of 2003.  (That’s me jumping my horse, Billy.)  I remember thinking I looked horrible in breeches (riding pants) back then and I wanted to lose weight.  What the hell was wrong with me?  I weighed a good 50+lbs less than I do now in this picture, and I was really toned from riding all the time and working at a barn teaching lessons and taking care of 30+ horses.  I want to get into this kind of shape again.  My goal is to attend at least 1 exercise class a week and to completely the Couch to 5K program.  I want to be able to run 1 mile and still be able to breathe and move the next day.  Right now I couldn’t run 1/4 of the way around a track without stopping, and quite honestly, I hate running.  There isn’t any part of it that’s fun for me, but I hear that once you can actually do it that it does become fun.  And I spent $700 on that jogging stroller, so I need to justify that purchase by actually using it for jogging.  I want to get rid of the jiggling and the wheezing when I run and to lose weight.  The good news is, 3 weeks post partum and I’m within 8lbs of my pre-pregnancy weight.  The bad news is I have a good 35-40lbs to lose to be at my goal weight.  Wish me luck!  I might need it…

5 comments:

Jessica Lynn said...

That's a great, achievable list! Your number 3 is one of the hardest things I've discovered about this base. I'm exactly like you when it comes to being comfortable, and frumpy is the precise word I use to describe me next to other women I've seen here. We just need to be frumpy (aka comfortable and normal) together!

#4 is another thing I've been more conscious of, too (re: technology). I've been making it a point to not touch my iphone the second we get into our bedroom at night and it's been helping. Not only am I sleeping better, but that's when my husband and I catch up on things.

And number 5—I go to Zumba twice a week (tuesday and thursday) if you want to come! It's fun and even though I look ridiculous, I absolutely LOVE it!

(sorry this is such a long comment; it was a great post!)

Anonymous said...

I can relate to number 3 and 4. Lately I've had the opportunity to get some new clothes and I just feel lost in the stores sometimes....I would love to be hip and trendy, but it can be overwhelming. We've purposefully avoided getting smart phones because I know I would become addicted (and thus end up ignoring the hub and kid). Good Luck with your goals!

Christine said...

Good luck! And omg your horse is beautiful! I'm guessing you don't have him anymore? I have been on a riding hiatus for far too long but I just don't have the time/money to devote to it right now. :/

Rachel said...

Lots of good goals. I agree with you about feeling "frumpy" sometimes, but at the same time i also wonder if the people are comfortable in what they are wearing, and how much it cost!! That's my biggest thing. Sometimes when i want to put together a "cute" outfit... it ends up costing like $250 between pants, shirt, shoes, jewelry... which is really kinda ridiculous cause then u can only wear it once every couple weeks...
ALSO i loved your pic of u jumping Billy, i think the same thing every time i look back at horse pics from that time... i thought i looked ridiculous in breeches. If only i had really known!! I'd take that time back ANY time :)

Em said...

Monica, I think I've mentioned this to you before, but let Abbie just run around the house with no pants on. That's NO pants. No training underwear, no underwear, no diaper. Have the potty easily accessible. Please just try this because it has worked for not only me, but several friends as well. As long as your child is ready (which you say Abbie is), she will figure it out within the week. This, of course, only works when you can have a few days where you don't have to go anywhere. You might get pee on your floor 2-6 times or so, but my very casual data collection shows that after that, a ready to go in the potty child will do so. No stress for you, no stress for her. Oh, a reward for successful pee in the potty is helpful, too. We used 2 m&m's for pee, 3 for poo.