2015 Resolutions

Posted on January 8, 2015January 8, 2015 by mommyinthemidwest

I am a little late getting this post published … what’s new? I feel like I am rushing most of the time these days. Christmas was a rush. The weeks since Thanksgiving have zoomed by and here we are, already well into January 2015. As I reflected on my progress last year, I realized that I still want to work on the same things – being a better mom, taking care of myself (so I can continue trying to be a better mom), and partaking in something I enjoy – something for me that benefits my family too.

1. I want to connect with my kids instead of yelling at them when we are all experiencing heightened stress and emotions. They are truly the biggest blessings in my life and I care about my family more than anything. It’s not fair to them that I take my own exhaustion, frustration, and every other negative feeling out on them when they dare act their age. Sometimes it seems there’s no alternative to losing my cool, but there’s always an alternative. I’m going to read Yell Less Love More and implement pieces of it daily.

2. I want to lose those pesky few pounds (again) but more importantly, maintain a consistent level of activity so that I can not only look better, but feel better and have more energy. So I can be a role model for my children. This year I want to go beyond running. Running isn’t easy, but it’s not hard. It’s hard to mess up or to feel like a fool when you are running. Running is my comfort zone. But my fitness goals got derailed several times last year because I only wanted to run. And running hurts me. When something hurts, running is too painful and those injuries tend to take a long time to heal. This body was not born to run and while I don’t have any plans of stopping altogether, I need to branch out. I need to feel like a fool. I need to not care so much and just try something new. Yoga. Piyo. Zumba. This year I will try new things and I will get & stay in shape.

3. Finally, I want to improve my photography skills and courage. I am so timid and insecure when it comes to taking pictures of anyone but my family of 4. Or asking anyone to take a picture of me with my kids. I’m hesitant to take pictures of us when we’re in a place where I feel people looking at me because I’m taking pictures. I need to get over all of it. I want to get better. I want to be faster adjusting my manual settings. I want to learn … to take a class. Get a new lens. Practice taking pictures of all sorts of different things. Take pictures every day (do another 365). I want to put new pictures in frames to display around my home. I want to create 2 photo books – one from my 2014 Project 365 and one from our beach vacation in October. If I get really, really ambitious, I might create Dexter’s 1^st Year baby book….whoopsy.

So there you have it. And yes…sure, there are other things I’d like to do this year but these 3 are still the biggies so these 3 will be the ones I focus on month in and month out. Somewhere in there I’d like to improve our budgeting. Our home improvement projects need to get done. I’d like to meal-plan ahead of time and shop on a budget instead of flying into the grocery at 9pm on Sunday night, wildly throwing random items in the cart that I might combine in some way to create a decent meal. But will I be planning all meals by the end of 2015? Will our home be “done” at the end of 2015? Will we be out of debt by the end of 2015? No way. I will try to be a better friend and wife this year…a better daughter and sister and aunt and mom and co-worker. And cat-owner. God, my cats must hate me. Yeah…I guess I’ve got a lot of work to do in 2015. But those are pretty hard to measure. What about you? Do you have measurable goals going into this new year?

~C~

catch the moment: week fifty-two

Gallery posted on January 1, 2015January 1, 2015 by mommyinthemidwest

Wow – I made it! I took a picture with my DSLR EVERY day this year, in manual, and shared them on my blog. I did something that I set out to do and I am feeling pretty proud of the accomplishment. This has only fueled my fire for learning more about photography, wanting up upgrade my equipment, and yes…doing another Project 365. Why stop now? Before I did this project, my camera might sit for days, weeks, or dare I say it? A MONTH at a time, just collecting dust. I have used my camera every day and even made a habit out of taking it with me almost everywhere I go.

Linking up one last time for this 2014 Catch the Moment 365 project with Mindi, Sarah, and Stephanie.

358/365 – Wednesday, December 24th: Christmas Eve. This year Santa enjoyed red velvet buttery cookies, chocolate chunk cookies, and white chocolate cranberry cookies.

359/365 – Thursday, December 25th: Christmas Day. I was too busy enjoying the day to take very many pictures but I did get one of Theo celebrating after receiving Hulk Lab Smash.

360/365 – Friday, December 26th: A trip to Ohio. The day after Christmas, we traveled to Cincinnati to visit Ryan’s sister and her family along with Ryan’s parents.

361/365 – Saturday, December 27th: Just spying on a couple of bros looking at their big cousin Spencer’s comic book.

362/365 – Sunday, December 28th: Playing….surprise…Legos with Spence before we left Cincinnati.

363/365 – Monday, December 29th: Yep, still Legos.

364/365 – Tuesday, December 30th: This brown-eyed boy’s last bubble bath of 2014.

365/365 – Wednesday, December 31st: If you don’t have this kind of silliness happening on New Year’s Eve, then you just don’t know how to party.

My favorite photo this week? It has to be number 365 – the smile on Dexter’s face is pure joy. Oh, the joy my little family has brought to me in 2014. It has been a good year and I really should not complain. We may not have everything we think we want, but we do have what we need and for that I am thankful. What is your favorite picture this week?

Happy New Year,

~C~

2014 Resolution Results

Gallery posted on December 30, 2014 by mommyinthemidwest

I had 3 main goals in 2014. First, to start and complete a Project 365 (taking at least 1 photo every day for a year with my DSLR and sharing on my blog). Second, to stop yelling at my kids completely. And third, to make my health a priority by exercising regularly throughout the year (with a measurable goal of running 300 miles in 2014).

Here’s how I did.

Project 365 has been a breeze. There have been at least a handful of shots taken desperately at 11:30pm because I almost forgot, but I have successfully taken a picture every day with my DSLR AND kept up with sharing them in a weekly blog post titled Catch the Moment. Added bonus/challenge for me – I took them all on the Manual setting! You can review them if you’d like by clicking this link. I plan to make a small photo book with the year of photos. What I loved about it was that it forced me to capture things I wouldn’t normally. Boring moments that are too easy to forget. It forced me to find beauty in the ordinary. I noticed the sun beams shining through the clouds over a sprouting cornfield on my way to work in a whole new way. Doing the project has increased my interest in casual photography and I would like to think that practicing for a year in manual has also increased my skill somewhat. Success.
Project Stop Yelling has been more of a challenge, but not a failure by any means. I realized about 3 months into the year that PMS has a great deal with my patience and my patience has a great deal with my yelling. I have recognized that my yelling has more to do with how I’m feeling than what my kids are doing. When you find yourself saying things like “stop acting like a 2 year old” to your 3 year old, you have created an “it’s me, not you” situation. I still have some progress to make and I stopped trying to count how many times I yelled but I know this year was much better than last and I think 2015 will be my best year as a mom yet. Progress.
Project Run 300 Miles was destined to fail from the beginning. I had strep twice, the flu, and 3 separate stomach bugs in the first 6 weeks of the year. When I tried to pick it up again in mid-February, a knee injury slowed me waaay down. It’s been a gradual and slow process. Not to say that I have maintained the necessary level of motivation throughout the year to reach my goal of 300 miles, regardless, but the cards were stacked against me from the beginning. I don’t have good knees. I really have no business running. I hate running, until I’m done running. Then I love it. I love the challenge because it’s hard for me and I love the feeling of accomplishment when I run further than I thought I would or could. On a positive note, I did run further this year than I ever have before (my longest run being 3.6 miles) and I did run my first entire 5k in September. My goal was to run 25 miles per month or 300 miles in the year and I ended up with a total of 89 miles ran. Disappointing. Ultimately my goal was to maintain my weight loss from 2013 with regular exercise and a healthier diet. My goal in 2013 was to lose (and keep off) 20-24 pounds. I maintained a 25 pound weight loss throughout 2013 and the first half of 2014.Right now I am at a 17 pound loss and I am not okay with that. I’d like to get back to a 25 pound loss and stay there. I’d call this one Breaking Even – a mixture of small successes and disappointments.

I will be building off of these three goals from 2014 as we move into 2015. Photography, Family, and Fitness. Up next on Mommy in the Midwest: 2015 Resolutions. Stay tuned. 🙂

Did you make resolutions? Did you keep them?

~C~