recovery mode

happy (slightly belated) new year!

we are in recovery mode... recovering from a lot of christmas'ing, a lot of renovating (renovation is FINISHED!) & most of all, recovering from a lot of germs. one really big christmas gift we received (but did not want) was the stomach flu... and all 4 of us received it. i was really dreading taking audrey out so much over the holidays in fear that she would catch something and my fear was realized. it took the poor thing days to recover- there is really nothing worse than seeing your baby suffering. and i really feel like it was partly my fault for not being as disciplined on asking people to wash their hands before holding her (it always makes me feel awkward although necessary... i wish they would just remember on their own). anyway, hopefully we are all back to being healthy again for a long time.

and YES i did say that the renovation is finished! what a HUGE relief. many, many photos to come in a few days once i have things a little more organized. right now there is a lot of furniture shifting going on. we are going to try to go awhile without buying new furniture so now we're trying to figure out how to best stretch the stuff we already had... right now there are a lot of almost-empty rooms, but we'll figure it out and make-do for a bit.

and now for my new year's resolutions... because giving me a time of the year where it's totally expected of you to make new goals is like letting me loose in a candy store. i am sure that i'll think of more, but here is my list so far (as inspired by Sydney):

be HEALTHY:
-workout at least 4 times a week
-stretches & core exercises daily (jp is a big fan of doing these with me- he thinks they are hilarious)
-make healthy meals at home (i.e. eat out less often)
-run a long race in the spring (not sure if it will be a 10k, 15k or a half marathon yet)

be WISE:
-budget! (i LOVE keeping our family budget, bill-paying days are my favorite...seriously!)
-use coupons (i have tried this a million times & always forget them at home or can never find any for things we actually buy, but even if i only use a few it's better than nothing)
-spend time daily deepening my faith
-become a DIY'er (as i mentioned, we have a LOT of space to fill now so i'm excited to build/design/decorate my little heart out)

be ORGANIZED:
-meal-plan weekly & create grocery lists from the plan (this should also help with reducing our grocery bills)
-develop a cleaning schedule (we are taking a break from our cleaning person while i'm on maternity leave- pair this with more than doubling the size of our house with the renovation and it makes it hard to keep up)
-simplify & organize every room (especially our disaster of a basement)
-catch up on our family memory books

be GRATEFUL:
-date dan regularly & take the time to tune into each other multiple times throughout the day
-write thank-yous regularly & REAL letters (you know, like through the mail with stamps and everything)