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My words for 2012:  Health, Frugality, and Family.  

Health

I am really embarrassed to admit how unhealthy my family has been eating.  Especially since we had Little E, I kept excusing the fact that my children were basically subsisting on cheese sticks and chicken nuggets.   Changing my family’s diet was something I really wanted to do last January, but somehow didn’t happen (maybe it disappeared once I got pregnant.) And over the course of the year, I watched me and Husband get larger and I even discovered some small health issues with my kids.  I never gave priority to healthy eating as a kid myself, so it wasn’t something that was a huge deal to me as an adult.  But now I’m realizing with a fervor, that this MUST CHANGE.  NOW.

1)  My husband’s family has the worst health I’ve ever seen in a genetic line.  His mother’s family carries the breast cancer gene and his grandpa and aunt passed away from it.  And his mother is currently battling cancer for the third time (she’s a fighter though, seriously I’ve never seen someone so energetic, given her situation.)  His father’s side all suffer from back problems and other various maladies and his dad has had multiple surgeries in his life.  Plus they have the unfortunate gene that enables weight gain fairly easily.

Hence, the odds are not in my husband’s favor.  He has put on weight since we first got married and would love to lose it.  He also has a bad back and snores, both of which would be helped by losing weight.

2)  I want my kids to learn the value of a healthy diet now so they can eat well the rest of their lives.  Plus having some of those Ferguson genes requires for them to live a healthy life or suffer the consequences.

3)  And lastly, I would personally like to be in the best shape of my life.  Not only do I want to eat right, but I want to exercise a lot so I can keep up with all the demands in my life.  I am still rejoicing at my non-pregnant state and the fact that can actually run down the street if I want to…I just want to run without cramping up.  And as a bonus, I would love to lose my baby weight.  More on that later!

Frugality

This is one I’m sure is on most people’s new years resolution list.  Who doesn’t want to save money?  Well here’s the real deal with me:  we absolutely HAVE to save money.  We live in a very odd financial state since we are living on student loans.  We get money twice a year in a huge lump sum and have to divvy that money up for each month.  It’s been extremely tricky and if I didn’t have a husband who did our finances every week, we would be in serious deep water.

This school year has been the most expensive one so far since my husband applied for several residencies and each application cost $300+.  He also went on two externships, paying for the flights and car rentals.  He also has had to pay to take his board exam (end of January) and to get licensed.  And did I forget to mention that we had another baby?  $$$

We have already trimmed our budget in a huge way and live on about $25,000 a year.  We have to trim it even more though.  This mostly consists of not eating out..we spend way too much in that area and it also fails the healthy eating goal.   I’ll continue to shop at thrift stores for home decor and clothes.  And mostly just try not to buy things because our outgrown apartment is busting at the seams with crapola.   I’m not going to coupon.  I hate it.

Family

I have high hopes for 2012.  Mostly because I will not be pregnant and can feel like myself.  We are going to get healthy and find cheap or free activities to do together.  I’m going to use my time more wisely (less time on the computer) and try to spend their waking hours doing things with them, which includes housework.  This will probably mean less crafts and sewing projects, but seriously, I have to do those things to stay sane so don’t fear–they will be here.  But my main priority is to make sure my kids are happy and healthy and feel like they get enough quality time with their parents.

 

I realize these are probably everyone’s goals year after year, but they are good goals.  And I think it’s important to feel like you are always working towards something.  That’s why I narrowed my goals into singular words, so I can easily remember what should be the most important to me this year.