Here's to you

 

 

If we were sitting down together right now, I would pour you a glass of orange juice, some champs, and I would lift my glass and offer a toast to you. Here is to 2013, its going to be our year.

 

There is something so magical about having a mimosa on New Year's Eve. It seems so festive, bubbly, and exciting.

 

I would tell you that my 2012 was a good-hard year. Then I would ask you how your year was.

Did you reach your goals? Did you go on an adventure? Did you do something that scared you?  Did you hold tight to your family and tell them you love them? Did you lose someone close to you? How is work going? How is the family doing?

 

Then I would look you in the eye, and tell you that I have stopped watching the news because it hurts too much. I would tell you that I am a bit nervous, kind of scared, and totally irritated with our politicians right now. I would tell you how angry I am at them, both sides, for screwing around with our future.

 

But then, I would look at you and tell you that I am not going to let some yahoo's out in Washington dictate my future.

 

I would tell you how I am going to make resolutions again this year, even thought I didn't achieve them all last year.

 

This is a new start, a new year, another chance to change, another chance to make a difference, another chance to start over.

 

I am looking forward to this clean slate.

 

 

I would put down my cup, give you a hug, and let you know that we are all going to be ok. Things are uncertain, things are confusing, things are hard, but we are all going to be ok. I am looking foward to a new year. Its going to be a good one, I can feel it.

 

What are you looking towards?

 

Happy New Year to you, my friends. 

One Resolution Reached

I have reached one of my new years resolutions early! Yahoo!

In January, one of my resolutions was to save $1,000 over the course of the year through using coupons. 

I realized that I reached my goal last weekend after a shopping trip to Target with P. We checked out and after coupons, I ended up saving almost 50.00 on that transaction and it put me over the top. 

To say I was excited was an understatement. I cannot believe that I saved so much money in just 9 months. 

I think that using coupons is something that is so simple that I don't understand why more people don't use them. I spend about an hour a week doing research and getting my stuff together for my shopping trip, and that is it. It does not take that much time or that much brain power. 

When I first started using coupons, I was guilty of buying things that we didn't need or even like just because they were cheap. After many discussions, P finally convinced me that just because I could get pickled hearing for 35 cents, I probably didn't need to buy it because its sick and we don't eat that kind of food. This year, I committed to him that the only way I would buy an item that we did not need or use would be if it were free and we could give it away. 

I have been really encouraged to find more and more organic and natural items coming out with coupons. Often, if they don't put the coupons in the paper, I email the company and often they send me some right to my door, which is awesome!

As I think back to some of my trips this year, some of the items that I have gotten this year were:

Make up

Dog Food

Dog Treats

Toothpaste

Clothes

Razors

Cleaning Supplies

Medicine 

There is probably more, but these are the ones that stick out. 

I have decided to amend my goal, and see if I can save another 500.00 by the end of the year. Its pretty lofty, but I want to try.

Do you use coupons? How much have you saved this year?

Resolutions and Goals

It is so exciting this time of year. A time to start anew, a time to refresh, a time to start with a clean slate, a do over, a re try. When I was little, my brother would beat me at every game we played. Every single one. I remember playing soccer in the yard and he would win time after time, and I would say over and over, ok lets redo this game. Lets try this again, I am going to get serious this time. I really am going to focus now. That is how I feel about the 1st few weeks of the new year. It is a time to look at the past, and fix the things about your life that need tweaking.
I think that writing down goals is such an important exercise.
So here are my resolutions for 2010:
1. Write one letter a week.--I love sending hand written cards to my family and friends. A long time ago I decided that I would write 1 letter a week to someone that I cared about or someone I wanted to reconnect with. I am going to continue this goal. The one stipulation I have is that they must be hand written. It is so much more personal that an email, or a typed letter. So even though I don't like my handwriting I love doing this each week.
2. Green Up-- I want to continue to learn more about living green, and implementing those things into my life. I wrote in November that I wanted to start a compost pile for trash and have yet to do that. So this year, I really want to begin to act on the things I am learning.
3. Use what I have-- P and I did a massive purging this weekend. We took everything out of our kitchen cabinets and went through it all, and donated the things that we did not need. I also did the same thing with my clothes. For the next several weeks I am going to wear every single thing in my closet. If it is too tight, too big, too long, too short, or too anything to be worn, it will end up in the pile for Goodwill.
4. Fully Funded E-Fund-- P and I are so close to completing our E-fund. Just a few more months!!!
5. Principal Certification- I have considered getting my principals certification for some time and I want to really sit down and do the research this year.
6. Read More-- I enjoy reading, and can usually finish a book pretty quickly, and I want to continue to read books that inspire me, entertain me, and challenge me.
7. Cook More-- This past year I have developed a passion for cooking, and I want to continue to learn and experiment with new recipes and techniques.

Happy New Year

November Goals

I really like setting goals. I usually do it about once a year, during New Years Revolution time, and I am pretty determined about making steps towards meeting my goals. I decided that it would be a great idea to do long term, and short term goals, so here they are for the month of November.

1. Sell my 6 seasons of Friends dvd's. I used to be a big fan of the show, but I have not watched the DVD's in years. (P and I did a monster clean out last weekend, we took loads to Goodwill.)
2. Read 1 book about "Green Living." P and I have been talking about starting a compost pile, and we just need to start it, so hopefully I can go to the library and find information about it.
3. Finish redoing my curriculum for 6th grade. (My principal told us that we wont be able to leave for Christmas break if it is not done, and I wont have time to do it in September.)
4. Continue to contribute to E-Fund. (We are over half way there!!! YES for baby step 3.)

So there you go. There are probably some that I did not list, but these are it for now.
Hope yall had a restful weekend.