Resolutions?

I don’t know what you would call them if not resolutions…Goals? Projects? Objectives?

Whatever the name, they are still things I would like to accomplish this year.  My list is something I have been hacking away at for years, all but stopping once the kids were born.  Everyday Life gets in the way of so much progress, however nice life may be; things just don’t get done. Some are Major Life Goals, some are little organizing projects.  I plan to start a project every week and plug away until done.  At the end of the year, I’ll see how far I’ve come because I will have a blogging record to check back upon.

Some high level goals – call it a 2009 Bucket List!

Some are professional:

Finish writing a book about Life with Infant/Toddler Triplets

Create a beautiful memoir for Ruger, about his life, and all dog’s lives.

Officially start Fetching Prints, my pet photography business (have a portfolio, clients, sessions on a regular basis)

Some are personal:

Me:

Finish the bedroom redecoration – make the headboard, the shelves, the canopy, etc…

Finish the bathroom remodel – storage for everything, organization, towel bars!

Lose 40-50 pounds and reclaim my wardrobe! 

Determine if surgical muscle repair of my belly is necessary or if I can do it on my own

Be in the best shape of my life (again) ;)

Create a home office area that I can run my businesses out of and still create crafts in

Repaint the Living Room!  Redecorate/Reorganize

Kids:

Finish their nursery (finally!)

Create a playroom for the kids – organize/decorate/set-up

Help Braden to Walk on his own.  Do whatever it takes – physical therapy/orthotics/Botox/surgery/motivation.  One of our greatest goals.

Learn to Teach the kids even more sign language!

Keep on the goal to help them to be smart, considerate, polite, helpful and gracious people

Us: 

Save up enough money to plan and embark on our 10^th Anniversary Trip in June

Create a way to easily pick, plan and shop, then make dinner every night

Eat healthier, more organic, more natural, without paying much more than we are now.

These are just my major goals/wishes/challenges/annoyances; so many of these will require baby steps/goals to get there.  I hope to accomplish much more this year!  Some will take the whole year, some a few months, some weeks and some just one day.  But the important part is that I have a road map to get there and direction makes all the difference.

Another challenge…we have no money.  That is a serious obstacle when you are trying to organize your house and life.  You have to get really creative!  And when you are done, it may not look as nice as in a TLC show about organizing your house and life, but it will be done.  I will take lots of advice and inspiration from thrifty friends like tartraz, decor8, Design Sponge and Design with Christine – borrow a little from NieNie’s style and from some pages of Erin Vey’s book of life.  At least I can still take inspiration from the pages of Real Simple, Better Homes and Gardens and the Pottery Barn Catalog, even if I cannot afford the stuff on them.  So much inspiration out there, it is a credit to the Internet to bring people together. Maybe IKEA will be the Godsend I am hoping it to be in these struggling financial times!  Who knows.  

I am starting a private blog to tackle these “projects”.  Since I am an obsessive list maker and a writer, I think a blog could provide the ultimate motivation for me to get stuff done. It will be called “52 Weeks to Fix What’s Broken”.  The title being how I feel about certain things in my life – defining anything “broken” as something I am not happy with and want very much to change it.  Nothing is sacred – My marriage, my weight, my health, Mike’s health!, my bedroom closet, the kids’ nursery (still not finished…), the relationship with my sister, how I handle friendships, etc… so many things to overhaul and counteract the way I can be.  I am a terrible friend, I am a serious procrastinator, I am super lazy and I am awfully unhealthy and fat. I know what you're thinking - does this girl ever shut up??  Another blog??  Sheesh.  What can I say, I like to write...and I really like my lists.  Just ask Mike - he thinks I am crazy with all the index cards floating around with the "do this, do thats" on them.

Anyway, I am keeping it private due to the sensitive nature of some pictures (i.e. FAT pictures of my post-triplet, pre-weight loss belly – a public showing of those ridiculous pictures will not help anyone if left to the google searches, finding the horrific images with one click and no warning.)  Nope!  Anyone who wants to be invited will know what they are signing up for and I can handle that.  If you are looking for motivation or just curious about our little life or can help to motivate me, shoot me an email at ertelbear@gmail.com and I will send you an invite to view the blog.   

Change is coming!  I can no longer sit by and watch my life not be the way I want it to be.  Everyone wakes up at some point in their life and says to themselves, “Today is the day I change it.”  Everyone wakes up and is disgusted either with themselves or their life, unhappy with where they have ended up – and it is not your childrens’ fault, or your husband, or your job.  It is up to you to fix what is broken in your life – as Mahatma Gandhi so eloquently put it and President Barack Obama motivates with – “Be the Change you want to see in the world.”  Happy Inauguration Day, Mr. President.  I will follow that forwarded advice and start, today.   I will first change what is broken in me and then world – look out!  You are next!