I blew those resolutions out of the water!

Okay, I mostly blew those resolutions out of the water.

You may or may not remember that at the beginning of the year, I laid out a whole bunch of resolutions that I said I might get to. Or not. Usually I'm terrible at them. But rather than think of them as resolutions, I just started calling them my goals. And hey, I guess that worked. I know I planned on re-evaluating them every month but obviously I'm not very good at doing things I say I'll do. I promise that before I had a child, I actually was.

Today while doing dishes it occurred to me that I hadn't looked over that list in awhile but that I think I'd accomplished (or at least begun to accomplish) most of them. So I found the old post and what do you know? I actually did!

1. Grow my marriage - Okay, so we haven't gone on a monthly date like I'd said I wanted to BUT we did finally find a great sitter at our church and we've been on a few dates! We implemented a Friday night date night, too (an in-home date night, that is). We might have gotten away from that - ahem - but we'll get back there. We did take a Love Languages class at church and that's been great for us! On a scale of 1 to 10, I'm giving myself a 7 here.

2. Grow my relationship with God - This is an ongoing process but one I feel very good about! We've found a church home, we're serving in the church, I got an AWESOME Bible I love and most importantly, God's in my heart now. We talk. We've bonded. We're tight. ;) I'm planning on getting Baptised soon!

3. Set a budget & switch to an envelope system - We started out strong, then, as often happens, my fire for this one burned out. But I'm happy to report that this month we've gone back to the cash/envelope system and are sitting down and doing budgeting again. In September. :) I guess I only get a 6 for effort.

4. Get organized for real - Ahem. I get a 2. 'Nuff said. I'm no good at this.

5. Get in shape for good - And then get knocked up. Hey, I did get in shape! "For good" probably wasn't the best choice of words on my part as I knew I would get pregnant again at some point. But at least I lost all the baby weight and was actually working on some muscle definition. That means I know I can do it again so I'm not quite as depressed about the current state of my weight as I otherwise would be. A major bonus is that I'm a good 12 pounds lighter now than I was with Ben at this point in pregnancy. I'm giving myself a 10!

Since I do better with "goals" than "resolutions," I'm setting some new ones now that I've (mostly) conquered these! Another post for another day, though. My little guy beckons from his new toddler bed. Adios!

Reviewing Resolutions.

You might remember that I set a whole bunch of resolutions that I said I might or might not get to. Well, I've been trying to get to them. It's been a month since setting said resolutions, so without further adieu, let's review!

1. Grow my marriage - I said we'd do two date nights a month. That kind of conflicted with our "set a budget & stick to it" resolution, so we decided on one date night a month. But every Friday we have an at-home date night after Ben goes to bed. And it's been great! Instead of sitting in front of the tube, as we so love to do, we spent the last couple of Friday nights just talking. Man, I love talking to my husband. It's so easy to get wrapped up in life and forget to talk. I think this will be a huge step in the right direction toward making our marriage bullet-proof (not that it isn't already, but everything can always be improved upon, right?).

2. Grow my relationship with God - I started a daily devotional and I love it! It's a great way to start off my morning and it's already made me a happier person.

3. Set a budget and switch to an envelope system - We didn't sit down and set our budget until mid-January, so we decided to start fresh in February. So far, so good! I really love this cash thing. It's made me so much stingier. We sat down and worked out a get-out-of-debt plan that will get us out of debt faster than I ever could have dreamed. In a time not so far away from now, we can have everything paid off except our house (including my student loans)! That will be the third best feeling in the world (not to surpass my wedding day or the birth of my son, of course). Boo-ya, Dave Ramsey!

4. Get organized for real - I, uh, well, you know, life is busy and stuff and, er, it's just...okay, I haven't even attempted this one. But I will! February is the month of organization, don'tcha know?

5. Get in shape for good - Three pounds gone! Take that, Jillian Michaels! Okay, it could be much better. But at least I'm on my way!

6. Oh, right. I didn't have a number six. But now I do! They're my resolutions and I can add or delete as I see fit. :) Number six is to stick to Once-A-Month cooking and to garden. I want to have a $250 grocery budget every single month!