This week, Moma Rock chose the topic: Since it's the day after the 1st, let's reflect on past resolutions. Which ones did you say you'd do and actually did, which ones did you say you'd do, but never did? If you aren't big into resolutions, tell us why you aren't.
Darwin Shrugged
Froggie
Moma Rock
A couple of years ago, Moma Rock had us write about new years resolutions. However, those were looking ahead instead of reflecting. After that, I didn't make any resolutions the following year (as in last year). Although I did have one goal for my blog and that was 52 Stories. I got all 52 of them and am proud of that fact. It was a fun experience, but I don't know that I'd repeat it, as it was stressful trying to get all the stories sometimes and took some work to put together. I'm hoping to do something similar for my book blog, but only one person is interested so far. I am hoping she can maybe get the ball rolling or I can try contacting readers individually.
Anyway, I decided to reflect upon the last time I made resolutions, back in 2012. Some of them actually make sense to ones I'd make now, and I'd like to see how much I've done with them in the past two years. I never assessed them at the end of 2012, so no time like the present!
1. Bake more from scratch. I use mixes a lot and there are tons of good recipes to try without relying on a mix at all.
I would say I'm half and half with this. When I do bake from scratch, I tend to go with the same recipe over and over again. I love this one blueberry cake recipe. It always comes out so delicious! I recently made chocolate chip cookies from scratch. I still bake challah at least once a month, and that is definitely from scratch! Back in 2012, my BFF taught me how to bake pie from scratch. I was terrible at getting the crust right and it looked like a giant mess, compared to her flawless crust. However, it tasted divine! The apple pie I made when she was here ended up being used for Shemini Atzeret dinner. Then I baked another one for when my brother-in-law and his family came for Shabbat a few months later. My BIL thought I had purchased it from a bakery. When I make pumpkin pie, the crust is store-bought and the filling is from a can. However, I mix it with other ingredients and bake it to just the right consistency. That's good enough for me.
2. Connect better with friends. Check at least one friend's page on Facebook a day and see what they're up to. Comment on one of their recent posts. I realize that I've been way out of tune with what has been going on with friends I don't speak with on a daily basis. I missed one friend's daughter's birth by about 5 MONTHS!!! I felt awful about that.
I think I've been pretty good about staying in contact with friends. I touch base with friends I don't hear from as much and have also reconnected with even more friends since I last made these resolutions. I've also made new friends in the past couple of years. More recently was a woman I met from this one meetup group back in 2011. She was the only one who seemed genuinely friendly. I wasn't able to make it to any other events from the group and somehow got kicked out. Then I just saw the woman on Facebook and we'd comment on each other's posts. When I was out to lunch with a co-worker this past summer, I ran into her at the restaurant and we started getting together for lunch once a month after that. I'm thankful for the timing that allowed us to reconnect.
3. Really get back to losing those last 10 pounds of baby weight and fit back into my regular clothes again. I know weight loss is a cliché goal, but it's necessary for me!
Trying not to laugh too hard here. My BFF and I have been sending each other our weight every week and she's doing WAY better than I am. I can't even say having three kids is an excuse anymore because it's been almost THREE years since I last gave birth. It doesn't help that I'm a chocoholic. I eat light lunches and work out almost every day. We just got a treadmill, so I don't have a reason to walk outside anymore. (Not that I have in a while, as the novelty of it wore off for me earlier in the year.) I even did workout videos with the kids, but haven't been motivated to get them up when my workout is one of the few times I get to read during the day. I know they want to work out with me, so I should try to make a goal of at least doing it with them once a week for now. We had fun when we worked out together before.
4. Learn how to drive the van. We've only had it for a year and I have yet to get behind the wheel.
Now I'm really laughing. I have yet to sit in the driver's seat of the van. It still terrifies me. I would like to trade in my 11 year old car for something a little bigger, but not as overwhelming. I just feel like there's not enough space to put all three kids in the back and when I do, they're all crowded in.
5. Go on a real vacation with my husband and kids, even if it's only a weekend getaway.
Finally, I can make a huge check mark on this goal. Going to Disney World again was amazing, even though I lost my voice for most of the trip. The kids had fun and we have so many memories from it. As soon as we got back home, I was ready to go again. (I know they were too.)
I am not planning to make any more resolutions that I probably won't stick with all the way in two more years. I'll try to improve on the ones above, but that's all I can promise. The one thing I would like to do more in 2014 is write fiction. I had fun with the fiction exercise I did in mid-December and was thinking I could write a short story once a month at this blog. I hope someone can push me to stick with it though. I always have story ideas in my head, but then they fade away if I don't get them written down in time.
Here's to a great year!
A couple of years ago, Moma Rock had us write about new years resolutions. However, those were looking ahead instead of reflecting. After that, I didn't make any resolutions the following year (as in last year). Although I did have one goal for my blog and that was 52 Stories. I got all 52 of them and am proud of that fact. It was a fun experience, but I don't know that I'd repeat it, as it was stressful trying to get all the stories sometimes and took some work to put together. I'm hoping to do something similar for my book blog, but only one person is interested so far. I am hoping she can maybe get the ball rolling or I can try contacting readers individually.
Anyway, I decided to reflect upon the last time I made resolutions, back in 2012. Some of them actually make sense to ones I'd make now, and I'd like to see how much I've done with them in the past two years. I never assessed them at the end of 2012, so no time like the present!
1. Bake more from scratch. I use mixes a lot and there are tons of good recipes to try without relying on a mix at all.
I would say I'm half and half with this. When I do bake from scratch, I tend to go with the same recipe over and over again. I love this one blueberry cake recipe. It always comes out so delicious! I recently made chocolate chip cookies from scratch. I still bake challah at least once a month, and that is definitely from scratch! Back in 2012, my BFF taught me how to bake pie from scratch. I was terrible at getting the crust right and it looked like a giant mess, compared to her flawless crust. However, it tasted divine! The apple pie I made when she was here ended up being used for Shemini Atzeret dinner. Then I baked another one for when my brother-in-law and his family came for Shabbat a few months later. My BIL thought I had purchased it from a bakery. When I make pumpkin pie, the crust is store-bought and the filling is from a can. However, I mix it with other ingredients and bake it to just the right consistency. That's good enough for me.
2. Connect better with friends. Check at least one friend's page on Facebook a day and see what they're up to. Comment on one of their recent posts. I realize that I've been way out of tune with what has been going on with friends I don't speak with on a daily basis. I missed one friend's daughter's birth by about 5 MONTHS!!! I felt awful about that.
I think I've been pretty good about staying in contact with friends. I touch base with friends I don't hear from as much and have also reconnected with even more friends since I last made these resolutions. I've also made new friends in the past couple of years. More recently was a woman I met from this one meetup group back in 2011. She was the only one who seemed genuinely friendly. I wasn't able to make it to any other events from the group and somehow got kicked out. Then I just saw the woman on Facebook and we'd comment on each other's posts. When I was out to lunch with a co-worker this past summer, I ran into her at the restaurant and we started getting together for lunch once a month after that. I'm thankful for the timing that allowed us to reconnect.
3. Really get back to losing those last 10 pounds of baby weight and fit back into my regular clothes again. I know weight loss is a cliché goal, but it's necessary for me!
Trying not to laugh too hard here. My BFF and I have been sending each other our weight every week and she's doing WAY better than I am. I can't even say having three kids is an excuse anymore because it's been almost THREE years since I last gave birth. It doesn't help that I'm a chocoholic. I eat light lunches and work out almost every day. We just got a treadmill, so I don't have a reason to walk outside anymore. (Not that I have in a while, as the novelty of it wore off for me earlier in the year.) I even did workout videos with the kids, but haven't been motivated to get them up when my workout is one of the few times I get to read during the day. I know they want to work out with me, so I should try to make a goal of at least doing it with them once a week for now. We had fun when we worked out together before.
4. Learn how to drive the van. We've only had it for a year and I have yet to get behind the wheel.
Now I'm really laughing. I have yet to sit in the driver's seat of the van. It still terrifies me. I would like to trade in my 11 year old car for something a little bigger, but not as overwhelming. I just feel like there's not enough space to put all three kids in the back and when I do, they're all crowded in.
5. Go on a real vacation with my husband and kids, even if it's only a weekend getaway.
Finally, I can make a huge check mark on this goal. Going to Disney World again was amazing, even though I lost my voice for most of the trip. The kids had fun and we have so many memories from it. As soon as we got back home, I was ready to go again. (I know they were too.)
I am not planning to make any more resolutions that I probably won't stick with all the way in two more years. I'll try to improve on the ones above, but that's all I can promise. The one thing I would like to do more in 2014 is write fiction. I had fun with the fiction exercise I did in mid-December and was thinking I could write a short story once a month at this blog. I hope someone can push me to stick with it though. I always have story ideas in my head, but then they fade away if I don't get them written down in time.
Here's to a great year!
2 comments:
I am laughing, too! The goal re: driving your van, and where you are with that a year later. I am picturing a gigantic van that seats 20!
I won't drive my husband's truck. Just thinking of it scares me. I like my little Honda Civic. I feel more comfortable closer to the ground.
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