I've been thinking about the resolutions I made last New Years and wondering how I did, so let's see. Last year I resolved to:

1. "I'm going to drink more water. I even bought a 32oz refillable bottle off eBay and I've already seen improvements in my skin. Honesty, I was only drinking about one class of water at night after my nightly shower." I didn't do so well on this one. First of all, I lost the 32oz refillable bottle I bought. Then, the one I bought to replace it, was melted accidentally. Just tonight, I bought another bottle with the intention to give this resolution another shot.

2. "I want to be cleaner, not hygienically, but in terms of housekeeping. I tend to be a little lax in this area. My house isn't an utter mess, but it can get cluttered and dusty. I resolve to do the dishes in the sink at the end of the day instead of putting them off for the next. I resolve to clean my bedroom and put my clothes away after I take them off. I resolve to clean up clutter that's accumulated over the day i.e. baby toys." I am proud of myself. I can say that at least 5 out of the 7 days of the week I ended the night picking up toys and doing the dishes so that the living space was clean. The whole bedroom thing is another story. I need to work on putting my clothes away after taking them off.

3. "I'm gong to wear my contacts more often. I know this sounds totally superficial, but I want to see my face again, and I think that by me always wearing my glasses is representative of the fact that I've grown somewhat lazy." Mission accomplished! I balanced contact days with glasses days. I typically wear my contacts on days I workout, or on Saturdays when I spend most of the day with Nathan because he deserves to see my face.

4. "I resolve to not be lazy. I want to be more efficient." I think I did a good job with this this year. I changed a lot about my lifestyle this year. I think there is always room to grow though.

5. "Fitness/health. As discussed in previous posts, I've put on weight in recent years and I haven't done a whole lot to get in shape after having a baby. I know that this will be one of the hardest changes to make. When I was in better shape, I had the schedule where I could work out in the mornings, or go running late in the evening--my two favorite times, but those two time slots are now filled with a full time teaching job and a sleeping baby, and I'm really good at making excuses as to why other times slots don't work for me. I'm left with either going after work with Hudson in tow or on the few nights Nathan has off from work. But like I said I'm good at excuses. When it comes to going after work my usual excuses include: I don't want to change in the gym locker room or in the bathroom at work, I have to run errands, Hudson's tired (Nathan drops him with me after school two days a week), I'm tired, I only get so many nights with Nathan and I need to spend them at home with him, I have I get home to relieve the babysitter, I'm hungry, I need to grade, I need to crochet...I could make excuses for days. It's hard for me, and it's hard that this is my reality because I used to exercise everyday of my young life." This is where I have made some of the greatest and most rewarding changes in my life. I used to be a master of coming up with excuses as to why I cannot make fitness and health a priority. Half way through the year this changed (as discussed in previous posts). It really is about making it a priority. Wanting it. As I think back to all the excuses I used to make, I am disguised at myself. I sounded like such a weak, lazy, unmotivated slob. I am happy to say that girl is gone.

6. "So what I've determined this all comes down to is balance. I resolve to find balance in 2013. I need balance my life. If that means cutting out the unnecessary, then so be it." I am patting myself on the back on this one. I have found balance in my life in many ways. Is it perfectly balanced? No, but I have come a long way from where I was a year ago.