Have you made your New Year's resolutions yet?? Brent doesn't have any, but I've come up with a few:
1. More "face time" with friends. This past year has been a blur of sleep deprivation, doctor's appointments and diapers, and FAR too few lunches, coffees or glasses of wine with friends. Now that the kids are a little bigger and we have babysitters we adore, I'm ready to get out and re-connect again (with people who make me feel good about myself)!!
2. Simplify, simplify, simplify. This covers a lot of areas, but mainly meal preparation. I'll go into more detail further down in this post...
3. Find a hairdresser that I love and STICK WITH THEM! I've not been very organized about scheduling hair appointments, so I end up calling around at the last minute until I can get in somewhere. IT SHOWS. I've been so focused on getting it done cheaper that I end up with a cut and color that I hate. I'm hoping to find the stylist of my dreams this year!
4. Get involved in a small group at church. Our church is so big that, without belonging to a small group, it's easy to feel lost in the crowd. Brent's schedule won't allow him to go with me each week, so I'm trying to decide whether a couple's group or a women's group would be best for me. I'm anxious to get "plugged in" somewhere!
5. Get out with the kids more. I've done pretty well with this over the past year, but now that the kids are walking and more "mobile" I want to do more. The park, Exploration Place, the zoo...wherever! They love to be out of the house, and being cooped up in the house is so lonely for all of us! (This resolution can be combined with Resolution #1--I need to get some play dates set up!)
There you have it...if you have some of your own, I'd love to hear them!
OK, about #2: You know how much I love Dream Dinners, but now that the kids are eating so much (you should SEE these boys eat) it's not very affordable for us. We were getting by with the 3-serving meals, but now we definitely need the 6-serving meals which puts it out of our price range. I asked Brent what types of meals he'd like to see me fix (keep in mind that I usually try to make something pretty "involved"--roast, grilled meats, fancy sandwiches--because I thought that's what he wanted). One day I spent a WHOLE AFTERNOON making a homemade roasted red pepper lasagna that he turned his nose up at, but he attacks a frozen store-brand lasagna like it's gourmet. Sooooo...of ALL the meals in the world that he could pick from, THIS was his top 5 list:
- Frozen fish sticks and boxed macaroni & cheese
- Frozen Tony's pizzas (or occasionally the $.99 Totino's frozen pizzas)
- Boxed Old El Paso taco dinner kits
- Chili dogs (canned chili and hot dogs)
- Frozen Hungry Man dinners
A PIECE OF MY SOUL DIED when I heard this list. Do you know how many hours I've wasted trying to fix meals to impress him and THIS is what he's been wanting all along?! I AM A LIBERATED WOMAN! What will I do with all of my new-found time?!
HAPPY, HAPPY, HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU!