Welcome, 2016!

Welcome, 2016! This is the year I get to meet my SON and we become a family of four. HOLY CRAP. I sometimes really can't believe this is actually my life. I feel so fortunate and blessed. And also, overwhelmed and excited. Tons of emotions, all day every day.

This year is going to be extremely hectic, busy, and fly by in the blink of an eye I am sure. We have a lot going on and so I want to make a few general resolutions for myself. None of that, must go to the gym 3 days a week, must lose 15 lbs, etc. but GENERAL resolutions to doing things a bit differently. Here goes:

1. Be more intentional with my time with my husband. With the impending arrival of our new bundle of joy in about three months I'm reminded now - while we still have somewhat of a "life" of our own that we need to make each other a priority - and be intentional with the time we do get together. I aim to have at least one night a week where we actually do something together - a board game, a massage, something together other than zoning out on the couch staring at the TV or our phones; and at least one night per month with a babysitter so that we can have a date night - out or in, doesn't matter, just the two of us.

2. Make myself a priority as well - eat right, exercise, and bathe regularly. Now that last one might sound odd to those of you who do not have children - but with a toddler and a newborn coming at the beginning of April I am pretty sure this is going to be a challenge for me. So I want to start out the year getting in the habit and taking care of myself so that I can continue to make that a priority.

3. Get outside with my kids! - Plain and simple - I want to take advantage of the beautiful area in which we live and get our kids outside playing, hiking, camping, kayaking, etc.

Now on to my To Do list for the year, which I consider to be different from Resolutions. Both personally and professionally I have a lot of goals that I want to work towards over the coming year(s). I didn't get much accomplished this year off of my 40 Before 40 Bucket List so I'm going to start the year off with some of those items in mind:

1. Reading - I hope to knock out at least two of the items off of that bucket list- more importantly I hope to be able to read at least one book a month for fun.

2. Fitness - My big goal for this year is going to be starting to run after Lucas is born. I hope to be able to accomplish a 5k and potentially a 10k by the end of the year.

3. Adventure - Now this one item on my "adventure" list isn't really that adventurous but something I'd like to do regardless and with a maternity leave on the horizon I'm thinking I might be able to knock some of these out - the top 100 Movie list.

4. Me - Adam and I's big goal this year is to knock out our debt. Initially when I started thinking of goals for 2016 this was number one and I immediately started thinking how I needed to mentally prepare myself for saying NO to lots of things this year so that we can meet this goal. I have since relaxed a bit and believe that while we will need to keep our budget in check in order to do this, I am not going to be a negative Nancy all year. We can do it.

5. Withamama - I started this blog in the throws of new parenthood when I was over thinking and questioning every single thing that I did for the first few months of my daughters life. I was a little crazy - and I am preparing myself for this craziness to hit again in a few months. Though, I hope that since this is my second go at the whole newborn thing maybe I won't be quite so doubtful of myself. With that said, I'm SURE I will have more things to vent about and ask for advice so I'm guessing I'll have plenty of cause to keep up with this blog, however, I also realize I will have two children under two for the majority of this year and will probably lose all sanity or sense of time. So - in hopes of not being overly optimistic my goal for this blog will be to check in once a week.

6. Professionally - I will be working towards a work designation that will take me the entire year and potentially longer to complete. Hopefully by this time next year I'll be able to add some letters after my name when signing work documents :)

That's it! Not too overly demanding but also some good goals (if I do say so myself). I'm looking forward to a fun and exciting new year and I hope you are too!