Sunday, January 27, 2013

Absence, New Year, and Goals

It has been quite some time since my last post. It's a new year (yes, I know I'm close to a month late), but we ended 2012 with several accomplishments and a lot of memories.

All the talk about running and doing a 5k, I finally made it happen! The original plan was to run my first 5k on Thanksgiving day after completing the Couch to 5k running program. Well, I finished the program but was unable to run the 5k then...I ended up with strep on Thanksgiving. I know, a bad day to have strep, but I actually managed to cook a Thanksgiving meal and bake some pumpkin pies for my little family. Health mask and all. With getting sick, I was not working out as often (or at all) and still planned to run a 5k before the new year arrived. December 16th I finally got to cross that goal off my list. My husband ran it with me and actually pushed the jogging stroller for me so I could focus on running. I also accomplished my goal for the 5k - to run the entire time without stopping. It felt so good to run across that finish line!

After the 5k I took a break from working out so strictly. The holiday season was upon us, we got busy, and I really wanted to enjoy making memories and creating traditions with my family. The new year arrived and among all the hype surrounding new years resolutions I came to the realization that I've become 'comfortable' with myself. I use that word loosely as I don't really feel comfortable at all. I still want to reach my goal weight and feel confident again. I guess I've become complacent with my weight as I feel it's been really hard lately to get that scale to budge. I did start the year off committing myself to Zumba at least twice a week. It's a start in the right direction. The toughest thing for me is food. I love me some ice cream (seasons don't apply here - it's good year round). Currently I'm in the process of trying to kick some of my old habits that have come back regarding portion control and my sweet tooth. Still working out, but the food is counter balancing that some.

Sticking with the theme of new years resolutions, which I prefer to just call goals, I'll list a few mine below:
-Read through the bible in a year. I've started this with my husband, but have already fallen a week or two behind. I'm choosing to not kick myself and just stop, but instead give myself grace and keep going (not an easy thing to do for me!). It may not happen in exactly a year, but I will read through it (I use one of the bible in year plans from youversion.com and it's been great).
-Get back on track with my eating and exercise. At some point this year we plan to expand our family and my biggest goal since our first child was born is that I would like to lose all my pregnancy weight (plus some) before getting pregnant again. I'm about 10lbs away from my pre-pregnancy weight and they've been the toughest to get rid of. I've been up and down a lot with those pounds. Must keep pushing forward amidst how difficult that really is.
-Spend more quality time with my husband. We haven't been on a date in a couple months. Ok, I lied. Yesterday was our first date in about two months. Things get so busy with the holidays and anniversary in December and our son's and my birthday in January that finding a babysitter so we can go out alone was next to impossible. I want to be better about that this year and keep our marriage strong.

I think three is a good place to stop. Surely I have more goals than that, but this is where I'm starting. The other ones overlap and can come later.

I will end with this:

My favorite memory of 2012 was getting to celebrate our little boy's first Christmas together, just the three of us. We were able to start some of our own traditions with him that I hope to keep from year to year.

My first memory of 2013 was celebrating our little boy's first birthday with friends and family. It was so wonderful to have our parents come out to see their grandson turn 1 and celebrate such a special time with us. I'm so thankful for the friendships we have made here. These people have become like family to us as our family is so far away most of the year. Such blessings.

Next post: Little man's first birthday bash!