Since it's the last day of January, I thought it would be fun to look back on
my resolutions the things I wanted to accomplish in 2011 and see how I am doing with them, one month in. I just copied/pasted the text from that blog below, my updates are in bold type.
1. Cook more - I love to cook, but usually by the time I get home, I'm so damn tired I don't even want to think about it.
I am cooking like crazy, thanks to WW! We eat maybe a day or two of leftovers a week, but I cook nearly every night. Which is where #2 comes in:
2. Meal Planning - every week I will make a plan of meals for the next week and then....
This is something I look forward to all week - planning my meals for the next! I have been doing great with this, no problem.
3. Go to the grocery store every weekend - often times we buy/spend too much and try to stretch it out for as long as we can, but we end up running out of key ingredients. I think shopping weekly is going to be much better for us.
Doing great on this, too. I go to the Grocery store usually every Sunday. (sometimes Saturday, but usually Sunday.) As long as we...
4. Keep it at or under $75/week. This is totally doable. I don't want to disclose exactly how much we spend per month on groceries right now, but it's way more than we should.
Eh... not so good at this. I can keep it under $100, no problem. Yesterday's grocery total was only $66, I think, but I haven't been able to consistently keep it under $75. Which means I also need to get better at...
5. Clipping coupons!
Sure, I can clip them, but coupons offered are not really for things we need. I usually only shop the edges of the store now - produce, meat and dairy. When's the last time you saw a coupon for 50 cents off of a butternut squash? So far I am only finding coupons useful for non-food items.
Other things I want to do:
6. Hit the gym more, even if it's after work, and find what works best for me. I like doing weights, I see a difference in my body when I do them, but Josh is very big into cardio and kind of pushes that on me. Both are needed, but his body is completely different from mine and I need to listen to my own body and see what it responds to best.
I have yet to go to the gym this year, although I did take a nice long walk over the weekend. Definitely need to step up the exercise!
7. Spend more time doing things with my husband - he gets lost in studying and I tend to get lost in my own world, so we need to make a bigger effort to have some adventures together. I see more picnics in our future.
We're doing ok with this. Always room for improvement, but I'm not nearly as neglected as I was last semester. Cooking together every night helps, too.
8. Expand my garden and landscape in the spring.
It's not spring yet, though it was 65 degrees on Saturday!
9. Watch 1.5 movies a month, or one movie every 3 weeks. The Bipster looooooves to watch movies. I don't. It's hard for me to focus on any one thing that long (and movies just seem to be longer and longer these days), and if I'm going to waste two or more hours of my life, I'd rather read a book or take a nap. But this is important to him, so I am going to make the effort.
Have done one so far, it's about time for another.
10. Pick two house projects at the beginning of every month and complete them. They don't have to be big, complicated tasks. For instance, in January I want to clean out all of our closets and rearrange our bedroom furniture. Upcoming projects will include adding more shelving in the library and getting some prints framed and on the walls.
Didn't do the projects we picked, or any at all for that matter. I hope we'll do better on this next month.
11. Host a "Mad Men"-inspired cocktail party before spring. I think it will be just the thing to snap everyone out of their winter doldrums. Plus, who doesn't love finger foods and drinks??
Still hoping to do this around March.
12. Go to the Farmer's Market at least 2x a month and be more creative with cooking local, seasonal ingredients.
I go to the Farmer's Market usually every week. Not much is in season right now, so I am sure this will come into play more when the warmer months roll around.
13. Get a haircut and color ASAP!!
Done!
14. Buy a camera and a new iphone!
I found out I won't be getting a tex return this year (cue sobbing), but I'll see what I can do. I don't want to tap into our savings account at all, though.
15. Grow spiritually. I am not an organized-religion person, but whether you are or not we all have improvements to make to better us as people. I think that all starts with your spirituality, but that's just my opinion. YMMV. I need to work on not letting the mistakes I've made define who I am. I know my heart and my true intentions. So does God. I know who I am, and I am not a bad person - not by a long shot. I've done some stupid things, but I truly have learned from my mistakes, and I've been making good decisions much longer than I've ever made bad ones. If anyone else wants to define me by my imperfections, perhaps they should take a look at their own first. But I'm going to stop beating myself up. This is going to be a hard one, but I know I can do it.
This will always be a work in progress, and I am working on it!
And I still have my goals from 2010 to improve on. They were:
1. Bringing reusable bags everywhere when I shop/buy groceries
- Doing much better on this! about 75% of the time I remember my bags when I got to the grocery store, and I always bring one to the Farmer's market.
2. Learn to accessorize, while still managing to look like myself and not like a jewelry party threw up on me. It's a really fine line and I'm not sure how to walk it.
I wore two necklaces last week to work. Does that count?
image via we heart it
