New Year's Resolutions - Santa Monica,CA

This year, my family and I have a resolution to move from RI to NH. God willing!

The only New Year's Resolution that I made for myself that actually stuck was to quit smoking. It will be 4 years this January 1st!

Well, I guess I am done with new years lists. Right at the top used to be losing weight or whatever program I was into at the time.

I finally decided a year and 2 months ago that God would be my first and highest priority for the rest of my life. We are told in scripture that when we seek him first, everything else will be added unto us. I don't believe that means just things. It's amazing how clean my house is and how everything gets done even though, I'm multi-tasking all the time. I have Christian music playing or a Christian message playing or I'm listening to my mp3 player with Christian audio books, the bible, or the latest messages I've downloaded. I keep the word going in my eyes and ears all the time while I live my life.

I have NOT lost weight this year. I haven't busted out of my size 18's either. In the past, I'd hit size 20 at least once per year and then have to bust my butt to get back into my 18's and out of the stretch pants.

I'm good with where I'm at. My marriage is just as empty as it's been. But you know what? I don't care. My Lord is awesome, my grandson and girls are all awesome, my business is great, and God is going to do what he will with me.

mine is to take better care of myself and to get myself to a healthy weight. also i want to learn to be a better mom to have more patients with my daughter.

I swore patience last year and it's proved to be true! I keep 5 four year olds all by myself everyday. LOTS of patience!!!
This year, not so much as a resolution, more of a promise to God that I will follow more in his footsteps and get to know him more. I have a huge faith/control issue, so I'm looking to give Him more of all of me. It's going to be a challenge, but I think I'm at a point in my christianity that I can do it.
May your new year's be blessed and Merry Christmas!!!

I tried when I was a kid... then I'd go to school and get buried/distracted and completely forget.

So I just make changes when I want to and can (the whole time and money thing puts a lot of things on hold).

To me... I'm just not patient enough to wait however many months for a new year's resolution, and too forgetful to count on anything made/said in a vacuum. So instead...I resolve all year round.

I do! It's a tradition I really enjoy. It's not like "poof", it's New Year's Eve, and I need to cough up some resolutions now though. Our holidays really start for Thanksgiving, and that's when we stop with the normal business as usual day to day stuff, take stock in our lives, and give thanks for how good we actually have it (because just like many others, we have the tendency to get lost in the daily grind at some point through the year, frustrated because our boss is a jerk or milk has gone up again or whatever). After taking stock on Thanksgiving, it helps us shift our mindset and focus on the parts of life that we love and that are important to us, who's important, etc. Then fresh from Christmas and our focus still on God and what He's done for us, it just makes sense for my household at least, to then start looking to the new year. We are pretty methodical in some ways, and we enjoy doing it. On New Year's Eve over dinner we talk about the good, bad, beautiful, ugly, funny, sad---just kind of review (with humor) the past year. We talk about what we want to change and why, and what steps we might take to execute that plan (because a plan is NOT a plan, just a pipedream, if there's no steps to take towards that goal).
On New Year's Eve we have fun, we celebrate making it through, and welcoming the new year, with our new goals and plans in mind. Even if it's still the same goal, it's still important to review progress and possibly tweak something, or at least know "wow, this is really working-carry on".
All that said: Yep! I do the New Year's resolutions. My husband and I have had good success with MOST of them in the past. Most are "typical" and often the same as the previous year, not because they didn't work last time but because I'm still living and it's an ongoing process.

THIS year: still thinking about them. My personal "system" is to list my areas in my life (spiritual, physical, mental, emotional, financial, social, etc) and then see what am I doing right, what would I like to change and how, what things have I completely ignored and want to start doing now? Most have to do with being organized and getting back on track with some things that I laid aside because I was "too busy" moving, unpacking, getting settled in.....I just put stuff that I didn't have the energy or passion for aside, and I want to revisit those habits and get back on the track I was on before we moved cross country. I want to maintain something we instituted a few months ago where we have REGULAR date nights and keep our marriage a priority instead of getting busy or tired and then looking up and wondering why I felt disconnected....and it's been 3 months since we've had a date. Yipes! I want to take better care of myself (doctor/dentist appointments, rest, my own pursuits), and a FAMILY health plan where we improve what we eat/drink (we're "ok" with food, but I'm addicted to Cokes and Jer drinks 10 cups of hot tea with honey and milk a day), we're getting bikes for Christmas and will do family bike rides and incorporate more health conscious activities for our family time (whether it's doing yard work outside together as a family, or a family bike ride, or whatever....we have done ok with kayaking, beach, swimming, but we want to improve it and add a little more....be more health conscious in general). I think this is important to me right now because I've attended 3 family funerals in 6 months. We need to take care of our bodies and minds! And school. Being a good little student, while doing homeschool for my son's Pre-K, and being the best mom I can be. We hope to go to Disney World for the first time as a family, we'd like to go to CO to visit my brother and see the mountains, and still save up for a family trip to Europe in 2013 (mil lives in England and the boys will be old enough to appreciate some great things there by then, and my bio-dad lives in Germany, my bil and a great friend live in Spain...) We're working and saving towards the trip well in advance. We want to grow spiritually and I want to be more involved in teaching. I want to start writing again, and I want to practice and develop my photography hobby. There's a lot. But this is my "rough draft" and generalizing. It'll be cool to see what the new year brings, and how we will grow. :)

What about you??

To be perfectly honest, the only New Year's Resolution that I have stuck to is the one I made about 5 years ago to "Stop making New Year Resolutions!!" :)
My rationale being that if it really was something which needed doing, I should do it immediately and NOT wait for a new day, week, month or year to start and (if not) why start a new year setting myself up for failure?!
Best wishes to all for a Peaceful Holiday Period and a Fruitful New Year...

Lose 15lbs by summer :) Also stick to a budget and try to get my finances in order.