Happy New Year friends! I cannot believe another year is already behind us. I hope you have been enjoying these first days of the new year. I love getting the house simplified after putting all the holiday decorations away and looking back at the past year with hopefulness for what is to come.
I am a year around goals kind of girl. So I wasn't really sure if I would want to make any traditional resolutions. But after mulling over it for a few days, I jotted down a few hopes for 2018 and I was pleasantly surprised to come up with some realistic goals for myself in the coming months.
I believe my list to be more of habit changes. Things I want to do to be a step closer to the person I want to be and the life I want to live. I am already implementing them in these few first days of January and feel inspired to continue weeding out the distractions of life that might keep me from achieving them. So with that, here is my list!
1. Settle down in Virginia
Our boxes are unpacked and we have even made a few home renovations yet I know in my heart that I have not allowed myself to mentally settle in to our new town. This being our first year here, everything has felt so new.
We did a lot of sight seeing, tried all the restaurants nearby, and took in the newness of our current home. But as we go into year two we are spending more weekends at home and I am starting to realize I need to allow myself to settle my heart into a routine and rhythm.
I want to stop longing to replicate my life from California. Our circumstances are different here and I need to start accepting it and choose how to move forward.
Plus I have been using this sense of temporary or unknown as an excuse. I would like to spend this next year seeing Virginia as a more permanent home.
2. Find a babysitter for our son
Over a year now and I haven't had the courage to let anyone besides family (when visiting) babysit our son. We need this for our marriage and I need to just make it happen. It completely freaks me out but I know it would be good for all of us.
I am also going to be more intentional with taking time for myself while family is visiting. My parents will be visiting next week and I put it on my calendar to take a day for myself!
Which leads me to #3...
3. Take better care of myself
I want to spend less time distracted (aka being on my phone) and more time doing the things that refill my spirit. I want to read more, have more quiet time, focus on my health, and go on more adventures with my son and husband.
I want to take the time to feel good about myself which includes putting in a little more effort to get ready each morning even if I do not have plans to go anywhere.
4. Have realistic friend expectations
I continue to long for friendships yet I feel so conflicted as I also want to be at home. Having a young child and living so far from larger towns has complicated my desire to be social.
I have been looking for friends to replace the void of my friends back home. When in reality these friends do not need to be replaced. I have friends I can call on. Instead I need social interaction which then can hopefully turn into closer friendships in a more natural and unforced way.
I realized that I don't need to be doing more (more playdates or more groups to join) and that I needed to be patient. I started forcing myself to try to attend everything only to come home tired and disappointed. I need my time at home just as I need time out to get to know people. My hope is to find a better balance.
I will continue to attend the few commitments I have made and let those relationships naturally play out. And when I need a friend, I want to remember I can always reach out to the ones I already have from back home.
5. Get a handle on digital clutter
We have probably tripled the amount of photos and videos we have since our son was born. My goal is to get photos off of my phone and backed up. I also want to cut back on how much I pick up the camera/phone. We have an overabundance of memories. I desire to be more present in the moment and not have the extra burden of digital clutter.
My friend suggested going through phone photos once a month. To delete ones I don't want and then back up the ones I want to keep. Then delete them off my phone. Once I get this past year all backed up, I will be starting this new system.
I also want to catch up on our vacation photobooks (cross country road trip and New York City) and a few videos (Paris and Victoria BC! Yikes!). Though I did just order my Instagram book for 2017 and am feeling good about staying on top of that!
// Those are my hopes for 2018. What are yours?
