Hello 2014

Happy New Year one and all!  I hope you are all got to ring it in with some very special people and are now settling in (or nursing hangovers!) for the next 365 days!  As we embark on this next one, I wanted to carry on my own tradition of making a little goal/to-do list for the year.  I have found that creating these actually leads me to accomplish them as opposed to when I have made resolutions which were always to broad to accomplish!
So without further ado, my 2014 to-do list:
1.  Budget, budget, budget!!!  This is probably my biggest one and although it is a little broad, Josh and I plan to sit down in the next couple of days to create a workable budget and then hold each other accountable to sticking to it.  We have been big spenders for a long time, so this will probably be a big adjustment.  But we also have some things we want to accomplish and need to learn how to live within limits in order to get there in the future!
2.  Push Dream Bashes a bit.  I've been fortunate to have some good work with my parties and Etsy shop so far.  It has been enough to give me a bit of spending money of my own.  But after some encouragement from others, I have decided to see what will happen if I actually market myself.  Maybe turn this into a legitimate business?!?  I have some specific ideas of things I'd like to try: post on my Facebook page regularly with occasional giveaways, update my Etsy inventory, and create postcards/mailers to send out and possibly even place in businesses.  The first two are easy...the last one I'm a little more nervous about because it involves investing money and putting myself out there!  But it's time to give it a go!
3.  Uh, weight. I hate that I'm even including this, but I WILL lose that final 15 pounds left over from Levi's birth nearly two years ago.  Every professional I have talked to about how stubborn this weight has been to get off has told me that I have to switch things up a bit and be very strict if I'm going to get rid of it.  So I'm ready to try...more protein, adding a sixth day of exercise each week, ordering healthy when we eat out, 3 meals + 1 snack each day (and no more!), etc.
  ***And if all that doesn't work, I'm giving up and just learning to love my new normal!
4.  Unplug a bit.  I'm not going to be naive enough to suggest I give up my technology totally or anything, but I have noticed some disturbing trends I'd like to fix!  No Internet/Facebook checking/Candy Crush playing in the car...whether I'm a passenger or driver, whether I'm at a stoplight (the only place I do those things if I'm driving).  Absolutely no texting while driving (even once the light turns green...again usually where I'm guilty).  And trying to deplug by 9 each night.
5.  Potty train Levi!!!  Um, crazy, but by the end of 2014, my baby will be days away from his third birthday.  Colton was even trained at 3 and he was late among his peers.  Plus, Levi has already showed much more interest in the potty than his brother had ever!  So, it looks like a potty party will be on our agenda in 2014...and we will officially be diaper free!!!
6.  Get Colton swimming.  Over the summer, Colton got very comfortable in the water...comfortable enough to go under independently, kick around, etc.  But he was not a "swimmer" yet in the sense that he most certainly couldn't survive if someone wasn't there to catch him!  We spend a lot of time in the water, and with Levi becoming increasingly adventurous as well, I need Colty to be self-sufficient!
7.  Freshen up the paint on our walls.  We have been in this house for nearly 4 years, and many of the walls that we painted when we first moved in have taken a bit of a beating over the years.  Luckily, it's nothing a fresh coat of paint can't fix!
8.  Dining room makeover.  This has long been the black swan of our house...it just doesn't fit in!  And that's mainly because of the bold color scheme in there, so it's time to bring it on track with the rest of our blues, greens, yellows of our abode.
9. Those darn lights...I got a start on them last year, but the nipple lights need to go.  And the fan in the dining room needs to be replaced with a chandelier...pronto!
10.  Laundry room doors!  With no door, the chaos down there is easily visible, and I don't want it to be visible!