Resolute.

Since my Christmas post was weeks late, I thought it only fitting that my New Years post would be as well!

Last Year I made a few "New Years Resolutions."
1. Loose weight (how original eh?)
2. Establish a workout routine
3. Eat healthier foods.
4. Learn to drink water.

For once, I managed to stick with ALL of them!

1. I was soo hopeful of fitting into size 4 Lucky Jeans. Well, I am rocking a pair of size 2 Lucky jeans as I write this! I also now have a closet full of size 2 and 4 pants now. Holy frick. From a 10-11 to a 2-4 in one year.

2. I started working out at Curves in March, and then switched to Kennedy Club Fitness in August. I was religious about fitting in 3-5 workouts a week... until November hit I only had time for 3, and then in December and January... um, not so much. BUT, for most of the year I was really faithful and saw great results!

3. This one was kind of tricky. We were already eating veggies with every meal and a huge variety of different vegetables each week. We already ate a ton of whole grains. We already didn't drink soda at home or milk and juice. So, instead of needing to do a massive overhaul on our diet, we just did some fine tuning. I switched out all refined, white sugar for Turbinado. And switched from brown sugar to Sucanat. This made making pie sooo much healthier! We also learned to really look over the ingredients in what we were eating and mostly eliminate Trans fats and Hydrogenated oils as well as High Fructose corn syrup. I tried to only buy organic meat and dairy products, and for the most part organic groceries in general.

4. This was the hardest one. Drink more water. It sounds so easy, but not for someone who *hates* water. The most I used to drink in a day, was a sip each night when I'd take my vitamins. Well, now I drink anywhere from 100-120 ounces a day. I honestly think that this is one of the major reasons I was able to loose weight.

So, since last year went so well, I made a few resolutions this year too!

1. Re-establish a workout routine and get in better shape. Okay, I've lost the weight, now its time to tone it up! Besides taking yoga and Pilate's classes at the gym, there are a few other programs I am going to complete as well:

- The Couch to 5k Program, go from not running to running 5k in 9 weeks.
- The 100 push-up challenge, be able to complete 100 "regular" consecutive push ups in 6 weeks.
- 30 day shred, majorly tone up in 30 days!

2. Let Jerad handle the finances. You may think that not having to pay the bills would be a blessing... to a control freak like me, it is STRESSFUL letting someone else be in charge. I do things a certain way... have created spread sheets, and I pay everything online. Jerad is a huge "get the bill in the mail and pay it with an actual check that you mail back." So far things have been going well. He has embraced the organized, electronic, streamlined way that I do things. He also changed things from an Excel spreadsheet to a google doc so that as he pays things and updates it I can see it also. This way I'm not hounding him with "did you remember that ___ is due?" and I won't have to worry our lights will be turned off. At the beginning of the month, I fill out the spreadsheet with which bills are due, the due date, the total balance due and the minimums due (for things like auto loans and credit cards. Then he pays things and fills in the amount paid, the date paid, and from which account. Last month he paid off one of my credit cards and all the bills early... BUT only left himself $40 in his checking account and chose to pay off the credit card instead of paying his truck registration that was due. I think it will take a few months of tweaking before things go smoothly, but still, overpaying bills is better than forgetting right?

3. Pay off all credit card debt and extra towards car loans. We have looked over our spending habits and found areas where we could cut back in order to put extra towards debts. I am hoping hoping hoping for us to be able to pay off the rest of our credit cards (only one each now) within the next 4 months, and then to pay off Jerad's motorcycle by the end of the year as well as make double payments on my car. We are also starting a wedding savings account so that none of that would have to be paid with credit. We probably won't be doing as many fun trips this year, or buying fun new things, but I know it will be worth it to be debt free.

4. Stop using products that contain parabens and other dangerous ingredients. This is something that we sort of started last year, and are now trying to eliminate completely. I have already started using new shampoo and conditioner, hairspray, body wash, face wash and moisturizer, and getting more natural Laundry and dish washing detergents. Jerad likes to say we are "reducing our carbon foot pint." I don't know where he got that terminology from but it makes me laugh. I will say that after just over a week using my new hair care products, my hair has so much more body than it ever has! I think stripping out all the old product residue has made an enormous difference. I also don't loose any hair in the shower anymore. Loving it!

5. Revamp our Spiritual Lives. After reading books like So You Don't Want to go to Church Anymore? Velvet Elvis, The Shack, Reimagining Church, and many others I have come to realize that the biggest reason I have been so discouraged has nothing to do with Christianity, and everything to do with our old church (and a lot of other churches) and the way they do things. I'm working on not just going through the "motions of Christianity" and really discovering what it means to walk with Christ. And having a Walk based on love and not guilt. We have also began actively church hunting and finding a church based on what and how they practice, instead of picking one that we know the most people at, or is close to our home.

So, that's it for this year and I hope to have some good updates for you soon!!!

In other great news, Jerad paid for someone to come clean our windows so I didn't have to. They look AMAZING and I finally love keeping the blinds open! It was a splurge, but soooo worth it!