Resolutions: the lifestyle edition

So where did we leave off....?

I was pretty much banking on this blog gathering as much dust as my shelves in lieu of our new addition. I had hoped it wouldn't take six months for me to get back to it (don't worry, my shelves didn't have to wait that long) but it did and I haven't missed it. Having an infant around is the best diversion. The time has come, however, for me to radically renovate my entire life and a blog seems the best way to go about documenting, holding myself accountable and keeping my husband and family up on the goings on in our lives.

I realize resolutions go hand in hand with January 1, but I've been working on mine for the last couple of weeks. Being away from home for the holidays has allowed me to kind of step back and evaluate everything I need to do when I get back. It's hard to take stock when you're in the midst of the clutter and elbow deep in diapers that need to be washed. I've been jotting down lists, schedules, writing emails and taking mental stock of what the new year will hold for us and it's time to lay it out here. We'll see how things actually shape up (literally).

• Home: Here's a quick recap of how things went down this past year: April: we moved. May: I unpacked as quickly as I could and gave birth. June-Novemberish: Infancy. Novemberish: Infancy, husband deploys. December: holidays. In other words, my house hasn't been properly organized and it's driving me nuts. Thankfully, the baby is getting to an age where I can do things other than hold her all the time and the house will be one of the first things I tackle when we get back. File cabinets, closets, kitchen cabinets....the creepy basement can wait till the husband returns though.
• Body: Pregnancy tends to wreak havoc on one's person. Fortunately the only visible clue that it happened (other than the chunky little ball of energy known as my child) are some seriously rad stretch marks. Unfortunately, I've seen contestants on the Biggest Loser run faster miles than I'm capable of right now. I miss running more than anything so I've set a few goals for myself to get back in shape. First, it's Couch to 5K for me. (Those of you who run know how hard it is to start back at square one. The runner in me just wants to get on the treadmill/street and go. The formerly injured runner in me knows that I have to take it easy for the first few weeks.) Once I get back up to speed, I'm going to start training for the Big Sur International Marathon 2012. I've talked about this for years but have been foiled either by injury or pregnancy every time. This time, it's happening (and hopefully we'll actually be living there when it rolls around). I'll probably do a few 5Ks in there too just to keep me motivated. Were also getting a Concept 2 Rower in the next few months and I'm totally stoked about it!
• Eating: Oy, this is the hard one. I'm gluten free already but being gluten free doesn't mean I don't eat my fair share of junk. I used to eat so well but since moving, it's been a struggle. I blame part of this on the utter lack of good produce and organic food in the midwest (sorry, one gets spoiled on the CA coast) but most of it is just my own fault and lack of motivation. So, once we get home, we're going totally Paleo. If you want to read more about it, go here. Basically, it's gluten free, dairy free, sugar free, grain free--just meat, veggies, fruit and nuts. I did this before and felt amazing so it's time to give it another shot. On that note, I've started a second blog that I'll be keeping up through the deployment: check out Sixty-Eight Hundred Miles here.
• Soul: You might have noticed I listed these kind of working from the outside in and also towards the most important. The busier my life has become, the more I've pushed God and spending time in his word to the side. Honestly, if I don't accomplish any of the other things I've listed, I must fix this for myself and my child. Nothing matters more to me than raising a little girl who loves God and subsequently shows that same level of care to those around her. There's no way she's going to do that if she doesn't see it modeled in me, so I have some major changes to make. I'm looking forward to getting involved in PWOC  and finding creative ways to broaden the wee one's view of the world. Thankfully I have friends around the globe serving in various capacities and I look forward to sharing their blogs and stories with her as she gets older. 

So, lots to look forward to. 2011 is going to be a great year!