New Year, New Resolutions.....some of the same too

Happy 2019!! I hope you celebrated well with family and friends last night (maybe into this morning if you happen to not care for small children?!?), we were lucky to be invited to a party at a friend's home - all 3 of us were invited! Needless to say, we had to leave the party by 8:15 since Lulu (at full volume) was shouting "go" "out" "house", never all 3 together - but it was pretty easy to piece together the fact that she was done done done with the party & wanted to go home! She was a good sport and made it well past her bedtime, I was grateful for time with my family, my wonderful friend & some delightful new faces.

Updates on last year's resolutions:

1. So this time (ish) last year, I resolved to blog weekly - to write a Friday Round Up/Friday Recap each week to ensure I didn't let this blog lay untouched for too long.

I am happy to report I blogged more than my resolved 52 times (not much more......58 times if I counted correctly) which means this resolution sticks around for 2018.

2. My other resolution in 2018 was to always have homemade cookie dough in the freezer. Seems so random, I'm sure. But this resolution was born out of the fact that I live to take care of other people. It is a defining part of who I am. I love for those around me to feel cared about & cared for - and what better way to communicate those sentiments than through a homemade treat? Reality bite though, right? We don't always have the time/space to make treats from scratch. My trick is to do most of the work when you do have the time, perhaps you quadruple a recipe for peanut butter cookie dough, making your mixer work overtime!

I am a big fan of  the saying"don't let perfect be the enemy of good" and to that end - I will keep this cookie dough resolution for 2019 despite the fact that some weeks did go by when the freezer only held frozen peas & the delicious garlic naan from Trader Joe's. I am updating this resolution to include keeping homemade dry mixes in the pantry; I made a few jars of pumpkin muffin mix from this Smitten Kitchen recipe before Christmas and was quite pleased with them. Not only do I love the way the ingredients look all stacked in the jar, but it was so much easier to make the muffins when I had the dry ingredients pre-measured. 

New resolutions for 2019:

1. Read at least 12 books this year. 

I'm quite certain that I do this anyway - but I want to be sure to do so! 

So far, I know I will read these 3:

1. Traveling Mercies by Anne Lamott (recommended by my mom's group friend Jay)

2. Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens (my Mom's choice for our January meeting of Mother/Daughter Book Club)

3. For the Love by Jen Hatmaker (recommended by my mom's group friend Katie)

2. Manage my phone use.  

I made a place in our kitchen for my phone to "live" for Lent last year. It was a helpful reminder to keep my usage in check. Though, as with so many Lenten promises- my curtailing my screen time didn't last past Easter! I'm eager to restart my efforts - mostly because I use my phone as a crutch - to guard against being bored, even for a second. If I am bored/restless/anxious - I can click through social media to distract myself. I dont' think it serves me well. Given how loudly the Bug shouts "no" when I'm looking at my phone when she wants me to look at her - I think Lulu would agree :) 

3. Run Streak
I'm going on a run streak. I will see how many days in a row I can run at least one mile. Doesn't matter if it is outside or on the treadmill, but I am 2 days in & looking forward to more runs in my future!

I would love to know if you are resolving anything for 2019! Please leave your resolutions (or your reasons for not doing New Years resolutions) in the comments. I find it so interesting to know what people resolve & why.