The Year's About Halfway Over, Right? Do I Even Remember My Resolutions?

Ambitious resolutions for a busy Mom = wishful thinking? 

My New Year's Resolutions: Sometimes I feel like I'm doing good, sometimes I feel like I'm treading water.  And sometimes I just want a nap.  Being a Mom of two toddlers is so much more exhausting than I realized!  There are times where I just want to toss that whole "New Year's Resolution" idea out the window.  (Along with every other ambitious thought in my tired brain.)

But then... I want to be better.  Smarter.  Stronger.  Healthier.  More creative.  So I'm not giving up!

Resolutions that I'm currently sucking at:

1.  Educational play with the girls.  I don't know why this is so hard for me.  Sometimes I think it's because I spend so much time in the kitchen.  Because it's certainly not because my house is always spotless ;o)  But seriously, there are so many fun and educational ideas out there for the girls and I to do together.  I need to start using all those resources!  Maybe I'll give myself a small goal (3 cool crafts or activities a week?) since this seems to be something I just forget to do regularly.

2.  Rosetta Stone.  I'm pretty close to giving up on this one because it's causing me a lot of stress. You might not understand why... but it really isn't easy to learn German in this area.  Everyone and their mother speaks English, so it makes it so so so easy to be lazy and just fumble along with what little German I've learned so far.  It's hard for me to cut into what little free time I have each day with Rosetta Stone when I don't really feel like I need to learn German.  You following?  Like, since I don't really know any Germans who don't speak English, it's just very hard to be motivated to learn.  And ESPECIALLY since we're leaving in two years... I just don't see how I can make a dent in all there is to learn of a language.  I feel like I'm copping out a little.  But I'm just going to say it:  I might not be able to learn German in this season of my life.  It makes me sad, but it might be true.  Chasing two small kids around (and managing a hippie home as best I can) doesn't leave much room for language classes :o\

3.  Drawing.  I'm on the fence about this one.  On the one hand, it kind of feels like a chore and so I usually just don't do it.  On the other hand, it's relaxing when I DO do it.  And it's fun.  And Jesse's going to start swing shift again soon... so that'll leave me with more time to be bored and draw in the evenings.  So maybe next month I'll pick up the pencil again.  But I'm not being too hard on myself with this one because I feel like my blog is just as much a creative outlet as my sketchbook. Plus, I'm really trying to improve my photography skills.  So I'm still working that part of the brain, right?

Resolutions that I'm on a roll with:

1.  Trying new meals every week.  This is such a piece of cake for me (pun!) that it isn't really fair to brag that I'm keeping up with a resolution ;o)  I just love to cook and I love to try new things.  And I LOOOOOVE to take pictures of food.  So it's kind of natural to experiment with new recipes.

2.  Exercising four times a week.  I'm so relieved to catch the workout bug again.  I'm exercising about every other day.  At least a little.  I even started jogging again last week... one LONG and torturous family run with Jesse (all the way to Otterbach and back!) and then one shorter run by myself with the girls.  I'm feeling like crap when I do it but I feel really proud of myself when it's done.  Hopefully my saggy mom parts will thank me soon ;o)  But I'm also getting out for long walks.  Or doing some P90X (either the ab workout or yoga).  So I'm mixing things up a lot and it's kind of making exercise fun!

3.  Reading.  I recently finished The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollen.  It was a reread for me, but so good to be reminded about some of the lessons I learned from him about where our food comes from.  Other than that... it's been taking me awhile to complete a book so I don't have a long list to wow you with ;o)  But I have been reading a little on most days.  So that counts, right?

Here's to working harder to be a better wife, mom, friend, photographer, and cook!  No matter how slow the progress... I really feel like God is blessing any forward motion here ;o)