{"id":2729,"date":"2017-05-18T14:11:26","date_gmt":"2017-05-18T19:11:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/68ba7cb72d.nxcli.net\/?p=2729"},"modified":"2017-05-18T14:11:26","modified_gmt":"2017-05-18T19:11:26","slug":"2011-new-years-resolutions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/caseyandkelly.com\/?p=2729","title":{"rendered":"2011 New Year’s Resolutions"},"content":{"rendered":"

Whoa I haven’t posted over here in 4 years and now I’m only posting since I have this as sort of an online record of our life. So all of those things that I\u00a0posted on my Austin mom blog<\/a> that don’t really make sense now and it’s time I clean them up. (Read: cause I had no idea what I was doing when I got started.) But I don’t want to just delete it all. There’s some good posts in there about our life that no one but Casey and I care about so here they’ll live.<\/p>\n

12\/20\/10:\u00a0I read on someone else’s post (I hate that I forget who because I would definitely give them credit) that a good way to organize your resolutions is to split them into categories. \u00a0The four categories are personal, family, home, and financial. \u00a0Since I’m just starting out with this blog I’m going to categorize any blog type goals under personal just for simplicity. \u00a0While I’m hoping this will turn into a full-time business\/job\/what have you, I don’t want to get ahead of myself. \u00a0I was hoping to have five goals per category but it seems I’d be stretching to get those (although I’m sure there are more areas for improvement, they’re just not coming to me), so four it is! \u00a0I’m gonna split these up and make it a four part series so it’s not so overwhelming to read everything.<\/p>\n

PERSONAL<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Run a 5k. \u00a0This is the minimum race I’d like to finish. \u00a0I’m hoping I’m fit enough and able to run the Cap 10k in Austin in March so this definitely gives me a goal to work towards. \u00a0I just bought my BOB Revolution Dualie\"\" (review to come) last month, so this will give me a chance to put it to the test!<\/li>\n
  2. Stop biting my nails. \u00a0I’ve done this before but always seem to fall off the wagon. \u00a0The most recent time I quit was for 13 months. \u00a0I ended up taking up biting again because my nails were really thin after giving birth and were constantly snagging or breaking *and* I was under a bit of stress with a baby in the NICU. \u00a0No excuses anymore, I need to break this nasty habit once and for all!<\/li>\n
  3. Make my blog successful and begin hosting giveaways! \u00a0I got this thing up and running in December, at first just to gain extra entries into other blogger’s giveaways. \u00a0But I’ve really developed a passion for it and would love to be able to host my own giveaways!<\/li>\n
  4. This sort of feeds off #3, but I’d like win more giveaways! \u00a0Who wouldn’t?!<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
    \n

    FAMILY<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Potty train Cakes! \u00a0She’s 2 now and while in the past she’s only liked to use her potty chair\u00a0as a step stool or frisbee, I think she needs to start learning it’s intended use. \u00a0My mother-in-law was on me over the holidays about starting but I just couldn’t bring myself to do it while on vacation. \u00a0Now that we’re back home, she’s 2, and it’s a new year – it’s time to start.<\/li>\n
    2. Get pregnant again and have a full-term fatty! \u00a0I had a miscarriage in December and my OB wants to be to wait until February to start trying again so hopefully it’ll happen right away and we’ll have a baby before the end of 2011. \u00a0Since Cakes was born nine weeks prematurely because of a placental abruption (cause unknown), I have to go for blood work later this month. \u00a0Hopefully that’ll clue us in as to what’s going on with me and if there’s some sort of connection between the abruption and miscarriage. \u00a0I’m pretty nervous about getting pregnant after my last two experiences, but I’m hopeful that the third time’s a charm.<\/li>\n
    3. Plan at least one vacation. \u00a0While we just got back from a trip to Colorado and Missouri to visit family, it wasn’t a true vacation. \u00a0We’re more exhausted and worn out now, than before we left. \u00a0I’m sure driving with a toddler and two dogs didn’t help things but not being in your own space and all of the stuff we’re dealing with right now surely doesn’t help. \u00a0My husband is a self professed workaholic and admits he needs a better work\/life balance and we need that from him too. \u00a0The goal is to at least make it to the beach one time this year. \u00a0Wherever that beach may be, a beach vacation is the goal!<\/li>\n
    4. Socialize more. \u00a0My husband and I are pretty introverted to begin with and being new to Texas, we don’t know too many people. \u00a0But we really need to make the effort to meet new people and spend time with the friends we do have. \u00a0We need it and Cakes needs it too. \u00a0It’s understandable she’s shy around strangers but I’d like her to snap out of the clinginess around people she’s seen before.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      HOME<\/p>\n

        \n
      1. Stick to a cleaning schedule. \u00a0I had started this late in the summer and did pretty well. \u00a0For a month. \u00a0Then I got sidetracked with life and the Internet and fell behind again. \u00a0A new year means a clean, organized house. \u00a0We had to downsize houses when we moved into this one and so far, the walls aren’t closing in on us. \u00a0But it wouldn’t take much for them to feel like they were if we don’t stay on top of things. \u00a0Garage organizers and an outdoor shed were two topics my husband and I discussed today.<\/li>\n
      2. Stain the fence. \u00a0It was pretty wet last year and we never got around to staining or sealing the fence. \u00a0I think a little preventative maintenance would go a long way!<\/li>\n
      3. Get gutters installed. \u00a0Gutters do not come standard in Texas and since our house was new when we bought it, they were not included. \u00a0We’ve already survived one pretty wet year, I don’t want to go another without having them.<\/li>\n
      4. Fence the entire property. \u00a0We have a third of an acre and only about half of that is fenced in. \u00a0The part that’s fenced is ample for the dogs to do their business and Cakes to play, but I want all of my property enclosed so people don’t try and move property lines and we have more usable space.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        FINANCES<\/p>\n

          \n
        1. Our 1995 Honda Civic was totaled at the end of last year and with the holidays and everything else, we put off replacing it. \u00a0My husband doesn’t want me to be stuck at home without transportation and a car seat in case something, so we are in the market for a new commuter car. \u00a0Dave Ramsey suggests in Total Money Makeover to pay cash for your car and then continue saving and put the cash you saved and the trade in value towards a new car and keep on until you get the car you want. \u00a0A beater car like that, just isn’t for us. \u00a0We take care of our vehicles and plan on keeping them until they die so we’re opting for a car with a solid reputation. \u00a0Our car choices have been narrowed down to another Honda Civic or a Honda Accord or a Nissan Altima. \u00a0All have great Consumer Reports ratings, look nice, and are within our budget.<\/li>\n
        2. Pay off car from #1 as quickly as possible. \u00a0We have half of the estimated value saved to put down and are going to finance the rest. \u00a0Again, not Dave Ramsey advocated but it’s what looks like will work best for us. \u00a0Our credit union is offering 2.49% for 36 months on new and used (we’ll be buying a car that’s 3-4 years old) cars and our goal is to pay it off in less than six months. \u00a0We just paid off our truck in November so having another car payment is not going to be fun but we’re motivated to get rid of it quickly!<\/li>\n
        3. Get all legal documents in place. \u00a0I have all of our wills, living trusts, power of attorneys completed thanks to\u00a0Suze Orman’s Will & Trust Kit but need to get them notarized – the most important part.<\/li>\n
        4. Open Cakes a 529. \u00a0We have close to $2,000 in her savings account and really need to get it put into a 529 so it’s earning interest. \u00a0Only 16 more years to college – crazy!<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n

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          Whoa I haven’t posted over here in 4 years and now I’m only posting since I have this as sort of an online record of our life. So all of those things that I\u00a0posted on my Austin mom blog that … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2729","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-everyday-events"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/caseyandkelly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2729","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/caseyandkelly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/caseyandkelly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/caseyandkelly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/caseyandkelly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2729"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/caseyandkelly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2729\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/caseyandkelly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2729"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/caseyandkelly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2729"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/caseyandkelly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2729"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}