Happy New Year, friends!  I hope the first couple of weeks of 2017 are treating you very well. I love to look at the new year as a fresh start for goals and good habits, and figuring out how to do “better.” I am currently setting up a new space to blog, so this will be a work in progress for a little bit!

I am starting off the year as half of a two part entity, and we are still settling into newlywed life and figuring out our new normal. We are moving into a smaller space and attempting to learn and live a more minimal lifestyle. Can we cut out processed foods in the meantime? Yes. Yes, we can. How about becoming a one car household? Please share your thoughts about this!

So many goals.

I will be revamping my 30 before 30 and turning it into my 31 before 31 because it got put to the wayside due to the great wedding distraction of 2016. Which by the way, I have since had several ‘horrible’ wedding dreams in the past few months:

1. I’ve dreamt that our wedding was just a dress rehearsal, with the real event to come. In my dream, I made a note to myself to fix my hair better for the real thing.
2. I missed most of the reception because I was trying to fix my mascara in the hotel.
3. I was rushing to keep up with my timeline while getting ready, but I had to make time to walk Professor and made sure he went out to go the bathroom.

It’s very entertaining to be in my head during sleep.

On to the new year to-dos! Just like everyone else, I have aspirations to do great things this year. I am going to stick to the following themes:

-Be present. Less text time, more face-to-face time. Virtual face-time counts. No phones at the dinner table and no charging my phone at the bedside. I’ll be shopping for a new, fancy, good old fashioned alarm clock soon.

-Declutter. Does this bring me joy? If the answer is no, out it goes.  Easy. Before purchasing something, I will ask myself does this REALLY bring me joy? Or am I being swayed by the 60% off sale? It’s better to buy something you really love at full price than buy something you kinda like at a discounted rate.

-Get healthy. Like really healthy. If my body is going to be growing multiple babies anytime in the next 5-7 years, I want to physically, emotionally, and spiritually be at my best. Plus, it feels good to be able to fit in your clothes and not have your waist band dig into your fat. You know what I mean.

-Be a better wife/daughter/sister/friend. Just be better. There are so many ways for me to improve my relationships, and now is the time to do it.

-Give back, read books, meal plan, travel, cook all the things, bake all the things, sleep more, grow professionally, decorate the house, save money, learn how to take photos that I am proud of, drive less, walk more, bike more, set aside time to do nothing, etc etc etc.

I signed up for a triathalon too. Wooeeee! Ya’ll. This is gonna be good.

We’ve heard it all before, and now it is time to go do. Finding joy, being brave, loving more. Have a happy weekend!! XO