We’re almost a month into the second quarter of the year, so I thought it might be time to share an update on how I’m doing on my 2015 goals.  (Side note: does it feel like this year is just flying by?  I mean, the winter was insanely long, so maybe that has something to do with it.  It’s hard to believe it’s already late April when the snow just melted two weeks ago.)

Anyway.  This year I set some big goals and some little goals.  The big goals, other than goal #1, were not really measurable things but were more themes or areas of focus that I wanted to work on over the course of the year.  The little goals were smaller, often more measurable, but still important to me.  So here’s how the list is looking after three (almost four) months…

Big Goals

Have a baby.  Check!  Nugget arrived on March 11, 2015, at term and healthy.  Now the craziness really begins!

Focus on immediate family.  I’m working on figuring out what this goal really means.  We leaned on our village again in the first few weeks after Nugget’s birth – as I knew we would.  Thank goodness for Nana!  I don’t know how we would have gotten through the early days without her.  But this goal isn’t really about never accepting help from family – we need their help sometimes, and they’re happy to give it – but more about charting our own path as a family of four.  Pursuing our family interests is one way we’re doing this (more on that below) but I think this goal is bigger than that.  I have to do more thinking about this.

Keep growing in our new region.  We’ve been talking about this a lot lately.  We’re trying to enjoy the best that WNY has to offer, and it’s certainly going to get easier to do that now that the cold has finally broken.  My reason for making this an overarching goal was to try to fight the homesickness I’ve been experiencing since we moved.  But almost two years into living here, I’m still really homesick for DC.  I had expected the homesickness to ease over time but it hasn’t – if anything, it’s gotten worse.  I don’t know.  I’m going to keep working on this.  Maybe a super-fun summer will help?

Small Goals

Plant a garden with Peanut.  I’m planning to start the planting around Mother’s Day – I think by that point, the weather should be warm enough that we can set the plants outdoors without worrying about killing them.  (WNY gardeners, if I’m off base on that, PLEASE correct me!)  I’m going to pick up some planters and pots from Lowe’s within the next couple of weeks, and there’s a farm stand near my house that I think might have starter plants – if not, I’ll get those from Lowe’s as well.  I can’t wait to get started!

Marathon or bust!  My postpartum checkup is TODAY!  I’m hoping that I’ll be cleared to run – that’s going to be my first question for the doctor.  The second I have permission to run, I’m going to start building my base back up.  Official training begins in June!

Start juicing.  Big fat fail on this one.  I got a juicer for Christmas and have been totally intimidated by it.  So I just walk around craving fresh juice without doing anything about it.  When my mom was here she suggested that we get it out and figure out how to use it, and I meant to do that, but it didn’t happen.  Going to try this weekend!

Use my dSLR more.  I’ve used my “big camera” a little bit more this year, but not enough.  My iPhone takes such crisp pictures that it often doesn’t occur to me to get the dSLR out – but the dSLR takes even better pictures than the iPhone, so I need to use it more!  I did have a few cute photo sessions with Nugget, using the dSLR, for his birth announcement.  Part of my hesitation in taking the big camera out with me is that it feels so obtrusive.  I need to strike a better balance there.

Do at least one home project every month.  Hmmmm.  I think I can say I’ve (we’ve) been sticking to this one.  Hubby did a few small projects in January – installing new shower heads, hanging hooks – and in February and March we worked on Nugget’s nursery.  For April, my goal is to paint over the ugly green faux marble fireplace in the living room.  Before and after pictures to come!

Get back into yoga, and try out barre classes.  Haven’t done either of these things.  I am on the hunt for classes that will work with my schedule once I go back to work.  I’ve ruled out joining the Y for a couple of years, so I plan to allocate my fitness dollars toward race entries and studio classes – just have to find the right studios and the right classes.

Get organized.  Well, I organized my pantry to within an inch of its life during a late pregnancy burst of cleaning energy.  (Hubby says it was nesting; I’m not so sure.  I think the whole “oh, you’re just nesting” thing is a little demeaning.)  We’ve actually done a decent job of keeping the pantry organized – probably because I remember vividly how long it took to get it organized, and now when someone puts something back in the wrong place I immediately swoop in and move the item.  The pantry was previously one of the worst messes in the house, so that’s a big accomplishment.  I also organized the bathroom linen closets, a little more loosely, but I know where all of my products are now, and they’re neat, so that’s a win.  And my mom and I sorted through my books in the den, and I cleaned out and organized my cookbook shelf in the nook at the top of the kitchen stairs.  So – looking back over the activity this year – it seems I’ve actually made some real progress on this goal, which I kind of thought was totally unrealistic when I set it.  I don’t have any big organizing projects planned for a few months – still in the newborn black hole – but I feel pretty good about what I’ve already done.

Lose the baby weight.  In progress: I’ve lost about half of it, thanks to nursing, but I still have a little ways to go.  Being cleared for exercise will be a big help, as will a few Whole30s.  (I’m waiting a few months on those; I want to make sure my milk supply is good and established before I mess around with my diet.  Feeding Nugget is my top priority.)  In the meantime, I need to focus on having quick and easy, but still healthy, snacks around for when I get hungry and need something immediately (new moms, you know what I’m talking about).  Granola bars ain’t going to cut it.

Hike in a different place every month.  I’m glad to say that we’ve stuck to this family goal!  In January we visited Reinstein Woods Nature Preserve (both for this project and as part of our goal to hike there at least once in every season); in February we took a winter walk around Knox Farm State Park; in March we visited Como Lake Park in Lancaster; and in April we hit Times Beach Nature Preserve.  I’m looking forward to seeing where our explorations take us this spring and summer!

Take a family vacation – or two!  It doesn’t look like it will be two, for reasons I won’t get into here.  But we have one vacation booked for this summer and I cannot wait.  We haven’t been on a real vacation since 2011, so the trip we have planned is sorely needed.  We’re going to the Outer Banks, North Carolina, for a week to celebrate my parents’ fortieth wedding anniversary.  My brother and sister-in-law will be there as well.  We’re staying in the same house that we rented every summer when my brother and I were kids, and I can’t wait to see Peanut and Nugget playing on the same beaches I loved when I was growing up.  Of course I’ll share pictures and stories, but the vacation is still a few months away.

Date nights, for realsies.  This hasn’t happened, although I did find a babysitting candidate, thanks to a recommendation from a neighbor.  I don’t think we’re going to get out for awhile – our next night out will probably be my cousin’s wedding – but at least we have someone to call when we do decide it’s time.

In the meantime, I’m doing a lot of this…

So there we have it!  Three (almost four) months’ progress on 2015 resolutions.  I’ll be honest, I’m surprised that I’ve done so much toward some of these goals.  I was expecting to have to report that I hadn’t worked on any of them!  Now I’m feeling more energized than ever, and really looking forward to seeing what spring and summer bring.

How are your New Year’s Resolutions going?