Goodbye 2014, Hello 2015!

Goodness, 2014 flew by! It's hard to believe that 2015 begins tomorrow!

Highlights from 2014:

Kid turned one! It's hard to believe that he will be two in just a couple of months. He has grown so much over the course of the year. I can't believe his little sister will be joining us so soon!

Big Fat Positive! Click here and here to read all about our newest addition. And to see the cute pregnancy announcement! Naturally, we are beyond thrilled to have our little miss join the family, and finding out about the pregnancy while on a family vacation was the best.

Looking ahead to 2015:

We are most excited about our daughter. She's set to arrive in April (just a few days after Kid's birthday). I do have a history of preterm delivery, though, so it could be earlier. Kid was six weeks early, and if this one follows suit she will be here in no time! We are sending up all of the positive thoughts and prayers for a full-term baby though. If you have any extra positive vibes, send 'em up for us, too!

We are also looking forward to a trip to New Mexico. I have never been, but my husband lived there for a few years as a youngster. We both have some family there that we hope to visit (and hopefully an old coworker, if they're still there). Silly enough, we may have 2 New Mexico trips this summer. The first would be in June, to Santa Fe, for my cousin's wedding. The second would be in August with my husband's family to ABQ (Jane, I'm not even going to try to spell it!).

And of course, the ever-popular New Year's Resolutions.

First things first, let's talk about life.

1. To stay on top of laundry. Oh, man. If I had the money to hire out my laundry, I would. My goal is to keep our laundry piles (both clean and dirty!) to a minimum!

2. To be thankful. I need to remember to be thankful for all that we have. I strive to be thankful often, but I can always improve.

And, now, the blog.

1. To network. This blog has been around for awhile, but I still feel a little lost. I'd like to work on my network and networking skills to improve the life of this blog.

2. To keep up with social media. It's all so fast! I'd like to do a better job of interacting with others via social media, while keeping a balance between blog and life.

I'm keeping myself to two resolutions in each category because I am awful at resolutions (sadly). I'm thinking that 4 is a good number to start with.

Here's to 2015!

Resolutions 2014

I'm not the greatest when it comes to New Year's Resolutions, but I'm hoping that this year will be different.

All it takes is some hard work, right?

As is the case with a lot of people, I feel more obligated to do something if I am held accountable. One way to achieve that accountability is to write down the resolutions. I've decided to write resolutions for the different aspects of my life, two or three for each.

2014 Resolutions for Minnesota Night

1. To include an image of some sort in all posts, whether it be a picture or an image created with PicMonkey. Do you use PicMonkey? It is nothing short of amazing!

2. To post at least twice a week.

3. To plan ahead. It is so much easier to manage a blog if there is a plan. Last minute posting does not work for me. With a plan, I hope to have well thought out posts with some great images (see number one).

2014 Resolutions for Life

1. To stay on top of the laundry. I don't know if is easier to designate one day as laundry day, or to do a load each day. But I need to do something to improve. I find myself doing a small load each week, and watching the piles of laundry explode until there's nothing left to wear and it takes 10 loads to get it all clean. No more. Staying on top of the laundry is a must!

2. To shed a few pounds. Honestly, I'm not too concerned with the number, especially since I reached my pre-pregnancy weight a few months ago. I'm more concerned with the shape my body has taken post-baby. While I know this is completely normal, there is nothing wrong with working out a little more, being a bit more active, so that I may be a bit happier with my shape.

3. To keep my camera handy and the battery completely charged. I have such a nice camera. It's a shame that I am not using it more. I need to take more pictures of my amazing little family.

2014 Resolutions for my Other Job

1. To maintain a clean desk, with papers organized each night. I often leave work with a mess on my desk that I decide to deal with the next morning. Which leads to busy and somewhat stressful mornings. I need to take 5 to 10 minutes of my after school time to organize and file said papers.

2. To include positive parent communication each Friday. There is no way that I can call every student's family on Fridays with a positive note. I plan to call five or six families each week to talk about something wonderful their child did at school. So frequently, teachers get in the rut of negative phone calls home. Little Bobby was misbehaving again. Susie isn't being friendly to a certain student in the class. The list goes on. While these calls are quite important, the positive calls are equally so.

And there you have it. My 8 New Year's Resolutions.