01 January 2012

New Year

The holidays have flown by in a rush for us.  LO's first Christmas was lots of fun; both grandmothers and two aunts were here to celebrate with us!  This was our first Christmas at home (seriously).  Being a military family, we live away from our extended family and, from the time we were engaged, have traveled for the holidays every year.  As much as we love traveling and seeing family, it was great to have our Christmas and start (or continue) some holiday traditions of our own.

With all that behind us, it's time to look ahead to a new year.  2011 was, in my mind, the year of baby.  I spent 9 months pregnant and 2.5 months adjusting to our new family routines.  We rearranged furniture & schedules, did lots of medical appointment, traveled for baby showers, bought and received tons of new baby stuff,  and generally got ready to be parents.  Speaking of which, if you're a parent (or have ever encountered a young child), you have to check out this blog post about an 11-Step Program for those considering parenthood!  Lessons 3 & 5 had me laughing so hard that I was in tears!

2012 will still be pretty baby-centric but my major goal this year is to find time for my interests.  January starts off with a bang - I go back to school next week.  With just two more classes to go, I can see the proverbial light but I'll admit to being apprehensive about finding enough time to do the work required.  Despite that, DH and I are both on schedule to graduate in March and that means, because we are in online classes and won't "walk", a graduation party this spring!

Some goals for this year:
Finishing my M.S. Systems Engineering degree.
Taking a quilting class
Finishing my existing, short-term sewing/cross-stitching/crafting projects by June (I made some good headway on this in 2011).
Organizing our Stuff (more about this in a later post)
Reducing debt and expenses & financial planning (we accomplished all of our financial goals for 2011!)
Losing the baby weight (8ish pounds from now)
Being healthier: Getting back to my fit weight (8 pounds below pre-baby weight), exercising a couple times a week, eating more veggies

Of course, the humdinger in all this is July 2012: the military move month.  Moving will wipe an entire month (or two) from the calendar.  It seems simple... pack your stuff in one place, unpack it in another... but it is simply not that easy.  Added to that, I'm hoping to earn a job at our new location.

It's going to be a busy year!  What plans and goals do you have for 2012?