A new year update

I recently reviewed my personal and work goals for 2012 to see how many I'd accomplished.  Surprisingly, I was able to give quite a few of them a big green check mark. 

I wanted to lose the last 5 pounds of baby weight - check!  (I actually lost the 5 plus another 13!)

Me and the Bibs getting ready for a bike ride last fall. It is amazing how much easier physical activity can be when you feel slimmer and trimmer.

I wanted to start the study program to earn my Certified Financial Planner CFP(R) designation - check!   6 more months and one huge test to go...

*I would put a picture of me studying on here, but 1. I don't have one and 2. Not a very exciting picture for the blog.

Some of the goals I didn't accomplish included:

• getting back into golf (gee, I wonder why that didn't happen?)
• finding a female mentor in my business
• blogging 2 to 3 times per week.  WHAT? 

What was I smoking last year when I thought I would be able to sit down and blog 2-3 times a week? I am lucky if I eek out one a month for goodness sake. So, this goal will be amended for 2013 to read, "blog when the spirit moves me." I don't think it will be hard to accomplish that one. Let's hope anyway.

Some of the ideas I have in mind for future posts include:
 - our current eating style of almost completely vegan or "vegan except for hot dogs" if you are the Mr.  A lot of people ask me about what we eat, where we find recipes, etc.   I also get a lot of general looks of confusion and skepticism that I hope to address.

 - updates on Vivi's hearing and speech 

- our family's winter activities - you have to have some winter sports to stay sane during our long winters! 

 - I do still think a lot about purging and living in a more minimalist way.  The last year hasn't been quite up to par with the year before when I was on a serious purging kick.  I'll hopefully be trying out some different things that still pertain to this mission but with a little different twist.

Until then, I'll leave you with a few pictures from Pinterest inspired ideas from the past few weeks. *You may notice the quality of my photos declining a bit. That is because I now have my phone attached to my hip 24-7 and have found myself relying on it for photos rather than pulling out the big camera.

My dear friend saw an idea for a family growth chart on the internet and made one for us for Christmas. We absolutely love it! We'll be able to track all three kiddos as they make their non-stop march toward adulthood. I joked with her that it was a little presumptuous to make the chart go all the way to 6 ft. 6 inches. She said, "Who knows, maybe you'll have tall grand kids!"

This was one of my Pinterest pins that I actually carried through with.  How often does that happen?  The idea was to put baking soda in a pan or on a plate and then let the kids squirt tinted vinegar onto it and watch it bubble and fizz.  We tried it one night when the Vivinator was safely tucked into her crib and the Mr. was out.  I think these two would have sat there for hours experimenting!  *Mental note - buy more baking soda ;)