Wishes for 2015 - Update 2

How have my New Year Wishes been panning out? I'm quite pleased with myself so far.

1) Blog more - Look back through the last few weeks and see for yourselves :)
2) Bible study - Not as good as it could be. Prayers for means, motivation and opportunities are most welcome.
3) Meal planning - It's been a struggle this month, but I've managed to use more of the ingredients already in our cupboards, which is encouraging.
4) Date nights - We've enjoyed some great films together. And we've got plans to go to the theatre this month.
5) Read - I read Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz. Recommended by my dad, who led me to believe it was going to be a tad more lighthearted than it was! An extremely dark book. Worth reading if you like murder mysteries and the supernatural. It was compelling. Despite scaring me a bit and making me feel quite sad in parts, I wanted to know what was going to happen and had to keep reading. If you want a slightly less dark version, watch the film.
6) Walk more - We've enjoyed more fresh air this month, though still not quite as many walks as I had hoped. Now that M is walking, she is keen to practice, so going for walks is much slower! 

7) Declutter - We've fallen behind this month, but are picking it up again.
8) Create an app - The Hubby has found a series of YouTube videos for us to watch together, to learn the skills needed for this.

Wishes for 2015 - Update

How have my New Year Wishes been panning out? I'm quite pleased with myself so far.

1) Blog more - I've set myself a schedule to get myself blogging more frequently. That is working. I've published at least two posts a week, but I haven't yet hit upon that post that's going to go viral! ;)
2) Bible study - Better than last year, but this is still an area requiring much improvement. 
3) Meal planning - Yes! I've been planning our meals every Friday when our Abel & Cole box arrives. It's so much less stressful when I know what I need to do in advance. No panics that I don't have what I need; no sending the Hubby out to buy something quick because I've got no inspiration.
4) Date nights - We haven't had a specific date night, but we've scheduled in some activities other than watching TV together when the kids are in bed. We're currently working on a 1000 piece puzzle together. 
5) Read - I read A Thousand Splendid Suns. It was compelling, though I wouldn't say enjoyable. I loved taking 10 minutes each day to read, and I was pleasantly surprised to find that the girls were happy to let me be for that time.
6) Walk more - It's been very cold and we've been poorly at various times, and so we haven't been for as many walks as I would have liked. Here's to a more active February!

7) Declutter - This has been our most successful venture into the world of decluttering. We've been focusing on the kitchen and it's starting to look really good. My father-in-law came and put up some shelves and now we have almost clear work surfaces, which is amazing. The Hubby is doing a fantastic job of keeping everything clean and clear when I'm getting the girls to sleep. 
8) Create an app - Hahaha! Nowhere near!

Wishes for 2015

This time last year I posted my resolutions for 2014. I looked back over them the other day and was pleasantly surprised to discover that I'd actually managed most of them!

My Resolutions for 2014:
1) Less screen time - through the year we've managed to reduce the amount of IPlayer/Netflix we watch quite dramatically. When M was very little, B and I would watch quite a lot, because I was really struggling to keep her occupied whilst almost constantly feeding M. We have days now where we don't watch any, though with M waking up at 4 most mornings, there are afternoons where I hit the wall and put something on so I can have a sneaky nap on the settee. B was using our phones quite a bit at the start of the year too, but that has reduced hugely to maybe once a week at most. We do allow time on Reading Eggs and Mathseeds on the ipad though, because she loves it. The hubby and I tend to watch TV together in the evenings - something I think we need to cut down on. However, I've started putting my phone away when I've got the girls to sleep, so that I can concentrate on the time we have together after bedtime.
2) Institute family prayer & Bible time at least 3 days a week - Family prayer time has been a success. We pray all together every night, on the bed at bedtime, before stories. B often says her own prayers - lovely ones, and some three year old weirdness in there too! She says grace at most meals for us now. These can go on a bit - she takes after my dad ;) And clearly M has been watching closely, as she puts her hands together before eating when we say grace. Bible reading, however, has not been so good. During December we read the Children's Bible at most lunchtimes, but this is something we need to get better at.
3) Drive my car and stop being afraid - I drive all over now, getting out and about with the girls at least once a week, often more. I really enjoy having the freedom, and I'm so proud of myself for overcoming my fear. I like having the time to myself when I'm in the driver's seat, especially when the girls nap on the way home. I still don't enjoy driving itself, but I'm certainly a great deal more confident.
4) Blog more - I've posted more, but not the kind of posts I like the most. Lots of photo posts and writing about our little family, but I didn't get around to writing the meaty stuff I enjoy writing. There just aren't enough hours in the day. I wish I knew how other mums do it.
5) Drink at least 3.5 litres of water a day - some days.
6) Return to meal planning - aargh! This has been my biggest fail. Let's not even go there.

And so, without further ado, here are...
My Wishes for 2015:

1) Blog more - I really want to write some good, meaty blogposts. Ones that make people think. Or - at the very least - make me think.
2) Bible study - I need to read my Bible more. On my own; with the hubby; with the girls.
3) Meal planning - It will save time and money.
4) Date nights - Spend more quality time with the hubby, rather than watching TV together every night. A date night at least once a fortnight too. Not necessarily going out, but making proper time for each other after the girls are asleep. And maybe play some board games together.
5) Read - I want to find time to read. I haven't read a book for myself for a really long time, and I miss reading. I want to get lost in a book. It may well be a pipe dream, but one day I will suceed!
6) Walk more - I want to take the girls out for a proper walk at least twice each week. It will do us so much good. M sleeps better in the fresh air. B might need a bit of persuading, but feeding ducks or playing on climbing frames are good incentives.
7) Declutter - we've made a start on getting rid of lots of 'stuff', but we have so much more to do, and I really want us to keep going.
8) Create an app - I have an idea of what, but no clue as to how! But I can attempt to learn.

I suppose the summary of these eight resolutions would actually be to make more time for myself in 2015 - for my soul, my mind, my relationships, my environment and my body. I've found mothering to be such an all consuming role, and the balance part of Attachment Parenting seems - at times - to be far out of reach. In 2015, I shall claw back some balance, and I hope that will enable me to be a better mother.

It's all about balance!

 Linked up at 5minutesformom.