Resolved.

I like new year's resolutions. Do I always keep them? Nope. But here are a bunch of things I'm currently working on:

1. Read 50 books. 

I got so close last year. I know I can do this.

2. Drink 4 big cups of water a day.

Given the size of my cup, this should come out to the recommended 64 ounces. I drank tons of water when I was breastfeeding, but I was also thirsty all the time. Now I'm just not as thirsty and I really have to make an effort to drink water. So I'm going to make more of an effort--starting by guzzling a glass of water first thing in the morning. I just need to make it a habit.

3. Yoga.

I need to make a financial commitment to this--as in, buy a class card at a yoga studio and go once a week. But until I do that, I'm committing to Adriene's 31 days of yoga and doing it EVERY DAY in January.

4. Spending freeze.

I'm currently on a spending freeze. It's only the 21-day freeze that I've done before, but I know that it has a carry over effect, and in general I want to be more thoughtful and deliberate in my spending. I'm trying not to buy "disposable" clothing, to buy more second hand things (for myself and the girls), and to only buy what we really need or really love. I'm dealing with this by not going to the store (you know the one I mean... Target...) at all and just making a list of things I want to buy. Will I buy them all after the spending freeze ends? No. Or hopefully not. But I can still satisfy the impulse by making my list. (Things currently on the non-essentials list that I will probably actually purchase at some point but don't have to have right this minute: another oil diffuser, another travel coffee mug, a container for jiffy pancake mix that fits with my flour/sugar containers).

5. Back up photos and blog writing.

I'm not great about this... I don't really get how the cloud works, and my phone gets backed up by my computer and... Anyway. I have an external hard drive and I back things up every few months, but I should try to do it more regularly.

6. Write.

The book project I mentioned before, but also on the blog. I want to go back to using this blog as more of a journal, so I hope to post more frequently even when I have nothing to write about except what we did over a weekend. I know those records will be precious to me one day, so I want to do more of that writing. My goal is to write six days a week, at least 300 words a day, either on the blog or on the book.

7. Reach out.

This is my big, vague goal. It's related to the idea of saying "yes" to things. I'm just finally at a place where I have the emotional energy to do more stuff. I want to participate in social justice groups and do what I can to make a difference in things that matter to me.

8. Take more videos.

I take a zillion photos, but I want to make more videos. I used to not do this because it filled up the memory on my phone so fast, but I have more memory now, and I have a separate video camera that is small and convenient but I rarely think about it. So I'm going to try to video the girls at least once a week and upload it to YouTube. I have to figure out how to upload to YouTube from the video camera, though... Ugh. I need everything to be wireless and easy.