New year, new goals

Last year was a little bit crazy. We moved... Twice. Both changed jobs... A few times. Decided it was time to start making this family a little bit bigger... Only once this time :0) And along the way learned, grew, and all that good stuff that comes with life's little lessons. This year doesn't appear that it will be any less eventful, and for one reason in particular; the arrival of Kolby. Definitely welcome and exciting, but scary all at the same time. Obviously neither of us has done this before, so I would say it's more a fear of the unknown than anything else. The bright sides, I have a wonderful and supportive husband who will continue to shine in the coming months; we have great family members and friends who are near-by and always willing to jump in and lend a hand; and pretty great work situations, in that we are both seeing the support on that end as well.

Soooo... Overall, I'm going to go out a limb and say that everything is going to work out just fine. I should, however, probably get started on getting everything ready for the little guy here soon though :0)

With all this said, the Nixon household has a few resolutions for the new year. Brett only has one; weight loss. Changing to office jobs and marrying someone with super high metabolism haven't helped, and with his possibly more prominent position and the promise of many photo opportunities with Kolby on the way, he decided it's time to get things in gear. To start things off he joined weight watchers (he probably doesn't appreciate me broadcasting that, but the commercials say it's the manly way to lose weight so I'm going with it) this way he has something to keep him accountable for what he's consuming. The nice thing about it is that it doesn't necessarily tell you what to eat, but the points keep you accountable for what you do eat. Also, with the apps and website, it's interactive enough to keep his ADD-self engaged. For exercise, he's decided to start going for runs. There is a co-worker Brett has that started this running thing last year, so he talked Brett into joining the program. The down and up sides are that Brett is going to be losing weight as I'm just starting to put it on (as if I wasn't starting to get a complex about the weight gain and that's mainly because my ever decreasing wardrobe), however, in about four months it'll be good to have him already of the bandwagon for my own motivation; I am going to be losing my lunch buddy, but that'll save us money and mean that I take a shorter lunch and get to leave work earlier; and it'll force me to eat better which will definitely be a good thing since it technically helps Kolby and I. Overall, as if we couldn't have figured out that Brett's weight loss goal was a good idea for him, it seems to work out for the whole family!

I was a little less goal oriented this year, mainly because I have no idea what is in store. Due to my fear and respect for the unknown, I made my goal simple; keep it together. Yes, it's a broad goal which would typically mean that a person is setting themselves up for failure, however, I have set up specific ways to make this dream a reality. This plan is three-fold (which means it must be a good plan if it's composed of three parts). Part one, I have plenty of help available, but it doesn't do me a bit of good if I don't recognize the need, ask for, and accept it. Therefore, part one is to learn to ask for help and/or accept other's offerings of help. Part two, take time for myself. I'm really good about worrying and taking care of others, hence my profession, but I've come to realize that I can't take care of anyone else if I'm not taking care of me. A key part of this goal will be getting back into things I haven't done awhile. I'm thinking for this I'm going to dust off my camera and get back into my photography. I've been looking at some photo challenges and maybe that's what I need to keep myself "accountable". Plus, once little man gets here I have all these cool ideas I've seen on Pinterest that I want to try. So, at this point in time getting back into my photography will be a key in taking care of myself and having me time. The final and third part of the plan im going to classify as "other". Honestly, I did have three parts but due to preg-nesia, I forgot. Therefore, I will leave part three open to whatever doesn't fit under the first two parts. You could say part three is my "safety".

I did only have one goal this year, but then today I decided that adding a more specific resolution might not be such a bad idea. So as I was putting together dinner for tonight I decided that my other goal should be to cook more. I've never been real big in the kitchen and haven't really had to be because Brett is a phenomenal cook. However, due to my new Pinterest addiction I've found lots of ideas that require little effort and seem like they will be quite tasty. So starting today, my goal is to try at least one new recipe a week. Tonight we're trying Hawaiian BBQ chicken. It took less than five minutes to put together, I only have to come up with a side, and it will make the house smell delicious. What could be better motivation to continue with this goal than meals like this?!? Plus, with the new recipes it will add some variety and hopefully some healthy back into our dinner routine.

So there you have it! A new year that will hopefully bring the world new and improved Nixons! ...and if nothing else it will at least bring a new Nixon.

The goal for you the reader, is that with a cute little one, more pictures, and more food experiments you'll get more blogs :0)