1. Lose weight- Matthew and I are going to try Clean Eating this year. Because of our schedules, we eat out, a lot, and are totally dissatisfied with ourselves. So, I have a Pinterest board full of Clean Eating Food that will start on Monday. Sunday, I'll go over my week's meal plan and food prep. I'll be honest, making the clean eating switch is going to be hard for us, because we love processed food. I mean, we're also lazy, and busy, but so much non-clean food is delicious. I mean, the Spicy Chick-Fil-A biscuit is phenomenal. Also? I'm addicted, like every teacher ever, to Diet Coke. So, clean eating will be difficult.
Matt and I will also be attending a CrossFit intro meeting on Saturday morning to see of we can handle that. From the results I've seen from people who do CrossFit, it seems intense, but would get me to look good in a bathing suit. Which, really here, is the ultimate goal.
In addition to these huge changes, I also have my Getting Skinny board, where I'm sure I'll find tons of inspiration and workout playlists. Music is key, people.
2. Making my house pretty- Last February, Matt and I bought our first house. It was cheap, close to school, in a decent neighborhood, and had enough room. However, it was built in 1986 and currently needs so.much.work. So, I plan on accomplishing two tasks from my DIY Love board every month. In addition, I also plan on getting my upstairs redone. My upstairs includes two small human rooms, an office, and a bathroom. So, totally doable...I think.
3. Finding more money...somewhere-Here I am lost. Since I'm a teacher and Matt's still a student, with a small human in daycare, we're always poor. Perhaps Pinterest has some ideas? We'll see what happens...But I am TOTALLY doing the 52 Week Challenge, with a twist. More on that later. Also? I started couponing just this past week and today starts SUPER DOUBLES! at Harris Teeter, so, there's that.
4. Experiences- I feel so much better about my life when I'm doing something. I like going out with the fam and making memories. It makes my heart happy. We have a lot of traditions we already have (Free Comic Book Day, St. Patrick's Day Parade, pumpkin picking, etc), but I would like to see more happen. Also, Matt and I need more Date Nights. So our goal is one big date night a month-it has to be more than just dinner and Target. I also will be adding 12 new restaurants to try out for this month and I'll be creating a Calendar of Fun-activities we'll be doing, both big and small, to keep me busy and to make my small people happy.
That's what I've got so far. I'm sure this plan will change and evolve. But for right now, I'm totally OK with it.
I shall leave you with who I call my Internet Boyfriend, the amazing-beyond-words John Green. He writes books (which are great) and runs a webshow with his brother Hank called Vlogbrothers. If you don't know Mr. Green, you should probably check him out. And by probably, I mean really.totally.most definitely. Here, I'll help you out. Watch this:
John Green, I tell ya, he's on my level with 2014 being the best.year.ever.
Check out 100 Days of Real Food for clean eating resources. I think you pinned it. It's been really helpful - in actual realistic ways, not pinterest-perfect ways - for me. I'll be interested to hear about your experience clean eating and couponing. I found I couldn't do both. Coupons - especially the really good ones - are for highly processed things. Unfortunately, I've never seen a coupon for a fresh fruit or veggie :). Controlling my grocery budget is one of my priorities this year, too. Here are some tips that have helped me in the past: 1) Do you have an Earth Fare anywhere near you? I don't shop there regularly - it's super expensive - BUT they do have FANTASTIC weekly coupons, frequently on meats and produce. You can save a ton on really high quality stuff by taking advantage of them. You can sign up on their web site to get the coupons by email. They also have an app that came out recently and sometimes works - I think they've been updating it recently. 2) Do you have a Trader Joe's anywhere near you? It's not a miracle store like some people like to think, but I've found a lot of clean eating staples are cheaper there than Harris Teeter. I particularly like buying bread products there (English muffins, pitas, tortillas, pizza crusts) - I tried making my own, but it was just WAY too time consuming, and TJ 100% whole wheat bread products are the "cleanest" I've found. Their cheeses, nuts, and dried fruits are also much cheaper than HT. 3) If you don't have time to make everything from scratch (and who does?), Harris Teeter's store brand organics are a lifesaver. They have canned things (like all sorts of beans, tomatoes, veggies and fruits), frozen things, dairy, even stuff like marinara sauce and whole wheat pasta. Yeah, they're more expensive than regular store brand products or prices you'll get on brand name things with coupons (although they do sometimes go on sale), but it's a great value on clean, organic stuff if you don't want to, say, cook your own beans overnight or spend an hour making marinara sauce from scratch or freeze your own fresh fruit. I've got various things on my blog about clean eating and buying at Earth Fare, too: http://fosterhouseblog.blogspot.com/. I might even update it this year ;).
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