Looking Forward to a New Year

2011 is almost upon us, right around the corner.  I've got a lot of changes I want to make in the coming year, and some of them are going to come with the challenges of moving and settling in to a new home.  Thankfully, we'll be staying in that home for long enough to make some good progress towards goals in my own life!

This year I've got a whole bunch of goals centered around hearth and home!  I've come to realize this year that the heart of a family isn't the place they live or what they do in that space, but the family itself!  Without that strong bond of family, things just fall apart.  This year is going to be dedicated to making that bond as strong as we can, and putting ourselves on some pretty stable ground in the process!

The first thing I need to do in this coming year is get organized!  We're already making progress towards that with this move!  Instead of our last chaotic moves where we've kind of shoved everything in boxes and forgot about it at the new place, we're actually going through boxes that never got unpacked, sorting out the kids' toys and books, digging through clothing to remove anything that's outgrown, too badly damaged to be worth keeping, or simply won't suit the season.  As much as we've had some incredibly warm days, it's definitely not worth leaving the shorts in the drawers!  Organization is key to having a tidy home, and avoiding a lot of frustration from not knowing where anything is!

This new push towards organization matches fairly seamlessly with another goal of mine, finally managing our budget!  I've written up a tentative budget for moving and everything, but it looks like our financial plan will have to be adapted.  We're actually going to be paying a decent amount less in rent every month than we had planned, which means we're going to have to re-work the budget.  Thankfully, in this case it's going to be a huge relief!  We can funnel more into building an emergency savings, purchasing needed items to set up our home and for homeschooling activities, and when all is said and done, we might just plan a trip up North for Christmas.  If we start our savings early and plan in advance, it should all be completely possible!  We might even be able to start chipping away at our debt faster than we had originally thought!

I've decided that, given we're spending at least a year in this new place, we really need to spend some time, energy, and money into getting ourselves set up properly in a well-furnished house.  That means putting bookshelves in the kids' rooms.  We're probably going to look into storage shelves for the kids to organize their toys and the like.  Again, this is more about organization than appearances.  The kids have a lot of stuff, and our current rubbermaid tub version of toy boxes is just getting too chaotic and cluttered.  I would also like to put together an arts and crafts center for the kids as it would tie in so well with homeschooling.  I'm looking forward to the idea of putting up curtains for once, and possibly some posters or pictures on the walls!  I was thinking with our focus on history, it might be nice to put up some related posters and things.

On the direction of homeschooling, I think our goal will be to go more towards unschooling again.  I've always liked the concept and I've always wanted to incorporate it.  I'm sure it means doing a whole bunch of research and having all sorts of fun things I can do with the kids in mind.  Running my own business may cut into my ability to do that, but I think we'll manage.  I've been thinking about getting a book on rainy day activities to do with the kids, since we're going to be back to being in an apartment.  While I don't want the kids to spend all day cooped up inside, it would be nice to have some fun activities to do without having to leave the house while the baby naps.  If nothing else, there should be plenty to do in the kitchen!

That brings me to another change.  2011 is going to be my year of being domestic in so many ways!  I'm actually going to try and start cooking again.  My goal is to have every meal be home made in some capacity by the end of the year.  Of course, we'll splurge and eat out on nights I have shows and things.  However, my hope is that we can stop buying pre-boxed meals, freezer meals, and other quick and easy fixes.  We may still pick up things like the roast kits they sell with the other roasts at the super market.  They're good quality meats and a fairly affordable way to do a roast.  It's still something where you have to do all the cooking and the work yourself.  It's a far cry from something where you pull the tray out of the box and stick it in the microwave.  That may mean learning some quick-make recipes for days we just don't have the time, or taking a suggestion a friend of mine made on a cooking day, perhaps a Sunday, where all the dinners for the week are made up and put in the freezer, just needing to be cooked or reheated.  It may take us all year and we might only make it happen for a month, or a few short weeks, but anything would be a step in the right direction at this point, and will seriously help out on our finances.  Home cooking is generally so much less expensive and better for you than anything you can buy in a box!

We're going to put a focus on spending more time together as a family, since it makes us all so much happier in the end.  We're going to be picking one night every week for a family game night, whether it's playing the Wii as a family or sitting down for a good old fashioned board game.  I think the plan is to have a movie night with the whole family and possibly some friends once every month.  I'm also thinking we may take one day on the weekends and use that for an outdoor adventure day to go hiking, swimming, or whatever else we decide to do when the weather's nice.  Perhaps we might throw a couple camping weekends into the mix!  That's one of the biggest things I've noticed is getting in the way of society today, a lack of focus on family.  One night each week might not be much, but it's certainly a start towards having a happier, closer family!

If we can make it happen, we're going to try and have a date night once a month too.  I know most specialists claim that weekly date nights are the way to go, but let's be honest here, without funds for a sitter, and not really knowing a sitter that would be available weekly, that's a little challenging.  Maybe some day we'll be able to do weekly date nights again, but for now, I think trying to manage one night every month will be a challenge enough!

This year is going to be a good year for us, I just know it.  We're really going to start feeling like a family again, not just a bunch of people who share the same house and are constantly stepping on each other's toes or getting under each other's skin.  We're going to start spending quality time together.  We're going to focus on living in a healthier way for our whole family.  It's going to take some time to figure out exactly what that will mean for us, but I think it's going to be a hugely positive experience!