As for us grownups, we had a few friends come over and we watched football and got all dressed up for an adult only night out (plus one little guy who is sweet as can be).
We ate at Paper Mill Grill and I had heard mixed reviews about this restaurant since it had recently re-opened, but we were pleasantly surprised by our meal. Yummy appetizers, great dinners, good drinks and delicious desserts! If you go get the "Happiness in a Jar" dessert. Dessert in a mason jar...you can't go wrong!
Then we all came back to our house to ring in the New Year. We watched more football, danced, laughed, toasted with champagne at midnight and watched fireworks that were happening in the neighborhood. We all stayed up way too late, but it was so much fun!
Last year I was really ambitious. I had some good goals and some of them I stuck to while others I failed miserably at.
Carrie Beth's 2015 Goals/Resolutions:
1. Drink more water. I drink water, but not nearly as much as I know I should, so I want to be more conscious of it this year! It might mean more frequent trips to the restroom, but I'm hoping the benefits will be worth it.
Well I had really good intentions with this, but it just didn't happen. This was pretty much how it went down.
2. Read more books. I love to read and once I get into a book I usually can't put it down. However, it's just making the time to get through the first few chapters to get hooked that I sometimes struggle with. This year I'm planning to force myself to just get started on books because I know the rest will follow.
I seriously failed at this! I read a lot of our book club books, but didn't read as many as I had hoped. Maybe I'll do better this year...
3. Spend more time with my kids. This one might sound silly because as a stay-at-home mom I am with my kids all the time. What I really mean is that I want to spend more quality time with my kids. I'm always so busy at the house with things like laundry, cleaning, cooking and other household chores that my days don't have a lot of "extra" time for things like playing games, doing puzzles or watching movies together. This year I want to really make an effort to put the stuff on my to-do list aside so that I can focus on quality time with them. I love the ages they are at right now, but they are all growing up so fast so I just want to soak up as much of them at this phase as I can and really be present and involved with them.
This was probably the most important goal for me and I feel like I did really well at this one. I hate that my kids are growing up so fast and I just want to savor this phase of their lives as much as I can!
4. Complete house decorating projects. I have a short list of projects for the house I really want to accomplish in the near future. I did a lot the first few months of living in our house, but now that we are settled and comfortable, I feel like decorating the house has gone to the back burner. Now that the holidays are behind us, I hope to get the things on my list done.
I competed our living room and that was a big one for me, but there are still a few things I would like to accomplish. I feel like the house is an ongoing project!
5. Plan and take a big family trip. My kids have been begging to go on an airplane trip (the girls don't remember the last time they were on a plane) and since they are all at such great and pretty easy ages, I am ready to make that happen this year! I'm banking for somewhere tropical, fun, and family friendly.
This is something that I had hoped to be able to do, but for scheduling reasons we just weren't able to make it happen. However, we have some really fun family trips planned this year so hoping we are able to double the fun for our trips this year and make up for what we didn't do last year.
Now onto thinking about this year's goals. I have really been thinking long and hard about this and only have a 2 goals that I think will include a lot for me.
Carrie Beth's 2016 Goals
1. Organize. I am a very organized person, but at times I feel like my life is in complete disorganization. I feel like I'm going a million miles an hour and in a million different directions. Things pile up, stuff gets tossed in closets and forgotten about and my time because used in ways that are not productive. So my big goal for this year is to organize. Organization at Home - We've been in our house for 18 months now and it's about this time that parts of the house are starting to get unorganized. I've learned this about myself, but if things are left out, piled on counters or not in their places, it causes me so much stress and anxiety. I plan to go room by room, closet by closet, and cabinet by cabinet. I will clean out, donate old and unwanted things, organize the stuff that is staying and most importantly, encourage my family to put things where they belong! This also includes organizing the garage and basement...two areas I dread doing, but I know will feel so good once it is done.
Organizing My Time - As far as organizing my time goes, I just want to be very cognizant of how I spend my time. I always have a long to-do list of things that are important, but somehow things don't get done when I would like for them to because I'm busy working on other things that just don't matter. I want to make better use of my time when my kids are at school so that when they are home I am able to focus on them. Once they are home from school I really don't have any time do the other stuff because I'm helping with homework, driving them from different practices and lessons, cooking dinner and getting everyone to bed. I volunteer at their schools a lot, but sometimes I end up being at the school 3-4 times a week. I love being there and being able to help out, but I need to schedule the times I will be there more thoughtfully so that I have time for the other things I need to accomplish as well.
2. Take Care of Myself. I am quick to do things for other people and often put myself on the back burner. This year I want to make sure I am also taking care of myself. That includes making some doctor's appointments I have been putting off, making good food choices, taking time to exercise like I should and making sure I'm getting enough sleep!
That's it for me! I figure the rest are things I will just continue to do from last year, but if I can accomplish these two things I will feel great and it will make 2016 a great year!
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I hope your new year is beautiful as well!
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