New Life Resolutions

This is going to be a long one, a stream of consciousness if you will. So if you want to see how my crazy brain works, read on. If not, no hard feelings.

This post and hence my new Life Resolutions are inspired by so many things I've read in blogland, in books, in magazines (mostly at my monthly date at Barnes and Nobles with an herbal tea and a stack of magazines a foot high) and things I've been feeling since we've made drastic changes in our lifestyle (here and here). Most importantly, I don't love the term New Year's Resolutions because the changes I make anytime in my life I hope will be life changes, bad habits and thought patterns that will be forever banished from my character. Catch my drift?

On a Saturday outing yesterday the ideas for my new Life Resolutions became forever cemented. Since Ella and Will were little we've taken them to antique shops. They've never broken anything, in fact, I'm the only one who has! So on Friday night when I was perusing craigslist and came across a post about the Shoreline Flea Market I thought it would be a fun outing. The directions were sketchy at best and although it was a few blocks from our home, we couldn't quite place where the location was. But ever the optimistics and always on the hunt for something vintage we bundled the kids up and went on a what seemed like a wild goose chase. Here we are, a family of five, walking along Aurora (Think Reisterstown Road or State Street in Provo) wandering around looking for the elusive flea market. Finally we see a vinyl sign pointing down a very sketchy alley. Jon and I exchanged looks but kept plugging along. 

We finally make it to a basement of a strip mall and open the door to a very large area completely covered with stuff. I immediately was drawn to the pre-cold war era globe by the front door, Will and Noah each found something little too. Everything was 1/2 off that day because it was the last day they would be open. Jon asked what they were going to do with all of the stuff and the owner said he didn't know. On our way home, this time taking the inter-urban trail instead of Aurora, Jon mentioned that there sure was a lot of stuff in the world. Stuff that people would never need or use again. Ah hah moment. Do we need all of this stuff? Does it make me feel better, more entertained? Not so much. I do love me a nice something something but I've learned over the last year (a hard lesson when you share a 2x7 foot closet space with your hubby) that I would rather have quality over quantity. Perusing one of my favorite blogs yesterday  I found someone who echoed this sentiment.

This leads me to NLR #1: Purchase conscientiously. While so many of you amazing people out there are banning purchases of any sort other than food and staples altogether for periods of time, I am still finishing up a house renovation and going to Paris with my sister in March. I will be purchasing things in France. Do you blame me? I will, however, make conscious purchases that are motivated by absolute, undying love and need.

This NLR is also motivated by my children. I don't want it to take them 30 years to come to the conclusion that always wanting more and more stuff is unhealthy and unwise. I want them to have confidence in themselves, in their style and what they love and not turned by the tides of trends and who has what. So far so good although we get the occasion "so and so has a DS, can we get one?" and to that our response of choice "we choose to spend our money differently". Some might look at what we spend our money on (vintage world globes) and think we're crazy.  Everyone has to have their things they spend money on! For some, it's travel, for others it's the latest gadget. I love to decorate and redecorate and am quite the fodder for jokes by my in-laws (always in good fun) about how I'm always selling things on Craigslist so I can redecorate. So that's my thing. What's yours?

My #2 NLR is related to a certain extent to the first NLR but has to do with food. NLR #2 is be more picky about what I put in my mouth. I am trying to be more conscientious of what I put in my mouth and ask myself "is it my favorite?". Is a mini candy bar REALLY my favorite or can I hold out for something better to spend my precious calories on? And why not put more time into how I present my food? Do I always need to stand in the kitchen and have a hurried meal or can I sit down with a napkin, a "fancy cup" as my children call my stemware, and enjoy my food? Since I have been become more picky, I find that I enjoy the preparation of food more but I don't obsess over it as much. I'm moving on folks...banishing diet thoughts and guilt over indulging my love of all things dark chocolate.

My #3 and final NLR is to increase my activity even more with things I enjoy. I hit the YMCA with the kids 5 days a week (those 90 minutes of me time after a day with all of the kids is what keeps this homeschooling machine running) but I have also loved walking to the grocery store with the kids. I purchased some ballet workout videos to remind myself how much I loved dancing as a kid. I look forward to those videos and they make me feel lighter, taller and more graceful. I used to love running and I think I still would if I didn't have to pop 4 motrin after every time I hit the treadmill. I still do it a few times a week just in case that ONE time I don't hurt afterwards. I cycle, I ZUMBA (so fun, could do it for hours) and I step. Add ballet, a few other videos a few times a week and my walking errands and I feel pretty good. I'm enjoying it.

So I'm putting my three new Life Resolutions out there for all of blogland to see (didn't this kind of thing use to be personal and private?) and I'm hoping you see where I'm coming from with these changes. I've made a lot of big changes since we've moved to Seattle and I'm starting to wonder what kind of spell this city has put on me? Luckily it's all for the better...I think.



These three are the reasons I do what I do...