The Resolution has begun

Wow, what a year 2010 has been right!? Honestly... I have reflected the past few days as to what we have done and accomplished and between a bunch of nothing was the very large accomplishment of buying our first home.

We purchased our first home in February of 2010 [of course the photo above was taken this Summer after everything was prettied up a bit]. After only 2 weeks of searching, we found our little gem, tucked away in a little neighborhood.

Since we moved in this year has just flew by so fast that when I look back at what else we did [besides buy a house], I honestly can't really think of anything and how sad is that? I mean it has gone by so fast that it feels like it should still be Summer. Like I am living in a dream right now that has fast forwarded me in time and that when I wake up it will only be the end of August.

But of course that is not the case.

This year I don't really have any resolutions per-say, but I do have some things I would like to work on or accomplish, whether it be for myself or for my family.

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First up? Coupons. That's right... I want to make it a point this year to use coupons for every shopping trip I go on. I did some calculations earlier today while searching for some new coupons and figured out that in just 2010 alone we spent an average of $4,450 on groceries. That's just stupid if you ask me and there really isn't any sense in spending that much either. TLC's 'Extreme Couponers' aired the other night and although I was a little doped out on NyQuil I managed to make the 'OMG' face quite a few times at just how much money those people saved, granted some of them were a little, um, obsessive with buying stuff they really didn't even need... but overall it inspired me because it was completely amazing. With some Bathroom Reno's coming up, the extra money will be useful.

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Organizing will be a big change for 2011. That is something that all of us as a family need to accomplish. Not only do I need to be more organized at the home front, I also need to be more organized at work [you should see my desk. It looks like the entire building's office files threw up on it, no joke]. Everything from our home office, kitchen cabinets, under the kitchen and bathroom sinks, closets, toys and any other storage areas that are throughout our house... you name it, it will be organized at some point! [Which also means more 'drop-off' trips to the Goodwill].

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Ah... Running. Nothing like it. I will admit... I did run a lot in 2010, so this won't be some 'life-changing' event for me, however my goal for 2011 is to keep up with running more often. My problem in the past is that I get on these kicks, or highs and will run, run, run, run, run... I run so much that I burn myself out and than want nothing to do with it for awhile. Last years 'slump' lasted a good 2, almost 3 months. No more of that! This new year I will manage my running more and make sure I don't over do it so I won't over do myself.

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Work more on my Photography, which will also fall under 'organization'. I tend to take a lot of photos and either don't edit them or forget I even took them and end up deleting them by accident. This year I want to focus more on my camera itself and learn more about what I am working with. I pretty much have Manual mode down [that's all I ever use] but I know the learning curve for photography, photoshop and my camera is endless. And with this, I also want to build up my camera equipment inventory more [right now I currently have 2 lenses, tripod, 2 bags, automatic camera remote and lens hood].

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Books, books and more books. And im not talking about school books. I want to start reading. I'm not really sure why and this might sound strange, but, I always have this thought in my head that I just want to read a book. Ya know... for those rainy days on the weekend when there is really nothing to do [like right now]? Those are the perfect times to go and get lost in a good book. Another oddity? I'm not a big reader. Never have been... BUT... like wanting to just 'read a book', I have always wanted to get myself [into] reading books. I just don't know where to start as far as what good reads are out there but with time, I will build my inventory up and who knows, maybe have a library of books like shown in photo number 3.


So how about you? Do you have any resolutions or just a list of things you would like to do or accomplish? And as far as books... what good books would you recommend?