You Have to Start Somewhere

Welcome to 2011! 
I decided this year I would start a blog to document our life. We tend to have a pretty busy schedule on most days, and I think it would be particularly nice to be able to have something to remember when things can initially seem a blur.

Since it is the beginning of the year and most people around this time make all sorts of resolutions (only to break them), I might as well spill what our family has decided should be some "goals" of ours.

1. No more pop! Yep, thats right... no more Coke. A huge part of our profound happiness is founded upon food and drink. For us it is often a cold refreshing Coca Cola. But how many empty calories are consumed by us each day by just having pop- too many. So we decided to eliminate soda from our diet. I can tell you right now, there will be slip ups on my end. I can't just quit drinking pop... my husband however, has done it several times in the last couple years only to "eat of the forbidden fruit" (or drink it in this case) on account of his loving wife.

2. Eliminate out to eat spending. Again, we pride ourselves on spending our hard earned money on food/drink... I guess there are worse habits. But our out to eat spending could actually be saving us lots of money. So in an effort to build our piggy banks back up we have also decided that 6 out of the 7 days in a week will be spent enjoying a home cooked meal. And just so it is an easier goal to attain we are still allowing a dinner out every week.
Let me just say, that I think we have really hit the ground running here, and that the first couple of weeks are going to be the hardest no matter what sort of habit you are trying to kick... I will keep you posted.

3. Exercise! No one in our family is overweight. I am described as tall and thin. But since having two children I think it is very important to take care of yourself and to set a good example. Plus, exercise makes you feel and look so much better! So we have decided that at LEAST two times a week, we would hit the gym. Rob does a lot of the free weights and I prefer cardio with a little strength training. The kiddos like to swim, but hate the toy room- is that even possible?! So that is the other part of this challenge... getting them to behave long enough in the toy room to actually get a workout in.

4. Beautify some more Allen County properties courtesy of Droehm Properties LLC. Thats right we have finally decided on a name for our now growing rental brigade. We currently have five rental properties and have just purchased two more to really start this venture into motion. We intend to keep one as a rental and turn one into a complete flip. Work to be done includes painting, electrical, cleaning, reroofing, residing, new windows, possible furnace, carpeting, and some new lighting. A lot of the work will be done by us, namely me with some tag along help from the kids. Rob currently still has work as an exterior specialist at Lowes and finally has that coveted Monday to Friday work week again. We are always blessed! Really excited to begin this new project.

5. Take a picture everyday. I saw this somewhere. I really liked it. Decided that I needed to take the time to really start something special like a photograph everyday. Even if it is just of my kids sleeping, playing, eating... its what we do and it is special. So I hope that if nothing else I have a bunch of random, silly, fun pictures to look back at on December 31st, 2011.

6. Start a gardening revolution! Seriously. We are going big this year. I want a big bountiful garden so I can start canning and storing it. We want to plant some trees on our property to include some fruit trees. I think it will be nice to be able to watch and take care of something like a garden and then reap the rewards later. I think the children will also like going out there to water, weed and pick the plants. I can see some photo ops already!

I thought I should note that while typing this my two children have been playing very nicely in the basement BY THEMSELVES!!! That almost never happens!

Well I guess that's a good start, especially when you figure 'you have to start somewhere'. Kind of a philosophy~ I think anyone could take to heart. I can't wait to share with you all the news that 2011 hopefully has in store for us. Until next time...