The New Years post

What can I say about 2008 other than it has been a year of change? It is the year that I became a parent, a homeowner, a homemaker and a freelance writer. Most everything in my life changed for the better. Though there have been highs and lows, there is no doubt that 2008 was good to our family. I am so forever grateful to have the opportunity to spend every moment with my little girl as she grows and changes, and to do so in the comfort of our beautiful home. I can only hope and pray that 2009 will be just as good for our family.

And now onto the resolutions. New year, new start — isn’t that how it always goes? I’ve got quite a few things that I want to change in 2009 so I’ll be listing them here along with goals. This year, I’m taking a different approach towards my New Years Resolutions. For me, resolutions make fine objectives but aren’t goals. Setting a tangible goal gives me something work toward.

Note: I would like to say that composing this took a good three or four days with massive breaks and writing it in several different formats. One of my resolutions should be “Don’t procrastinate” with “Just press publish already” being another but as usual, I do what I want rather than what I should.

Personal

I resolve to get out of the house more! I will do this by getting out of the house at least twice a week (not including errands)

I’ve never been much of a social butterfly. Now that I’m a SAHM, I am prone to being a downright hermit. There have been weeks when I haven’t left the house at all except for errands. For 2009, I resolve to get out of the house, whether it is to go window shopping or the park with TLE, meet up with The Hubster(tm), my mom or friends for lunch, etc. Much as I love my life at home with TLE, I need to talk to adults every now and then, too. Talking to my dog doesn’t count.

I resolve to put some effort into my appearance. I will do this by not allowing myself to wear “house clothes” out of the house, dedicating 10 ~ 15 minutes to properly style my hair, pick out an outfit, etc.

I’ve never been a fashionista and I sincerely doubt that anything short of winning the lottery and getting plastic surgery will change my mind about this. Fashion forward clothes were not made for my bubble butt. A few weeks ago, I realized that the only difference between my “house clothes” and “going out clothes” was simply whether or not I had a bra on. Not acceptable. So now I’m going to set aside some time to actually make myself look presentable. This isn’t to look good for someone else but to help me feel good about myself. Using my status as a Mommy to explain why I look disheveled is no longer an option.

I resolve to do something creative every day. I will do this by either finding the time to craft whether it is sewing, knitting or digital scrapping or writing a snippet of fiction.

This will be harder to do but I am determined to do it. I haven’t had a significant amount of time to get to know my sewing machine as well as I’d like — just 10 or 15 minute

Health

I resolve to set a good example for my daughter by eating healthier and exercising more. I will do this by cutting down on refined carbohydrates, eating more varied lean proteins and working out on the elliptical/go walking at least 3 times a week.

The quintessential New Years resolution, one I’ve made several times in different ways. Mind you, I can stand to lose about 50lbs. I lost all my baby weight (15lbs) just a few days after TLE was born but the scale hasn’t budged since then. My infatuation with cookies doesn’t help, I’m sure. So I’m back to making simple changes and reverting to a diet that looks more like my diabetic diet. My blood sugars have been excellent but I’ve noticed I feel significantly better when I’m not eating quite so much sugar or refined carbs. Placebo? I don’t know but I do know that those simple changes have already resulted in a slow 2lb weight loss. I’ll take that. Ideally I’d like to be a muscular 125lbs by my 32nd birthday but I’ll take being 10lbs lighter by TLE’s March birthday party.

Writing

I resolve to reach a goal of $X/month income from my writing business by March. I will do this by marketing myself more aggressively, revamping my websites and writing more, more, more.

While I won’t reveal exactly what my dollar income goal is, I’ve said it — I am determined to make my freelance writing business better. While I do have a few steady gigs, I still have the availability for more projects while keeping my quality and being able to spend time with my family.

I am revamping both my portfolio (www.michellemnguyen.com) and this site to better align myself with my goal. (Align? Did I say align?! Argh! My corporate roots are showing again!)

Mommy Misadventures will be getting a face lift and … *gasp* a schedule. I’ll be writing regular articles on food, home life and technology to start and will hopefully expand out to product reviews in later months. The schedule will start on January 5th Mommy Misadventures is, was and will always be a personal blog but there’s no reason that it can’t be an infomative one as well, right?