2013 One Little Word: PRESENT

My word for 2013 is present. With returning to work full time this year, in addition to homeschooling my 10 yo DD for medical reasons since August, I feel pulled in a million directions. I want to focus on being ‘present’ in the moment as much as possible. Additionally, both of my kids had serious, potentially life threatening health scares this year and we almost lost my Mom in a terrible car accident, the fact that they are all still ‘present’ is a ‘present’ to me. I’m looking forward to being PRESENT in Ali Edward's One Little Word class as well!

Click here for some other posts about my words from previous years.

What will your word be?

2012: Results of One Little Word

This year I chose the word CONSISTENCY to help me throughout the year. This year was definitely a challenge with health scares, hospitalizations, ambulance rides and significant dietary changes. I was fortunate to have two months of my new habit under my belt before the craziness started.

Some of my goals for this year were to lose remove weight, get my finances in order, keep my house 15 minutes from company ready a la Fly Lady, do meal planning and work on relationships to keep me connected. I am happy to report that I had wonderful results in all areas. I was even able to keep up with my Project Life, which also makes the crafty part of me uber happy! I was even able to squeeze in a little scrap happiness as well.

Here's how the year wrapped up: I managed to remove 24 pounds (primarily due to the significant dietary changes mentioned above). Finances are looking up. We bought a new house and aside from the moving boxes that still need to be unpacked it's looking pretty good. I started doing freezer cooking which has helped the dinner time quandary and has saved my sanity more than once. With a house feel of people eating gluten, dairy and allergen free, I'm glad I found Once A Month Mom. And, I feel more connected to my immediate family than I have in prior years. The challenges became opportunities to strengthen our relationships and for that I am thankful.

2012: My word of the year is…

Ever since I heard about the idea of having one little word follow you throughout the year, there was a word I know I SHOULD choose. But like everything else instead of choosing what I SHOULD, I chose what I WANTED. This word has haunted and taunted me, and each time I thought about choosing it for my word of the year, quite frankly it scared me because I was (and still am) afraid that I would fail to live up to the expectations. The expectations the word itself holds, the expectations I would attach to it – just so many feelings of what if, and can I really do it have swirled through my head. I fought this word for years, convincing myself that I’m a free spirit, I thrive not having a particular schedule or structure to my life, but I suppose I’ve been fooling myself for far too long and it’s rearing it’s ugly head in too many areas of my life right now.
In recent weeks I’ve been leaning towards the word TRANSFORMATION. It' sounds so motivating, so powerful, so full of possibilities. In all honesty, without some other underlying successes, the transformation is just not going to happen. I am excited and scared to death to commit to this word this year. For some, this may seem overly dramatic. C’mon, your saying, just spit out the darn word already! You are a 43 year old smart, independent and strong woman, you didn’t get where you are today by not being able to achieve your goals! So I’m saying, I hear you and I thank you for believing in me. This was the very first word that popped into my head when I chose my word CONNECT for 2010. When I was getting ready to choose my word for 2011 it popped into my head again, but instead I chose STRENGHTHEN and said I would do it next year. Both of those words have served me very well. Again this year I almost pushed this word to the side. Like many others out there, I think this year my word chose me. There have been several signs, conversations, and various other things that have shown me that it is finally time.
My word this year is CONSISTENCY.

See, now you’re saying, that wasn’t so hard was it? I suppose you are right. Ok, world, it’s out there. So far in my life, I’ve been consistently inconsistent, so this is a big one. Certainly some areas are easier than others. So I’m going on the assumption that if I can remember to do certain things each day/week/month, then I have the ability to do it. I suppose now I need to work on the motivation behind why I have or haven’t been doing these things. I have some great opportunities to make changes, and I just have to be consistent.
My first order of business was to install an app called Habit Streak. I put in some basic things I should be doing each day and at the end of each night I have to check off the ones that I’ve done. I’ve only been doing it for two days and both nights I found myself running downstairs to finish something so I could get my beloved check marks. I have a list of all the things I should be doing to make a positive impact on my own life as well of the lives of my family members and friends. I’m trying to be smart about this so I didn’t add everything in there just yet. But as I’m getting into a routine and consistently doing what I’ve set out to do, I’ll add another thing here and there. It’s all about babysteps this time. I don’t want the crash and burn syndrome that I’ve done before.
So here’s to CONSISTENCY – bring it on 2012!

One Little Word

How does one little word make a difference in your life? I heard about Ali Edwards’ idea to pick a word for the year (OLW)  back in the middle of 2010. I figured why not jump in even though it wasn’t something I did on a more traditional day like January 1st. The word I chose was CONNECT. I really wanted to be closer to the wonderful people I was already lucky to have in my life, like my siblings, parents and my immediate family. Additionally, after being laid off from a second job within two years, both of which had me working in my home office, I realized that outside of my far away colleagues that I really didn’t have any friends in close proximity. I did have one wonderful friend locally, my friend Stef. However, she is a single Mom that worked full time crazy hours and her daughter was very active in extra curriculars so we didn’t see as much of each other as she liked. And, to boot, she was planning on moving to Ohio a few months later. At the time, both my husband and I had home offices so I couldn’t even rely on him having any work friends either. I’m the social one of us and that left us essentially friendless.

Since I had so much time on my hands, I picked up the phone. Instead of wondering whether or not one of my siblings would be busy, I just picked up the phone and called. I’d send emails more often just to say I was thinking about them and I really do feel a bit closer. Then, I started just getting out more around the neighborhood and talking to people at our neighborhood pool and that certainly helped. Fortunately, one of my neighbors then invited me to a brunch at her house on the first day of school. There I met my wonderful friend Julie for the first time and we’ve been practically inseparable ever since. Shortly thereafter, Julie had a party and invited her neighbor Katherine, and two became the three musketeers. We have done countless things together, breakfasts, brunches, lunches, dinners, parties, working out, dancing, playing games, birthday kidnappings – it’s been awesome. So thank you to my 2010 word of the year for getting me to connect better with the important people in my life and getting me out there to meet these fabulous gals! I have affectionately named us Annie Gooth (Annie because we all have ‘ann’ in our middle names, and G.O.O.T.H. for Get Out Of The House because we like to do just that!)

In 2011, I choose the word STRENGHTHEN for a variety of reasons. Probably the reason that was the most motivating was the desire to feel stronger in general. I decided to start working out again and join a gym. I’m realistic enough to know that I’ll probably never have a six pack or arms like Angelina Jolie, but I really just wanted to feel stronger at the core. I’ve had back and knee problems for years and I know it’s good for me to keep them strong as well as the rest of me. Fortunately, my two buddies that I made in 2010 were up for the challenge as well. I’m happy to report that over the course of a year I was able to remove (not lose, which implies I want to find it again) 15 pounds and keep them off! I walk taller, I creak less and overall I feel stronger in so many ways. The obvious way is physical, but to be able to set a great example for my kids and let them see me love exercising and doing good things for my body certainly makes me proud.

Now to choose my word for 2012 – or perhaps have it choose me. I’m tossing around a few and can’t seem to settle on one just yet. I’m toying with PURPOSEFUL, FREE, BREAKTHROUGH, NOURISH, STRETCH, and TRANSFORMATION.

Some of the things I’m planning on doing this year are: start meal planning, pay off debt, remove more weight, strengthen my body, balance my time (just started working full time again), be in the moment (leave work at work), keep up with my FLY Lady cleaning routines.

So at the end of the year if I can see a big dent in my debt as well as my @ss that would be awesome. Additionally I don’t want my relationships with my kids nor my husband to suffer because I’ve gone back to work. I’ve been enjoying a house that is mostly 15 minutes away from being ‘company clean’ and I would like to keep it that way because it makes me happy.

To that end dear blog readers, please chime in with some advice on picking my word for the year!

One Word: Connect

My word for this year is 'connect'. I want to do a better job at connecting with those important people in my life. So often we get caught up in the busy-ness of life...homework, soccer, baseball, laundry, bills, errands, haircuts, doctor appointments, and did I mention laundry? Often we forget to make enough time for the really important things. I'm very conscious these days of the times I say "yes" to my kids vs. the times I say "no". I try really hard to find as many things as possible in a day to say "yes" to if I can. More importantly, if I feel that I can't, I hesitate to figure out why and if it's some old conditioning that says "don't stop in the middle of loading the dishwasher to do something else" - I take a good look at the something else. Most times that something else is a sweet request from my son to play a game, or from my daughter for help with a puzzle. Guess what? The dishes will still be there when they go to bed!
I've also found that I am a much happier person when I make time to reminisce with my husband about our older, funny memories as it reminds me of why we first fell in love. And, I can never go wrong with some quality ME time. I've stopped worrying about whether or not my siblings will be busy if I call and now I just call. Another piece of the puzzle that is really important is making time for my friends. So often I lose myself in the role of mother (don't get me wrong, I love it!) that I forget what the rest of me is all about. Recently I've been surrounding myself with friends, some new, some old and I truly feel happy! :-) I'm sure you've heard the old saying that I'll paraphrase for my own needs... if Mama is happy, then EVERYONE is happy!