New Year Goals, 2020 Is Here!

 

We enjoyed our holiday season so so much. I barely had time to even look at my blog most days. Between work, holiday parties, friends and family, and keeping up with our toddler, it was a lot! Now that it’s officially 2020, it’s time to start the year with a clean slate and come up with some resolutions or goals. Here are a few things I will be working on this year. Hopefully this list gives you some inspiration to make your own resolution and goals list (if you haven’t already!)

 

Travel More Often (with and without Liam)

We have always tried to travel throughout the years, but once having Liam that has come to a stand-still. It can be pretty hard to leave your child in the care of someone else even if it’s just for one day. He is almost 2 years old and I haven’t been without him for one whole night (with the exception of when he was 3 months old for a required military meeting and it was less than 24 hours total) It’s extremely hard to find babysitters/family and lining up schedules and planning for the unexpected if something happened while we were away so I have just completely put it to the back of my mind. I have enough to stress about as it is, I just couldn’t make it harder on myself.

Now, Zac has been home from deployment for over 6 months. Life is finally (mostly) back to normal and were in a good routine. One of my main goals this year is travel more often with Liam and without. I want us to enjoy traveling as a family but also put in more time with just me and zac so we can enjoy our relationship with each other. It’s hard finding a balance between being a married couple and being parents. I think it never gets easier. So, from now on I will be planning multiple trips throughout the year for us to enjoy.

First Steps:

The first trip we have planned is a family cruise (which I absolutely cannot WAIT to go on!) in February. We cruised a lot before we had Liam so I think it’s a great place to start with bringing him on vacation. Hopefully it goes smoothly. I will be making a post afterwards on tips and tricks we learn with taking a toddler on a cruise. Wish us luck!

The next trip we have planned is a night out in Asheville, NC with just Zac and me. I know it will be hard to be away from Liam, but I think we have earned one night away and he will be in good hands so I’m trying to not stress. I’ve already researched some of the best rooftop bars and restaurants and we have booked a nice hotel so I’m super excited!

Workin’ On My Fitness

If you follow me on Instagram you’ve probably noticed I have become obsessed with my treadmill we recently purchased. It is seriously amazing. It has been a real struggle for me to go to the gym (and I used to go 4-5 days a week). I finally decided since the gym was no longer fitting into my schedule that I would make it work for me because I needed that outlet. So, we canceled our gym membership at our local gym and bought a treadmill. We also purchased some other things and turned a corner of our garage into a nice, simple home gym. I think it was the best thing we could have done! I enjoy being able to go out to my garage and do a quick workout or start a training program on my treadmill and not worry about other people around me.

So, I really want to focus on my fitness goals this year. My weight tends to fluctuate super easy. I lost weight when Zac was on deployment due to stress and other things. It was a really hard year for me. Any exercise routine or diet I was following completely went out the window and I went into survival mode. Once he came home I easily gained it all back (which isn’t really a good thing). I want to lose 10-15 pounds and maintain that weight year round. I also want to gain more endurance while running. Obviously, I don’t need to be extremely skinny or have abs (I have a kid and plan to have more so I know it’s not realistic right now) but I do have goals I want to reach! Especially with all the extra traveling we will be doing! Haha!

First Steps:

I’ve been consistently using my treadmill 4 days a week since buying it a few weeks ago. I’ve also cut down on my fast food consumption for lunch/dinner. I have started a meal plan to hopefully help me stay on track at work. Any weight I had lost the first couple of weeks working out consistently has been gained back thanks to the multitude of holiday meals we ate over Christmas celebrations.

I want to keep working out 4-5 days a week. I want to add in more weight training exercises while also running as well. I’m also phasing out soda as much as possible. I really need to drink more water consistently and stop living off of Starbucks cold brews. My wallet will also be happy. Lol. Hopefully I will see results within a month or two if I can stick to these goals.

Here’s the treadmill we purchased if your interested:

https://www.proform.com/treadmills/performance-800i

I 100% recommend it if your in the market for a treadmill! I also love the I-Fit program that’s offered on it as well. It’s super motivating.

Focus On My Blog/Social Media

One thing I really really really want to focus more on is my blog! I truly love anything to do with blogging, marketing, writing, photography, etc. I studied this in college and I just find it extremely interesting. It is really hard to find the extra time while working a full-time job and being a mom, wife, friend, etc. I know other people who have done it (and succeeded!) so I know it’s possible. I just need to really buckle down and work on it. I would love to be able to work in social media marketing, blogging, affiliate work, etc. full time. It’s a goal of mine and maybe eventually I will get there but I know it won’t be easy. I really have to commit to find the time for myself.

I want to commit myself to posting at least one blog post a week. If I post more, then great! I am planning on buying a planner specifically just for blogging and planning out at least one post a week for the next 3 months. That way, there’s really no way to fail. Blogging takes a lot of planning (which I am usually good at and love) but I just have so many other things going on all the time it can fall to the wayside.

First Steps:

I have ordered a planner specifically just for my blogging and website. I am going to plan one blog post a week for the next 3 months and write out each post during my free time on the weekends. I want to post on my Instagram at least once a week as well, whether it be personal or blog related. Pinterest will also be something I will be increasingly focusing on. I love Pinterest and spend a lot of time on there as it is so it should be pretty easy to keep up with my steady progress that I have been seeing. Exciting stuff!

I want to also start to reach out to some businesses, clients, etc. and start the process of becoming affiliated with areas of interest and products and services I truly enjoy and can recommend to my audience. I will also be mapping out a marketing strategy for my blog once I have more evergreen content to share.

 

Get Back Into Makeup/Cosmetics

I spent 4+ years in the cosmetic industry and loved it. Yes, there were hard days but all in all I really miss it. I love doing makeup and really need to find time to get back into the habit of practicing it. Whether on myself or others. It can be so hard to find the extra 20-30 minutes in the morning to actually sit and blend my eyeshadow or mix my lipstick colors to get that perfect shade or put on my extra long lengthening eyelashes.

I really want to try to commit to doing at least one new makeup look once every two weeks. Even if it’s just for myself. I really find makeup therapeutic and it’s so nice to sit down and actually have unlimited time to do what I want.

First Steps:

I have my new Soft Glam Anastasia Beverly Hills Palette out and ready to be used! I can’t wait! I also plan to purchase a new collection of brushes. (After looking through my pictures, I’m kinda missing this dark hair?! Maybe I should go back dark!?)

 

Welp. There’s my New Year’s Resolutions/Goals. Obviously it’s not everything I want to focus on this year, but it’s the 4 main things. Let me know what yours are in the comments below!

Also, If you have any ideas of what you would like to see more of on my blog, send me a message. I’m in the process of planning out my posts!

 

Happy New Year!