But as long as you are with me, there's no place I'd rather be

Tippets Family New Years Resolutions 2014

1. Spiritual- Read our scriptures over breakfast instead of at bedtime. Because I work 3-5 nights a week I miss family scripture study and that just isn't acceptable anymore. I think I'm gonna make some cheesy sign like "A scripture a day keeps satan at bay" to post on the fridge as a reminder for the more forgetful members of the family.

2. Physical- Less processed snacks. Hopefully only one a day (saved for on the go, car emergency/dr office type situations) Cary and I are very mindful to eat at least 5 fruits and veggies a day, and eat healthy balanced meals as much as possible. The children, however, do not share our affinity for healthy eats and as long as there is processed anything in the house they hold out for it. So it's gotta go. If there's only healthy snacks available... in theory that's what they'll eat. Or become crazy beggars at the playground--DON'T GIVE THEM GOLDFISH! I SWEAR I FEED THEM OR AT LEAST OFFER FOOD.

3. Mental- Less screen time. I know I'm a broken record with this one, but Cary and I really think we can benefit from less screen time, kids especially (we're probably the only people in the U.S. who think so). We no longer have tv (harder to let go of than I expected), but we definitely want to be more mindful of putting our phones away while the kids are awake and being "present." We want to teach them how to interact with people, be good listeners, be active and play. I'm sure they'll make up for their late start with technology once they get to school.

4. Social- Visit 5 new places as a family. With only 1.5 years until graduation and the possibility of leaving NC we definitely want to have experienced the fun things available around us.

If you have any fun places to visit or tips on the other goals, let me know!

Over and out.

Who's gonna stop me on the road to success

Happy New Years!

(I operate on toddler standard time... meaning somethings might sometimes get done, occasionally)

And so I bring you my New Years Resolutions a week late...

1. Spiritual Goal: Clean up my language. Quit cussing. Yes, I have gotten into a nasty habit of using (only) the biblical cuss words and have even had my 3 year old repeat one such word when she was really frustrated. Not a proud mom moment. I also need to stop saying negative things about the kids when they're in earshot, or ever (well except to Cary). Sometimes, as a mom you complain to your friends and I think that can be really damaging for the kids so I definitely want to stop that.

2. Physical:  Go to bed by 10:30 at least 4 nights a week. (I can't do weekends because I usually get home from work at 11). Currently I go to bed between 11 and 12, and am ALWAYS exhausted. Yes, I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that Tucker STILL does not sleep through the night, but I can't control Tucker (apparently) so the best I can do is go to bed earlier

Run a 5k in under 25 minutes. Just wanted something that motivates me to do something besides Insanity, and running fits my budget. Let me know if there's an awesome 5k I should sign up for!

3. Mental: Focus on teaching my children pre-school skills. Zoey's a smart cookie and I've let myself get lazy because she a) generally learns things herself b) we butt heads when I try to teach her, but I can definitely provide more opportunities and more focused activities each day. My goal is to start doing this during nap time 3 days a week.

4. Social: Help my friends more often. This is hard to measure and doesn't follow my usual advice for picking a SMART goal so it's achievable. However, I sometimes shy away from helping friends because it is really hard to do with 2 toddlers. So I want to be more cognizant of when my friends express needs, could use babysitting swaps, or any other way I can step up and be of help to lighten their loads. 

          

Ta-da! I finally decided and wrote my goals down.

Also... hopefully tomorrow I blog about our family resolutions!

Yes! I love goals so much I forced the family to participate in resoluting with me!

And I got that red lip classic thing that you like

Well, hello there! 

I wish you could hear how Zoey bounced into my room at 4:30 this morning and said "Gooood Morning!" in the most chipper voice I've ever heard!

Anyhow, let's get down to business... nothing like my new years resolution post to bring me out of a 6 month blogging hiatus.

2014 Resolutions Recap

1. Read the entire Standard Works: Check!!!

 (Ok, I have a couple pages to finish up, but I will get that done this week) I'm really proud of myself for doing this, although it became much harder than I expected once Tucker became a crazy toddler, we moved to a house that takes more care, and work got crazy. I ended up listening to a lot of the scriptures while cleaning and doing chores which makes certain things stick out and also caused me to not quite get the in depth study I was hoping. 

The great take away is that I used to think God was harsh and angry in the Old Testament, well let's just say now that I have a 2 year old I understand so much better...

2. Run a half marathon: Check!!! 

I was hoping to get under 2 hours, but I came in at 2 hours 8 minutes. I'm still very proud of myself since it was my first real race and the course was crazy hilly.

I have not run once since though... so much for developing a love for running ;/

3. Cut out negative talk around Zoey: Major Fail. 

This will get readdressed this year. Obviously I needed a SMART-er goal

4. Once a month spend an hour learning about photography: Not a total fail

I did bust out the real cameras much more often this year, but rather than learning how to take good photos I just take about 20 of each shot and hope for a good one...

I'm already making up for this fail by taking a photography class at Durham Tech (oh how Cary is loving making fun of me for being a "durham tech student"). He's snooty, that one. 

Overall, I'm pretty proud of my year, but excited for the much needed improvements to come in 2015!

I wanna see you be brave

CUPID'S CURTAILING THE CHUB

You may recall that Cary's New Years Resolution is "the year of the 6 pack."

Well, in an effort to help him achieve his goal and because we're always looking to earn a little extra $$... we signed up for this

http://www.dietbetter.com/games/33723

Eeek. I'm a bit nervous about losing 4 percent! That's not insane, but it's serious, and well, goodbye sweet tooth--see you in a month.

So wish me luck!

We're hoping to double our monies and be healthier for it. If you're gonna bet, might as well bet on yourself I say. 

Feel free to get crazy with me and sign up, the more the merrier! 

And remember

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Everyday I fight for all my future somethings

Ok, I can't just tell you my goals. I, for some reason, feel the need to spread my love of goal setting and explain why I think it's important first ;) (scroll to bottom for my actual goals)


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1. Goals give you something to plan and work for (read: energy and focus to progress)
2. Goals make the unachieveable achievable. Breaking a goal into steps over a year increases motivation and satisfaction
3. Goals fuel ambition.
4. Goals hold us accountable.
5. Goals help us figure out what we really want.
6. Goals help us live a full life by helping us achieve those things we want to achieve.

As I was researching and trying to decide what exactly I want out of 2014, I came across the book the 4 hour work week. The author recommends having a "dreamline" where you write down things you dream of having (house, great clothes, etc), being (great cook, fluent in foreign language), and doing.

If you're struggling to think of goals for the year he recommends
-1 place to visit
-1 thing to do before you die (memory of a lifetime)
-1 thing to do daily
-1 thing to do weekly
-1 thing you've always wanted to learn.

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Anywho... after deciding on some goals, and then actually taking into account the reality that I live in, and re-deciding on some goals, I came up with goals that will be challenging but do-able... hopefully ;)

  
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1. Read the entire Standard works.
-(Yup here we go again, but with 2 months under my belt. And they say it only takes 21 days to make a habit, blah, blah, blah...)

2. Run a half marathon. 
-Yikes. Right now the High County Triple Crown in Boone NC on August 24 looks like the one.

3. Cut out negative talk around Zoey. 
-About myself and about others because as Cary and I like to say "Little piggies have big ears"
-To make this quantifiable Cary got me a jar and everytime I slip I have to put a quarter in the jar that he gets to spend however he wants (read: I better be careful or I see lots of lotto tickets in the future... (or maybe he'll buy me a book on how to be positive ;))

4. Once a month spend at least an hour learning about photography and practicing with the camera.


As for Cary, he has decided it's the year of the 6-pack Abs! 

HERE WE COME 2014!!! 

It's that time of year again

Goals, goals, how I love me some goals!

The trouble with not having a goal is that you can spend your life running up and down the field and never score.

— Bill Copeland

I've been pretty dedicated about New Years Resolutions for a while now, but I started using blogging as an accountability tool in 2011. Past new years goals here: 2011, 2012, 2013

So a recap of 2013

1. Read entire standard works: FAIL. But I restarted my little calendar in November and am 2 months strong now.

2. Rosetta Stone in Spanish: FAIL. Pregnancy beat me on this one.

3. Keep in touch with friends/family once a month: BETTER, but not where I wanted to be. I think I texted family members more often and called some friends, but I wanted these relationships to be more meaningful and less superficial. I also wanted it to become a habit more than a goal I had to remind myself to achieve.

4. Fitness Maintenance: SUCCESS! (ha, well at least I did one. I weigh the same I did at the beginning of the year... My Santa's bringing Sexy back challenge was almost a success, just 1/2 a lb off my 10 lb weight loss goal)

So... I failed. A lot. 

This is reminiscient of the year I had Zoey. Obviously babies/pregnancy throws me off a bit. I need to keep this in mind as I set my goals for this year. I'm still hashing out what exactly is most important to me to set as my year long focus, because as Napoleon Hill said:

"A goal is a dream with a deadline."

Stay tuned... tomorrow's the 2014 reveal...

December never felt so wrong...

No posts about zoey's first christmas.

I'll confess, december didn't go how I had planned, ok hoped. I was just trying to stay on top of the basics and didn't really touch on christmas celebrations/traditions at all.

C'est la vie.

It's a new year and I am getting a fresh start!

A few years ago I finally discovered a few keys to successfully completing my new years resolutions. First, keep it to 3 or 4 (generally, a spiritual, physical and intellectual for me) this keeps you from getting overwhelmed. Second, the goal has to be measurable (i.e. lose 10 pounds, not just "get in shape"). Third, you have to be accountable--whether to family, friend, cyberspace, whatever works.

My spiritual goal this year is to actually have Family Home Evening every monday. Before Zoey, I was great at dismissing FHE because every night was Cary and I at home... (if you ever need excuses I'm really good at them).

Anyhow, now that I'm a parent I figure there's a few things I should at least try to do ;)

Monday, we discussed our goals for the year, broke them down for the week and will report back next week on our progress. We also discussed President Monson's new years message, specifically attitude--a key to success in any area.

“Attitude, to me, is more important than … the past, … than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness, or skill. It will make or break a company, a church, a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day.” -Charles Swindoll

At least she has grandma's that buy her christmas ornaments and outfits :)

Just own the night, like the 4th of July

Happy New Years!!!


So I procrastinate a little on my blogging... don't hate.


Anyhow, I love New Years... well, correction I enjoy making New Years Resolutions.
(The holiday itself is actually one in which the event NEVER lives up to the hype, and it's still cold.... New Year's should take some pointers from the 4th of July on how to actually be an awesome holiday). I digress.


So seeing as last year I made three new years resolutions and accomplished 2.5 of them... I felt 3 was the right number for me.


Numero Uno: I plan to run a half marathon by June (I was going to aim for a full, but goals need to be realistic in order to be achievable).


Nombres Deux: I am going to magnify my calling to do my Visiting Teaching each month. Who knows, maybe I'll make some friends in the ward :)


C. Sorry, this is personal, and I choose not to disclose information that makes me sound ridiculous or may be embarassing (of course unless it's a really funny story, because there's nothing better than getting a laugh out of people).


Also, Omni peeps and alum (read: wannabe Omni peeps (read: Carla and Cary)) are in a fitness competition... sort of. It's really just who can look the best in a before and after picture competition (how you get there is your choice). I'm positive I'm gonna win ;) I discovered a special secret today... if Cary eats a brownie and then I kiss him, it's like all the flavor without any of the calories! WATCHOUT... I'm in it to win it!

Anyhow, feel free to check up on me from time to time. I plan to do the same to you. Happy goal making.