Resolutions revisited

This is going to be an embarrassing post! But I promised myself I would do this, so here goes.

I made a LOT of New Years resolutions this year. There were just so many things I wanted to improve. I had an inkling that I wouldn't be able to manage it all, so I decided to have a review 6 months on. Now we are in July, the time has come to seriously evaluate where I am and prioritise what I want to continue (or start) working on.

Here is my list, in reverse order of importance to me:

1. Use only reused/'bag-for-life' shopping bags
2. Lose the 10lbs I've retained since becoming pregnant with Amelia.
3. Wear make up more often than I don't
4. Ride my bike at least twice a week.
5. Work on my addiction to worrying.
6. Cook healthy, homemade meals for my family and eat dinner together every day.
7. Attend the temple at least once this year.
8. Seek out and nourish uplifting friendships.

And here is how I have done so far.

1. Shopping bags: I did really well at this the first month, and I've been great on and off. I bought a shopping bag that I love and I use that probably 2/3 of the times I go shopping. I do forget to bring bags though, and when I've got both the kids packed in the car and have already run back in the house because I forgot my glasses or my purse, it doesn't seem to be my priority. I have massively improved this year though and will definitely keep working on this.

2. Weight: I'm still in the bigger size, although size 14 is too big and 12 is too tight (grrr) but I have a few new pairs of trousers that make me feel good. I'm planning to start gym-ing two mornings a week when Ben starts nursery so hopefully that will help. My actual weight has been up and down, but it's made me realise that things have redistributed and I have more work to do than I thought. Booo!

3. Make up: I've made no effort on this whatsoever! The light is awful in our bathroom (plus there is nowhere for me to keep my make up), and Amelia has been napping in our bedroom. I'm trying to put her to nap in her cot now, so I'll try again with this.

4. Cycling: Again, this hasn't happened. We've been trying to eat together as a family which means that I have the convenient excuse of being too full to exercise after the kids are asleep. BAD BAD BAD! I will improve. As a side note, I have been on the trampoline a few times to exercise and that is brilliant! But I have to work on consistency and avoiding excuses.

5. Worrying: This has become even more of a problem. I am very aware of how much damage it does to me, and I must get on with working on it.

These next three were the most important to me:

6. Family meals: I am pleased with our progress on this, although it tends to be on and off depending on my mood and energy levels. We've got into the routine of eating with the kids instead of waiting until they are in bed. I wasn't easy: D gets in about 5pm and we eat dinner about 5.30/5.45. Which means I have to start cooking pretty much as soon as he gets in or before. It's so nice, if the kids are playing, to just cuddle up on the sofa for a while, but that just pushes everything on and makes bedtime stressful.

I have a basic schedule of the genre of food we'll eat each night of the week. I just need to get into the habit of expanding this to specific meals, making my shopping list and shopping online so I don't get sucked in by the offers.

I've been trying to use the slow cooker at least once a week. Again it's on and off, but I'd say I do it about 2/3 of the weeks. I want to work on this, but it's the sort of thing you have to plan. A lot of the slow cooker recipes we enjoy contain foods I don't buy intuitively. I made a huge Mexican chilli casserole for the missionaries the other day and it was great- it tasted amazing and all I had to do when D got in was shove the rice on and warm some tortillas.

Sticking to my budget has been a challenge since shopping with two children tends to be rather a smash and grab affair, but again online shopping should help with this. I also plan to use cash more than my debit card so I can physically see how much money I have to spend. I think this will help Ben's awareness too, since I haven't yet been able to adequately explain to him why he has to give his nectarines/book/chocolate to the attendant before he can open them.

7. Temple: We are going to the temple in two weeks on the ward coach! I am very excited. My mum and dad are meeting us down there and Amelia usually goes 9am-2.30pm without a feed, so I am feeling confident that D and I will be able to do a session together. The journey is bound to be horrendous, so I'm trying to just accept that and not get stressed over it.

8. Friends: A few months ago I found a new friend! I'll blog about Almu another time, but it's fab, she lives right around the corner from us and has a little boy Ben's age. She is away at the moment, back home in Spain, but she'll be back next week and I am so excited to see her!

I've been working hard on being more honest and open with people about how I am feeling, and I have been really surprised by the results. People don't seem to think I am boring and self-centred for telling them regularly that I feel down. I thought that I would lose friends by talking about how hard my life feels right now, but I have actually developed deeper friendships in unlikely (and some likely) places. I guess when I have opened up and had a proper conversation, instead of just talking about clothes or whatever, it has encouraged the other person to share their trials too (not that I don't like to talk about clothes... I do!). I am really happy with the number and deepness of real friendships I have at the moment. Six months ago I could have counted my proper friends on one hand; now my heart swells because I feel so grateful when I think of how many people I could call to chat with when I'm having a bad day.

I think I've done pretty well so far. I have definitely worked hardest on my priorities, but I'm making some progress in the other areas too. How has everyone else done with their resolutions?