New Years' Resolutions, 2012

Happy New Year!

I really cannot believe that an entire year has gone by. This year has been crazy for us out here in the backwoods. We bought a house, we moved, we acquired way too many cats, two dogs, and spent much of August and September dealing with bear issues.

This whole moving experience has been fairly rough on me. While we were moving, I injured my ankle, and it took months to heal. Some days, early on, I could barely walk. Needless to say, I still have boxes all over the place, and the house is not nearly as organized as I would like. So it's no surprise that my first New Years' Resolution is to get more organized.

It's not so much that we're poorly organized, even. It's that the organizing tools that worked well in our old house, don't work as well here. Spaces are different, decor is evolving, and even things like shelf and closet space creates issues. We have less closet space here, and less shelf space, so we're needing to find new ways to keep things organized. Having an Organized Home will be an ongoing theme here at Backwoods Housewife.

Not only do I need to get the house itself better organized, but many other areas of my life as well. Like most of you, I wear many hats. I have the kids' schedules to juggle, with sports and school programs, and volunteering in the classroom. I am (reluctantly) the President of our local PTA. I'm planning a baby shower for a friend, at least one huge get together this summer, and of course the various birthday parties and other events that may come up. While I didn't miss any major events this year, I do need to have a better calendar method this year.

My other New Years' Resolution is to keep a better eye on our spending. We are doing a fairly good job, but I need to do better. This is especially pressing as Mr. Sullivan's work contract is up at the end of January, and we have yet to have word as to whether or not it will be renewed. He has another job lined up, but the pay would be dramatically less. So we will be doing a firm budget this year, including some much needed home repairs. I've already started working on my end of this, and will be talking about it more tomorrow when I post about this week in the Backwoods Kitchen.

What are your New Years' Resolutions?

Photo Credit, Sarah_Ackerman, DafneCholet