Another fresh new year is here...Another year to live!

Another fresh new year is here...Another year to live!

To banish worry, doubt and fear, To love and laugh and give!

This bright new year is given me, To live each day with zest

To daily grow and try to be, My highest and my best!

I have the opportunity , Once more to right some wrongs

To pray for peace, to plant a tree, And sing more joyful songs!

I had decided not to make New Years resolutions because let's face it, nobody really keeps them do they? However, it seems I have inadvertently made some resolutions or created a set of aims should we say.

It's all about making some changes really and New Year, being a new start seem to be the right time to put these into place.  

The first one is an oldie but a goodie and one I am definitely doing - lose weight. I go on and on about it but it needs to be done (she says with her hand in a tub of Pringles). I find the act of dieting quite easy when I have my willpower in place but I struggle with the food as I love good food and by good food I mean the stuff that is incredibly bad for you. I need to lose weight though as I am a bit podgy by the middle and my goal is to drop about 10-12lbs. Not unachievable by any stretch of the imagination. I plan to up (or at least, start...) my exercise regime alongside the diet as I think the two really need to go hand in hand. 

Next is something I vowed to do last year and did achieve to a degree but not as much as I would have liked. I want to read more. I'm going to aim for 2 books a month which doesn't sound much, but it's a realistic goal for me. I'm going to be updating my reading list on here very soon.

Saving money is something I think we'd all like to be better at but in 2012 I am going to be more frugal. This means being less frivolous, less impulsive, spending less on food that I end up throwing out and not so much eating out. 

Not exactly conducive to the above, a goal this year is to set the wheels into motion for buying another property. This is likely to be a holiday home that we can let out as well as for our own personal use. I'm currently researching locations. It's a dream we've had for years and it's time now to put our money where our mouth is.

Something I'm constantly battling with - decluttering. The OCD part of me, is a hoarder, I'm nostalgic and I don't like to get rid of things but the clutter around me is starting to clutter my mind so it's time to get rid of clothes and shoes I never wear, books I've read, toys that we no longer need and stacks of magazines (and I mean hundreds...) that I'll never read again.

And finally, a personal goal is to get my family tree research into some order. I have been doing it since 2007 and I am in a right old pickle. I've made a concerted effort to reorganise, file and write up what I have before I start to do any further research so I want to carry that on through 2012.

They are my goals for 2012, all perfectly achievable. I think.  What about you? Have you got any goals or aspirations for 2012?

In the words of Oprah Winfrey, cheers to a New Year and another chance to get it right!

love & kisses

Mrs M x