Hi 2017.

Oh hey 2017.

I guess I'm being cliche and making a post about my goals for this year.

But......!!!!

It's already the middle of January and most people have given up on their goals by now, so it's good I'm still thinking about it enough to write about, right?

Right.

I pretty much have a goal for every part of my life.

And honestly they aren't really huge goals.

They really just are about being better and more well rounded.

A couple of my goals for my family include:
-LESS SCREEN TIME FOR GRACE (I could scream for days, this goal is so important to me)
-Help Hunter reach all his milestones.  As a premature baby that sometimes can be concerning,  but so far he's rocking it! This will be a big year for him.  He'll learn to crawl,  walk,  talk,  eat food!
-Spend more time one on one with Jeff 😄
-Read the Scriptures. This one we aren't really saying "we WILL read every day", we just want to be better.  We know it'll help our home.
-Go to DISNEYLAND!!!

So the less screen time thing.

Let's talk about that.

I'm not against letting kids watch shows or tv. Obviously I've let my child do so.  But it's too much.

It's all she wants to do.

She begs and whines and cries ALLLLLLLL DAY to watch something.

It's her generation.

It's how their little brains are wired.

And once they get it enough then they think it's just the norm.

I want to start doing no shows/mom's phone/anything electronic before quiet time.

Our days are pretty structured as is, even before I'm trying to do all this tightening up. We eat,  sleep at all the same times every day.  So for her, "quiet time" (She doesn't like calling it naptime anymore) ends around 3:30.

I'm going to get a schedule in pictures drawn out for her so she can  see how our days go.

Because really, she wants to watch things because she's bored. She pretty much thinks if there's a lull in the day at all then she's bored and needs a show.

I think if she has a picture schedule she'll do better.

Anyways,  we'll be working on that this year.

Now that our lives have calmed down with having a baby and moving,  I think we can get more into a groove.

One of my bigger goals of the year is to do well at my new job!

Baaaaahhhhhhhhhh!

I have so much anxiety surrounding this.

I think mostly because I've been out of work for coming up on 3 years.

Three whole years.

Well,  really,  I work my tail off being a stay at home mom everyday,  but I haven't worked for a company for 3 years.

So I'm officially an independent contractor with an educational company called VipKid. They're based out of Beijing, China! All  of their offices and everything are over there.

So what will I be doing for them? Haha

I'm going to be teaching kids in China English from my home office here!

I'll be teaching them over a Webcam,  which is SOOOO different for me.

When I was talking to Jeff about it he kept reminding me that I have taught for lots of years and I have a lot of good experience, but seriously it's so different teaching over a camera! Haha

So it's an English immersion program where you teach one on one.  I think once I get used to it,  I'll love it.

Since you have to teach at a good time in China,  the times are actually very early morning here,  which is perfect,  because then I can teach before my kids wake up!

So nice!

I'm planning on teaching from 5:00-7:00 AM. Hopefully that won't end up being too early and tiring!

My first lesson is on Tuesday, so I'll find out! Hahaha.

Pretty much my goal with this new job is to just do a good job with it and enjoy it. And not to worry and freak out too much about it,  haha.

It'll be good. If I have any education friends that want to know more about it,  let me know! You have to have a Bachelor's degree to do it, but I think it's the perfect job for stay at home moms!

Other than those things I think my only other goal would be fitness and health related.

That's always everyone's goal,  right?

I haven't really decided what I'm doing,  I just know I need to do something!

I haven't done anything fitness related since Hunter has been born and it's catching up to me.

I feel like I gain all my weight AFTER the baby is born, hahahaha.

I really don't gain much weight when I'm pregnant for some reason.

I think this goal will make more sense and come to life as it gets warmer outside. I do so much better with those things when it's warm.

I'll keep thinking about it,  obviously,  but that one might go on stand by for a bit.

Well, I think those are pretty realistic goals for me and my family.

We kind of need a rebuilding year with how crazy 2016 was.

We need calm!

Which I feel like we never get....

But we're going to try!

Bring it on,  2017!