I make resolutions every year, and then forget about them for awhile. As long I as I remember to check back in with them in I can usually kick-start a few that haven’t worked out, and refine those that might be faring better. It’s time for a check!

1. Plan a Vacation
The resolution was to relax and take a vacation. We actually do have a vacation planned, but it’s not a relaxing kind. I think that’s OK, and that planning any vacation is a huge step for me. We also have a couple of tiny trips planned around weddings and visitors, and we will go camping. I still really need to work on making relaxation a priority though!

2. Simple Living, with Meaning
I really let this one slip. I was working toward a simpler, less consumer-driven lifestyle but in a more formal way. I started the family on the Living Simply with Children plan, but we didn’t get past exercise one. I still want to do this and I will renew the effort once school starts back up — I think I’ll really need it then to combat all the commercial culture Georgia will be absorbing! The first exercise did help us, though, and we’re still in that less-consuming tract, so I think we’re getting there.

3. Organize
I said in December, “My new plan is to paint one room a month, and I think I’ll have to have some residual cleaning/organization to get that done.” I have neither organized nor painted one room, let alone six. I can’t even keep one counter clear, so I’m not sure what it will take to get me organized, but I am ever the optimist. I’ll keep this one on my list!

4. Drive less
I’d still love to go back to car-free Tuesdays, but our busy family life, complicated with having to make a living, just doesn’t support it. But there are opportunities I am not taking, buses we could board with ease, and I really need to make this a priority. OK, I’m refining this resolution. We’ll take one bus trip a week instead of driving, even if it’s just to the playground a little bit farther away. Hova still takes public transportation daily to work, so we haven’t increased our family drive time, but we can definitely do better.

5. Volunteer
My goal was to find our volunteering situation by January 31, so we could be volunteering in February. Didn’t happen. I volunteered a lot at Georgia’s school, but I’d still like to find something we could do as a family that helps the community. Georgia knows all about invasive plants and gets annoyed by Traveler’s Joy Clematis, so I think pulling invasives would be a great activity for us. I just found another great volunteering site that will help us on our way. The problem with our community is there are so many volunteers the opportunities get filed by the time I find them! Dang goody-two-shoes!

How are you doing on your resolutions? I hope better than me! If anyone has any great ideas about how to keep resolutions, or whether to make them in the first place, let me know!