I have always loved reflecting, writing, and making resolutions. I remember New Year’s Eves in my childhood, curled up on a couch, writing furiously in my journal. I still love new beginnings, blank slates, a clean notebook.

My only problem now is time. How can I work on resolutions if I never sit to reflect and collect my thoughts? Most days now are split between racing around like a madwoman trying to get the most salient items on my to-do list completed and slowing down to enjoy time with my husband and little ones. But there is no in-between. There is no journaling while the kids play, reading the newspaper while they play with Legos, checking things off of my to-do list as my little cherubs entertain themselves. Because most tasks can’t be completed at work (unless it is a day when I am not scheduled to see patients) I spend my nights doing these things, go to sleep late, and am constantly on the verge of sleep deprivation.

Gosh, I realize this sounds pretty pessimistic, but it’s actually not. I enjoy being busy, and I’m very happy. But overall I’d like to be more intentional, despite the many directions I am pulled in.

I don’t put too much pressure on myself when it comes to resolutions, but here are a few things I’d like to focus on this year:

1. Getting our house ready for a third. We have a few home improvement projects (some quite large) on the agenda and we now somehow need for these to be completed by August.
2. More date nights with my husband. Since we don’t live close to family, this is always a challenge. Fortunately, we have great friends who have volunteered to mom-sit, and we need to take advantage of this a bit more.
3. Launch a side biz. My husband and I have a specific idea in mind, in the works now for a few weeks, and we will hopefully bring this to fruition in the new year.
4. Work out. We have struggled to fit this into our schedules since our first was born. And I have always been worried about the return of hypothalamic amenorrhea. But now, especially for purposes of a healthy pregnancy, I’m going to start working out 2-3 nights per week. We’ll probably start off taking advantage of our home exercise equipment before considering another splurge.
5. Blog more intentionally. This has been a very sporadic endeavor in the past year, but I’ve quite enjoyed it, and need to focus my efforts a bit more.
6. Move into more leadership roles at work.

Hoping for a healthy and happy New Year to you all!