Project 365 - January Highlights

The last few months have been an evolution for me.  You see, I had 3 kids in 4 years and worked out of the home for most of those years.  It felt like most days I was surviving and not trying for much beyond that!  In September I hit the one year mark of being a wahm (very limited consulting) and have been drawn to focus on those things that have slipped away in the chaos of the last few years.  One of the things that has been neglected is a deliberate effort to document our life.  I love taking pictures, especially on my on phone, but that's about as far as it goes.  Literally... the photos sit on my phone.     

I decided that January was a great time to change that and start documenting our life in a more deliberate way.  I like bite size, easy projects so I decided to jump on the Project 365 bandwagon and try to take one photo a day and share via instagram. I wasn't perfect but did about 95% {so that's still A range work right??}.

I thought I would start sharing a few of my favorites each month on the blog as another way to document and share the story behind the photos... 

This picture describes my little girl perfectly.  We had to go straight from church to a 
family birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese.  So here she is all dressed up, trying to 
play a car racing game. Didn't matter she couldn't actually do it, she loved it 
and would push off any boy that tried to play with her! 

New Year - Time to get back on track!  Luckily both myself and the kids love
green smoothies. Great way to start the day or as an afternoon snack. 

A not so fun part of life!  Our first experience with LICE... I wasn't messing with the nasty bugs
so the boys got their head buzzed.  An unintended consequence, you can really tell how
huge his eyes are and those beautiful lashes!  Why do boys always get the gorgeous lashes???

Living in Vegas normally means nice mild winters.  This year we got a true cold
front for several days.  Walking the kids to school in 27 degree weather was a
new adventure.  Hey, for once the kids didn't fight me about wearing gloves and hats!

January was the month of things breaking - cars, vacuum, pipes
(thanks to that lovely cold weather), flat screen TV and our washer!
This was after it got fixed - a great day for a mom of 4.
I would never have survived pioneer days!

Trying out a new system for organization.  I use my phone for a lot of things but there
is something about getting it all on paper than helps my ADHD brain get focused.
After several weeks I'm still liking it. 

Big sissy picked up little man from school and took him on an adventure...
Just a quick trip to the corner store, but when you are five that seems amazing.
He thought it was AWESOME and they brought home ice cream
for us all {everyone else thought that was awesome}. 

Little Miss finally has enough hair to put up and use clips!  Hooray.
It might be past her eyes by the time she is two. 

Afternoon cuddles with this little man - one of my favorite parts of the day.
His sweet spirit make me grateful I get to be his mom. 

One of my 2013 goals is become better at keeping a clean house.
First habit I am working on is going to bed with a clean sink.
It really does fell good, especially in the morning!

Noah was an old pro at the dentist.  Of course his favorite part was getting to watch cable TV
{we don't even have basic at home}. I love this picture - kickin' back, so perfectly Noah. 

This is disgusting - NOTHING like Starbucks! Enough said. 

A brief moment of cuteness on a morning of errands with the kids. 

So proud of my guy!  He wrote his name all by himself in his preK journal.
He was so proud of himself and his fabulous teachers made a big deal out of celebrating it.
{I know - hard to look at anything but the crazy tiger hat...
a Christmas gift he begged for! I'm hoping the weather warms up soon..}

Part of documenting, I started a "One Line a Day Journal" and completed January!
It tracks 5 years and I'm looking forward to seeing how life evolves.  

My One Word for 2013 - STRIVE

Last year thanks to a post from a blogger I love, Dine and Dish, I chose one word to focus on for 2012. Have I mentioned that I am much better at stalking blogs than writing one, but I digress...

I loved the idea of a focus word.  I found it much more achievable and not as intimidating as resolutions that seem to go undone before January draws to a close!  I was drawn to two words and decided to focus on both: connect and complete.  I cannot say I was 100% perfect in my focus but I do feel that I did better and that really was my goal.  I did better at connecting in my relationship and completing what I wanted to focus on for the year.

So this year I decided to do it again.  It didn't take long before a single word came to my mind that just felt right.

{STRIVE}  

It's not a word I use very often but it feels perfect for where I am at in life.  I am in the middle of a healthy lifestyle transformation (down 45 lbs whoop! whoop! in the last 6 months) and approaching some major life transitions in 2013.  Strive feels like a great word to guide in that process.  As a visual reminder I created a word cloud.

I think I am going to hang over my sink (a place I spend FAR too much time) to help remind me of my focus.   I also found some great quotes on pinterest, who doesn't love pinterest that I added to a Strive Board.

I loved this one...

A great reminder... Are my actions consistent with what I am striving for in life? That is a question I hope to be able to consistently answer yes as I focus on striving for what matters to me and my family.

Do you do New Year's Resolutions?  Focus word?  If so, what is your word?