So, I realize that everyone else blogged their ‘New Year’ post a few weeks ago, but January 10th is a better time to reflect on the arrival of 2012 than say, January 11th, right? Right.
To celebrate the new year, we have an annual New Year’s Eve Eve party, where friends from home gather at the cutest cabin in the woods and catch up on the past year. We all sit in a circle and share three things: 1) the funniest memory from the past year; 2) the best memory from the past year; and 3) what we’re looking forward to in the year to come. For those of you who are wondering, I shared my nannying tale of an exploding baby and toilet as my funniest memory of 2011. This party is, by far, one of my favorite events of the year. It’s so fun to catch up with our amazingly talented friends and their interesting lives. The crowd changes a bit from year to year, but it’s amazing that this simple get together can bring friends together from all over the country.
In other news, I’ve been thinking a lot about the traditional New Year’s resolutions. And here’s the conclusion I’ve reached: The new year should come during the summer months. Or at least at the end of winter. Everyone makes resolutions to exercise more, eat healthier, get outside, etc. And that’s great. But it’s freezing outside. And realistically, all I’m interested in doing during the cold, stark days of January is sitting on the couch next to my space heater, eating a big bowl of pasta or some other cheese-filled dish. I just don’t feel inspired to train for a marathon when it’s below freezing outside. So Eric and I vote for moving the New Year to April, when the air is a little warmer and it’s a little easier to stick to your resolutions. Can I get a ‘second’?
With all that being said, our biggest resolution for 2012 is to be better budgeters. We are really terrible at sticking to a grocery budget, in-particular, mostly because I love to bake and cook. And both of those can be pretty expensive hobbies. So in 2012, our weekly meals may be a bit less exciting, and we’ll probably be indulging in a bit less dessert. And that will help with another resolution: Eat less dessert. We’ll see how this goes…
So far, 2012 has been kind to us. The weather hasn’t been terribly brutal (in fact, I ran outside in shorts today!), we’ve gotten to spend time with friends, and we’re excited about the year ahead! Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to turn on my space heater and eat some cheese.
-Ally
Betsy Ringer says
OR…instead of moving New Year to April (which isn’t going to happen) you could move yourselves to San Diego where it is warm all year. Actually we have cool nights all winter and even some cool days – like in the lower 60’s. So you feel like there’s a little winter – only with flowers and sunshine!