I’ve always told myself that if I ever become a stay-at-home mom, I’ll still be the kind of mom that gets ready and looks cute everyday so that her husband is excited to come home. Well, if Christmas 2011 is any indication of future behavior, I want to apologize to LPK right now. My uniform consisted of sweats, t-shirts, and white ankle socks. I know what you’re thinking—ankle socks? Don’t worry…they were never exposed. For all anyone knew, the socks I donned were socially acceptable knee-length. No makeup, of course, and hair in a bun. It was just the right combination of apparel that would confuse those that saw me. I’m sure people were saying:
“That lady (I’m 30 now…but don’t call me ‘woman’) must be SOOOO busy! Her day must be so hectic, for she seems to be sporting attire that one wears to bed. Good for her, fitting in her errands in her jam packed day!” “That girl must be on her way to the gym…what a sport! Working off the Christmas pounds!” (And if you are the kind of person that only needs to work off what you gained at Christmas, get the hell out of here.)
What can I say…I like to keep people guessing. Truth of the matter is, besides a few doctor’s appointments and a spa day with a friend of mine...we had NO plans. And it was nothing less than fantastic. Okay, I did break character (that character resembling someone who teaches gym) when we went to church, and on New Year’s Eve when we went out with friends. (PS, we spotted Pierce Brosnan up at Sundance…he was smoking a cig on the patio, which was unfortunate because not only was it FREAKING A cold, but he is looking a little less 007 and a lot more 0075.)
So on to the real reason for this post! 2011 was a great year…there were obviously ups and downs, as every year brings, but when you’ve got your BF by your side and a 5 pound dog in your lap, great jobs and a house over your head, what’s to complain about? Alas, I was ready to say “SO LONG” to 2011 and welcomed 2012 with open arms. I always love the feeling of the new year…it’s refreshing. New changes, new goals, new events.
I’ve decided that 2012 is going to be Year of Amberly. Now, for those that know me, I have enacted YOA in previous years. This is not a new thing. Apparently I like to focus on myself every year…which is either really good because it shows that I know it’s important to better myself...or it’s really sad because I have to keep doing it. Whatevs.
YOA 2012 goals:
1. Be healthier: While leggings are probably the most comfortable 80s style to make a comeback, it’s quite difficult to confuse people into thinking you’re not wearing the same pants from yesterday. Or the day before…And my daily wear of tunics or what I call “flowy shirts” (copyright Amberly Kingsford 2010) probably has some people wondering if my baby is due any day. Which, hello…it’s not because I’m not prego.
2. No more guilt. Oh.my.gosh. I did a post a while ago about knowing who you are and making your decisions for yourself. Needless to say, I’ve come a long way, but it’s still freaking hard, man! I feel like a lot of things I do are still driven by how I think others might view me if I don’t do them. What’s weird is it’s not my family and friends’ opinions of me that I worry about, because I feel like I’m pretty real with them and don’t pretend…it’s more like people at work, church or in my neighborhood. How dumb is that? So maybe my VT partner hates me because I never initiate going (I could do a whole post on my thoughts of VT), and maybe my neighbors get store-bought goodies when they move in instead of homemade ones. Who cares, right? (Confession: I love my VT partner so I hope she doesn’t really hate me. And I will admit that I did buy a few neighbors stuff from Shirley’s bakery and then pretended I made it by putting it in my own pan and heating it up in the oven. Big whoop.) The moral of the story is that I need to do whatever I can and WANT to do, and not feel guilty about it!
3. Eat out less: This one is haaaaaaaaaaaaaard. I freaking hate cooking, okay? You should see my mom or my sister try to tell me how to cook something…I’m sure I look like a deer in headlights. While I’ve made progress in training them to write ingredients and directions down instead of spewing them at me in 30 seconds, the following conversation still occurs and is enough to make me rip my hair out:
Mom: The recipe also calls for (insert random ingredient here).
Amberly: Okay, but how much?
Mom: Oh, I don’t know, Ambie. I usually just put in a bit.
Amberly: Mom! What’s ‘a bit?’ You know you can’t say that to me because I don’t know what that means.
Mom: I don’t know, I don’t follow a recipe, I just make it.
Sigh. Let’s hope that 2012 actually gets some function out of my new PINK KitchenAid mixer, rather than solely using it as a décor object.
4. Start a new blog. More on this later…but the moral of the story is that I’ve had lots of people tell me I need to start a niche blog, rather than just this blog that is all things Amberly. I’m still working on the format and what I want the blog to be like…so stay tuned. And yes, it’s more than just my husband telling me this because he has to be nice to me. It’s actually quite a few people, including some strangers. And I may not even do it…so freakout.
5. Stop obsessing: I have actually become quite an obsessor. The kind of obsessing that can keep you up until 4:30 a.m.! It can be anything from “What am I wearing in the morning?” to “Are they mad at me because I said/did whatever it is?” It drives Larren caaaraaaazyyyy. I need to stop obsessing over things I can’t change (look…we didn’t add a bay window in the kitchen when we built the house…what can we do now? Go back in time?) and move on.
6. Be on time for things: So apparently I’ve decided that my work day starts at around 9:30. Which means I’m rolling (literally…which is why I’m in leggings) out of bed at 8:30. Useful tip: if your day is awesome because you successfully “ran the gauntlet” i.e. didn’t get noticed sneaking in late…me thinks it’s time to get your A out of bed earlier. So far, so good. (I know it’s January 3 but we gotta start somewhere, m’kay?)
Okay, I think that’s enough over-sharing for now. Talk amongst yourselves.
