2013 New Year’s Resolutions

Well hello 2013! It's nice to meet you.

2012 ended with a great visit from my Dad. We took him to some of our Asheville favorites like White Duck Taco…

Of course the line out the door is gone when we leave!

Mr. BBQ himself, my Dad, gave the Brisket taco two thumbs up!

              Yum and Yum.

You seriously can’t go wrong with tacos.

and Chai Pani.

This was a Tandori Fish Wrap from Chai Pani.

Clearly Dad liked it too. 

I really need to work on remembering to take the picture before we eat.

We seriously have some awesome food in Asheville.  I could gush about it for ages.  But sometimes it’s nice to stay home.  So we spent New Year’s Eve together with a deluxe home cooked meal....

Are those your famous smoked scallops again?
Why yes, they are!

… and a LONG rendition of "Gatoropoly" where I BEAT two guys who make their living in the world of finance. I even came back to win from a state of near bankruptcy with only $15 of play money left.  They may never live it down.

Hey guys! Remember that time I won "Gatoropoly?!"

Some nice family time was the perfect way to end the year.  Now I’m looking ahead and thinking about fresh starts and new goals for 2013.  I posted last week on some Tips for Setting and Keeping New Year's Resolutions. I also posted my New Running Goals a few weeks ago. I've used those two posts to help me write a few resolutions for the new year... running and beyond.

I believe that writing resolutions down makes you more likely to complete them, so I encourage you to write down your goals for the year as well! Hopefully we'll all spend the year checking items of the list!

My 2013 New Year's Resolutions

1. Run Faster!- I want to run a 10K in under an hour and a 5K in under 27 minutes. My plan is to incorporate strength training, hill & speed work into my running routine. Run Julie Run!

2. Build a Strong Core- This hopefully will help my “Run Faster!” goal. I find that I am often tired after I run and I skip my crunches, planks and core work. It really only takes an additional 5 minutes to do some quality core work and I have no excuses. I will hold my planks!!!! This year I will not skip this last step!

3. Use Coupons- I know I buy things that I could get for cheaper. I will often see the coupons online or get them printed out with my grocery receipt. But my busy schedule and forgetful nature means I often just buy the stuff without the savings that are right in front of me. I don't want to be an extreme couponer or anything, but I do want save what I can on stuff I already buy.

4. Organize and Declutter- On the surface I usually have a neat and tiddy house, but I have a deep, dark secret. My closets and cabinets are a MESS! Anything with a door you can close and hide stuff in needs a serious makeover. This is a major project!  When we moved I never really found the time to get things the way I wanted them, so it keeps getting worse.  I want to take on one area at a time and have it all organized and under a system by the end of the year. OY!

5. Plan and Prepare Healthy Weekday Meals- This is a big resolution I had last year. I would say I was only 75% successful though. I started preparing new meals and found many great recipes, but I never completely got in the habit of planning ahead on the weekend to make it happen with less stress during the week. I'm putting this on my list again because I still think I can do better. I'm hoping to share some of the recipes with you through the year.

How did you ring in 2013???

What are your New Year’s Resolutions???