New Year.

**This post was written several weeks ago, as we were supposed to have our internet installed then, but things didn't turn out exactly as planned. Nevertheless, every word still holds true. Though I haven't made good with my promise on the saving- future hubby is doing a good enough job for the both of us.**


Happy Sunday, ya'll!

I'm just sitting in my comfy chair, wrapped in a blanket, enjoying the beautiful 50 degree weather floating through my condo! God bless winter in Florida and working windows!

I wanted to go ahead and write this post before the new year so that I can come back to reflect on this around this time next year.

I have some big things coming up this year. I'm getting married, but the wedding is in October, so I'll be planning for the majority of the year. I'll be spending my first Christmas away from my family, ever. I've been at my job for 7 months now, and I feel like I've finally been trained enough that I'm no longer 'the new girl' at work. My future hubby and I will also be starting our savings for a down payment on a home. Cheers to growing up!

With all of these things happening this year, I wanted to reflect a little on some choices I made this year, and some changes I'd like to make for the coming one.

One thing I feel as though I failed at this year is properly maintaning my relationships with my family and friends. When I moved in with my fiancé in April, after we got engaged, I moved an hour away from all of my friends. I was already living an hour away from my family, so this put me even farther.

With the distance between us all, I ended up only keeping in touch through calls, texts and emails. Now, I'm not the only guilty one in this situation, either. My friends and family aren't exactly chompin' at the bit to drive to Naples, but I've made a clear choice on my side, to be lazy and relax on the couch instead of making the drive.

I'd like to put more effort into those relationships in the new year.

Two other things that I want to focus on are my spending and eating habits. For me, these are directly related. I spend more money on food than I spend on clothing, shoes, purses...you name it.

In the new year, I'd like to put away $100 from every paycheck. I would also like to start making better choices, eating wise. I need to lose around 50lbs for my wedding in late October. If I can even come CLOSE to that, I'll be ecstatic.

It's not really about losing weight to look better though, it's about getting healthy and trying to influence future hubby to become healthier, too.

Now for the classic resolutions that we all knew were coming (please, like you didn't see that on the horizon):

1. Start a great marriage.
    - It's incredibly important to me to begin my marriage on the right foot. I've been working hard at not being too critical, and to realize that a lot of the little things future hubby does for me, that I view as common things, he does specially for me because he loves me.
2. See my family more often. No explanation needed.
3. Grow my relationship with God.
     - I've always considered myself a Christian and have had some sort of relationship with God, but it wasn't until this year that I've really started to connect on other levels with my religion. Praying has become a nearly every day process for me and has helped me immensley in my love for future hubby.
4. Save money. Also 'nuff said.
5. Make healthy choices.
    - Not everyday has to be perfect and not every meal has to be a salad. I do, though, need to make smarter choices MOST of the time. I also need to start exercising more. I got Zumba for XBox for Christmas and it's so much fun! (Though I do feel bad for our neighbor below us!) There is no reason that I shouldn't do it on the regular.

I'll need to keep referring back to this throughout the year. I'm posting this from my iPhone, but sometime within the next week or so, we're getting internet installed. I can't wait to be able to post with full access for you!

Those are my most important issues. What kinds of things are you hoping for in the new year?