Welcome to 2014!
Hope you all had a wonderful New Year’s Eve and brought in the New Year right! We snuggled on the couch and were sleeping by 10:30 p.m. Karl has been on-call this whole week so we haven’t seen a whole lot of him and wanted to keep things low-key. I didn’t mind!
Hope you all had a wonderful New Year’s Eve and brought in the New Year right! We snuggled on the couch and were sleeping by 10:30 p.m. Karl has been on-call this whole week so we haven’t seen a whole lot of him and wanted to keep things low-key. I didn’t mind!
 |
| Haven't had a new car in 11 years!! Woot! We chose the one off the lot that had been sitting there the longest so we could score the best deal! |
2014 Resolutions
I have a feeling 2014 is going to be a year of moving and
shaking for us. I think I mentioned in a previous post that we’re purchasing a
new car. I’m already trying to figure out how much money we’ll need to pull out
monthly to pay off the bi-yearly car insurance payments. I always like to make
sure we have enough saved up that when the “bigger” invoices come there are no
freak-out moments on my end. We get to
pick the car up today! Yay!!! I haven’t had a new car since 2003!!
Also, just trying to figure out how we’re going to afford
higher monthly mortgage payments once/if we sell our town home and find the
perfect house for us. I’m starting to realize how much work is ahead of us.
I’ve lived in our townhome for 11 years now. Just think of all that
accumulation of stuff. Eesh. Maybe I have high (and too many) expectations for
the perfect house.
This is our list:
·
Big kitchen (I love to cook and Karl loves
making his super crazy, healthy pancakes!)
·
4 bedrooms (Growing the family sooner than later
and my family visits a lot!)
·
A slop sink (You don’t realize how much you need
one until you start painting a lot, have a child who throws up or poops…and you
have a husband who hunts and brews and does all kind of strange projects…)
·
A basement (just want a lot of room for Jackson
and other children to run wild and have a full-on play area for him.)
·
A bigger yard (as in bigger than a postage stamp).
No houses on top of each other (again, we want Jackson and family to run wild
AND we really want a garden to grow FRESH veggies and fruits!)
·
STORAGE (We have NONE in our town home other
than the garage, and it shows.)
·
3-car garage (This will help with storage and
I’m pretty sure Karl already has a plan for that third spot)
·
Lower property taxes. (Helps a lot with
payments!)
This list kind of makes me think of one of the new favorite
HGTV Canadian shows, Like it or List it.
Have you seen? It’s kind of fun, but I totally freak at the prices of houses in
Canada and how close they are to one another.
I’ve also been told come spring and we’ll be competing with
other families to get picked as the next buyers for the houses we like. I guess
you log-in to your account and the houses are sold within hours, sometimes
minutes. And sometimes you have to make a decision within a few short seconds. Minnesota
beat all states last spring as fastest growing housing marketing. Oh boy. Do I
really want to play this game? Things are definitely picking up though and we for
sure want to lock-in to the lower interest rates. Let’s just say the Realtor is
coming tomorrow and we’ll see where we’re at. Like I said, moving and shaking
here in the Koester household!
Next big thing is perhaps baby #2. Yes, I get nervous about
this. I’m also a little worried this could take longer since I’m hitting high-risk
come June, but we’ll see what God has in store for us. Can only give this one
to the Big Guy, right?
Also, the biggest resolution is our health. I’m all about getting
us outside for fresh air a little bit each day, but honestly this below zero
temperature thing is making that goal REALLY hard!
I’m making more time for myself to get to the gym twice a
week and then trying to fit in one “in-home” workout. Want to know what’s
crazy? I’m closing in on my wedding weight and I feel really great! I just feel
HAPPY, HEALTHY and full of ENERGY. This is MUCH needed!!!! SO needed.
I’m also working hard at making sure we’re getting enough
wild fish (less mercury) in our diets and lots of veggies. Jackson LOVES his
homemade smoothies which usually consist of kale, frozen bananas, blueberries,
Greek yogurt, whole milk, mangoes and cherries and sometimes avocados. I just
want to keep this up and I’m pretty sure I will. However, it’s no surprise that
eating healthy comes with a hefty price tag. Does this make sense to you?
That’s about it! If you look at all that, one word comes to
mind: EXPENSIVE.
After reflecting on last year and my huge 2013 Resolution
list, I realized I have to let go of wanting control over a lot of things and
just be - just go with things. I don’t have the time or space to be angry for
long or worry too much. I’ve really been learning how to speak up more when
something is bothering me (rather than holding it in) and live in the present,
which has been a wonderful thing for me. However, for some reason this mindful
thinking business has opened my eyes to how incredibly FAST time goes. Have you
noticed this too?
Any 2014 resolutions you want to share?
