And just like that, 2017 is coming at us!

I'm back at work this week but to be honest I'm feeling a bit eager to get back to routine. We had a great holiday but it felt demanding. We had full days with seeing family and friends, and the boys needed a lot from us these two weeks - in the completely normal way that a two year old and a three year old need their parents. Even though I'd say we had a good, fun holiday I wouldn't say we had a restful, easy holiday.

January marks a change for Team Wharton since Chris's glorious sabbatical is over. He'll be back at his campus office with meetings and commitments. And we'll no longer have a parent working from home and attending to home tasks (prepping lunches, laundry, keeping the house tidy. Chris is amazing at all of this!). But I do get my carpool partner back so maybe we can find a new podcast to look forward to and fit in some coffee dates.

For the past two years I've shared monthly goals along with big things happening that month and recurring monthly goals, usually exercise, blogging and podcasting. I'm realizing that those need updating. Exercise and podcasting are now solidly habit so I won't include them as recurring goals, but I am adding a couple new ones. This year, as I make my monthly goals, I want to be mindful of my intention of CHOOSE and will frame my goals that way. Excited to kick off my first monthly goals of 2017!

Big things happening in January:

+ Chris returns to work. Sad face!

In January I choose to:

+ Go with the new flow. We're returning to having two parents working full time outside of the house and I'm sure this will make life feel busier. We'll need to find our new routines for prepping for the next day and maintaining the house. I'm hoping we can also find ways to make getting home and dinner time not feel completely hectic (please tell me it's possible?!). Probably simple meals and Sunday meal prepping. 

+ Write and send all birthday and Christmas thank you notes. I still believe in the hand written thank you note! Also, a little sung perk of the birthday near Christmas is being able to send a combined thank you note.

+ Make a baby shower gift for a friend. We are going to try to buy locally or make as many gifts as possible this year. I have a couple simple sewing projects that I've been wanting to try and I think one would be perfect for a new baby.

+ Discretionary spending freeze. To kick off our savings Chris and I have a goal of no extra spending this month. There were a couple things we already had planned before coming up with this goal (out with dear friends visiting for the holidays, an art museum date with a friend) and we do have some gifts to buy. But everything else that isn't necessary can wait. I don't like to think of myself as a materialistic person but it does seem there is always something I feel that I need or want to buy. It's already been an exercise in restraint and patient just these few days of January!

Recurring monthly goals:

+ Spend 15 minutes each day on creative writing. This is any writing that's just for me. It could be blogging, writing in the boys' memory journal or working on an essay.

+ Make Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday evenings for work and leave Thursday and Friday open. As part of CHOOSING family and writing I want to get my work done for my podcasts and Copper Quail Style early in the week so that evenings later in the week are free. It's easy to put this work off to another night since timing is flexible but getting it done earlier will mean I can relax sooner.

+ Check Mint at least once each week. To CHOOSE savings I need to be mindful of every transaction and stick to my monthly personal allowance budget.

Happy January!