my word...

last week Ali Edwards posed the challenge of using a "word" to define yourself for the year. I thought about it for awhile, looked at all the words listed on her blog and couldn't really come up with a word that worked for me. Yesterday it came to me ... reduce. I know it's not a powerful cool sounding word but it really encompasses what I want for this year. There are so many things I want to reduce this year so this will be my mantra. reduce..less is more.
I spend so much time getting rid of stuff in our house just to turn around and load it up with new stuff. vicious cycle. so the short list is:

- reduce the "stuff" that comes into our house ( think twice about any purchases I make, do I absolutely love it or need it)

- reduce the negative stuff in my life ( maintain a positive attitude no matter what is put in front of me) yesterday I stepped in a giant puddle getting into my car leaving Costco and using my new attitude I thought "isn't that great that this happened when I was leaving so I can drive right home and change my socks. maybe this sounds unauthentic to some people but for me it really works - not just on the little stuff too!

- reduce the impact our family has on the environment. (recycle more, walk more, etc)

- reduce my waistline

- reduce Aiden's tv watching and actively engage him in projects each day ( tv time has crept into his life since Amelia was born and some days it's scary how much tv he watches - there I did it bad mom confession!) actually with my new attitude I would think "I'm really glad I have identified this problem and now I can work on solving it"

- reducing the time wasters in my life (the computer so I think it's time to get off!)