january: vitality

I decided to start january off with vitality... (basically a fancier word for exercise, health, energy, etc...) I figured if i'm going to commit to this project for one whole year, i will need to start the year off with a healthy jump start.

exercise 6 times a week for 20-30 minutes
some of you may already do this, and it's nothing new, but for me, i'll have to make a conscious effort to get some physical exercise in almost every single day. and no, I will not count my little 3 mile commute to work on my bike.... :(

take vitamins daily
if i don't make it something i must do, i get pretty lazy with it.

go to bed earlier ... translation: less tv, and more reading!
this one is like a domino effect. i think, well hope, it will help lay the groundwork for my others. i figure if i watch less TV**, that will make me want to go lay in bed and read. and to piggyback this rule, no more cell phones in bed! jake and i have never been too focused on those things, but since we both got iphones, it's quite easy to get into bed and scroll through facebook. before you know it, like an hour has gone by and you catch yourself looking at someone's pictures, and it's completely irrelevant. i've began to have a love/hate relationship with facebook. i want to use it to keep in touch, but i'm finding it more and more of a time consumer and a negative thing. so i'm going to work on that -- in april. what?!.. one thing at a time here! :)

** the only sidenote i'll set for myself here is a pass to watch my favorite shows: "how i met your mother", "modern family", "glee" (if i'm feelin' it) and i reserve the right to add one more show to this list if i feel so inclined :)  the trick, we've learned, is to only turn the tv on 5 minutes before the show. and try to turn it off as soon as it ends... if not, you just get sucked in!

stretch in the morning
very important to get the day started right! and i can't afford to continue to go to the chiropractor, so this is the cheaper way to keep the body flexible and aligned!

eat breakfast
guilty. i never eat breakfast. i have coffee first thing in the morning, as part of my AM routine, and then i typically don't eat until 10am or so, in front of my desk at work. i'm pretty sure it would help me have a better start to my morning if i just took a few minutes to eat breakfast!

straighten up before going to bed
i thought this was interesting. i tried this a while back and found it useful. i'm the type of person who doesn't like clutter, or things out of place. borderline OCD... but who's judging, right? definitely not random people on the internet.... anyways, so i found that if i straighten up the house, like make sure the dishes are done, the blanket is folded on the couch, the shoes are in the bedroom... it makes for a smoother morning when I wake up. because i'm the type of person who will be late to work every time because i got sidetracked doing things that didn't HAVE to be done.. doing these things the night before is one less thing to distract me in the morning!

and last but not least.... 
in my happiness project, i had to ask myself, what do i really enjoy doing? crafts and projects! i love making things! it makes me feel productive, creative, and is just plain fun. so, i put a twist on my happiness project and decided that each month i will work on a craft/project. So january's project is to complete my "2012 year in review" photobook. i make one every year on Shutterfly. nowadays we keep all these great photos on our computers and phones, and they just sit there. so now i have a way that i can summarize our year, and include funny captions and stories. it's quite time consuming, but i think its worth it.

i've created these monthly checklists to keep me stickin to it! and we're off....!!!  :)

Happiness Project - January by alyshamaryc