Goodbye 2012, Hello 2013!

2012 was the year of change for this family (all of our incredible changes were unplanned).  Our lives are so much different from the beginning of 2012, compared to the beginning of 2013. I can honestly say I have never made a New Year's resolution. OK, maybe I have. None that I can remember though, and certainly none that I've kept. I can not tell you how grateful I am for 2012 and what it brought to our family. So many good things happened to me, and this family over the past year that has changed us forever. One of the best things that happened was in May, when we became vegan. With the exception of some cheese in our holiday food (grandma made meatless lasagna for us on Christmas, but it had cheese and maybe I had some nachos with friends. Reaction to this cheese was a swollen tongue. Lesson learned)  I can say I've been a pretty good vegan. I've even changed my beauty products over to products that have no animal ingredients and do not test on animals. Amare's shampoo/body wash and conditioner are also vegan. The only non-vegan thing I use is my make-up brush, which I've had for seven years. I don't want to just throw it away and get a synthetic one, but I wouldn't buy another one either (I kind of feel bad every time I use it just so you know).  I am extremely proud of this for so many reasons. Never in my life would I have thought I would be vegan and an animal rights activist.

During 2012 I've decided to learn more about the world around me. I've never in my life watched so many documentaries, read so many good books, and came across so many  informative articles. The best part, in my opinion, is that I became a blogger. I'd been following blogs since March 2012 and I am really into it. I finally got up the nerve to start a blog of my own in July 2012, and I love it! I have met and connected with so many awesome women, who inspire me to further my lifestyle, to know more, to do more for me, my family, mother earth, others, and animals. I finally feel positive that I am on the right path.

I am not sure I have a New Year's resolution for 2013. I am leaning more towards new year goals. Some goals this family has for 2013 is:

Clean up our eating. More raw food and I plan to juice more. Challenge: to get Damien to make better food choices. I can't blame him because for 10 years of his life no one was concerned about the food he ate. All of a sudden I became overly concerned. Checking labels, educating him, cooking him as many meals as I can. I want him to want to be healthy and to pick up healthy habits 

Finish education. Andrew will be done with school in December 2013. I am proud of him for going back to school. This was not easy because he had to find a job working nights, and go to school during the day. Working nights is not for the faint of heart. He adjusted well, and is looking forward to his next semester.

Fine tune the budget. I am responsible for taking care of the budget for the family. To be honest, we really don't have a budget that clearly states how much will be spent on what. I buy what the family needs and pay the bills. Our food is the most costly expense we have. It would nice to get a budget into place.

Get more serious about my photography passion. I truly would love to take my passion to the next level. I try to take pictures as often as I can. I am learning everything I can about my camera. I am currently looking for an online photography course I can take.

Get more serious about my blogging. I am new to blogging, (started in July) and I would like to get more serious with it. I am not entirely sure what that means right now, but I would like to put more energy into my blogging in this upcoming year.

Start homeschooling Amar'e. She will be two in March and I would like to start doing some sort of structured learning session everyday. I will have to look into how I can go about this. If there are any homeschooling mamas reading this blog, I would love some advice on the subject!


I find myself being inspired almost everyday. I know that new goals will come up at different times during the year, but these are at the top of my list as of now.

Happy New Year my friends!

xoxo

We would totally ♥ it if you gave us a teeny, tiny, little, itty, bitty vote :)