2012 Goals and Resolutions

With each new year that comes, Mary and I always like to set a few goals and resolutions together amidst any personal ambitions we also hope to achieve. Over the past several years since initially watching the documentary film, Food Inc. (we gave a copy of the film away we loved it so much), our New Year's resolutions have primarily surrounded eating organic, local, less processed, and more sustainable foods when possible. We've not tried to be perfect, but tried to make conscious and better choices more often then not.

Last year Mary and I took on a vegan diet for the first 12 days into 2011. While our goals were never to obtain a fully vegan lifestyle, we did learn a lot from the challenge and are proud to say we still incorporate many of the food choices we made during that time into our regular diets. If interested, take a look back at my 2011 resolutions here and Mary's past resolutions here. When it comes to food, we're still actively learning, but feel we are finally getting to a more sustainable way of eating that works well for us — enough so that we are ready to branch out into additional challenges both food related and not.

Our 2012 Goals and Resolutions:

1. Urban Gardening. While I've dreamed of owning a home where I don't have to mow the grass, this also dramatically cuts down on the square footage we have for a large garden — which is something that's become incredibly important to us. One of our biggest goals this year will be in learning best practices for urban gardening, making use of vertical and small spaces, edible landscaping, and putting those learnings into practice!

2. Working with Basil. Continue to be patient with Basil's separation anxiety and actively work towards finding solutions for the long term instead of always resorting to falling back on doggie day care or bringing him along in the car. Learn more about Basil's separation anxiety here and attempts we've made here. We have high hopes for this new home and have been taking small steps in order to be able to leave Basil alone for short periods of time without causing him anxiety. We're looking forward to sharing more about the little accomplishments we've made and hope to improve upon this year.

3. Blogging. Since beginning this collaborative blog back at the end of July, 2011, we've enjoyed being able to look back over time and see all the things we've taken on, accomplished, and documented. While it can be easy to get overwhelmed with all of our regular responsibilities, we find it important to ourselves to continue to take the time to put down the things we know we'll enjoy reminiscing about down the pike.

4. Staying Grounded. With a new house to work on, another house to get in shape, a wedding to plan, and everything else going on, we'd like to remind ourselves to take it one day at a time and appreciate the small things each day has to offer.

We're looking forward to sharing our successes and failures this year and would love to hear what your hopes, goals, and resolutions are wherever you might be this new year!