{it's a new year... almost}

Well, 2011 was a crazy year full of ups and downs. Luckily in my case, there were more ups: leaving the office for lobotoME and more time with my kids, celebrating their 3rd birthday and my 5 year anniversary. But I still had to face the downs: the fire, losing site of my fitness goals. This was our first full year as Baskin Robbins owners (opened December 2010), and the year I quit my corporate job and gave up a fixed salary. We've learned a lot, made a few mistakes, and while 2011 was a year of transitions, 2012 will be a year of growth.

I try not to focus on the past, except for the ways that I can learn from it. So, I'm trying to learn why I let my eating habits go without disparaging myself for doing it. I'm learning how to be a better business owner, not only of lobotoME, but also of my Beachbody business and our Baskin Robbins (especially since we hope to open location #2 soon!). I'm also constantly learning how to be a better mom. Especially since 3 is a fun age where my kids are little sponges!

Whether you believe in resolutions or not, I love the way a new year almost forces us to take a second and look back on our lives as well as looking forward. And there are so many ideas out there for resolutions, goals, etc that I want to try them all! I love this calendar, and this project. I also love these resolutions (but so much fish?? not a huge fan) and must do this.

With all that said, here are my 12 for 2012:

1. Read this everyday. I find this very intimidating, but my mom is reading it too. It will be nice to have someone to call if I want to talk about that day's reading.
2. Be more active in the day to day at our Baskin Robbins. As I've mentioned, we're hoping to open our second store soon, so it would be nice if I could contribute something. Scooping makes me nervous but surely I can handle some of the money stuff. I mean, I am a CPA.
3. Get back on the fitness track. I do have a weight loss goal, and it's a big one. It sounds huge to me, but it involves losing the weight I gained this year, plus a few more. Okay I'll tell you. I want to lose 20 pounds. And I want to lose the first 10 in 3 months. I'm starting a P90X/Turbo Fire hybrid in January that will last 3 months. I was hoping to start it on 1/1/12, but we're missing two P90X discs! Must call Beachbody to see about getting them replaced.
4. Take my kids to Disney World. Okay, this is cheating a little since our trip is already booked for February. They're vaguely aware of its existence, but have no idea we're going. I can't wait to see their little faces light up when they see the castle!!
5. Start volunteering again. I used to have a regular gig with Children's Art Project once a week in the evenings, but being a mom took over that time slot. I just don't want to force this because I want to find the right situation. I may wait till the fall when the kids move to PK4 and are there 5 days a week. Unless something finds me first.
6. Be more consistent with my meal planning. I make the meal plan, but allow myself to veer away. I may forget to defrost something, or lose track of time, or who knows what else. I think I'm just not confident in my cooking skills yet, so I make excuses. Maybe my Christmas gift will help?
7. Get our family cookbook printed. I was inspired by this post. My January goal is to get a preliminary outline put together and set up something in Google docs so everyone in my family can contribute recipes. I am a little worried that it will contain mostly baked goods...
8. Make our bedroom what I want it to be. This is mostly an organizational issue since somehow a huge pile of stuff has accumulated there. Most of it is stuff I can clear out, but there is a large safe waiting for our second Baskin Robbins. I'm also dying to put in some crown molding. I really want to paint it another color, but I doubt I can convince the hubs.
9. Open our second Baskin Robbins. Granted, this is mostly my husband's doing, but I consider it a family goal. We think we found our location, but the lease hasn't been signed. Hoping to have good news soon.
10. Organize my workspace. This is a constant battle because my husband thinks the desk is his too. I might need to convince him to move exclusively to his desk at our store. I might be in trouble if he reads this.
11. Start a debt payoff plan. We've had struggles as of late with giving up my salary, the fire, and all that. Once we open the second store (again, really hoping this works out!), we can really start to evaluate our finances and expected income. The fire did show us how much money we need to keep on hand in case our store is closed for an extended period. We're fully insured, but the insurance company has their own timeline on when they'll pay you, and it takes awhile for people to come back.
12. Launch new lobotoME products. I have a few ideas, but nothing to announce just yet. Hope to have some new stuff very soon!

What are your goals/resolutions/wants for 2012? If anyone is looking for a fitness accountability buddy, just let me know!

image from here

{hi}

Now that it's official, I just wanted to take a quick minute to say hi! I'm Jill and I'm the new owner of LobotoME! I'm so excited meet everyone and share my adventures as I ditch the corporate world for working from home, more time with my kids and maybe learning to cook??

First, allow me to tell you a little about myself. Yes, the two cuties above are my kids. They are three year-old twins Gabriel and Debra. They are all things sweet and difficult at the same time. I'm looking forward to introducing them to a less frazzled mommy who is not always running to work, late picking them up at daycare or shuffling them off to bed so I can open my laptop.

I also have a loving and supportive husband named Shawn. Together we own a Baskin Robbins and are preparing to open a second location. Our store was doing fantastic until we had a minor setback in the form of a small fire. Luckily, the damage is not as bad as the news makes it out, but we'll still probably be closed till October. Did I mention this happened the morning after I left my corporate job? Not the best timing!

In my spare time, I also run a Beachbody business. I love the idea of helping people reach their weightloss and fitness goals. I'm hoping that I'll be better equipped to this as I take more control of my schedule.

For now, I look forward to sharing my adventures as I learn to manage my time, build a successful home business or two, organize my house and take more control of the things that happen at home. Starting with... a meal plan for the week.

I know we all with Jenny the best of luck putting on races and enjoying life after LobotoME. I'm sure we'll be hearing from her soon!

As a final note, as the tenth anniversary of 9-11 is upon us, I can't help but worry about the time when my kids will start to ask about this tragedy or the subsequent war. I'm saving this post to help me know how to talk to them.

{ on my mind + menu }

1. very. very, very glad to have my husband home after he has been traveling for work for the past 2 weeks. i. do. not. know. how single parents or military families do it alone. so much respect for people who do it on their own. because it isn't for me people. ;)
2. friday night lights. just discovered it and love it. have watched EVERY episode. ;)
3. meal planning. this and this will be on the menu next week at our house via sheena of the little red house blog. ps. that's sheena's feed ME notepad featured above.
4. sam & henry both started their little summer camp programs last week 2x a week. will appreciate the time to get work done and hope they have fun!
5. did i mention i'm very glad to have my husband home?
6. pool time. everyday. i have the bag packed all the time by the front door. swimsuits, swim diapers, snacks, water bottles, towels. GO!
7. love this idea of a summer bucket list. want your own bucket list to fill out? go here.
8. i think this tshirt that says "master of disaster" has henry's name written all over it.
9. loved watching this.
10. thinking that my spice drawer needs an overhaul like this one. is it weird that i think about my spice drawer organization? ;)
11. came across this post from summer of 2007...it's so funny to see how different my momME weekly planner looks now (w/ 2 kids) than it did then. i can tell you for a fact that i am riding my bike a lot less. ;)
12. working on redoing the kids rooms (making henry's more of a toddler room and making samme's room more big girl-ish. all w/ furniture + artwork we have). i've got will's grandmother's vintage quilt that i can't wait to use in sam's room and henry's room we are doing a robot theme.
13. trying to get into a good rhythm round these parts for the summer...that obviously includes lots of pool time, but also down time and learning time. some great ideas here and here.
14. will post smoothie + juice recipes soon (many requests for these so i promise to get on it asap).
15. planning on putting the kids to bed early tonight and making margaritas and sitting out on the deck with my guy and catching up.

what's on your mind or menu these days? have a great weekend my friends!

image via in the little red house.

{ feed ME }

I've got a guest post today on the Daily Worth blog and e-newsletter on how to save time & money with meal planning. For those of you that haven't heard of Daily Worth it is a free daily personal finance email for women. They deliver practical tips, empowering ideas and the occasional kick in the pants. Their tips cover saving, spending, earning, investing, taxes, business, entrepreneurship, and more. To purchase the Feed ME weekly meal planner click here or visit a Container Store near you!
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