in the next year...

I am stealing this idea from my friend Kaytee's blog: list 25 things you want to accomplish in the next calendar year! It's a great idea since I have gone through so many life changes this year, I can aspire to make the next equally as amazing!

1. Spend a vacation alone with my hubby! Being a parent is very fulfilling but we both know that we need to make time to spend with each other sans baby!

2. Begin practicing again. It has been a while due to the wedding then pregnancy. I got back to the practice room this past week and I have a lot to work on. Having a baby really changes your support not to mention taking a long break did not improve my vocal fitness.

3. Take a CPR certification class. I have done this in the past and am confident I still remember what I was taught but there have been significant changes in some of these life-saving practices AND you are supposed to get re-licensed every couple of years. It has been over ten years since I took it so it is definitely time!

4. Bring Cailin to the Children's Museum! She is a bit young now, but within the year she will be old enough! I LOVED going here when I was a kid!

5. Improve my eating habits. Lets be real here, I never really eat sweets or snack foods and I do eat a good amount of fruit and whole grains. Here is what I want to do: increase the amount of veggies I eat and increase my snacking. I would like to eat a small snack between each meal and make my meals a bit smaller.

6. Be a good mommy to my beautiful girl Cailin! This will be an everyday goal of mine for the rest of my life, and my most important! Being a mom is great and relatively easy thus far but I know that in the future I will eventually face hard decisions where the easy answer isn't always the best. Cailin is my number one priority and I need to make the best choices for her, even when they aren't the easiest!

7. Get Cailin to sleep in her crib. Without the bouncy seat. This would be one of those hard things to do that I know I need to make happen.

8. Last year I had two private students and one school student make it into districts. This year I will not be teaching at NMA but I will still be at Billerica. My goal is to increase all of my students scores and have at least 3 get into districts.

9. Get into a fitness routine. I was going to the gym at least 4 times per week up until 2 months before the wedding. Then I got really busy with the wedding planning and work. I NEED to start going to the gym everyday again. I love the feeling after a great workout!

10. Take a family vacation! I would love to bring Cailin somewhere kid friendly. She is still a bit young now, but maybe during April vacation or the beginning of summer vacation next year we can bring her somewhere! Camping?

11. Go to a Bruins AND a Celtics game. I have never been to a hockey game and I havent been to a Celtics game in YEARS!

12. Start the home buying process. We aren't quite ready to buy a house but we are ready to make more money. We are looking into buying a triple decker in the area, and renting out the top two apartments and living in the bottom floor. This way we have an ideal apartment and we can live virtually rent free. Then we can buy our own home!

13. Enroll Cailin in music class for when she turns 1. Being a musician and a teacher, I know the benefits of children being musical. Cailin will still be too young for piano lessons but a baby music class will be great! Dalcroze? Who knows!

14. Baby swim lessons! I had swim lessons at a very young age and LOVED it! Cailin loves the water already PLUS I think its a good idea to teach children how to swim at a young age. The local Y offers a baby class and it would be lots of fun!

15. Attend another PETA demonstration. Judge all you want, but I love animals and hate people who hurt them!

16. Register for a music class. (Possibly Orff)

17. Begin the first phase of a new music association. (Already sort of in the works, deets later)

18. Make our own sushi.

19. Make a batch of wine to give out as Christmas gifts (as long as it doesnt taste terrible)

20. Start consigning my clothes and Cailins. I go through a lot of clothes, and lets face it, I LOVE clothes. I have so much that I don't wear for various reasons. Like my maternity clothes, they are all newish and I probably won't wear them again even when  am pregnant for the 2nd time. I know I will want new clothes. Cailin outgrows her clothes in a matter of weeks so...

21. Visit Tina more often. Last October I had to give my cat Tina away. It broke my heart and still does. She was peeing in the house and I was pregnant. I loved that cat more than a human should love an animal. I got her near Halloween in 4th grade from an older couple in the neighborhood. She was one of two kittens and I chose her because she was the calm one of the two. Well, they reversed roles at some point. Tina was more active at 17 than Dan's cats are at 5. She was so full of life! She was my best friend! We survived middle school, break ups with boyfriends, deaths in the family, and moving from house to house. I really miss her!

22. Throw Cailin an amazing 1st birthday party!

23. Rent a cabin for a romantic weekend in Maine.

24. Continue to strive to be the best music teacher and mentor I can be.

25. Live life in the moment! Don't be afraid to be involved 100% because if you aren't, at some point you will realize you let life pass you by.