Thrive

Happy New Year!!

It's officially the new year and I am pumped. 2016 was a rollercoaster for me and helped me realize that I really pushed myself and my blog to the side. Being a mother/stepmother is important but putting myself first is crucial to my success and emotional stability. My word for 2016 was GROW but honestly, I failed. So I thought long and hard about my word for 2017 and I came up with THRIVE!

THRIVE! My #OneWord for 2017! I want to thrive as a woman, a mother, a blogger and as a friend! 2016 has shown me that I need to put myself first in order to help others. What's your word for the new year? #Wordfor2017 #Happy2017 #Thrive

A photo posted by Ida Arias (@secondchancesgirl) on Jan 1, 2017 at 6:52am PST

Definition of thrive: to prosper or flourish

This is the motivation I need to come out of the mess that was 2016. I focused on being a super mom and not on me or my work. I suffered emotionally and my family suffered financially. I can't let this happen in 2017! I come first and this was hard for me to grasp. The more I thought about it, the more sense it made. If I struggle, I can't focus on caring for anyone else. My kids are older, they do not need me around them 24/7. It is not wrong to take time for myself and to care for myself.

There, I threw it out into the universe! For 2017, I plan on thriving! I have taken the first steps: I locked myself in my room and am blogging (something I haven't purposely done in months). I am also planning on going for a walk. I spent the last two days purging and cleaning my home! I ironed all our clothes so we look sharp! I'm motivated people!!

Expect a lot from me in 2017. I am planning and making a big effort in getting my life together. I deserve more out of life and so does my family! Besides, I have a wedding and honeymoon to pay for!!!

2017 is my year!!!

Grow!

Happy New Year!! It took me a few days to get it together and gather my thoughts, but I'm back. I'm back and ready to take on 2016 full-force. I have lots of big plans and goals but first, I want to share my word for 2016:

GROW

2016 is going to be all about growth for me, personally and professionally! If you remember, my word for 2015 was believe. Setting a word of the year instead of impossible resolutions really kept me motivated. I believed in myself and had an unbelievable year full of learning, experiences and family. 

For 2016, I want to GROW!

Grow as a mother. 

Grow as a step-mother.

Grow as a writer.

Grow as a friend.

Grow as a partner.

Grow as a woman. 

Grow as a humanitarian.

I feel like we never stop growing and learning. I am ready, motivated and open to grow in 2016!

Do you do a word of the year? I had great success last year with believe and after I received these beautiful flowers from ProFlowers, I knew what I needed in 2016 was to grow!

I received this flower arrangement from ProFlowers. All opinions are mine alone. 

2015 Resolutions & Word of the Year

I've been back and forth on whether to do resolutions or a word of the year for a couple weeks now. I like making resolutions. Sure I don't always get to all of them but I like having a list to look at throughout the year of stuff I want to do. I've never had a word of the year and have seen posts all over the blog o'sphere for them so I wanted to try that out too. Since it has been so hard for me to pick, I decided to do both!! I'm going to share them with you here on the blog for two reasons: 1)they are written down so it helps me remember and 2) so you can hold me accountable if you see me straying a bit.

1. Get in shape. 

I need to lose about 15 minutes and gain some muscle. These back rolls and flabby arms just aren't attractive! I also will be tracking this on my blog on a monthly feature so look for the first one soon!

2. Grow my blog.

 I will be dedicating more time to my blog, more posting, responding to comments, reading other's posts and commenting.

3. Travel for my blog. 

I want to go to a conference outside of Miami and meet bloggy friends in person!

4. Be a more understanding parent. 

This is a hard one. My son is currently in a tough phase where he thinks he is an adult and I can lose my temper quickly with him. I want to be more understanding with him and let him be a kid!

5. Go on 2 family vacations!

I already paid off the Disney Cruise in May and I want to start planning a ski vacation for end of the year! Oh and maybe a stop in Disney in the summer! 

6. Help others

I started with a complete purge of items and clothing on Dec 31st but I really want to focus on helping others. We have way too much when others have none. I also want to get my kids more involved in volunteering now that they are older!

My word for 2015 is BELIEVE!! 

I will believe in myself and all that I am capable of. I will believe that I am a good parent. I believe in the importance of helping others and vow to do more of it this year! I believe that this will be my best year yet!

So now that I shared mine, tell me did you make any resolutions or pick a word of the year?