Not to be confused with new year resolutions (bit late for those) , I took a long hard look at myself and the life I lived in 2017 and I've set myself a pretty big list of goals to achieve in 2018. I wanted to share them here so it makes me feel more accountable and so I can track them as the year goes on.

2018 is a huge year for us as a family because E started prep - I know, PREP! And this means we are going to have more to juggle, more to organise so I really want to be the best possible mum I can this year and get the most out of the journey ahead for us all.

Stay tuned, its a long one:


Personal

Pray more and worry less - I don't want to waste minutes and hours on things that may never happen so I'm going let go of the outcomes I can't control and not waste my time.

Say yes and be slow to anger - I notice when we are all rushing and so busy and especially during the last part of the year when we are all tired out, I'm quick to shoot things down because they just seem too hard or like too much effort  or I snap instead of pausing to gain patience. Is it really the end of the world if we leave the washing on Saturday's to go to the beach instead or if the boys stay up an extra 5 minutes for a dance party?

Less phone/social media time - one I'm sure we all relate to. My phone time got especially excessive in Oct/Nov when the Queensland election campaign was called. In fairness, it was my job to be on and available 24/7 but once it was over, I found it hard to break the habit and put my phone down. This year I'm going to save as much of the screen time as possible till when the boys are sleeping and only allow myself a short time at night without encroaching on time to catch-up with S.

Beauty time - I rarely spent anytime in 2017 painting my nails or having mini spa sessions with face masks and treatments. This year instead of spending time on my phone, I'm going to spend time on me and my skin - I'm not getting any younger so its probably a good idea.

Reading - I love to read and devour books by my favourite authors in one sitting (I read Gone with the Wind in 6 hours as a teen) but this year I think I managed 2 books in 12 months. I find reading so relaxing and therapeutic so I need to make time for it. This year I'm going to read at least 1 book per month and I'll do a post on a few I've picked so far for my list.

Blogging - I love blogging but I've kind of lost my mojo as its become such a big business industry now and I'm guilty of comparing myself to those who blog as a job ... this is purely a fun creative outlet for me but I often don't hit publish on a post because I feel like my photos aren't right or slick enough etc. I need to push those thoughts away and remind myself that I do this for me ... and because I like interacting with like-minded people out there.

Holidays - After 2 overseas trips with the boys in 2 years, I really want to do more with them. Yes they are exhausting but I want to make memories and show them the world while they are young (and actually want to holiday with us). Time goes way too fast and I don't want to miss the opportunities to see different places through their eyes.



House

Finances - organise our finances better to make sure they are working at their best for us and our needs. A quick search found we can very easily get a significantly better rate on our mortgage so I'm going to spend some time checking all of our services and products to get the best deals and save money.

Backyard - as far as house goes, there are a million small (and big) jobs to do but this year we want to landscape our backyard now S has almost cleared it to a blank canvas. But in even bigger (and more exciting) goals, we want to put a pool in over Winter. I've already started getting quotes and fingers crossed we can get the go ahead in April.


Health & Fitness

Drink more water - I really do need to remind myself of this because when I do, I feel so much better. I've started drinking 1 litre first thing in the morning for around 2 weeks now and I'm already noticing a difference in my skin as well as feeling less bloated.

Eat more whole foods - we eat quite well (the boys eat extremely well) but S and I don't eat as many whole foods as I think we need to. We both love vegetables and salads but are guilty of not eating much fruit despite chopping up mountains of it a day for the boys. We I also want to eat more pulse and legume based meals, simply because I don't particularly like the taste of red meat for the most part, its cheaper and better for us.

Go to bed earlier - I'm a night owl, I could sit up till 1am watching tv or on social media most nights and then get up at 6:30/7am and function. It does take its toll eventually though and it does affect my motivation, attitude and all round well-being.

Exercise - it makes me happier and I feel better, stronger and more confident. Its hard to motivate somedays but I'm aiming for a minimum or 4 workouts a week - a combination of walking/running and Kayla Itsines Sweat workouts.

After our Tokyo area, Japan family holiday last year, it really woke me up to how much I miss travelling (we I haven't been overseas since E was born in 2012) and what a short time with have with our boys to see other parts of the World through their eyes and make those precious memories.

While there were plenty of exhausting and tricky moments, the experiences we shared and the sights we saw were that much more memorable for having the boys with us. We saw sights we've seen on past trips to Japan that seemed so much different with E & C by our sides exclaiming and pointing ... a simple metro trip had us engaging with Japanese commuters as our boys engaged with their young children - lots of smiles and nodding.
Godzilla over the buildings in Shinjuku was the biggest deal and incited long tales from Ethan about dinosaurs living in Japan hiding among the tall buildings ... magic. The boys also got to make new friends with some of our old Japanese friends and I loved watching them learn from the different customs and mannerisms.

The trip put a few things into perspective for us. We bought a renovator house 2 and a bit years ago that needs a lot of work. We've done a lot of work and continue to, think new bathroom and laundry, painting, landscaping ... but it needs a new kitchen, I hate the tiles and we want a new patio just to name a few items. It all adds up to money and all our spare $$$ go into its improvement.

While we want to continue to tackle the items we can do ourselves or with family like painting and gardening and odd jobs, for the next few years,  we want to save whatever we can not to replace the kitchen etc but to spend on travelling with our boys and making more of these magical memories for our family to share. We won't appreciate a kitchen in 30 years time as much as we will be grateful for these experiences.

We have a Pacific Seas cruise booked for August this year and I am looking forward to the relaxing family break that is cruising. I'm also excited for us to get a very small taste of Island life with the cruise taking in Noumea, Vanuatu and Lifou. We plan on skipping the shore tours and spending some time exploring with the other family we are travelling with as S and I have visited these places previously. A great chance for the boys to get a very small glimpse of the culture and lifestyle that is so different to their own.

Beyond our cruise, I think the boys will be old enough to venture a little further afield (read we are more game to fly with them) and we are in the process of locking down a trip to America in 2019 - June/July or September. My parents would like our whole family to spend a week in Hawaii for my dad's 60th and we figure you can't go to the USA and not visit Disneyland! So the plan is to tack a week on to Hawaii either before or after with my siblings and our families to go to DL. And not just for the children ... S is possibly more excited as Star Wars land/world is scheduled for opening in 2019. I visited DL almost 10 years ago, its still one of my favourite trips ever and I can't wait to share the Disney magic with my little and greater family.

We are also busy planning another trip back to Japan - our fourth, the boys second. Its just too amazing a destination not to visit over and over with so much to see and do each time. We have been 3 times and there is still so much we haven't even done yet and the beauty of the people and the scenery just keeps calling us back. Plus Jetstar offers such good flights and deals that its a cheaper holiday than going most places in Australia.
We would love to visit in Nov 2018 although it may be a little close finance wise to our USA trip so I am looking at April 2020 too - just before the Olympics.
As the boys will be a little older, we want to take them South this time down to Osaka and take in the historic areas of Kyoto, Nara, Hiroshima and Fukuoka - a seaside town I only recently discovered but am committed to visiting as its one of the most stunning places I've ever seen in print.

We also want to do some short visits to Sydney and Melbourne and probably another 7 day cruise somewhere in the next three to four years ... ambitious and expensive but pushing our renovations back for these experiences will be well worth it in the long run and we can't wait to get adventuring with our boys.

Any great family friendly places we should get on our 5 year plan list?

Quick and easy being very much the key in our menu planning of course, it became a bit dull and uninspiring for awhile so in the interests of getting motivated to cook again, I hit up Pinterest.

I have something like 67 boards with a hundred pins each including a quite comprehensive 'Ready Steady Cook' board of recipes that I've never actually cooked from so I decided to  start giving them ago.

One of my absolute favourites so far would have to be the mushroom, rocket and walnut pesto pan fried gnocchi. Completely delicious and pretty simple too thanks to the Thermi.

I also tried out this Mongolian slow cooker beef served with fried rice. It was super easy and tasty plus handy for leftovers for lunches.
Ideal for a Sunday dinner as you can set it and forget.

... well, barely.

The flight there was the worst I'd say. We departed at 10:30am and landed after 8-9 hours in Narita just outside Tokyo at 6:30pm with a one hour time difference.

We got to the airport early (I would always do this with children so you have plenty of time for any surprises) and spent lots of time walking around exploring, watching the planes land and take off etc.

They both slept well thankfully and E was fine by morning much to our relief.


The flight home was an overnight one, leaving at 8:30pm and arriving home at 6:30am.
This is the one that had me worrying the most because the good thing about day flights is that people don't NEED to sleep apart from to kill time so if your children do act up, its really not the end of the world. A screaming toddler at 3am on the other hand is hideous for everyone.

We set off for the airport early and lucky we did as check in and immigration/screening took forever ... we had just 30 minutes before our plane boarded by the time we got to the gate.
At the gate, we changed the boys into pjs (Bonds zippies are ideal for travelling) and encouraged the boys to run around and pretend to be different animals, do little jump skip hop obstacle courses etc - anything to tire them out.

Again, we waited to board last and I highly recommend this if you are flying with kids - minimise your time on that plane!

Once seated, things looked grim for the flight ahead with CB ... he was overtired and not happy to  be on the plane. He spent the first 90 minutes carrying on and pushing boundaries while E watched a movie. Then suddenly, he took himself to the floor, grabbed his bunny and blankie, and WENT TO SLEEP! I couldn't believe it. E was out too and while I tried to rest, even managing a few fitful hours, every time one of them moved, I stopped breathing, terrified they would wake.
I finally relaxed when there was an hour and a half till landing - I realised we were going to make it unscathed without everyone on the flight hating us.
As it was, the boys slept right up until we were making the descent, so 45 minutes before landing. I seriously couldn't believe how lucky I was, a dream come true.
The flight home was a breeze, especially compared to the trip there.



What worked from my carry-on
If you've been following along, I packed a pretty extensive carry-on and there were a few things that worked really well with the boys.

• triangular crayons (they don't roll off the table) and small colouring books
• snacks, lots and lots of snacks ... try to go easy on the sugary ones but the biggest hits were Shapes biscuits, mini Oreos, pre-cooked Barilla tortellini, blueberries/grapes/strawbs/mandarin segments, le snacs, fruit cereal bars, yoghurt squeezies (frozen prior) and lollipops for take-off and landing
• mini Star Wars micro machine playset - kept E busy for hours
• Blind bags - Thomas mini's, The Good Dinosaur, Mash-Ems ... I had a few of these and they definitely entertained 
• Blankie & bunny - both boys used these as comforters 
• Large ziplock bags and  2 packs of wipes - story above, enough said
• Ipads, wireless hardrive and kids headphones - we loaded the hardrive up with the boys shows and movies plus a few they haven't seen 
• plasticine - CB loved this stuff and spent a good ten minutes at a time playing with it
• The fruit pouches - a must! Flying can play with bowel movements and I think these really helped the boys (take a few to have once at your destination also - CB really needed them).

Spring is pretty much the best time of the year on the Gold Coast, the weather is beautiful and clear without being too hot and humid so its the perfect time to get out and about.

We're almost a month down for Spring and we're away for 2 weeks in November so I'm not leaving myself much time to complete a Spring bucket list but here goes nothing:

1. Get to the beach - to swim, to play and just enjoy it. We live only 15 mins from some of the World's best beaches but we just don't seem to get there much. Not sure if the sand puts me off - through the car, the house and every crevice in between, or the amount of gear we have to lug along or if its just the thought of chasing a screeching CB across hot sand trying to apply sunscreen. Anyway, we need to get to the beach.

2. Halloween. We've never really done anything to celebrate the holiday/season/whatever it is but I do love (obsessed with) the movie, Hocus Pocus, and the boys love a good dressup so I want to try and get a couple of girlfriends and their children (and husbands - to watch the kids) together for a Halloween party. A good excuse to actually make some of the grown up drinks I keep pinning on Pinterest - for the adults only of course.

3. Spring clean! It wouldn't be a Spring bucket list without this one. I'm talking architraves, skirting boards, windows including screens and tracks, wardrobe culls, the roof and guttering, wash the lounge covers, replace the lounge room curtains and sort out our garage which has become a dumping ground for the masses of trucks and ride ons the boys have accumulated.

4. Seaworld. We have passes to all the theme parks, we just never seem to make it to Seaworld despite it being a favourite. Probably because its a total PITA to get to thanks to nightmarish traffic conditions around the area. That aside, its on the list and we need to get there as the boys love seeing the Ninja Turtles and the marine animals.

5. Buy fresh flowers weekly to enjoy more often - no need for a special occasion.

6. Picnics, lots of picnics and fish and chips in the park at dusk.

7. BBQs with friends. We love to entertain, we just have to be better at actually organising events.

8. Fly a kite. We've never done this with the boys - although we must have intended to as we have 2 kites floating around somewhere.

9. Go to an outdoor movie / open air cinema. There are a few locally so I'll have to find a date and get on it.

10. Feed the ducks - but first I'll need to find a pond with ducks ... or maybe not, they're aggressive creatures and scare me - maybe I can find a pond and send S with the boys?

11. Plant a vegetable garden ... might be one to assign to the green thumb father in law as I'm not known for my ability to keep plants living. I'm an accomplished plant murderer sadly, I even killed a succulent in less than 2 weeks - still trying to figure out how.

12. Bubbles, ice blocks and water play in the yard - the boys favourite things.

13. Camp out in the yard with the boys. E would love this adventure.

14. Take as many pictures as I can, and especially of the boys and I - I want photos they can look back on that actually have me in them.

15. Go on local adventures to new places - farms, new places to eat, find different parks, places to swim.

Wish us/me luck!