Chores.

We're a week in to the new year. Aside from the minor frustration of writing 2014 instead of 2015 on things (this is where I am very thankful I'm no longer in school, as homework assignments and tests provide too many opportunities to mess up), we've been reminded at how difficult it is to keep up with chores without the absolute authority of parents to tell us what to do.

To be fair, we were actually going pretty good at the beginning of the week, as most people are with things they just start. What's sad to me is that we rarely can keep anything new going for more than a couple of days. BUT, we haven't given up, and we try to continue to do things as we remember or are able to.

We already planned to have to make adjustments to our "resolutions." So I'm actually not too discouraged.

So far this week, I've only cooked twice. Sunday we went out to dinner with Yubo's parents, which is usual. I wanted to plan something on Sunday nights anyway just in case. Monday, I made my classic scrambled eggs with rice and soy sauce. Yubo made the rice; I was so proud of him. I also made the mini chicken pot pies I had planned for Sunday. Tuesday was ill-planned; I was tired and starving after work, and simply didn't want to cook, so I picked up some fast food on the way home. The planned fried rice got bumped up to last night. I ended up not liking it, so Yubo has some leftover for lunch and dinner today. I'll be out late, so I'll have to figure out food for myself -- probably bologna sandwiches.

In any case, we've still saved quite a bit of money this week by eating at home. Cereal for breakfast, and leftovers or sandwiches for lunch. At least for me.... I have no idea what Yubo's been eating these past few days.

As far as the chores go, I'm realizing just how tired and unmotivated I am when I get home from work, so I'll have to rethink the schedule. I was trying to not have to do all the big things in one day, but I'm thinking that's what's going to have to happen. And we'll have to make further adjustments as Yubo's work gets into full swing. He just left for his first job a little while ago. The other thing was that I was hoping to wake up much earlier to tackle some chores before work, but Yubo's been fighting me again with going to bed so late.

Ugh. Sleep. That should be a "Struggles..." entry.

Happy New Year!

Man, it sure is easy for this blogging thing to get away from you. I guess it's a bit difficult when everyday life is just everyday life. I know 2014 was difficult for several people. It was for us. And I know often in life, you get those times when you just don't really want to talk about it anymore. Although I'll usually come back to this for big events or something that weighs heavy in my heart, I feel like I spent most of 2014 absorbed in life, and trying to absorb myself in things to help me take a break from life.

Anyway, we've thought up some things that we'd like to try this year.

Actually, it was just me. I told Yubo, "I want to be a proper housewife!"

"Uh.... ok," was his lackluster response.

Basically, as I was sitting here at my laptop, looking around our living room, I decided that I'm tired of living like college students. Of course, now that I'm older and a bit wiser (read lazy), I'm not going to try to do a huge overhaul.

I told Yubo that I wanted to maintain a proper household, but I would need his help. These aren't things that are new to us -- we've tried before. But I think this time I won't have such ambitious expectations; rather, I'm trying to approach this change in lifestyle more realistically.

Firstly, we brought back a daily/weekly chore list. With both of us working part-time, I think this will be more manageable than when Yubo was working 60+ hours a week, and I was miserable and unmotivated at home. We're a couple days into the test week, and although some things have slipped already (mostly due to holiday things), it seems what we have might work out for us. Of course, we'll see when I start work again and Yubo starts the new semester along with new work.

Secondly, I'm going to try meal planning again. I've planned dinners for the next two weeks. My goal is to continue on no matter how many times I might drop a night.

And that's really it so far. As we get going, and get a better idea of what our schedules will be like, I'd like to bring back date nights.

Finally, for me, I've found myself waking up naturally around 8:15-8:30am. However, I would just stay in bed and fall back asleep for another couple of hours. I would like to bring myself to getting out of bed and doing things as soon as I wake up, like making breakfast or working out (I'm laughing inside at myself for that last bit). In any case, I want to try to do things to keep me moving and energized, because it's been so cold lately that I haven't wanted to do anything.

In other things, people are getting engaged, married, and having babies. I still find myself lacking in any desire to have children. When I do think about it, only two reasons come to mind: 1) for my parents, and 2) to force Yubo to quit smoking. And I can't help but feel that those are two very inadequate reasons to bring a baby into this world. I mean, sure, they can be reasons, but not the sole reasons... and right now, that's all I've got. And in any case, I still stand by my belief that if God wants us to have children, He will make it happen.

In other other things, I've been entertaining the idea of writing creatively again. But you know... that lack of motivation... and not wanting to pull myself in too many different directions. I think it'll always be in the back of my mind, and we'll see if I ever do anything about it.

So that's where we're starting 2015. Not especially good, but also not particularly bad. And I think that's perfectly ok.