2017 is my family’s year of attainable resolutions.
Our year started in Bend, Oregon at the base of Mt. Batchelor visiting family. It is an opposite world from Corpus Christi with snow banks that line the streets for the duration of winter. And it offers a very festive and fun way to ring in 2017. It was as low-key as kid inclusive New Year’s celebrations tend to be, and started with a super fun shopping trip that let the kids pick the appetizer, main meal, drinks and desert all on their own. 
My first 2017 resolution was to not do that again.
Our choices were plentiful and included foods like pigs in a blanket, cheese and crackers, chips and dip, french bread pizza, Gatorade, gummy bears, sour punch candy, brownies and chocolate cake. We added our own assortment of beverages. Bend is known for it’s amazing brews!
My second resolution was to spend every New Year from here forward on west coast time. The 9pm ball drop is the way to go!
Forgetting self improvement in favor of happiness resolutions
So, as we ate our feast, our family came up with our resolutions, which were different than in years past. This year, instead of making resolutions to improve ourselves, we resolved to find ways to be happy.
Still moderately new to the Coastal Bend area – under two years – I decided to start with meeting new people. Seems simple, but for me, once enmeshed in my day to day and week to week routine, I find it challenging to do different things outside of my norm.
As a family we also proposed a few resolutions including more family travel, finding a family volunteer opportunity, and cooking more meals at home (not my strong suit.) The monsters came up with super cute ideas like trying a new sport, eating a new food at least once a week, and the biggie – travel by air alone!
