In Spanglish

Every New Year's Eve, Gerhard and I sit down and send a FutureMe to ourselves, to be delivered on the next New Year's Eve.

This has allowed us to plan and dream for what we want to accomplish, and when the year has ended, evaluate how did we do.

For 2014, we wanted to be settled down and have jobs that would make TONS of money. We bought our first house and we found jobs that allow us to pay the mortgage and live comfortably to some extent. We're grateful for that.

We also planned for getting fit. That didn't go all that well, because instead, we got pregnant! As you know, we welcomed our baby Sofia in September.

So this year, after a crazy 2014, our main goal is to try to make it as simple as we can. What does that mean? Well, essentially, this:

• We want to live within our means: We reviewed our budget and are trying to make a conscious effort to save money, spending less than we actually make. That means eating home more, keeping our one-car-only system and opting out of any kind of credit. Luckily, we don't have any debt.
• We want to -at least try- to get fit: I can't complain. I gave birth Sofia and immediately lost almost all the weight I gained during my pregnancy. But I still need to put some effort into losing those last pounds. We agreed in completing the C25K program and running at least to 5K this year. It might not be much, but hey, you gotta start somewhere, right? 
• I want to learn how to bake and sew: Gerhard got me a marvelous KitchenAid stand mixer for Christmas and my mom got me a sewing machine. This is important for me because I have like zero talent for any kind home-ish stuff. But now that I have Sofia and that we finally got to buy our own home, I would like to learn to bake my own birthday cakes and do my own clothes basic repairs. Sure it has to be doable without having to become the next Martha Stewart.
• I want to tackle the challenge of becoming a work-from-home mom: I have two jobs: I work for SciDev.Net and I'm also an entrepreneur, with my own Spanish-written news website for the Hispanic community of Knoxville. And I'm proud of it. But running a home office and having to take care of Sofia won't be easy.