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New Year’s Resolutions Linky

I don’t know about you but every year, I have hope that this will be my year and my life will change dramatically.   Well, no dramatic change has happened but slowly with hard work, I have made my life better.  I am out of debt, I have stuck to a healthy weight,  I have a successful online business, I have a cause I am passionate about (animal rescue), I have emotionally healthy friendships, I have a fabulous online support system (thank you for all your feedback), and I have a great relationship with my family.    Despite all that I still don’t “have it all.”  Most of you out there do.  You have someone to share your life with.  Someone to go on vacation with, go to the movies with, attend family functions, take out the trash, go car shopping,  go to the hardware store (I am not a fan), enjoy victories, give you support, and well the list goes on and on.   Every year, I wish to meet the ONE and get married and live a socially conventional life.  I know marriage isn’t easy, but I do hope that those of you who have the ONE in your life are grateful.  I have tried the online dating thing and being set up. I am not a fan.  The online dating just makes me feel bad about myself. Just because I am 36 and single does not mean that my only requirement is for the other person to have a pulse.  There has to be some connection.  Someone twice my age, someone who writes their profile like they are writing a text message to a 14 year old girl,  or has a face tattoo, is not my particular cup of tea!  I want meeting someone to happen the organic way.  Who knows…they say everything happens for a reason.  
My friend, Alisha, AKA The Bubbly Blonde shared this with me:
Let’s hope so!
Here are some goals I have for myself!

My financial goal this year is to spend less money.   I have always had the philosophy to just make more money than I spend.  Not really financially sound!    
This year my goal is to cut back on all those things I am paying for that I don’t need to be.  I have a cable box I never use and a gym membership I am too lazy to write the certified letter for to cancel (I technically can go to 3 gyms, so yes I need to cancel this one).  
I also tend to buy something just because it is on sale.   I am going to start asking myself if I really need it!   Love it or leave it.   
My car lease is up in August.  I do love my BMW X3 and it was the first luxury item I ever purchased with my TpT earnings.  But I got ripped off on the lease and I pay for environmental and tire protection.   I was just so worn out by how long it was taking, that I was ready to sign whatever to get out of there.  I now understand why people give false confessions.  So this August, I am going to do my research, not use the same dealership, and say NO when they try to get me to sign up for stuff I don’t need.  I may even try for the 3 series or 4 series car, if it is cheaper than what I have now.  Or some other car brand altogether.  I really just fill up the trunk with junk.
I want to save money so that I can buy a house with a garage in a safer neighborhood.   Right now I look kinda like a drug dealer with an itty bitty house and a BMW in the driveway.   My property is 20 by 100!  You can barely park another car in front of my house.  Houses are really expensive on Long Island. 
I would love to get myself back up there on the TpT all time list.  I used to be number 10!  It is really hard to keep up with all the competition out there.  I am not going to stress myself out over it, I am going to just work hard and hope more success comes.   It is seriously hard to teach full time, try and have a life, and be super successful at TpT.  If you take a look at the top sellers, they work their bottoms off!  They deserve their success.  I am just hoping to find some balance and still have success.   
In 2014 I presented for SDE and TpT in Vegas and I designed a classroom for Carson Dellosa. I don’t think I will be presenting in Vegas again this summer, but I will be presenting for SDE at other locations.  At first I was upset, then I remembered how stressful the end of the school year was for me having to get all my presentations ready.   This year I can relax, well after I get my presentations done for this year.   I am also excited to work with Carson Dellosa again!

If you want to get started on TpT check out this thorough post I wrote last year:

If you follow me on Instagram, you will see that I am starting The Whole 30 today.   Many of us are!  Search the hashtag #teachersofwhole30 to connect and join us on our journey.   I really only want to loose five to ten pounds.  My main goal for doing The Whole 30 is to get healthier.  I am always so tired.   I think this will really help.  If you are interested, check out the book: It Starts with Food.  

That means…
for 30 days!
As far as personal goals go, I hope to be more organized at home, I hope to enjoy life more, travel, and I want to start a personal blog.  Any idea for names?  Everyday Erica and Everything Erica are already taken. 
Do you have goals?  I am sure I am not the only blogger out there with a post of New Year’s goals.  If you want to link up, my only rule is that you link back somewhere in your post to me.  Feel free to right click and save the goal tabs.  I made them using The 3am Teacher’s gorgeous new papers. 
I wish you a happy and healthy New Year!

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Erica! I will link up with you tonight! I saw you in Vegas at TpT and I was in awe of your knowledge, your way of communicating, your honesty, your passion, and your success!! I just started selling on TpT and I can definitely vouch for the competition! You are one of my role models! 🙂 I really only have a few products that I am super, super proud of and have given me success, so one of my goals for this coming week is to go through my store and update the products from when I first joined, and also get rid of ones that are just not up to par!
    Kari
    Teaching with Smiles

    • Awe, thank you so much for coming to see me in Vegas. One of my goals is to revamp some older products. I either make them really cheap in the meantime or make them inactive. I have learned so much in the 6 years I have been on TpT.

  2. I enjoy reading your posts so much. Thank you for sharing. I will be praying for you to find that special someone. Sounds like you've got the other parts of your life under control, so you can actually enjoy falling in love. You are right to have standards–more than just a pulse! 🙂 You want to invest the time in someone you can spend the rest of your life with, so it's good to be choosy.
    On another note, I am relatively new to TpT due to a lack of technological savvy, however, I've been following you for a few months now and I have a few of your products. My kids and I love the things you produce. Thanks so much for your hard work. Best wishes for a highly successful 2015 with all your goals.

  3. Erica,
    Your post is very heartfelt and honest. You write with great voice in your posts. I really hope that 2015 is your year! You are an inspiration!
    ~Becky
    Theclasscouple.weebly.com

  5. Hi Erica!! Some of your goals for the new year sound like mine–get healthier, spend less, and save up for a house. I've learned to just do what makes you happy, work on yourself in all departments and the right guy will come along-so don't stress.

    I also agree with you: that having a full time job, a social life, and working on great tpt products is a handful.

    Wishing you a beautiful 2015!

    -Lovely Nina
    http://lovelyninadesigns.blogspot.com

  6. I love how honest you are!! Praying you find that special someone {it's a wish I have for myself too!}. Have a wonderful new year!

  7. Erica, I always love your posts because they are always so honest and real. I love that first quote. I always have so many goals for the new year, but this year, I think I might just focus on one or two. A new year does feel like a fresh start, a new chapter. Cheers to a new year! 🙂

  8. I so share your frustrations with online dating. I'm a 35 year old single mother. I want to find someone to share my life with, but I won't settle- and you shouldn't either!

    I linked up my blog post about my New Year's theme. I started it as a link up because I didn't know of any others. If that bothers you, I'll delete my post from yours. I didn't know if there was an etiquette involved in linking a post with a link up to another link up! 🙂

    http://primaryontheprowl.blogspot.com/

  11. I love reading your blog. Even if you aren't on the top TPT seller list, you are tops to me!!!! I also need to eat healthier. I"m not sure I can do the same 30 day challenge you are doing, but I'm trying to limit processed foods. You should be proud of all your success and celebrate it 🙂

  12. Thank you so much for your honesty, you have inspired me again! You are an amazing blogger and I appreciate your tips for selling on TpT, without you I would have been even more lost than I was. Good luck to you in finding that special person! Oh… and your comment about the house and the car totally cracked me UP!!! Prayers for all of your goals!

  13. Erica, I am inspired by your honesty about how hard it is to find "the One" in your thirties. I'm 33, and so tired of online dating and asking my friends to set me up. If I had a dollar for every email I've gotten from men in their sixties, or from men who don't know the difference between "your" and "you're," I wouldn't need TPT or any other job for that matter! I have to believe that the man of my dreams is out there, just like the man of your dreams is somewhere out there waiting for you as well. Cheers to believing that this will be THE YEAR – for both of us!

    http://firstgrademenagerie.blogspot.com

  14. Erica,
    I have both laughed and connected with your post in many ways. I love how honest you are and the way you write….funny indeed.

    While I am relatively new to TpT, and NO where near the success of many (I am a dual language teacher and my tgt audience is way smaller) I am happy to see that the way I feel about keeping up with everyone else is just not the way to be. I want to be just a better me and be the best that I can.

    Blog name: Erica as it is

    Good luck on the love dept (I am sure men are intimidated by your success and personality…but their loss).

    Abrazos,
    Kelly
    http://www.learningintwolanguages.com

    • Thanks for commenting Kelly. I am glad you liked my post and that I made you laugh. I like to laugh at myself. TpT can be stressful! I am glad other people realize it is not easy.

  16. I really enjoyed your post. I read your blog often, but this one made me laugh out loud. You should be very proud about being out of debt. That is a biggie! Keep being a strong, hard-working, intelligent woman and the right man should come along. I am sure it is very frustrating waiting for the right man and the right time. You are right, you should not settle BUT give a variety of people a chance to show you who they are. You never know- the right person may end up being totally different than what you expected. 🙂 Life is funny that way.

  17. I don't want to say I'm happy to see other 30 somethings who are single/looking because it sucks, but it's nice to know I'm not the only one! Sometimes I look around my classroom and think–every single one of your parents was able to meet someone, why can't I?! Online dating is frustrating, even more so when you get a good feeling about someone only to meet them in person and think…eh, he's ok. I share your frustration about thinking that maybe this is my year (every single year). Well, maybe this is both of our year! I changed the background on my phone to this quote about my new year by C.S. Lewis: "There are far, far better things ahead than any we leave behind." Cheers!

  18. I love how you are YOU. Yours was one of the first blogs I ever followed, and I have always loved your resources- and the fact that you teach full-time still AND do all that you do online is just incredible. So many of the top few on TpT don't do that anymore, so it's hard to compare yourself- but please know that you are absolutely a TpT idol to many. I hope that this year is YOUR year, too, and that you find the right guy. (Not the perfect guy- but the right one for you.) So much easier said than done, but another set of prayers in your direction won't hurt, right? Happy new year!

    Jenny