Friends, let's talk about resolutions -- about what we hope for 2013. For the past couple years, I've set a couple larger, bigger picture goals for the start of the new year. I've found that making a long list of things I want to accomplish usually just stresses me out. Last year my two goals were to learn to take better photos and to improve my health. My health was a huge priority this year and I'm happy to report that I'm feeling great! The best I've felt in a couple years. I also worked quite a bit on photography. I admittedly have a long way to go, but it was nice to push myself to learn this year.
When I reflect back on 2012, as we all tend to do this time of year, I have very mixed feelings. To say that 2012 was a mixed bag of emotions is an understatement. There are definite highlights, including two amazing vacations - Italy and Salmon River rafting, a kitchen remodel and a fantastic new job for me! But see, I worked for the first 10 months in a pretty horrible job that had me stressed out around the clock, not sleeping and the not so occasional tears. And although I LOVE our kitchen, it took a lot of time away from our family and friends, created complete chaos in our home and has left us both a little weary of big renovation projects.
This weekend Chris and I talked a lot about what we'd like from 2013 and the big overwhelming goal we both have is to take it easy. Now, I need to preface this by letting you know we're both very Type A overachievers and this is a REALLY hard goal for us. We decided that we aren't going to tackle a big renovation this year (ahem, bathroom), but we're instead going to focus on this little things: finishing the kitchen, reorganizing our life, going to garage sales on the weekends, inviting friends over for dinner, heading to the beach for family weekends and just generally enjoying life. I have a very difficult time with balance. If I see a free weekend in our future, I'll fill it up. But this year I want to learn to relax and just take what life throws at us.
What does this mean for this little blog? My hope is that this new attitude will free up a lot of time for me to be more creative and tackle smaller projects that I've put off -- making a headboard, sewing a slip cover for a new ottoman/coffee table, new curtains for the bedroom. I have a huge list, so please don't think my "taking it easy" means taking a year off. :)
Friends, what is something that you'd like to accomplish this year? How did you feel about 2012? Did you have a good year? Are you ready for it to be over? I love how each new year feels like a fresh start.
