Welcome, 2011!

2011 has arrived!

Have you made any resolutions this year? 

It seems that each year, we (and by we, I mean I...) make resolutions and have good intentions to stick fast to them.  But life happens and our good intentions fly right out the window, along with our spare time. 

Sadly, they don't take the extra poundage gained from all of the holiday food. :s

Nevertheless, I am persevering and am making new resolutions this year.  Again.  The idea is that by broadcasting them on my blog to my 22 faithful readers, I will feel compelled to stick to them.

And that you will all hold me accountable to them, right? :)

So, here I go...

Career
I mentioned earlier that I wanted to revive my photography business.  I miss being out in the field and shooting.  Past health problems with my knees and back have limited my movement and so it became harder to have photo sessions on location.  So this year will be about booking more sessions and promoting my photography. 

I have also started to teach photography workshops.  I have been approached by several locations already for 2011 and am looking forward to that.  I love helping people learn about their cameras!  (Psst... If you'd like to see me come to your neck of the woods and offer a Hands On! photography workshop, email me for more info!)

Another career goal is to get my new website up and running.  If you haven't stopped by already, don't worry - you're not missing anything!  We only have a splash page up for now while we work on getting it ready, but you can send us your email if you're interested in being notified when it's finally updated... soon, hopefully!

Lastly, in the past eighteen months or so, since I've stopped creating Just Cre8 kits, I have been spending a lot more of my spare time reading.  This has once again fueled my passion to write a novel.  I'm going to start out with a small goal of 1,000 words a month. 

I just have to decide on a storyline now! :)

Relationships
My mom's passing, six years ago now, really emphasized the importance of making time for family and friends.  But as with many things, life has a way of taking over and the little things that we aren't supposed to sweat find their way into our lives and take precedence.  So this year is about re-connecting and spending more time with family and friends.

Health
In the last few years, running my own business took a huge toll on my personal health.  A lot of time sitting in front of the computer, more late nights than early (some more early in the morning than late at night!), a lot of fast food due to lack of time...  None of it healthy and all of it responsible for health problems that have crept up - deteriorating knees, weak back, sleep apnea, insomnia, to name a few.

So this year is all about health.  I've made it my goal to be in bed early every night, unless there is a special function.  That means, no later than 11pm every night, 12 midnight at the very latest.  You may not consider this very early, but if you consider that my usual bed time is was 2pm or later, it's a start.

As well, there is going to be more moving instead of sitting.  Even if I am writing, or scrapbooking, or blogging, there will be a 5 minute break every hour or so - a quick run up and down the stairs, a brisk walk around the block, a quick tug on the rowing machine.

THe other half of the solution is food.  QUANTITY is not really the problem as I've been watching my weight for so long that portions are second nature for me - the problem is the QUALITY of food.  I'm aiming for more wholesome, natural foods and less pre-packaged and fast foods.

So that's it for my 2011 resolutions.  I have other goals that I want to accomplish, but I think this is enough for one year... there's always next year! :)

What are YOUR resolutions for 2011?