Looking Forward…and Behind

Are you totally confused as to where you are? Don’t be.This is still the same place as it was before. Just…different.

It’s hard to believe that 2011 has come and gone. What on EARTH?!

This past year was a whirlwind. We said goodbye to Alabama January 7 and trekked across the country to our new life here in Alaska. To say that it’s been an adventure would be an understatement. So much has happened in the last year. Between moving and settling in a what was basically a “foreign country” and finding my niche in the Graphic Design world, I wonder sometimes how I even had a chance to breath. Throw in dabbling in photography professionally and writing my first novel, homeschooling and keeping up this blog…needless to say, I’m tired. And looking forward to opportunities to relax a little in 2012.

I reflect on everything that has happened this year and find myself feeling one thing: BLESSED.

Beyond measure.

Blessed to have had the experiences I had last year. To have been able to travel and see the country. To be living somewhere completely out of my element and given the opportunity to share it with all of you. Blessed to have found a niche in the design world that is my own; to have been able to start my own business, contributing financially to our family and still be at home with my son. Blessed to have a healthy and happy family, wonderful friends, and the chance to start fresh and chase down another year.

New Years always gets my wheels turning…

What can I do this year to make myself better than last year?

I don’t like to call them “resolutions” because, honestly, how many of us ever keep those? I prefer to refer to my goals as New Years Commitments.

I took a few minutes today to look over my New Years “Resolutions” from last year…just to see how I did. I’d say I made two out of the four. I did move to WordPress and I did “set up shop,” though not in the way that I had originally planned. Still haven’t upgraded that camera yet. I keep intending to and I’m dying of…frustration, having outgrown my Canon Rebel, but I find myself putting my money into things for the business (like my iMac…ahem) and putting money back to plan for our big trip back to Alabama this summer. It’s something I’ll get to. Husband’s aiming to purchase my new baby in February. We shall see.

So what’s on the agenda for 2012?

I’m glad you asked. I’ve done a lot of thinking and have come up with a few things that I’d really like to see myself accomplish this year:

• Finish my novel.
  I’m not going to spill the beans on what it’s about (basically because I have started two and can’t decide which to finish first). But I’d definitely like to have at least one of them finished by the end of the year. I’d prefer to have a final copy complete (all of the editing and revisions and have it all ready to send out to attempt getting published). I’m going to have to set aside some time daily to write. Which means I’ll probably need to change my sleeping and work habits (says the woman sitting up typing this post at 1:55 am). Which brings me to the next goal…

 

• Get myself on a SCHEDULE.
  Being a WAHM is hard. Really hard. I find myself being a parent all day everyday, a wife when my husband gets off and then staying up until the wee hours of the morning to get actual work done. I’ve cut down on my workload and given myself a set number of clients per month to keep myself from getting overwhelmed. But I need a better routine. And a cleaning schedule (unless, of course, someone wants to send me a maid. Or at least just someone to do laundry).

 

• Continue to grow the business and add new features.
  I’d really like to add dedicated Private Hosting for my potential clients as well as some Pre-Made Logos, some Print Media and possibly a theme or two. Those are lofty goals in the back of my mind, but I have 12 months to do it, right? Anything is possible.

 

• READ 52 Books in a year.
  I’d to aim for a bigger goal, but come on. That’s one book a week. And I don’t even have time to fold clothes. How can I justify reading ALL the time? I got in a groove for a few weeks where I went through 6 books in about 2.5 weeks (The Help, Water for Elephants, The Best of Me, On Writing and a few others…) and I loved it. The husband bought me the new Stephen King Novel (11/22/83) and I’ve only gotten a few chapters into and am itching to dig deeper. Reading is a must this year.

 

• Pick up the Camera (and upgrade it, of course).
  I tried my hand at Project 365 last year and it was a total bust. Trying to find something interesting and unique to photography every. single. day. is so ridiculously hard. So this year I’m dedicating myself to a little project I’m calling 52 Faces: One Year with Noah. My friend Amy started a project last year with her little girl, “B,” called 52 Dresses and it’s been so cute. She photographs her in a new dress every week. While I can’t photography Noah in a new dress every week, I can photograph him weekly. It will be fun to look back and see how much he’s grown.

I have a few other things I’m planning, but nothing I’m quite ready to reveal yet. You’ll just have to keep yourself subscribed to see what’s coming! And what would a New Years post be without a photo of the Little Man then and now?

Noah: January 2011

And last week (December 2011):

Do you make New Years Resolutions? What’s on your list this year?