New Beginnings

Whew. It is good to be back. The past week or so has been chaotic to say the least. My trip to San Francisco went fairly smooth, and the reunion with my husband was much greater than I anticipated. We are having to re-acclimate to one another again [which was suspected] but we are having a great time getting back into the swing of things. Little Man is loving having his daddy around again; and Christmas shopping has occupied most of our time the past day or two. So we are hanging in there…preparing for the holidays like everyone else. Hard to believe that it’s “the season” again! This year has flown.

Thanks so much to those of you who wrote Guest Posts for the me over the past few days! I hope you enjoyed writing them and seeing them printed here as much as I enjoyed sharing them with my readers! You guys took a lot of strain off of me, and I greatly appreciate it!

Anywho. That being said…

While I am aware of the fact that New Years is still another almost week and a half away, having the husband home with us again and the new phase in our lives beginning, I feel like it’s time to get some New Year’s commitments off of my chest and out in public. And I say commitments because when I use the word “resolution” I feel like I never quite stick to them; and there are a few things that I really want to see myself accomplish over the coming year. If some of these seem vague, I apologize. I have a lot of ideas and plans swirling around in my head right  now, but I’m not quite ready to reveal all here just yet. Some of these things I haven’t even talked to my husband about [simply because we haven’t gotten around to it yet…] and I want his opinion and insight before I share. 🙂

1.  Make the move. 
And I don’t mean our move to Alaska {although, successfully completing that is a top priority for the first few months of the coming year}. I will be making the switch to WordPress in the coming months. I have already picked out a designer (who I will not reveal at this time) and am in the process of brainstorming some new ideas for the big switch. There will be a major overhaul and change to my blog, but this is something that has been heavy on my mind and heart for many, many months and I feel that right now is the time to start the transition. This is one of those things I mentioned that I would go into detail more about later, but for now, just know that the “change” is coming, and if things go as I hope, it will be coming soon.

2.  Upgrade.
My camera, that is. I would adore the Canon 5D Mark ii, but I’m not sure the husband is going to want to shell out nearly three grand just yet on a camera. Instead, I’m planning to upgrade to the Canon 50D or the 60D within the coming months. Unless of course, ahem, my beloved husband just chooses to bypass the 50/60 and go straight to the Mark. Which, I would not mind in the slightest. Hehe…

3.  Finish what I started.
I’m going back to school. I probably won’t technically finish my degree considering it’s been so long since I took classes and several of my credits won’t transfer, but I am getting back in the classroom-hopefully in February. The where and the ‘for what’ isn’t in stone yet, so I can’t provide much more information than that just yet. But I am headstrong and determined to go back to school.

4.  Set up shop.
While I have the fullest of intentions pursuing photography as a part-time career, I am still not 100% sure that it is what I’m meant to do full time, especially when it comes to portraiture. The local photographer in Kodiak is phenomenal and I have no desire at all to compete or try to start up a business knowing that we may only be in the area for a couple of years. The weather in Kodiak doesn’t permit a lot of outdoor/natural light photography and there is no way that I could afford a studio. Instead, I’m hoping to get to know her [her husband is also a fellow Coastie] and cross my fingers that maybe she can teach me a few things. Instead, I really want to focus on my Etsy shop and my print work. There should be ample opportunities for photos in Alaska, and I hope to capture some worth generating revenue.

I’m sure I could {and will} conjure up a few more things to add to my New Year’s “to-dos” but for now, this will have to suffice. Like I said be on the look out in the coming weeks for more details on a few of these. Getting ready to go finish up my Christmas shopping…down to the last three gifts and a few final stocking stuffers for the husband. And then I’m done. I think…

Hope you guys have a GREAT day!