January 2, 2012

Today is the last day of my Christmas/Holiday vacation. It's been really great but flew by! Back to work tomorrow! I enjoyed the day relaxing, cleaning and just mentally preparing and getting excited for the year.

Here are today's photo installments of my recent manicure (Shellac!) and pedicure:

Goodbye 2011 and Hello 2012!

Happy New Year! Sadly, it doesn't look like I did very much with last year's resolutions/blog. There is something rather magical about January 1. During this day, we are filled with so much hope and excitement for the coming year. New possibilities, new chances to do things right, and for one day we have a completely new clean slate. I'm more determined now then I was last year so let's try this again, shall we?

This post will be brief but I have two main points to make for now: A fun plan for 2012 and my new set of resolutions.

Fun Plan:I received a new camera (a Nikon P500) for Christmas and I think it would be fun to document something from each day of my life in the year 2012. If completed, I will have at least one photo taken for each day this year. Here is the first entry:



This photo was taken on the evening of January 1, 2012. I had dinner with Jessie at Applebee's and this photo was taken right before we left the restaurant.

2012 Resolutions:
1. Read the full Chronological Bible by December 31, 2012
2. Shed at least 10 pounds
3. Pay off credit card
4. Maintain a good A1C
5. Build savings account

Resolutions for 2011

Today marks the last day of my Christmas 2010 vacation and my work year for 2011 will begin tomorrow. While yesterday was the first day of the new year, I often utilize my first work day back as my official start of the new year regarding my resolutions. This is due in part of wanting to still shop and eat yummy food for New Year's.

As we move onward in 2011, I have created a list of New Year's resolutions. My resolutions are most likely very similar to thousands of other people's resolutions. But that's okay. Moving into a new year just makes everything feel fresh and I'm quite optimistic about it. Here is my list:

1.) Spend less. Save more (a lot more). My spending habits got a bit out of control in 2010 and my closet reaped the rewards and my wallet was in pain. The more fashion blogs I read, the more I felt the need to buy. As another blogger mentioned, if I did not buy a single piece of clothing for one year I would be completely fine. I have a ridiculous amount of clothing and I only wear a fraction of it. I'm going to work hard to save money, buy less and find creative ways to wear the beautiful clothes that I already own.

I just read a great note on the www.2011resolutions.org site. It said: Before you buy something, always spend some time justifying the reason. You should spend the same amount of time it took you to earn that money on reasoning before you buy. If you do this, you will be able to cut most of the impulse purchases and you will be drawn to a better deal elsewhere.

I want to take the money that I would usually spend on clothes and use it to build a healthy saving account and to pay of my credit cards. This brings me to my next resolution...

2.) Only use my credit card in times of absolute necessity. In keeping with the theme of my first resolution, I acquired a lot of clothing in 2010 and I did lots of unnecessary spending. I often used my debit card, but I also got into the terrible habit of using my credit cards. I am very disappointed with myself and how much I used my credit card. I want to move forward with the notion that if I don't have enough in my checking account to purchase an item, I simply should not buy it. I need to live within my means, stop spending and be grateful for what I already have.

3.) Be the duck. The head of my department at work loves the analogy of "being the duck." The idea is to look like everything is smooth sailing and easy on the surface, while the emotions/paddling/etc is all hidden beneath the surface. I frequently let my emotions (especially stress) show on my face and I want to appear more confident and capable.

4.) Get back into shape and keep my A1C level in the 6.2 range. I'll go into this more at a later time.

5.) Be more positive. I noticed that I became much more critical of myself, others and situations in general in 2010. I want to turn this around and become a happier and more positive person in 2011.

The Beginning of a New Year

Happy New Year! It is hard to believe that the first decade of this century has come to an end. It was an amazing decade where I graduated high school, graduated college, traveled the world and began my dream job. I am excited to see what the new decade has in store.

This, my first post on this blog, will be kept short but I wanted to go ahead and add an entry to state that I plan to update this blog on a semi-regular basis. It will be filled with random musings of how I see the world, travel notes, fashion, health discussions and much more.

Until my next entry, be well!