January Goals

In January 2013 I will:

• Start removing wallpaper in my entryway and dining room
• Go on a date night with my husband
• keep our house picked-up
• Clear clutter from our home by taking 1 car load of stuff to donation
• Empty my email inbox daily
• Finish my 2012 Project Life (just a few weeks left) and start 2013 Project Life
• Go to the gym 3 to 4 x per week
• Start shooting in RAW
• Finish my book for book club (Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail)
• Take a shopping break (my wallet is tired after Christmas!)

I borrowed the idea of monthly goals from Elise Blaha Cripe. I really liked how she focused just one month at a time vs. setting year-long resolutions.  I am not good at resolutions. I can lose focus very easily.  I need small goals with deadlines, otherwise I can get lost in the “bigness” of year-long goals.  So I am going to try to do monthly goals and see how it goes.

While I was coming up with my monthly goals my thoughts turned to my blog. I thought about what type of information I want to share right here on my blog this year. In the last year my readership has increased and I feel more aware that people are tuning into what I am putting out there. That can be kinda scary and kinda exciting too.

My plans (or goals) for my blog this year:

• I am going to continue sharing lots of pictures of my family because 1. I think they are awesome and 2. I love taking pictures – loads of them.
• I am going to continue to share my Project Life pages on Tuesdays.  Giving myself this deadline has kept me on track (for the most part) with PL. And I have “met” so many new people this year by sharing my PL layouts, I can wait to do it again.
• I had so much fun coming up with gift/style guides at the end of 2012, that I am going to continue to share fun finds weekly.
• Finally, I am going to try to share more on the questions I get frequently asked. Which are…

1. I just got a new DSLR and I have no idea how to use it. Can you show me?
2. How do you do it all?

To address the first question,  I can give you tips and tricks to help you take better pictures. The truth is that I am still figuring it out! As I put together The Best of 2012 post, the one thing I noticed was that my photography got better as the year went on. I think I can attribute that to finally figuring out how to shoot in manual (or at least being confident about it) and I did upgrade my camera, which I think helps to a point. I think the best thing you can do to take better pictures is to shoot, a lot. Practice, practice, practice.  I have had a couple of local gals ask me to work with them one-on-one to help them with their cameras, and I am very honored to do so! My hope is that I can help more people with their cameras whether it is face -to -face or on the blog in 2013.

The second question I get ask most often, “How do you do it all”?? Well the truth is, I don’t do it all.  I have a lot of help and support from lots of different people. The thing about blogs and blogging is that I can show you a glimpse into our lives. My intention is not to make it seem like things are perfect and we are perfect people, living a perfect life. Because that is not reality. But it is also not in my nature to use my space here to complain or focus on the negative.  My original intention in starting this blog back in 2006 was to focus on the good things in life and that remains my intention today.  However, I don’t want some disillusionment from my readers thinking I am some type of SuperMom, because that isn’t happening.  So to find some type of balance here, I am hoping to show a little bit more depth to our daily lives.

Please feel free to leave questions in the comments section of this post on specific topics you would like me to share more on, or if you just have a question in general. That will help me focus my blog post topics.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope to hear from you!