2010 Resolutions: In with the new

Last year, although I don't think I mentioned it, I decided that photography would be my big focus. I didn't spend all of my time on it, but I had so many areas that I wanted to delve into that I decided I would benefit from picking one to focus on for the year. I'm doing the same thing this year, so along with my resolutions there will be the one big interest that I put more attention on.

Big 2010 Project: Learn French- I've wanted to do this for some time now, and I decided that this year will be the year I focus on it. I've been collecting free resources and ideas to try and help me get on with it.

.Read 20 books- I have exceeded my reading goals the past two years, so upping the ante again
.Exercise at least twice a week- Justin and I plan to go back to dance classes on Tuesday nights, so I just have to find time for one more workout during the week. I've had problems with this goal, so setting the bar low with hopes I might finally meet it.
.Improve my eating habits- We've come a long way since our days of living off fast food, but I'm still easily tempted, especially when busy, to grab something out
.Be a better listener- I have a hard time concentrating on people in conversation sometimes, and it really bothers me, so gonna work on it.
.Learn to drive- I have panic attacks about driving, but I want to try and work through that this year.
.Get a full physical/gyno/bloodwork- I'll be turning 30 in 2011, and I'd like to get a full picture of my physical health before then, so I can move into my next decade as healthy as possible.
.Learn some tactics for handling stress- I'm a stress eater, have panic attacks, and let little things get the best of me and it affect not just my quality of life, but Josh's. Going to try to figure out some good ways that work for me to handle these things.
.Start a vegetable garden in back yard and container herb garden in side yard- Going to start small, but have already started researching square foot gardening, and can always tap my father-in-law for some expertise.
.Learn how to develop my own black & white film- Really interested in learning this skill, especially since I've been shooting more with my Holga.
.Have clothes hemmed- I have lots of pants, skirts, and even shirts that need adjustments made.
.Finish family photos for the hallway- I have a big selection of fantastic old family photos that I need to get hung. Need to find frames and decide on an arrangement.
.Get my Beatles tattoo- Really want my Beatles mark on me this year.
.Be more like Diane Keaton, Jane Birkin, Linda McCartney, Katharine Hepburn, and Audrey Hepburn- I find these ladies inspiring, for the lives they lead, the choices the make, the personal integrity they seem to ooze, and of course their style.
.Rent a cabin- Have been desperately yearning for a quiet retreat, so I think this year calls for it.
.Finish organizing my office- I've got the house running pretty smoothly, but my office is still in a shambles. Want to get it whipped into shape this year.
.Cross 2 things of my Life List- Several of my goals above were items on my Life List, so I scaled down the number of things to cross off this year aside from those ones I'll already be working on.

Well, that's it. Anybody got any resolutions for the new year?

2009 Resolutions: Out with the old

So, before I delve into my long list of resolutions and goals for 2010 I wanted to recap quickly where I ended up on my 2009 resolutions as of yesterday.

2009:
.Read 15 books- I read 14 new books, 1 new audio book, and re-read 4 favorites for a total of 19
.Set up an efficient new household- I've definitely got a system going that is working for me, but not perfectly. I feel pretty darn efficient, but there is still room for improvement.
.Finish my needed dental work- made no progress whatsoever.
.Try yoga and tai chi- did try yoga, and got a tai chi dvd from Netflix in the past few weeks, but never found the time for it.
.Watch 5 foreign films- Breathless, Cinema Paradiso, Metropolis, Shall We Dance, and La Strada
.Travel more- We went to Washington DC, San Francisco, a quick one day jaunt to Austin, and I went south for my sister's graduation.
.Cross 5 things off life-goals list- I was able to check mark: See Woody Allen Live(!), Learn to put on eyeliner (embarrassing, but being honest here), Go to Washington DC, Read all of Jane Austen's books, and Win a contest (crossed off when I remembered I'd actually done this in 2008, ha)

2008 Continued:
.More physical activities: pilates & walking- failed miserably here, involving this in new resolutions
.Study photography and experiment- I took 4 classes at a local camera shop, read several books, and took an online course. Also experimented with the Holga I got for Christmas last year. Plan to continue with my hobby this year.
.Keep up with Newsweek reading- did pretty poorly at this.
.See our friends more often- We definitely socialized a lot more this year, more parties, more hang outs, made new friends and traveled to see old ones.
.Improve my wardrobe- I'm definitely looking better than I was last year and think I am getting a little closer to developing a personal style.
.Be much more money conscious- I did better tracking our expenses, and we have several targeted savings accounts for our different goals now. We could be more frugal though.
.Try 4 new restaurants- I try not to count out of town restaurants, since obviously most of those are new. This year we tried a couple of new restaurants in the area, but we also stood by our old favorites as well.