on goals for the new year...

(My father and I our first Christmas in Seattle circa 1989)

Happy New Years Eve! I'm excited for tonight because the fella and I are heading over to bring in the new year with some people we have not yet been able to spend time with since our move. I really can't wait to catch up, stay up and have fun. Around this time it's always good to reflect on the year that's behind us. Think about all the good things, all the things we can work on and all the things to look forward to ahead. I'm a huge goal maker. I love making goals for the New Year. I always tend to set way too many and sometimes they seem like they aren't very feasible but it doesn't really bother me. To me it's about looking forward to something and to work at it. I like challenging myself, it's what makes me keep going.

This past year as been huge for my family and I. We accomplished something that wasn't just a simple task but something that was huge and difficult and exciting. We moved to the West Coast. We are basically starting over, for most people that would be scary but for us it's thrilling! The second accomplishment was a personal one that's silently been a goal for many years now and just this past year I completed it. I worked very hard and lost twenty-five unwanted pounds! I'm back to a weight that I most feel comfortable in and it's been such a rewarding feel to have made it happen! Here are all of small & some big goals for 2014…

★ Read 30 books. It's going to be a busy year but I really wanted to set a reading goal so that I can stay motivated! I love reading but it's hard to balance everything and still make time to read a few books a month. My hardest problem is taking on books that have a million pages that take me a million years to read because I tend to pick them up at the worst times possible. Oh! And even though I have a fantastic Kindle I hope to purchase more "real" books and also blog more about what I've read!

★ Build things (with my dad!) I'll be taking advantage of living with my dad! He has so many tools and gadgets and of course he knows how to do everything. I've had so many projects in mind for our future home! I'm not kidding when I tell you I have a folder right on the desktop of my Mac that has at least a dozen DIY projects that I've been dreaming about building! Now that my dad's literally right here he can teach me and guide me with building. I'm super excited about it. Here's a project I'd like to build and you'll understand why!

★ Learn a song on my banjo. I was gifted a banjo for my birthday and since then I've been practicing chords and conditioning my fingers to move around but haven't really learned a song. So that my friends is something I need to accomplish.

★ 52 weeks of photography. I was inspired by James from Bleubird Vintage Blog with her beautiful 52 project of her children. I would love to take a photo of each of us once a week for a year and then combine all the photos into a coffee table book. This way I can work on my photography and put together something special to remember our first year in Washington!

★ Get my motorcycle license! I learned how to ride a motorcycle in high school and even had a dirt bike up until I moved to Philadelphia. My father recently just purchased a BMW motorcycle and kept his '83 Yamaha Virago 500 to pass down to me! I want to get my license and cruise around with my bike. I would eventually love to take a trip just me and dad on our motorcycles to Yellowstone National Park.

★ Camping. I grew up camping every summer and I want to start to make camping a part of something we do every year. I love roughing it out in the woods, cooking everything over a campfire and shore fishing with worms on the hook. I want to teach Sebastian how to appreciate the outdoors and learn that there's more out there that meets the eye. So many adventure to be had!

★ Rough draft of my novel. For those of you who already know I've been in the process of writing a fantasy novel. I really would love to slowly but surely work on finishing a rough draft by the end of this year. It's been my dream to write a book! Even though I'm not out to become rich and famous it's more something I want to check off my bucket list. Wish me luck!

★ Toni and Guy annual photographic awards. I finally get to start cosmetology school February 4th! Woohoo! Toni and Guy holds a nation wide photographic competition that allows you to face off on a more artistic level with students all around the USA, something I am dying to be a part of! Can't wait to start my hair styling career.

Well, those are my goals. Here's to the New Year!!

xoxo.