Welcome 2011

Welcome 2011. Like many people at the beginning of a new year, I pause to reflect on the year past and I think about how I want the new year to be like, to be different, to be better. Since I'm looking for work, I have a whole long list of goals for that and I won't be sharing those. But I have four goals that will touch on all parts of my life. I honestly didn't think long and hard about these. They came to me fairly quickly. We'll see how it goes...

SHAKE UP THE BLOG: I've been blogging for a year now and it's been a great experience. I'm ready to take it up a notch. I'm going to take some time over the next few months to change up the look of the blog.

FIGURE OUT A MOVEMENT PLAN: As I am getting older, my body is changing and I'm not able to eat whatever I want anymore. Big bummer! I need to figure out a plan to move. Especially in the winter. Once spring comes, it all becomes so much easier. For now, I'm thinking 2-3 times a week for 30 minutes. Since we have so much snow, walking outside isn't practical. Thinking about exercise DVDs, thinking about community education programs, thinking about walking the mall. We'll see what happens.

REDUCE MY IMPACT: I recently watched "No Impact Man." A family trying to reduce their impact on the world. What an interesting project. I like this idea. There's no way I can do everything they did. I like my electricity. I've done a lot this past year already, like no more bottled water, no paper napkins, eating locally and using safer washing products. But I am very interested in continuing to reduce my impact. I like the idea of powering down, of using less electricity. Over the holidays, I unplugged, no email/internet/TV, and amazingly the world didn't end. I like the idea of buying less, which currently works well not having a job. I like the idea of less trash, specifically surrounding packaging from food. Looking forward to this challenge.

BE KIND TO MYSELF: This may sound selfish. But the last few months have been stressful and tough. I've found during this time that I've been really hard on myself. I need to remind myself that I'm a good person. That I have a lot to offer the world. That ultimately I'm more than any job.

So, that's it. These are my goals. I'll share how it's going throughout the year. Also, a big thank you to my nieces for their help in the above photo. They're always up for my photo antics.