1.1.11

Another year has come and gone.

Where exactly did the year go? Time is just passing too quickly for me. My kids are growing much faster than I can handle (emotionally I mean) and are quickly approaching their 7th and 2nd birthdays ... holy cow is all I can say. It makes me sad to see my babies grow up so fast, but I must admit I am so enjoying all the new and "big" things they are doing.

About a month ago I decided I wanted to pick a guiding word for 2011, thanks to Ali Edwards and her One Little Word project. I mulled over a ton of words and then one day last week it just came to me. My word for 2011 is healthy. I want to be physically healthy. I want to be emotionally healthy. I want to be financially healthy. And I want to be spiritually.

Mike and I joined Weight Watchers a few weeks ago and I've already lost about 8 pounds. I don't have a ton of weight to lose, but I do need to get a handle on my emotional eating and make better food choices. Weight Watchers is helping me do that. 

I want to start running again. I used to run, when I was much younger and I was pretty good at it. I need to move more to be healthy and I think running is the exercise I'd like to add to my life. Like last year, I have a personal goal to finish a half marathon this year (and maybe even a full one). I'll keep adding this to my list of things I want to accomplish, year after year, until I do it. But, I think 2011 is my year. 

In my quest to be healthy, I am going to take more time to cultivate my creativity. I want to sign up for a class or challenge each month as a kick in the pants. Doing Shimelle's "Journal your Christmas" really helped keep me on track when it came to document this past holiday season. I kept up and now have 25 lovely pages that are a peek into our Christmas 2010. For January, I have committed to doing Julie Fei-Fan Balzer's "Art Journal a Day." I actually already worked on and complete a two-page spread in my journal early today. I committed for the month of January and I'll see what happens after that.  

For February, I have already signed up for Lain Ehmann's Layout a Day (LOAD). Like riding a bike or writing, the more you scrap the better you get. I want to be a better, more creative and more technically proficient digital scrapper. I feel like scrapping for 28 days straight will help me with that. Plus, it will force me to take some time for myself each day, which is super healthy.

I contemplated doing Project 365, but I'm not sure with all my travel and my chaotic life, I could keep up. Instead, I've opted to participate in 52 Photos. That's a photo a week for the whole year. There will be prompts and I just have to take and post a single photo for the week. I can do that, easy peasy! I'm excited about this, as I'm hoping it with make me a better photographer. I love my camera and all I've learned about photography in the last few months, but I want to learn more. 

Another thing I want to do in 2011 is make this blog more about me and the things I'm pursuing. My kids of course are a huge part of that, but I want it to be more well rounded. I want to be able to write (something I "used" to do as well and was also pretty good at too!) and post things that are reflective of me as a whole person, not just a mama. 

I'm pretty sure 2011 is going to be awesome. I'm taking charge and taking names. I'm looking forward to watching my children grow and blossom. And I look forward to the same for me (and for Mike). Happiness is not unreachable. It's there for all of us to take and embrace. Here's to a healthy 2011.