2013.  

Take a minute and take it all in.  2013.  I get such a spiritual vibe from this number.  The number 13 was always a good number for me.

In my past marriage I actually got married on Friday the 13th on Elm Street.  True Story.  Perhaps why the marriage didn’t work out? 😉 kidding.

But seriously, the year 2013 has given me hope.  Hope for the future, hope for new beginnings, and the motivation I need to tackle the goals ahead of me.

Tonight I took some time to write down a few of my resolutions, and I’ll make sure to share a few of those with you.  However, there is one thing and one word that is defining the year ahead of me.

Open

I realize I’ve built up a lot of walls around me over the years, those walls have been built because of past hurts, because of life experiences, but it is time to tackle those walls down, and allow myself to be open.

This is the year to cultivate friendships, to form deeper connections, and to have more phone conversations.  It is truly the year to be OPEN.  That also means not giving a shit.  Letting the stuff just breeze off my shoulders and keep moving forward.  To treat others the way they deserve to be treated, and to be open to all people, and the way they live their lives.

This is the year for reaching out. A time to call a friend up and ask them out for coffee or a dinner date or even a lunch date.  This is the year for creating memories.

Resolutions

I have five major resolutions for the year ahead.

1) Add more Produce into my diet. 

Tomorrow I will share the perfect cookbook that is going to help me out with this one.  But the past year I’ve learned how important produce is to the diet and I have seen firsthand how it’s helped my body.  So, now it’s time to take it to the next level and create satisfying meals at home with more produce. Hence the starting of MN Girl Baking.

2) Get a New Job

It scares me to put this one out into the online world.  But yes, it has to happen this year.  And I will begin looking for the next challenge.  It is so hard trying to start from scratch all over again, but it has to happen.

3) Get my Writing Published Somewhere

It’s time to take a leap of faith, and put myself out there with my writing.  Let my name get known, and hope to gawd someone is truly listening and admires my writing voice.  It is my dream to be published somewhere whether in a magazine or article in a well known publication.

4) Try to Sell Some Photographs

It is a dream of mine to have a gallery opening one day where I showcase my photographs, but in order to do that I need to prepare my photographs.  Meaning to have them in decent sizes and frames.  So this is a project this year to print out some of my favorite photographs and get them framed.

And try to sell them.

5) Get More Organized at HOME

I have a great organization system at work, and with the blog, but when it comes to my home life, not so much.  So this is the year to zip it in the butt and do something about it.

Blogging Goals

I tried to keep this list very simple.  This is the year where I said I’d be more open, so that includes telling more stories.  Being more authentic and letting my readers learn more about me.   So I will be starting a weekly series where once a week I share a little bit of me. 

I’m also going to push myself with MN Girl Baking to explore the world of baking from casseroles to dishes to desserts.  I’ve always had a love of baking, and now it’s time to push my baking skills to the next level.

And I have found that people have really enjoyed my photography posts that I have shared.  So it is time to dig deep and share with the world more tips in the world of photography.  That also means pushing myself to learn more.

And last but not least:  To Pay it Forward.  This past year I have met some pretty amazing women that have helped me along with my journey of blogging so I hope this year I can continue to pay it forward by helping others.

Life List

I swear, inside my head, I have this huge huge life list of where I keep accomplishing more and more things off of it.  So I thought I’d try to write down a few things I’d try to accomplish this year off this supposed list.

1) Take a Trip up to Santa Barbara

2) Hit up the Balloon Festival in Temecula

3) Take a Wine Education Course

4) Go on a Hike

5) Take a trip to Joshua Tree

6) Eat at the Melting Pot (finally!)

7) Fly home for my sister(s) graduations

8) Read 25 books

9) Go on a Whale Watch Cruise

10) Have a Girls Night Out at least once a month.

11) Have a Date Night Out at least once a month.

So that’s it.  Those are my goals going into the New Year.  Some pretty hefty one, but it’s definitely given me some motivation and direction for the year ahead.

Happy New Year everyone.  Please share with me one of your resolutions, or if you’ve written a post about yours, share in the comments.  If I knew how to do a linky I’d create one. 😉