Resolutions

Intentions

~ writeshewrote ~ Leave a comment

As the end of the year drew near I started gathering all of my ideas and resolutions and tucking them away for later like a squirrel with acorns. I knew I would need them, I just wasn’t quite ready to do anything with them yet. I’ve been sitting on my stashed away notes and goals for a good month now and I think I’m finally ready to commit them to something more concrete than crumpled post-it notes. Please feel free to call me out on it if I’m failing hopelessly at any of these.

  1. Log a minimum of 1,000 miles on my Fitbit this year. And within that 1,000, a minimum of 365 of those miles must be running. Realistically, this should be easy, but if I don’t write it, I can’t be held accountable for actually doing it. If you’re a Fitbit user and want to cheer (or taunt) me on, add me here.
  2. Read 80 books. I’m including audiobooks in that number. And no, I do not consider that cheating. If you’re interested in following along, you can find me on Goodreads here.
  3. Have more respect for this shell that carries me through the day to day and feed it with proper fuel.  …I just ate a chocolate bar for lunch so I’m off to an awful start with this one! I have a game plan for this though and it revolves around Happy Herbivore’s Meal Plans. I’m confident it will be the glue to hold this goal together.
  4. Put myself, my health, and my well-being first more often so that I can be a better partner to my husband, and a better friend and family member to those I care about.
  5.  Write! For the first time ever, I promise that this goal will see a lot of love. I have a very serious game plan in place. I’ve told, well, pretty much anyone who will listen, and a few who didn’t about this and I’m 100% committed. I’ll be working on a book this year too. I don’t want to put too much pressure on myself for when that will be finished but I’ve promised myself that by the end of the year I’ll have completed enough work on that project so that I’m proud of what I’ve accomplished.

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Following my dreams

~ writeshewrote ~ 6 Comments

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Since the days when it was still socially acceptable for me to wear pigtails, I’ve dreamed of becoming a writer. I’m sure my fantasy of this profession is much more magical than reality but I figure it’s about time I live out that dream. I’m holding onto hope the adult-life I envisioned as a frizzy-haired kid is somewhat accurate.

My plan – take one year to write. I’ll continue freelancing and plan to blog 3-4 times a week, and the best part, work on a book! I’ve had an idea for a book floating around for a longer period of time than I’m willing to admit and I hope to finally give it the attention I’ve longed to for so many years. I’m free-Slurpee-day-at-7-11 excited!

What this means – well according to my husband, it means a year of me embracing my weird self and living that life as honestly and fully as I can.  According to me, well, I like his description, but it also means a few other things…

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Anyone who knows me, knows I thrive on a full schedule. Photography has provided me with that for a number of years now and it’s incredible. I feel so fortunate for everything it has brought my way and allowed me to experience. A huge part of my heart is nestled in my photography business and that isn’t going to change. What will change though, is the amount of photography I’ll be doing, but this is a good thing, promise! It means I’ll have a bit more time for writing and that’s amazing news!

My Dad has always been adamant that I just need to follow my heart and everything else will fall into place from there. I know he’s right because living those words has led me to where I am today. However for the last three years in a row, “Write!” has been at the top of my New Year’s Resolution list and it’s always the item that remains on there without ever being checked off. I’m excited, nervous, and a little nauseous, but I know I’ll regret it if I don’t give that goal an honest effort. I’m utterly clueless as to the steps I take from here. The only thing I’m sure of is that to be a writer, I must write.

If you’re interested in hearing more about this journey please feel free to follow along! Over the next few days I’ll be sharing more hints as to what my “Year of Weird” will look like and some of the things I’ll be exploring.

I’m so excited for 2016 and hope that you’ll stop by often to keep me company!

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New Year, New Outlook

~ writeshewrote ~ 4 Comments

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Last year I jumped at the chance to write down my goals and resolutions. I was eager to post them online and hold myself accountable. The truth is, I barely thought about them, let alone actually try to achieve them. I was too busy. And there in lies the first problem. So, this year, with nothing more than my word that I’m going to make a concentrated effort to actually work toward my goals and ambitions, I’m here to state this year’s intentions. Hopefully I’ll have a little more success than last year!

Instead of making an organized and articulated list my plan is to focus on a word. This word will hopefully help me achieve many of the things I’m working toward in 2015. It’s a word that I’ve desperately sought the last few years but have struggled to find. It’s a word that I want to welcome into every aspect of my life with open arms. My word is balance.

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My hope for myself in 2015 is to find a balance between work and personal life. I love what I do, but I’ve allowed my work to completely absorb every aspect of my life and it has begun to compromise my health, relationships, and well-being. I have every intention of continuing to do what I do for many years to come and I’ve finally realized the only way I’ll be able to do this is by finding a balance.

I have many ideas on how I will achieve this and I’m excited to tell you more about it over the upcoming weeks and months!

Did you make a list of resolutions this year?  I would love to hear about your goals for 2015!

Best friends?

~ writeshewrote ~ Leave a comment

Hello my little corner of the internet!

You probably thought I forgot about you. Possibly cast you aside for bigger and better things. Or maybe you feared I reverted back to ink from a ribbon pressed on paper. I know you are aware of my love affair with all things vintage.

The truth is, I haven’t stopped thinking of you since we last spoke. May 27th was the date according to your wall. I wanted to stop by and visit. I’ve been longing to tell you about my travels and adventures. I’ve experienced some pretty incredible things since we last talked about life while sipping tea. I’ve been dying to share them with you.

When my calendar rolled over to reveal a new year I promised myself I would be a better friend to you. I swore I would visit, at least once a week. I committed to myself, and you, that we would grow close throughout 2014. It didn’t happen though, and I’m sorry for that.

If you’ll have me, I would like to be friends again. Best friends, if you will?

So, what do you say, blog… can we give it another go?

Goals – 2014

~ writeshewrote ~ 1 Comment

Most people do their New Year’s Resolutions post on January 1st… so I’m a little bit behind.  Honestly, I was kind of scared to make this post.  By writing these things down and committing them to the unforgiving expanse that is the internet means I’m allowing others to hold me accountable to these goals.  And, for the first time in a long time, I’m not sure I’m going to be able to accomplish my goals.  But gosh darn it, I’m going to try!

We’ll begin with, what I hope, is my most attainable goal.

I desperately want to get to a point where I’m able to read 100 novels in one year.  In an effort to get to that point I’m bumping last year’s goal of 50 novels up to 65 for 2014.  I’ve been tracking my progress on my Goodreads account.  If you’re on there, please add me as a friend and join in the journey!

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I’m a workaholic.  This isn’t necessarily a good thing.  Because November is my birthday month (the big 30 this year, eck!) and it’s also NaNoWriMo, as a gift to myself and a celebration of my birthday, I’m going to save up for the rest of the year so that I can take most or all of November off to participate in 2014’s NaNoWriMo.  This is a scary one for me for a number of reasons.  1. I have no idea what I’m getting myself into.  2. I do not have a game plan, with my novel-to-be or how I’m going to make this happen.  I’m not even sure what I’m going to write about?  3. What if I don’t finish, or what if my novel sucks (realistically, it probably will, but what if it REALLY sucks?).  Wish me luck with this one!

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Get active!  I want, so badly, to start running again, take a yoga class, play floor hockey with my husband.  All of it.  I used to run, every single day and I miss it more than I can tell you.  I always allow my job to take over and never make time for me, to make time to do the things I love.  I know it’s important, so I’m going to start making that time.  I need to.

Shoot more film.  I love my film cameras and love shooting film.  I learned the art of photography using an old 35mm Pentax camera and I miss it.  Again, it always feels like life is moving too quickly to slow down and take the time to shoot a few rolls of film.  I really want to add film as an ‘add on’ to my photography packages and in order to do that, I need to start shooting it more often!

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Strive to learn and grow as an artist.  I never want to stop learning, growing, and challenging myself so I always add this goal to my yearly list.  The first steps I’ve made with this goal this year is to book myself a space in Sam Hurd’s workshop in Chicago this summer.  He is an INCREDIBLE photographer and I can’t believe I’m finally going to have the opportunity to spend a day with him, learning his creative ways.

So, that’s my list for this year!  Feel free to hold me accountable, ask me how I’m making out with these goals, or pester me for slacking off!