Welcome 2014!

| Life

Be Happy!

Be Happy!

I am beyond excited for all the possibilities and potential that await in this fabulous year of 2014!  I love the opportunity to play back the main events of the past year and create all sorts of idealistic plans for the future.  There is just so much potential in a new year!

I can pretty much sum up my 2013 with one word… Intense.  The past 8 months, in particular, have been extremely intense.  We sold our house, bought a new house, moved in with my parents for a month, I received a promotion, we discovered we were pregnant, we moved into our new house, we struggled through death and birth of our baby, Allen started a new job, and my dad had quadruple bypass surgery.  Intense.

While I do hope that 2014 is somewhat less intense, I understand that I do not always have control over outside events.  I do, however, have control over my reactions to those outside events and hope that I, personally, may be slightly less intense in the year ahead.  I think in many ways (definitely not all), happiness is a decision and an attitude and one that I plan to dominate in 2014!

The following are my top 10 2014 resolutions to dominate my own happiness!

1. Play. I will take time to play and spend quality time with friends, with family, with Rufus, and most importantly with little Sammie.

2. Cook. We now have an awesome kitchen. I anticipated buying a house that would need major renovations, with a dream that I might have a fantastic kitchen in 10 years.   Turns out we have that amazing kitchen now!  It is time to make the most of this amazing kitchen to cook, entertain, and document my favorite recipes to share.

3. Celebrate Every Day. Life is too short not to celebrate the little moments of everyday life.  My family always capitalizes on celebrations… we even include Pi Day, Fat Tuesday, and St. Patrick’s Day in our annual holiday rotation.  I am ready to step it up and celebrate some of our personal favorites as well: from Princess Play Dates to Dragons Love Taco Dinners… 2014 is going to be the year of celebration!

4. Create. It is time to unpack and dust off my craft supplies.  I am ready to unleash some creativity and continue making this house our home.

5. Listen to more music. At work, in the car, and especially at home… crank up the tunes for inspiration, motivation, concentration, energy, and relaxation. Bring on the playlists!

6. Don’t take work too personally. I care about my job.  I think this is what makes me good at my job.  Occasionally (read: all the time) I may (read: do) I take certain aspects of my job too personally.  While I can control my actions, interactions and reactions, I cannot control those of others.  I plan to focus on continuing to do my best, with a positive attitude, and then let the rest go.

7. Respond ASAP. At work, I pride myself on responding to people as quickly as possible, but in my personal life, I am terrible!  I read/listen to text messages, voicemails, emails, and Facebook messages, but I then seem to mentally respond and forget the actual physical response.  Enough is enough… time to start actually responding!

8. Sell something on Etsy. I would love to open an Etsy store that sells personalized paper party decorations, and my goal is to give it a shot this year!  I hope to open a stocked Etsy store and sell at least one item by 2015.

9. Blog. My blog may turn into a hot mess of confessions of a *wannabe* everything…  I have too many competing interests to keep a narrow focus and maintain regular updates.  While I hope others will read my blog and gather ideas and inspiration (as I do, from the blogs I read), my intention is really to keep myself motivated and maintain a personal documentation of what I cook, decorate, create, and celebrate… which isn’t always perfect!

10. Be organized & don’t squander free time. I’m not sure how I can accomplish my top 10 list, if I don’t stay on top of being organized!  I also cannot squander free time!  With a toddler in tow, every minute counts!!

Let’s do this!

4 Comments

4 Comments on Welcome 2014!

  1. Carey Krieger
    January 3, 2014 at 5:31 pm (11 years ago)

    This is a beautiful list, Annie! Let me know if I can help you meet any of these awesome resolutions!

    Reply
    • annie
      January 4, 2014 at 11:28 pm (11 years ago)

      Thanks, Carey! I’m hoping you can help me with the play with friends piece :)

      Reply
  2. Mom
    January 22, 2014 at 7:46 pm (11 years ago)

    Great list, Annie! And written so beautifully!

    Reply
    • annie
      January 23, 2014 at 10:01 pm (11 years ago)

      Thanks, mom! Hoping to keep it all in perspective this year :)

      Reply

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