Wishes for 2012

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I hope you all had a great holiday season. Still bummed I haven’t been able to be more present! Pretty nuts to think that a new year is upon us once more – I feel as if 2011 was barely around, and now we are ready to welcome the infamous 2012. As always, I’ll start with my wishes for this year before listing off the new ones for the new year!

1. Learn to sew. – one of my amazing friends actually got me a sewing machine for my 30th birthday and I have yet to sit down with it. I have to admit: it terrifies me. However, once I’m done with my certification exams, I’m going to conquer my fears.
2. Continue attempting to cook at least one original meal a week. – Unfortunately, I haven’t had the time to work on this goal. With my new, odd schedule, I often get home past 9pm, but I hope that will change in the months to come.
3. Take up spinning classes. If you survive, continue. If you don’t, try again. I bit the bullet and jumped on the spinning bandwagon. And who knew? I LOVED IT. Unfortunately, I had to cut it out of my life after several months. I chock this up to my schedule again. Drats.
4. Redesign the blog. Create new & fun features to keep people interested. The blog redesign was a success! & this blog continues to be a big part of my life.
5. Grow out your hair. Or chop it off. Go even blonder. Or maybe darker. It’s fun. I decided to grow out my hair in 2011, go blonder and then darker. It is fun, and who knows what is in store for ’12!
6. Embrace turning 30 with open arms. You are going to rock this decade. – This one is not crossed off because I am still having a hard time coming to terms with the big 3-0. It’s just a number, right? Good because I still consider myself a nice, ripe 21.
7. Take care of yourself. Make doctors’ appointments, eat healthier. 2011 is when I was diagnosed with gluten intolerance after forcing myself to make a doctor’s appointment. Although I am far from being gluten free on a consistent basis, I hope to continue finding the balance with this new lifestyle.
8. Look at your passions & move forward. Life is too short to not do what you love. I finally took a very big step in my life and decided to move on from mental health and pursue my love of behavior analysis and working with autistic children. Although it has not been easy, it has been the best decision I have ever made. I am so happy doing what I do. It gives my life meaning and is so rewarding and amazing.
9. Work on further home improvements: pool, shutters, garage. We completed the pool project over the summer and am just now starting on the garage revamp. We couldn’t squeeze the shutters into our budget this year, but luckily had another storm-free season.
10. Plan the most killer trip to Europe. As you all know, we had the most magnificent trip to Europe a couple of months ago. It met all my expectations and then some – those are memories I will keep with me forever.

Although 2011 was far from a bad year for us compared to what I’ve seen/heard from others, I think of it as kind of a “set up episode.” You know when you watch your favorite shows, and you feel as if the entire episode was spent with zero action but instead building up for next week’s? That’s how I saw this year. We worked very hard and put the gears in motion for what we hope is going to be an incredible and momentous 2012. And with that said, here are my wishes for the year to come:

1. Pass both certification exams (BCaBa, BCBA).
2. Learn to sew and/or crochet.
3. Stick to a gluten-free diet more often than not.
4. Start up a planned business venture with the hubs.
5. Give in to that travel bug!
6. Give our home more love.
7. Be more creative.
8. Make big decisions.
9. Be more positive. Find the good in all.
10. Be me. Just better.