Despite my optimism, I did not achieve many of my 2011 resolutions.
2011 was a bit of a difficult year health wise. I had surgery to clear out my sinuses, but a raging infection kept me feeling lousy most of the summer. After some irritating testing, I found out in September that I am allergic to dogs and dust mites. We changed some habits and removed allergens in the house, but I continue to suffer sinus issues sometimes. The week before Christmas, pain and pressure returned and I now feel like I'm exactly where I started 2011. Despite being a skeptic, I will try the alternative route in 2012, starting with an appointment at Urban Acupuncture Center this Friday.
As a family, we decided to abandon resolutions per se, but we are making plans for 2012:
We will travel more. We have trips planned with extended family to San Salvador Island, Bahamas and the Big Island of Hawaii in February and June, respectively. We want to make salt from seawater on these trips. In addition, we hope to jump on at least a few of Alex's business trips this year and maybe try an RV trip of our own.
We want to feel stronger. At first, Alex and I resolved to lose weight. The Fat Trap article in the New York Times confirmed my suspicions that the number I've maintained for 4 years now is probably the forever weight my body. Alex has not changed weight in years but without regular exercise is also feeling a little weak. I am starting each day with a short series of floor exercises (sit ups and the like) and we plan to exercise more as a family.
In the kitchen we will practice making cheese. We have experimented here and there but not enough to feel masterful and we've never made some of our favorite varieties like goat chevre. I am teaching a class at Franklin Park at the end of March about making cheese so these plan will be put into action sooner rather than later.
We want to feel settled in a home. For a few years I have felt like our house isn't the perfect home for us. We want a little more space to garden and keep animals. As we aren't using the public school just down the street, we would prefer to be somewhere with lower foot and car traffic. We debate about whether to look for a farm in the city location (there are precious few) or a quieter street with bigger lots. In the meantime we are completing little projects around the house that will make ours ready to sell when we find a property we want to buy.
In 2012, I plan to write for myself. You may have already noticed me starting, as recipe posts are being fewer and 'lifestyle' posts are increasing. I realized awhile ago that I was writing for some suspected audience that needed two recipes a week and wouldn't care about homeschool. Catering to the 'what bloggers do' schedule was a lot like work and since I'm not being paid here, why not have fun and do what I want?
On the other side of the writing coin, I plan to write for other businesses more often in 2012. I'll do a full introduction soon but I am now accepting freelance writing jobs. I promise to write a post about why I am reducing cooking classes and picking up writing.
Finally, I hope that 2012 is the year I do something BIG. It might be related to the home we hope to buy, it might be in the writing realm, or perhaps another opportunity will find me.
It all remains to be seen, which is the promise of a new year, a new slate, a time to reflect and challenge ourselves. May 2012 exceed your plans and hopes.
2013 was a wild busy year that ended on a sad note when Devie died. Our family is completely ready to embrace the next year. Instead of setting goals, this year we're going to try to focus our activities around two themes. We want to:
