New Year's Resolutions

I tend not to be very good at keeping up with New Year's Resolutions - maybe I pick resolutions that are too big for me to realistically keep... But I feel like 2012 has big things in store and there are some changes I'd like to make to help them along!  Nothing too big, just little tweaks to help me feel better about myself, mind, body and soul.


1. Blog/document more
Well, 2011 saw 6 posts for Make My Funk the Pea-Funk! As this is my second post, I'm already 1/3 of the way there : P I also want to keep track of all the books I read, and all the films I watch!

2. Detox January
Every January, R and I give up booze for the month. It's a nice cleanse after the festive period! This year, we've gone a step further, and we're going proper vegetarian for the month. I want to try and document some of our yummy recipes (once my camera is fixed!)

3. Start up my exercise regime again
When I started my new job in late 2010, I got the added bonus of a 2 hour commute each way.  Now I don't get home until about 7pm, so I've definitely slacked off on the exercise-front. While I get a 2 x 30 minute walks everyday, I want to try and start running again, at least twice a week - hopefully once on the weekend, and once during the week.

4. Learn new crafts
Last year, I did plenty of crochet projects, including numerous baby blankets, scarves, hats, etc. While I still have plenty of hooking to do this year, I really want to try and work on other skills. I'd like to try knitting again, get more use out of my sewing machine and finally learn how to make a quilt!

5. Finances in order
This is always an ongoing resolution, but I feel like I'm making headway on it! I've been good about my pension, been setting aside money into an ISA account and making significant payments on my credit card. This year will also be my 4th year of student loan repayments, and it feels good to know I'm almost half way done with paying them off! I would like to be debt-free (minus student loans) by December 2012, with a decent amount of dollars set aside for our potential move to the US in 2013!

6. Plan for the future
R and I first moved to Brighton more than 4 years ago when he started his PhD. A lot has changed since then, including jobs and flats, but we have known that we'd be here for at least 4-5 years.  Well, we're finally coming up to the end of our stay here.  There's no immediately plan to leave yet of course, but R's definitely gearing up to finish this bad boy, and it looks like he should be finishing up this year.  This means we can finally start looking forward, and plan the next step of our lives!  It depends on a lot of things, including where he can find work, where I can find work, etc, but it's exciting to think we might be in a new city 365 days from now : )

2011 - A Year in Review

All in all, 2011 was a pretty good year. No significant changes, but a nice slow and steady year. Both R and I started new jobs in the end of 2010, and did pretty well for our first proper year. The rest of the year was spent enjoying friends' babies, travelling, not winning Olympic tickets, and thinking about our plans for the future.

Some travel highlights include:

Los Angeles

R and I enjoyed another trip to Los Angeles for my cousin's wedding

 

While there we also had a chance to visit Disneyland! First time for R

France
In early September, we went to France to visit R's parents. His sister and her boyfriend were there too! Perfect sunny trip away, with lots of hikes and walks!

We also went out for a lovely dinner for R's 35th birthday while we were there!

Edinburgh

R and I had a chance to go up to Edinburgh this year, just before Christmas, to visit some old friends!

Zonko and me

 

A castle of some sort outside North Berwick

Cambridge
We also got the chance to go up to Cambridge a few times this year, to visit R's brother and sister-in-law, and our adorable nephew A.  I'm so happy we're able to see him getting so big! We spent Christmas-time in Cambridge, too.

R had a pretty exciting 2011! In October, he ran his first ever half-marathon, in the Royal Parks Foundation race.

He also had an amazing month (or two!) of Movember, and raised over £350! Of course, it took more than 3 weeks for it to reach maturation, so it seemed like such a waste to get rid of it at the end of November.  So R decided to keep it for December as well.  (Un)Fortunately, we have finally said goodbye to the 'tashe, and it was shaved off today! Here it is mid-December:

How was your 2011?