baby steps

2013, we made it! Sorry Mayans, 2012 just wasn't your year for the predictions business. Maybe next time start with something a little lower profile, like the Superbowl winner or Pantone's color of the year; baby steps, ya know? A new year is an automatic restart, a chance to publicly or privately look over your life and decide what you want to make better. For me, it's never been about monumental changes, because frankly by March I usually have forgotten what I resolved to do. So this year, it's about small things that will make me happier, and my life feel a bit more enriched. Like the Mayans, baby steps. So I present the 5 Little Changes I hope to make in 2013:

1. Eat cleaner. I received a juicer for Christmas (after much hinting and begging and whining), and 5 days in I already feel like it has changed my life. For now, the goal is to replace my usual coffee/cheerios breakfast with fresh juice. Fresh, delicious, full of fruits and veggies juice that I can't wait to get out of bed to make. I'll share some of my favorite recipes once they are dialed in, but for now I'm having so much fun experimenting I don't even miss those darn o's. 
2. Make more. I love to create beautiful (and sometimes not so beautiful) things for our home, and for those around me, but lately I haven't made it a priority. I need to be deliberate about making time to be creative, to make things with my hands and share them with those I care about.
3. Get outside. The past year had some big changes for me and my guy. He finished school, we both got new jobs, and moved away from our sleepy little home in Corvallis. While it has been an adventure, we lost a big part of our life moving to the city; getting outside in the fresh air! We both had to make a commitment to each other that once a month, no matter how tired from work or what the weather is like, that we will get off our butts and get outside again. So, weather gods, this is my plea to hold off on the rain. Once a month really isn't too much to ask for, is it?
4. Get moving. We work in retail, which can be very, very physically and mentally draining. At the end of a long day, all I want to do is lay on the couch with a glass of wine and just veg. And as fun and relaxing as that is, it is not doing so much for my figure, or my overall well being. We have a gym across the street from our apartment, found a climbing gym in the area, and finally put up our hang board to do some exercises at home, so no more excuses. Get up, get out, and get moving. 
5. De-clutter. I am by no means a hoarder, but I would be lying if I said I didn't have a lot of stuff. The more I look around, the more I realize that it's just stuff, most of it collecting dust and creating clutter. The first step is to let go of whatever attachment I have to little trinkets and papers and whatnots, and be more deliberate about what I choose to bring into my life. Once we get clean, we can really start to make a home that is decorated with meaning and filled with love, not stuff. 

That's it, my long-winded little list of goals. Oh, and one more: to share life here. Let's make 2013 rock, ok?