Resolve

I know a lot of people don’t really put stock into resolutions. My husband doesn’t. Some people feel as though making resolutions is useless, because you just fail anyway. But I like resolutions. I love having a list of things I want to do better, and then checking off that list as I conquer those things.

This year, I thought I’d make 15 resolutions — some easy, some not as easy — because… I’m an organized person and I like things to come in fives or tens. And with it being 2015, well. You get it. So, here are my 15 resolutions for this year. 

1. Stick to a style for at least six months.

I’ve voiced my wanting to stick to a style before, and a lot of you say that I should just wear whatever the heck I want because you don’t have to stick to a style aesthetic to be stylish. Which is true. But because I had been wearing a dress every day for Dressember, I feel as though I really figured out what I feel best in. Which is not just whatever style I threw on that day. Wearing dresses of every different era and shape made me realize that I feel most comfortable and most myself in very distinctly retro/vintage looks. So in the coming year I want to try to stick mainly to looks that are inspired by (or taken from) anywhere between the 1940’s and the 1970’s. This is a lot of leeway while still sticking to an overall vintage theme, and I’m actually quite excited about it!

2. Do another Whole30

Last year, I did a Whole30 — thirty days of strict Paleo (only meats, veggies, fruits, nuts, seeds, and fats — no grains, sugars, dairy, legumes, or alcohol) — in March/April, and loved it. I’ve been more or less Paleo since then, and I know I have mentioned that I have tried and failed many Whole30’s since the first one. And don’t get me wrong, I am still about 70% Paleo on a daily basis, which isn’t bad. But I’ve been craving a new start, and what better time than the new year? I actually began my second Whole30 on Monday, since it was shopping day anyway, and I may try to take it longer than 30 days, but we’ll see. Right now I’m just focused on making it through the first week.

3. Branch out with blogging.

Right now, I just post style. And, as you know from my blog survey, I’ve been wanting to branch out into other areas — life, motherhood, DIY projects, videos (maybe) — but when a girl gets in a rut… well. Mostly I just start shooting those other things and don’t like the way they look because I haven’t practiced enough to get the look of non-style posts down. But I’ll work on it, because I’d love to post about more than just what I’m wearing!

4. Have an actual exercise schedule

Where we’re living now, we have an elliptical in the basement. Plus, I’ve got YouTube, which yields free exercise videos for whatever type of exercise you could possibly ever want. Really, it’s just making myself get up and start. Once I’m moving, I love exercise. Sedate, however… this couch is way  more fun than that elliptical.

5. Save for a good vacation

We have a vacation jar that we were going to put $20 in a week. It’s not much, but it was something. But after our anniversary, wherein we used what meager stores we’d saved, now there is… nothing in it. I rarely remembered to put money in the jar, so by the end of the year when I HAD hoped to have saved around over $1,000… there was $160. My hope is to find an actual vacation to take next year, figure out how much it would cost, divide that down to what we need to save monthly or weekly, and commit to putting that much in the jar no matter what. We need a vacation.

6. Explore more of Washington.

I don’t care if it’s five minutes down the road or two hours away, I want to discover more areas of Washington; I want to travel to lighthouses and museums, stop in at hole-in-the-wall diners, visit quirky shops, and just get to know my state better. It doesn’t take a ton of money to have a good day trip, and this year I am determined to voyage beyond my front door and discover the beauty of this state. I’ve lived an hour away from Seattle my entire life, and I’ve never even been to the Space Needle. How bad is that?

7. Read more.

When I re-started my book review/outfit posts, I was hoping to review a book weekly. And that may not have been realistic for my life (hello, baby on the cusp of being a very active, almost walking toddler). But bi-weekly could be doable. According to the survey, aside from Photography Session posts (which surprised me) and Style posts (which didn’t surprise me), your favorite posts are book review/outfits. So I definitely want to do more of those!

8. Write more

Another request from you guys in the survey was more of my writing on the blog, which is great! I’ve had in mind a small weekly goal to reach writing wise, and hopefully I can keep that up! I would love to feature a post based around what I’ve been writing that week. It’s really all about making time to do things instead of wasting time on the internet doing nothing at all. Speaking of which…

9. Less internet, more productivity.

By this, I mean much less piddling around on sites like 22 Words or Tastefully Offensive — those humor sites which are great, but that can seriously suck away a few hours of my life. If I’m online, I want to be productive — I want to be reading your blogs and cultivating friendships with you guys; I want to be improving my own blogging skills as much as I can. I want to be writing my stories. And if I’m not doing those things, I want to be doing the second most important thing (first important, being a wife), which is being a good and interactive mother to my squishy bundle of cheeks. (aka, Asa.) So, basically, I just want to waste less time.

10. Drink more water.

This one is self explanatory. I’m trying to make a habit of toting around my water bottle wherever I am, and emptying it at least three times a day.

11. Make more things.

This Christmas, I made all of my siblings’ children finger-knitted hats, and I made my in-laws Cookies in a Jar. I made a lot of our Christmas decorations, too. And it was so much fun. I have come to realize that I like DIY’ing things a lot more than I thought I did, so I really want to make more out of what I have rather than running out to buy it.

12. Wear more lipstick.

I know, it’s a little thing. But I have a lot of lipstick tubes that I never use, and I love the way lipstick looks. So it’s time to work it into my everyday makeup routine.

13. Meet more bloggers.

So in 2013, I met Marlen, which was super, super awesome. I am so sad that she moved back to Chicago, because I would have loved to have had a blogger friend around to talk more blog with and not feel awkward about it. And in 2015 I might just get to meet Skye, which will also be amazing. I am kind of obsessed with her personality and her style, and I’m excited about the prospect! But I know there are lots of Washingtonian bloggers out there, thanks to my Washington Blogger link up page, and it is my goal to meet more of you.

14. Give more.

More of my time, more gifts, more attention… I tend to be reclusive. It’s easy to stay at home when I don’t have a car. It’s easy to bow out of helping people when I can’t transport myself to someone. It’s easy to say I can’t give anyone anything when we have a tight budget. It’s easy to get distracted by my phone or my computer when my husband is talking to me. But all of these things… I can change. I can have people over, I can borrow a car, I can make things from what I already have (finger knitting!), and I don’t need my phone or my computer on me at every single waking moment. (This kind of goes with wasting less time.)

15. Cultivate my relationships.

Like I mentioned, I tend to be a recluse. I love people, and I love my friends, but I think I’m an outgoing introvert; I thrive best when I have a good chunk of time to myself to recharge. But that means that I miss out on opportunities to get to know my husband better, or I miss out on being with friends that I love, and who love me. So it’s time to kick excuses and laziness out the door, and just… be a better person!

So, those are my resolutions for this year; coming up with 15 was harder than I thought! But I feel pretty confident that I can do these things this year. I’ve already started on some of them, which really helps!

Do you make resolutions? And if so, what are they? Let me know in the comments!

I hope you all have a wonderful, wonderful New Year’s Eve celebrating wherever you are, and here’s to a fantastic 2015! See you next year!

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P.S. It’s your last day to fill out my blog improvement survey if you want to. It’s short, I promise!