10 things I want to do in 2016

Tomorrow is 2016! Can you believe it? And as always, it’s time to share the things I want to do in the new year. Resolutions, if you will. These will probably be pretty similar to last year’s resolutions (of which I accomplished about half — pretty good, eh?), only I have much more specific plans to help me accomplish the things I want to do in the coming year. Here’s to making 2016 the best year yet!

In 2016, I want to:

1. Read 52 books.
   I know. To some of you, that may seem like a ton. To others, not very many (I’m looking at you, Sara Lily!). To me, it’s a fair amount. Considering I have a toddler and a newborn, finding the time to read can be tough. But I have been evaluating how I spend my time lately, and there are a lot of moments when I could be reading and instead… I’m uh… let’s just say I discovered Buzzfeed this year. It hasn’t been productive.
   Thanks to Sara Lily, a list I found on Buzzfeed, and a few books I own in my house, and some recent Goodwill finds, I have around 30 books on my list to read next year. But if you have suggestions — no book series, though — fire away! Otherwise I’ll be wandering my local library when I run out of my list, picking books for their covers. I like fantasy, fairytales, romances, mysteries, and biographies. And sometimes YA, but not much any more.
   To go along with this goal, I want to write 52 book reviews with accompanying outfit posts. I think my book review/outfit posts are always my favorite things to write, and it’s so fun coming up with outfits to match book covers.
2. Write a book, or finish writing a book.
   A lot of you know that I used to write novels. But with the business of marriage and babies, writing has been on the backburner for about four years now, and I feel like it’s time to bring it forward again and put more time into writing the stories I love! To help myself finish or write that novel, I am going to commit to writing for 30 minutes a day (unless it is absolutely impossible). I will probably use the site WriteOrDie, which is a GREAT way to set yourself a timer and not get distracted by the internet!
   And to go with that, when I’m done I want to publish a book, or get the ball started towards publishing.
   This is by far the scariest goal I have, and the most exciting. I’ve wanted to publish novels for at least ten years, if not fifteen. I love writing, I love sharing my stories, and I want to make it happen. But I don’t know if I will self-publish, or pursue traditional publishing. The former is probably easier, but the latter feels more legitimate and much more gratifying.
3. Begin the health journey to reaching my goal weight.
   Right after having set a goal to lose weight last year, I got pregnant. So while I did try to keep pregnancy weight gain to a healthy level, I did not do anything to try to lose weight this year. But I do not plan to be pregnant next year at all, and I hope to have lost at least half of what I want to lose before I get pregnant again! All of it would be ideal, but I’m trying to keep my goals easy and doable.
   I will hopefully be taking walks as often as possible, doing yoga or pilates, exercises to help my core and close up the minimal diastasis recti from pregnancy, and eating a 90% Paleo diet. (I say 90%  because I think balance includes having treats every once in a while! Junk food is good for your mental health.)
4. Cultivate the relationships that matter, and be okay with not being friends with everyone.
   For me, these are: my relationship with God, my husband, my kids, and certain friends. I have realized three things regarding friendships over the last few years – one, I like everyone to like me, and I want to be friends with everyone. Two… I get stressed making new friends, because I am a social introvert, and while I love people, I need my space. And three, I don’t have to be friends with everyone. This isn’t to say I don’t want to be friends with everyone, but some relationships are stressful. Maybe we don’t click, maybe they’re not as invested as I am, maybe I’m the one doing all the connecting, or maybe it’s a friendship that I’ve been holding onto that is no longer worth pursuing ardently.
   Whatever the case, I want to let go of the relationships that stress me out, and put more energy into the relationships that matter most.
5. Meet more bloggers!
   I had this same goal last year and I met Hilary in person! It was super fun, and she is now on my list of friendships to cultivate. 😉 I also added a ton of blogger friends on Facebook, which might not seem like a lot but for me it’s huge (I’m not super private, but I’m pretty shy about invading peoples’ internet spaces). I hope to meet Mariah someday since she lives in Washington, and then if bloggers ever travel this way, I want to make an effort to meet them. Sadly, Sara Lily came to Washington but we just couldn’t make it work. Maybe next time!
6. Less internet, more life.
   This mainly applies to how much time I spend on my iPhone. I only have Instagram and Facebook, but some days I get too addicted and I really want to be more present and less hooked on social media. I want to play more with my kids, talk more to my husband, and worry less about documenting every single thing in crappy iPhone quality pictures. 😉
7. Create more things.
   This year, I made four skirts, which I am pretty proud of! And next year, as I mentioned in my roundup post, I really want to move on to dresses. My local Goodwill often has really great fabric for really good prices, and I have a stockpile of fabrics just waiting to be made into something. I even have one fabric that is enough for a dress for me and a dress for Evie. So hopefully that will happen without too many mistakes (although given my skirt history, the first few dresses will probably be a bit wonky.)
8. Blog better.
   I realize this might seem counteractive to using less internet, but blogging is actually probably what I spend the least amount of time on when I am online. (I’m looking at you, Buzzfeed) I want to start utilizing a schedule with my blogging, or a checklist, or something to help me streamline the blogging process and create better content. Not that I’m looking to make huge changes to what I post, because I like my blog pretty well, but I want to improve how I post. Because sometimes I take the pictures, edit them, and write the post all in one day and it comes out a bit haphazard.
   I also want to get re-involved in the blogging community; respond to comments, read blogs, share blogs, etc. I’ve been letting that slide lately — understandable with a newborn — but I am hoping to structure my day overall better to where I have 30 minutes or so to spend responding to comments and reading blogs. I miss that interaction!
9. Make videos.
   I used to do vlogs, songs, and beauty videos back it the day, albeit sporadically and with a bad camera. And then I got better at photography and less confident in my video skills, and stopped. So next year I’m hoping I can share more videos, because I really love doing them! While I will be sharing makeup and hair looks, likely they won’t be actual tutorials because I don’t think the beauty guru life is my thing. I want to share era-specific looks that transform me from a modern day woman to a 50’s vixen or, as I have done already, a 20’s flapper. Or a Disney Princess. Or a Hollywood star. And, I want to obviously do more thrift hauls. Outside of those two things, I’m not sure what my videos will be yet. I’ll just have to try things and find what I like doing best!
10. Lastly, save money for vacation.
    Because we need a good vacation, and I’m finally getting the hang of our budget to the point where I think I could start putting away a bit of money here and there.

That’s it for my goals! Thank you all so much for reading my blog and sharing your lives with me as I share mine with you. It has been a fantastic year, and I can’t wait to get started on 2016!

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