2021

The progress on my 2020 goals was solid. And I still have so much I'd like to accomplish. I read more than I do in a typical year and photography was an area of real growth. Here's what I checked off the list-- 

• Keep blogging. Check! 
• Build a photography website and start charging more for my work. Photography 6-10 families. Check! I got my website up and running and photographed 10 families. I took a course and learned SO much. I definitely gained a lot of confidence in my work in 2020. 
• Read 6-8 books. I read 13! One Day in December, The Obesity Code, Mating in Captivity, Half Broke Horses, This is How it Always Is, Untamed, Love Warrior, Atomic Habits, A Man Called Ove, Being Mortal, The Silver Star, Britt Marie Was Here and Where the Crawdads Sing. I loved almost every one of them. 
• Attend church 3 times a month. We did virtual church with some regularity. I listened to Pastor Richard's sermons while driving. My true dream is to establish a church home that I feel passionate about in Gig Harbor and we still have a long way to go toward accomplishing that goal. 
• Participate in Alpha. I did this in January/February. I enjoyed the content but felt like to pushed me further away from Chapel Hill. 
• Start a dinner club. I attempted this. It didn't take off in the way I hoped and then the pandemic made it impossible-- but we got together with friends regularly enough that I feel like I can say this is a check. 
• Stop putting sugar in my coffee and tea. Haven't had one sugary beverage in 2020! 
• Intermittent fasting. I got super on board with this trend and have made it part of my lifestyle. It hasn't had as drastic an effect on my weight as I hoped but I think it's good for my overall health and will be worth it in the long run. 
• Work out 3 times a week. Saying I accomplished this may be a stretch but I walked frequently and did my pilates 1-2 times a week for sure. 
• Get good photos of the kids in every season. Check! This has been a breakthrough year for photography. 
• Listen to podcasts that inspire me. I've kept up with Coffee and Crumbs and got super into Brene Brown. I've learned a lot. 
• Go to Hawaii, plan a summer vacation, and camp a few times. Check! I'm so grateful we were able to go on our trip to Hawaii just before the world shut down. We had lots of mini-adventures this summer. 
• One-month social media hiatus. I took January off and really enjoyed the mental clarity it provided. I'm making it an annual thing. 
• Give more money to charity. I started a monthly donation to Together Rising and feel really good about the work I'm contributing to. 
• Spend 5 minutes working on reading with each of the kids daily. We've been reading a lot as a family! Owen has made progress reading on his own. 

Here are the unaccomplished goals from 2020--

• Take a writing workshop. This is still something that I'd love to do. 
• Wake up without snooze every day. I've gotten much better at this and accomplish it on workdays. I've slipped on my days off. 
• Start incorporating other portions of miracle morning into my day. This has been a hard one in 2020 because we were home so much that I didn't feel the need to start my day super early. In 2021 I want to keep getting up earlier and working on more reading, writing and exercising. 
• Go skiing once without the kids and once with them. Ty and I drove up to the mountain in an attempt for me to ski and were turned away. I will try again this year for sure!

Goals for 2021 

• Apply for a photography business license. 
• Start a photography social media account and post twice a month. 
• Photograph 12 families.
• Decrease my FTE to 0.6. Consider other career opportunities.  
• Exercise at least 3 days a week. 
• Start running again. 
• Read 12 books. 
• Continue searching for a church home-- somewhere with diversity. 
• Open college savings accounts for Wes and Hazel. 
• Become a certified life coach. 
• Commit to learning and reading about race, equity and white privilege. 
• Take a writing workshop.
• Ski once with the kids and once without them. 

I was off on New Year's Eve for the first time in many years. We had a bonfire in the driveway and counted down the New Year on East Coast time. After sparkling cider and confetti blasters, everyone was ready for bed by 9:30. We were careful in our language to say New Year instead of midnight. When Wes asked what time it was, Ty and I attempted to redirect his attention. He persisted and when the boys looked at the clock they asked "How is it only 9:30 when it's past midnight?" We told them we didn't know and it was time for bed.

Here's to another year of learning, loving and dreaming.