5 things I’d like to do this year

I feel like I have a million ideas running through my head at any given minute of the day, so I have started to write them down in my journal.  Getting ideas on paper quiets my mind (for the moment at least), and gets me motivated toward acting on them.

Here are 5 things that I want to do this year…

1. Continue to improve my food photography.

Left: the first food photo of 2011 // Right: the last food photo of 2011

As I look back over my older recipes, I know that my photography has improved considerably.  This year, I plan to get even more serious about it by setting up a photography station in my home with reflecting boards, tripod, the works.  I also want to continue working on food styling which is a challenge for me, and continue to collect props like the blue box above, a thrift store find.

2. Be pain-free

This might sound odd because I don’t mention it on the blog very often.  Over the past five months, I have been working through the worst chronic pain I have ever had.  It started with an injury at the gym, but I think that it actually began long before that workout, and probably even years and years ago.  I have been seeing a chiropractor, nurse practitioner and massage therapist 2-3 times a week to try to get this under control.  We have been working on fixing my postural imbalances (forward head and rounded shoulders), and digging through some really stubborn scar tissue.  During this time, I haven’t been able to work out except for some limited rehab exercises.  My goal of running an adventure race last fall had to be put on hold.  My mood has definitely been affected off and on throughout the course of this injury.  I am ready to be pain-free!

My plan is to continue my rehab exercises, and when I get the all-clear to workout, to add in more core and strength-training exercises as well as yoga once a week and rock climbing once or twice a week.

By the end of the year, I want to have completed a 5k, and if I’m healthy enough, start training for the January Rock-n-Roll 1/2 marathon.  If I’m healthy enough, quickly enough, I hope to complete a mud run in the spring.

3. Donate my hair

I have been growing my hair out since the fall of 2010 for two reasons.  One, I wanted to have long hair for a while.  And two, I wanted to donate it once I was ready to chop it off.  It’s getting close to the point of being annoyingly long, so this spring I will donate 8 inches of my hair to Pantene Beautiful Lengths.  I have done this once before, and it’s a great way to help women who are battling cancer.  One of the requirements is that your hair is no more than 5% gray, so this might be the last time I get to donate!

4. Read my favorite blogs

This might sound silly, but over the past year I let myself get too busy to read my very favorite blogs.  I look at food and crafting blogs all the time through links on Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest, but I haven’t taken the time to read the blogs that make me laugh out loud, connect me to old friends, or challenge me towards a deeper faith.  I miss them!

Here are a few on my must-read list:
–Big Mama
–A Holy Experience
–Today’s Letters
–Bring the Rain
–Living with Moxie
–A Pile of Cake Still Tastes Good
–The Cinnamon Bears
–Spilled Milk
–The Anti-Jared

5. Show you more of myself

I’m not sure if you know this about me or not, but I am a bit of an introvert.  There is a lot going on in this head of mine, but I keep most of it to myself.  Blogging has been somewhat of a challenge for me as I choose what to keep private and what to share.  I am determined this year to let you get to know more of the real me.

The other thing that holds me back is that I tend to be a people-pleaser.  I could act all cool and pretend like I don’t care whether you like me or not, but I do care.  I am thankful to my pal Tony for reminding me that “If you are not an honest blogger, you are not a blogger. You are a people pleaser. ”  He posted that on his Facebook page back in November, and I have been thinking about it ever since.

So what does that mean?  As I continue to share healthy recipes and other things that I hope will inspire you, I will be sharing some of the everyday things that are going on in my life.  Joys, struggles, things that make me laugh, faith, family…you’re going to get it all.

And if you don’t like it?  I’m going to learn to be ok with that (maybe).

Here’s to a great year.

What is on your to-do list for 2012?