One word (resolution).

Happy New Year! I hope you all had a wonderful end to 2012. Looking back, it was a great year for us. We celebrated our 1 year anniversary, enjoyed several lovely vacations to visit family, found out that our family will be growing by one, and we have myriad pleasant memories to remember the past year by. I can't wait to see what 2013 will bring.

In prior years, my New Year's resolutions rarely made it past January. Last year was (as far as I can recall) the first time I ever stuck to a resolution. My goal for 2012 was to start blogging. In just 3 days I will be celebrating my one year blogiversary! Now, I definitely slowed down over the last few months; life caught up with me, and with all the other priorities blogging started to feel like a chore. That is not the attitude I want to bring here, so instead of forcing it, I gave myself a little break. However, it feels good to be back, and I'm going to try to post more regularly again (although it may only be once a week).

This year I wanted to try a different kind of resolution, a one word resolution. I saw a lot of these last year, and I really liked the idea. So maybe I'm a few years behind on this trend... c'est la vie. I think (hope) it's the best way to go considering other plans we have for the year ahead. 

My broad goal for this year is to simplify, and to appreciate the simple pleasures of our everyday lives. With a little one on the way, I think it's important to focus on what's important, and to eliminate or minimize the unnecessary distractions that waste time, energy, and money. I think another aspect of simplifying is organizing, and I want to get as organized as posible before the baby arrives (because realistically, if it's not organized before then I doubt it will happen afterwards). I am going to apply this principle to all aspects of life, but since I am a list person I also feel like I need a few specific and concrete bullet points to focus on.

* Organize our apartment
Reorganize the belongings we use and need, and get rid of the unnecessary detritus that has accumulated over the years in preparation for all of the baby stuff that will soon be flooding our small space.

* Spend less time watching TV
There are a few shows that we really enjoy watching, but too often I find that I'm watching something just because it's the most tolerable choice from the selection of bad shows that are currently on. If I don't care enough about a show to give it my full attention I will turn it off.

* Cut down on multitasking
I know that I am actually less productive when multitasking, and now it's time to actually apply that knowledge. Avoid the temptation to check email, facebook, shop stats, text messages, etc in the middle of doing something (I almost just broke this one, but caught myself in the nick of time). Close the computer when I'm spending time with the hubby (I like to think I can follow the plot of a show or movie while browsing the internet, but time and time again I have been proven wrong. If I can't even do that, how can I expect to have a genuine conversation?).

* Streamline my Etsy business
Figure out and focus on what's really productive for my Etsy shop, and cut down on the activities that  are not moving the business forward.

* Go back to blogging for myself, not for pageviews
Last year, the more I worried about pageviews, the less I enjoyed blogging. Honestly, the posts that get the most hits are never the ones I expect them to be. I might only post once a week, but I'd rather enjoy writing one genuine post than force myself to write 3 just to meet a self-imposed quota.

* Avoid overloading my schedule
I have a hard time saying "no" to people (even myself). I need to be realistic about how many tasks and activities I can actually fit into a day or week. When I stretch myself too thin, my performance everywhere suffers. I'd rather say "no" to a few requests then perform at a subpar level.

* Bonus: Finish reorganizing my Pinterest boards
Over the holidays I resorted all of my food and photography Pinterest boards (no small task - check it out!). There have been so many times when I have pinned something fabulous, and then been unable to find the pin again when I'm finally ready to put it into action. Hopefully by organizing my boards I'll be able to actually find all of those great recipes, tips, pieces of advice, and tutorials when I need them.

What are your resolutions for 2013? What resolutions have you made in the past that have been successful? What ones have failed? I'd love to hear from you.

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