New Year.  Ahhh.  NEW year.  There is something about beginnings that make me feel relieved.  It’s like a do-over.  You get to start over.  Wipe the slate clean.  Fresh. NEW year.  A whole NEW year to get it right this time.

I’ve never really liked new year’s resolutions.  There is something about making a goal into a “resolution” that instantly sets me up for failure.  As if the very act of calling it a “resolution”  makes it into something I’m going to quit doing within a few days or weeks.  So I have never really been into making new year’s resolutions.  This year, though, is going to be different (sort of).

2009 was a rough year for me.  I started it off like many others with a vow to lose weight, by eating right and exercising.  One of those things that usually only lasts about a month.  This time it worked.  Actually, what happened is that I finally embraced the idea that I was just going to have to workout harder than other people to finally lose it.  I started slowly, but I made working out part of my “job.”  If it was a weekday I HAD to go to the gym.  Like it was part of my job description.  There were a few days where I missed.  There were MANY days I wanted to quit, but then all that work would have been for nothing, so I kept going…….  Then a funny thing happened.  It became part of my life.  Going to the gym was just something I did.  Finally, for the first time in my life I actually LIKED working out.  I know what you are thinking “This is good. How could this make 2009 a rough year?”  Well, I tend to put a lot of pressure on myself.  That’s the pitfalls of being a people pleaser.  I was finally doing something for myself, but I couldn’t tell others NO.  I was still trying to be supermom and super photographer and superwoman.  By the end of the year I was drained, angry and about ready to have a nervous breakdown.  So I decided that I would take a vacation, Christmas vacation, just like everyone else.  Sure I had work to be done, but I ignored it.  I tried to also ignore those nights that I woke up in a cold sweat thinking “my clients are going to be upset that I’m taking a vacation and not working on their photos.”  See, told ya, people pleaser.  Anyway, you know what I realized?  It was the best thing I could have done for myself, my family AND my business.

So for the first year in a long time I made some resolutions, although I’m going to call them goals so I’ll actually stick to them. :)  One of the things on this list is to do what I loved most when I started my business: Blogging!  Blogging used to be a guilty pleasure and now it’s a task on a long list of things-to-do and it usually gets lost in the shuffle.  So, I’m going to be blogging. Alot.  Sessions and boring, mundane things about our life and my daughter (after all, she is the reason I started blogging to begin with).   Another major thing I’m going to be doing this year is WORKSHOPS!  I want to learn more.  I crave some hands-on knowledge that I can’t learn on my own so I’m going to be going to some photography workshops this year.  SO excited.  I’ll be sharing my adventures, successes and failures with you all!  The main goal I have for myself is to balance work, family and self better.  I’m going to have to learn to say “NO” to things that I can’t fit into this balance.

So, I’m excited about this renewal.  This do-over. This NEW YEAR that I have to enjoy life.

Thanks to all the friends, family and clients that have been so supportive and have allowed me to put myself out there!  I love you all.

Since a post is always better with a photo here is me and my family at the end of 2008 and again at the end of 2009.  Always, fun to compare where you are a year apart.  Strangely, my Christmas tree looks exactly the same. :)  Happy 2010 everyone!