Why hello 2016.
As surprised as I am at how fast 2015 flew by, I look back on all of the memories and realize how much we crammed into one year. This week we wrapped up a lot of 2015 and one of the most exciting things to me was that I get to start my new Erin Condren Planner. Yes, I’m a complete nerd. Something about the fresh blank pages just screamed opportunities to me.
What is Up for 2016?
I’m not a huge fan of setting goals these days. To me goals mean that it “must get done” and suddenly my attitude tends to change. I do have a few things I would like to accomplish in 2016 and a slight plan on how it is going to happen.
As always I look forward to my evenings at home relaxing. There is lots of college basketball coming up in the next few months, lots of fires in the fireplace to be had and way too many cars to be played with. This summer there will be two full weeks of Olympics to watch. The countdown is on.
In the last year I’ve really discovered that my “me time” is at 5am. That one little hour first thing in the morning sets my day off on the right foot. It has made such a difference in my attitude when the day starts. I might still have a stressful morning, but at least I had a little bit of time to myself before everything went to hell. 5am is top of my list of things for 2016 to continue.
Hobbies
Knitting – I am slowly getting back into knitting a little bit more each day. I have a few Christmas projects to finish up still and I hope to do so in January for both of them. There is also a pair of socks that I’ve been working on for probably close to a year that should get finished. Most of all, I really need to darn the 15 pair of socks that are in a closet somewhere. Maybe 2016 will be the year for that!
Reading – In 2015 I decided to try and read more. In the end I finished 83.5 books and I am shocked that I did to be honest. Looking forward to 2016, I would like to continue reading as much as I am now. I have so many books saved on my kindle that I want to read and for the next few months I’m looking forward to reading my way through those. Maybe I’ll hit 85 this year?
Photography – One thing I didn’t do enough of in 2015 was take pictures. My camera sat out, but never where I was around to grab it when I needed it. With the amount of phone photos I took this year I’ve found that I missed having the photos from my regular camera as well. There is no way a 365 project would happen, but I look forward to taking a lot more this year.
Fitness & Healthy Eating
2014 was a huge year for me. I ran my first half marathon, dropped 40 pounds and really changed my entire lifestyle. 2015 did not go quite as easily and I hit a lot more ups and downs than I had the previous year. None of them are excuses but looking back I definitely fell off the wagon where it came to being consistent with everything.
My husband, some friends and I are kicking off a DietBet January 2nd in hopes of being able to start 2016 off right. I’m looking forward to getting more consistent with running, eating right most of the time and getting back into the habits of meal prepping and planning each week. Those few factors make such a difference in feeling better.
For The Blog
When 2015 kicked off, the blog wasn’t even in the back of my mind. I was keeping track of my running through the blog, but I wasn’t blogging for the love of it every day. When I started getting back into blogging as often as I have been, I realized how much I missed it. I used to blog as part of my job and keeping a personal blog. After changing jobs, getting married and having a baby everything blog related sort of fell apart. I’m looking forward to continuing to grow the blog as much as possible as I look forward to 2016.
Community – In the last few months I have discovered a wonderful community of fellow bloggers on Facebook. In the few months I’ve been part of their group I ave learned SO much. I look forward to continuing to network with them and watch their blogs grow as I attempt to grow mine.
Post Often – I aim for posting 5 days a week. Some weeks I hit all 7 days, some weeks I hit 4 days. Not everything I post is personal and not everything I post is informational. I love having the mix of post types on here and I want to continue to do that this year. There are days where it just won’t happen. I’m trying to maintain the mindset of “if it doesn’t happen today, it doesn’t happen” and move onto the next day.
Get It Organized – I’ve been quietly working on a project for this blog over the last few months. Posts dating back to 1999 have been appearing in my WordPress backend. I’m hoping soon to have everything organized but I’ve brought all of my blogs, diaries and online journals into one place. It has been fun to read but it also has been interesting to read. So many things happened in the past that I’ve forgotten about.
Growth – While a lot of bloggers out there are showing charts, stats, etc. I don’t think my numbers are all that interesting yet. When I first started posting earlier this year, I was seeing maybe 5 visitors a day to my blog when I looked at my analytics. Now I’m seeing between 50 and 90 a day and I look forward to seeing that number grow even more as we move into 2016.
In way too many words, I guess I’m saying I look forward to 2016 and everything that it offers. For now, my planner is a clean slate. Very quickly it will be full of scribbles. I can’t wait.
What do you look forward to most in 2016?
That is so many books! I have a goal of 27 books by my 27th birthday which is next December. I have 23 left since I started in November. You put my goal to shame!
I’m with you on the photography. I have a wonderful, expensive camera but it’s never with me. That’s one of my goals for this year.
That is an awesome goal!!! In 2014 I didn’t finish a single book, if you stick to it, 27 is doable!
All of these are great! I really want to get better with photography this next year and I agree that picking up the camera is the first step! Happy New Year!
Yes, I’ve learned so much by just going out to play around with the camera. Enjoy it!
I ran my first half marathon in September, it was an experience! I hope 2016 is better than your 2014, you achieved a lot! I’m also ready for college basketball, woohoo!
Leslie recently posted…January Goals
Congratulations on finishing your first half marathon! It is such an accomplishment! I’m so excited for college basketball, it really is the best TV time of the year isn’t it?
I am the same way with a brand new planner!! You have a lot of great goals here!! And wow that is a lot of reading!! Awesome!! Happy New Year!
Isn’t it wonderful to start fresh with a new planner? Happy New Year!
I love this twist on “goals” for this post. Also, it’s totally not nerdy to be ready to dive into your new planner because I feel the exact same way. 😉 I love when I get to use a new planner.
I’m glad I’m not the only one who feels this way about a planner! It is so nice to have the fresh start. Happy New Year!
Girl you are a machine!! I feel proud if I post 2x each week. So ygg if you can get 5 out each week! Best of luck to you this year, cannot wait to follow along 🙂
Thank you! It’s a goal, but who knows it if will happen! Hopefully! Glad to have you with us to follow along!
I’m looking forward to blog growth this year as well. And I’m a nerd too. I love my fresh planner pages! Best of luck and I hope you reach your goal of 85 books this year!
It is so nice to have the fresh start with the planner! Glad to see there’s other nerds like me out there!
I’m so happy that you’re as thrilled about planners as I am! I just got a Day Designer planner and I’m geeking out right now. My favorite part is that it has inspirational quotes at the top of every page. January 1 was a Winnie the Pooh quote. Love, love, love.
Nicole recently posted…Resolutions for the New Year
I love the idea of an inspirational quote at the top of each page. Winnie the Pooh is one of my favorites!
Best to you on this new year! I just discovered how much a planner helps my blog! It keeps me so organized.
I would be lost without my planner! Not only do I have it filled with post ideas but it keeps me going when it comes to every day life.
A new year is like a fresh start! Love that planner too 🙂 I can’t wait to start using mine.
I LOVE my erin condren planner! I don’t know why I held back last year!
I LOVE knitting! I’d love to see more of your projects. Wishing you a happy 2016 🙂
Julia @ Lord Still Loves Me recently posted…2016 New Year’s Resolutions
Isn’t knitting such a nice way to relax!? I’m hoping to get a lot more done this year!
Sounds like you have some great plans for the new year!! I’m super jealous of how many books you read in 2015! If I was able to do half of that I would consider it a success.
Ashley recently posted…Menu Planning for the Busy Life, FREE Printables
I was shocked myself to actually finish that many. It helped that I got roped into the Stephanie Plum series, without that I don’t think I would’ve had nearly as many!
I used to read a lot but these days I can’t find the time. I think your goals are achievable and wish you tons of luck in your diet bet hun.
Hugs Elyse || http://www.sweetelyseblog.com
Thank you! I forgot how much I loved reading until I started it up again. It became such a great sanity break for me!
I love planners:) But I’m nervous to purchase one, feeling like I need to achieve everything set out in them. I might dabble a bit before I commit:)
Hahaha, it seriously changed my life getting one! I love the Erin Condren one, so much room to write everything down and both types of calendar layouts!
new planners, notebooks and journals are addicting. Love them. Fresh pages, new ideas. 🙂 Your blog posting goals are off the hook. 5-7 days a week? Wow, I’m impressed. Goodluck.
Tricia @ The Adventure List recently posted…Host a BaconFest Party
Thank you! Yes, there must be something about being a blogger (or writer) that makes it all so fresh and clean and exciting!