Resolutions (Life & Blog)

It's now a mere nine days until Christmas and I just don't feel festive. I don't know whether it's the combined threat of bills with the fact that I won't be doing anything too special over Christmas by spending all my time in my own home but this year feels off. I'm usually incredibly festive in November and it doesn't stop until the first hints of January but things really have come to a halt this year.

So I've decided to do what I do best - write a list. I'm going to be optimistic and write about my goals and ambitions for the new year both in my online life and my personal life and maybe it'll inspire me to take life as it is right now because at the end of 2013 and the last dregs of a rather terrible year I think I could do with a dose of positivity.

Personal life
❥ Get a passport so I may actually be able to travel outside of the country.
❥ Find the medication that works well for my illnesses rather than swapping and changing constantly.
❥ Write everything down to keep track of things from errands to food in physical form.
❥ Learn to play the guitar - if not well, at least two songs and basic chords.
❥ Pass my driving theory test. Booking it would be a start.
❥ Stay in a hotel for our five year anniversary.
❥ Print out Instagram photos once a month and start an annual photo album categorised by month.
❥ Learn three new filling and relatively recipes by heart and make them often.
❥ Read one new book a month on recommendations from friends and GoodReads.
❥ Save for a second hand iMac to finish off the office.
❥ Pay my rent on time, every month. That's one thing I have never managed to master (always a few days late).
❥ Learn to cook with different and new ingredients rather than sticking to the tried and trusted.

Blog & Online
❥ Take all of my own photos whether that means going out more, using friends as models or setting up backgrounds.
❥ Blog regularly but not be too hard on myself if I don't feel like it every now and again.
❥ Attend more blogger meet up's and meet likeminded, creative people who inspire me to be better.
❥ Try my hand at vlogging, video editing and a few topical videos on my own YouTube channel.
❥ Try not to swear so much on Twitter as it's not very professional and I do it far too often.
❥ Don't give up on a design aesthetic until I feel it's complete even if people comment it's ever-changing.
❥ Fall in love with my blog again. Fall in love with products and writing and locations.
❥ Get boyfriend on camera more with the girls and show the family side of my life more.
❥ Don't get too caught up in the hype or the blog politics. This is my space. Own it.

So all in all I think these are small, achievable goals that I plan to work towards in 2014 along with the standard smoke less, eat better, exercise more, clear out my wardrobe, get organised; the general things we all have on our lists or at least in the back of our minds but are such an abomination to what we'll actually do we don't even bother to list.

I have another list. Just a teeny one but a list all the same and it goes a little something like this:

❥ Forgive myself.
❥ Forgive others.
❥ Appreciate every tiny smile, hand around waist and moment of quiet embraces.

People blather on about becoming a better person every year but I feel like these past three years I've learned a lot about myself, life and other people and I'm constantly learning to become a better person. That's not a resolution in practice but I guess it's always been a life resolution in essence.

Have you thought about what you'd like to change in your life? Do you have any resolutions?