Goals for 2014

Uh-oh. It's that time of year again. Time to hold myself accountable for the things I said I would do and didn't. Or did. who knows. Truth is, 2013 has been AMAZING. This year has been so, so good to me. Living in South Korea has been an incredible experience and I am thankful for it every single day. I have met some of the most wonderful people here and I feel very blessed to be a part of such a caring community. 2013 was also the year in which one of my dreams came true. I am now working as a photographer. I hate calling myself that for several reasons, but.. yeah. I'm taking photos of people and getting paid to do what I love the most. We had visits from one of my best friends and from my mother, we've been out and about exploring and we just have really enjoyed this year. 

Like everything, it has its ups and downs. We miss our Chelsea dearly and even though we LOVE Korea, we can't wait to move so we can get her back and have our family complete again. We have also missed out on a lot of family moments but we are ready to go visit and make up for the time we have been away. 2014 will bring its own challenges, and I will be here waiting with arms wide open!

So let's see how I did on my goals for 2013, shall we? This is my favorite part. This is where I get to kick myself for being me.

1. Lose weight: Nope. Got fatter. A lot fatter. Even though I tried, and I tried really hard but I just have no clue what's happening. A visit to the Doctor might be in order.

2. Learn at least the basics of Korean (Hangul): Aaaaand NOPE. I can say yes, no, tell a taxi driver to take me somewhere and order food. I can ask for prices on things but I can only give back a blank stare if the price is not one of the numbers I know. I think I just got lazy. So many people speak English here that I wasn't really forced to learn it in order to make it through the day so meh. I suck.

3. Read at least a book a month: Yes!!! I am so excited about this one. I am proud that I have now found some sort of balance and can have some time to read! If you want to see which books I read this year, please click here.

4. Start school or some kind of classes: No. Shut up.

5. Keep working on Photography skills: I have! With encouragement from some amazing people, I have now started my own photography business and I absolutely love what I do. I also use my camera SO much and have learned a lot of new things this past year. It's been wonderful and I am absolutely excited and looking to learn more and more every day.

6. Pay off some debt and not get into more: Yeah, no. We're definitely financially better, that's for sure. One of the big Credit Cards got paid off but I have been spending here and there on the other one. Not good. Need to get better but Seoul is so awesome and I just want to buy ALL. THE. THINGS.

7. Visit somewhere new, outside of Seoul: Unfortunately, due to number 6 and lack of time management skills, we have not been able to do this. Hopefully next year?

 

So yeah, that was it. 2 out of 7. That is HORRIBLE, dude. What in the world are you thinking? <--- That's me, talking to myself. I completely realize that none of these goals were unrealistic... things just didn't go as planned. Now for 2014, let's do something similar, realistic, attainable goals and hopefully this year I will go through with them.

 

1. Lose Weight.

2. Embrace my husband's new duty station. Leave Seoul with a positive attitude, no matter where we have to go.

3. Read 20 books.

4. Start a 365 Photography Project and keep up with it until December 31st.

5. Keep a clean and organized house.

6. Eat better and do more meal planning.

7. Back up my computer files... (One more time)

8. Take advantage of the prices in Korea and print and frame some of my photos to take to our new home.

9. Be more active. Go back to the gym and Crossfit and workout regularly.

10. Pay off some debt.

11. Travel to somewhere new. The new duty station doesn't count. 

12. Have a more organized business model.

13. Revamp the blog.

 

There. That should do it. I feel like all of these are possible and I'm going to work hard to make each of them happen. 

 

That's all for this year, friends! Thank you so so much for reading and for understanding when I abandon this blog for long periods of time. Life gets busy sometimes but I wouldn't have it any other way. 

 

I hope you all have an amazing new year and that all your wishes come true, that you are able to fulfill every goal you set for yourself and that life brings you nothing but great things!!!

 

Lots of love!

 Zayda