2012 Plans
by Rachel Tayse • January 1, 2012 • Family, Travel • 14 Comments
This picture of me snorkeling is in the single set of pictures from two trips to Hawaii in 2003. I am worried we lost a whole year of pics...
Despite my optimism, I did not achieve many of my 2011 resolutions.
2011 was a bit of a difficult year health wise. I had surgery to clear out my sinuses, but a raging infection kept me feeling lousy most of the summer. After some irritating testing, I found out in September that I am allergic to dogs and dust mites. We changed some habits and removed allergens in the house, but I continue to suffer sinus issues sometimes. The week before Christmas, pain and pressure returned and I now feel like I’m exactly where I started 2011. Despite being a skeptic, I will try the alternative route in 2012, starting with an appointment at Urban Acupuncture Center this Friday.
As a family, we decided to abandon resolutions per se, but we are making plans for 2012:
We will travel more. We have trips planned with extended family to San Salvador Island, Bahamas and the Big Island of Hawaii in February and June, respectively. We want to make salt from seawater on these trips. In addition, we hope to jump on at least a few of Alex’s business trips this year and maybe try an RV trip of our own.
We want to feel stronger. At first, Alex and I resolved to lose weight. The Fat Trap article in the New York Times confirmed my suspicions that the number I’ve maintained for 4 years now is probably the forever weight my body. Alex has not changed weight in years but without regular exercise is also feeling a little weak. I am starting each day with a short series of floor exercises (sit ups and the like) and we plan to exercise more as a family.
In the kitchen we will practice making cheese. We have experimented here and there but not enough to feel masterful and we’ve never made some of our favorite varieties like goat chevre. I am teaching a class at Franklin Park at the end of March about making cheese so these plan will be put into action sooner rather than later.
We want to feel settled in a home. For a few years I have felt like our house isn’t the perfect home for us. We want a little more space to garden and keep animals. As we aren’t using the public school just down the street, we would prefer to be somewhere with lower foot and car traffic. We debate about whether to look for a farm in the city location (there are precious few) or a quieter street with bigger lots. In the meantime we are completing little projects around the house that will make ours ready to sell when we find a property we want to buy.
In 2012, I plan to write for myself. You may have already noticed me starting, as recipe posts are being fewer and ‘lifestyle’ posts are increasing. I realized awhile ago that I was writing for some suspected audience that needed two recipes a week and wouldn’t care about homeschool. Catering to the ‘what bloggers do’ schedule was a lot like work and since I’m not being paid here, why not have fun and do what I want?
On the other side of the writing coin, I plan to write for other businesses more often in 2012. I’ll do a full introduction soon but I am now accepting freelance writing jobs. I promise to write a post about why I am reducing cooking classes and picking up writing.
Finally, I hope that 2012 is the year I do something BIG. It might be related to the home we hope to buy, it might be in the writing realm, or perhaps another opportunity will find me.
It all remains to be seen, which is the promise of a new year, a new slate, a time to reflect and challenge ourselves. May 2012 exceed your plans and hopes.
Hey, good luck at the acupuncturist. Many people have had great success with acupuncture. Just keep an open mind. Acupuncture has been used to help people for centuries, and may be just what you need to put your body back in balance. Good luck!
Don’t you worry because everything is already planned and it is always for the better..
I skimmed that NYT article and there is another way to lose weight without starving yourself. Fill up on fruits, veggies, legumes, whole grains and cut back on meat, dairy, eggs (I know, you have your own chickens). Cutting out dairy might help with the allergies.
Hi..For me this is a good idea…Thanks for the thoughts…
Great goals Rachel! We have similar achievements we want to tackle this year. I’m going to take on more freelance writing projects, my blog changed over the last year and it now incorporates recipes along with more lifestyle focused posts. Traveling around in an RV is on our bucket list and something Scott and I talk about often.
Thank you Rachel for letting us know about this post and I want to share this to my friends an families too..
Thanks for the big help here…
Well it is really important for people to have plans and goals for every day life w have…
Planning is one of the keys that we have to take note of when we are facing everyday life…
Thanks for the idea…Plans are really important for me but not all the time..
For me planning is really important in our daily life..Thank you for sharing this valuable post..
For me planning is very important..For our daily lives..Thank you for sharing this..
Join the club. We all have the tendency to set goals but many of us do not put a proper action plan in place to achieve the goals set.
New Years resololution are quite common , but most people do not achieve the because they are not very good at establishing actions plans.