I hate New Year’s Resolutions.

For one, what exactly is a “resolution” anyway?

To me, “resolution” roughly translates to “something you think you should be doing but have no concrete plans to actually do.” Like the always popular “eat healthier,” “lose weight.”

Or you know, exactly like the items I put on this 2011 “Goals” layouts I made back in January:

Psst…like the look of this layout? You can buy the template here or here in the Shoppe.

Nothing like big, vague resolutions to start off the new year, right? Haha.

My other big issue with New Year’s Resolutions? Timing.

I don’t know about you but by the time I get through Thanksgiving and Christmas and the New Year finally rolls around, I’m a bit burnt out. While I love the idea of the New Year and a fresh start, often the last thing I’m motivated to do at that point is start off on some big new life-changing goal journey.

This is why I love making Birthday Goals.

I am lucky that my May 24th birthday is right around the half-point of the year which means in the event I did make some sort of New Years goal or resolution, it’s the perfect time to re-evaulate what is and isn’t working, free from the holiday stress and cold, winter weather.

I already shared five of my scrapbooking goals for the next year during my 5th Scrap-i-versary Celebration, but since my twenty-ninth birthday was on Tuesday (you can read more about my thoughts on turning the big Two-Nine here), I thought today would be a good day to share a little bit about my personal goals for my twenty-ninth year.

1. Become a Time Management Guru

Ok so, guru may be a bit of a stretch, haha, but I would like this to be the year where I at least start to feel like I’m actually on top of things.

Taking action. Getting things done.

Or at least not forgetting things.

I feel like I’ve made some good progress in the last year or two but as a big idea person who tends to get bogged downed by planning and details, I still have room for improvement. Ideally, I’d like to get to a point where I feel good about how I’m spending my time because I know it’s exactly what I should be doing right then, whether it’s working, scrapbooking or just hanging out with the hubby.

2. Be More Eco-Concious

Having grown up in California, I’m no stranger to the idea of green living. We’re currently living in a high-performance green home which is a great start but I am definitely looking for more simple, easy ways Adam and I can do our part to help out Mother Earth. Things like using reusable bags and water bottles, reducing our overall use of paper, limiting the amount of toxins and chemicals we bring into our homes and bodies and just overall being more aware and smart about the choices we make. I’m not about to go all tree-hugging hippie, haha, but I would definitely like to do more than we are right now.

3. Make Each Photo Count

My Canon Rebel XT turns 5 this year and while I love it to bits, I am definitely feeling ready for an upgrade. While I’m hoping this may happen in the next year or two, what I’m really looking to focus on with this goal is intention.

Rather than snapping lots of pictures in hopes of getting a good one, I want to slow down and take the time to really think about the photos before I take them. Be more aware of lighting and composition with the goal of taking less photos overall but getting more photos I LOVE.

4. Turn Our Rental House into a Home

As most people know, military life involves moving. We’ve lived in 4 different homes, two different states and two countries in less than 6 years, which I suppose is kind of a lot now that I think about it. (That doesn’t even include the three other countries Adam lived in while deployed.)

Although we owned our last home in Colorado, when we moved here to San Antonio, TX, we made the decision for a number of reasons to rent instead.

I’ll admit, making the adjustment from owning a home we LOVED to renting a house we like has been a bit of an adjustment. We’ve been here about eight months now and other than a bit of paint, some shelving and some Ikea purchases, we haven’t done a whole lot in the way of home design.

Enter what I’m lovingly referring to as: Operation Home Sweet Home, haha.

We’re going to be tackling lots of projects this year in an effort to really make this place feel like our own. Here’s to taking action and being more bold and adventurous in our design choices. If you like my use of bold color and pattern in my layouts, I think you’ll like what I have in store for my home as well. Should be an interesting adventure for sure!

5. Document my 29th Year

I already wrote more about this goal in my Big Two Nine birthday post over at Sweet Shoppe Designs but the plan here is to document my twenty-ninth year in an awesome way. Whether that will be a daily, weekly, monthly project I haven’t quite decided but I am definitely leaning towards the idea of a Project Life type album. Guess we’ll see where I end up!

So those are the five main things I’m focusing on for my twenty-ninth year. Anyone else working on some big goals? Or even some awesome little goals? Are you a fan of New Years resolutions or do you, like me, think making a resolution with the plan to break it is silly? Share your thoughts in the comments!

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