The New Year

Pin It now! 2011 is only a week old and it's been a whirlwind of a week.  We started the year with a week old pile of blizzard snow (and then trash).  It reached 50 degrees this past weekend, and snow is on the way again.  I got food poisoning (again!).  Then, hubby and I spent a nice quiet NYE at home and for the first time in years, we watched the ball drop on TV.  It was a perfectly quiet night.  Plus, there are floods and mudslides in California, tornadoes along the entire Mississippi River, and birds falling from the sky dead (Flash Forward-style).  I hope everyone has watched "The Day After Tomorrow" again just to prepare...

Anyway, a few more beautiful blizzard day pictures.  Loving the icicles.

The new year always inspires me to make big plans for the next twelve months.  I don't always follow through.  If you've been reading this blog from the beginning, you've read I started a lot of projects (coffee, eating well, wedding planning, spending hiatus) and they've began really strong but ended really weak.  I wouldn't say I became lazy, just uninspired.  It's a new year though and like I said, it always inspires people for new beginnings and new projects.  So I'm not making any resolutions because they're always broken, but I'm making a list of things to do this year.  What's the difference - I love lists and I find it so satisfying to accomplish something and cross it off the list.  It's motivation for me to move forward with where I am right now and help me make myself better.  This includes myself in a partnership that has evolved into something beyond what I could have ever imagined (in a good way of course!). 

The big items on the list...

• I just started a new position at work last October.  I still feel like a newbie.  I plateaued at my old position which was one of the reasons I transitioned into my new role.  However, I was good at what I did and I knew it inside and out.  Today, I'm not there yet.  So my to-do for work this year is to work really hard.  Build relationships.  Learn and read as much as I can.  I won't bore you the boring details on what I'll do day-to-day to get there.  (I have a dry erase board on my wall for that!)  I will keep you updated every few months to let you know how I'm doing.
• Become fluent in Cantonese.  This has been on my list for the last few years.  This is the year.  Seriously.  I tried last year.  I signed up at Baruch twice but the class was cancelled due to low attendance.  I even got Em and Cyndi to sign up but the class was still cancelled.  This year, I'm doing Wossing.  First class starts in a couple of weeks.  I understand the language so I know it's in there some where, but for some reason when I try to speak, I sound like a baby.  Hopefully by the summer, I'll have the basics and will be able to get over my embarrassment so I can speak with my parents without stumbling over every word. 
• Be a good wife to my husband.  This is a biggie.  There isn't anything specific I feel like I/we need to address.  I want to put it on my list  though so I can remember that maintaining a relationship takes just as much work as anything else.  I don't want to take our day-to-day for granted, which can be easy to do. 
• 52 Week Photo Project.  I read somewhere that a few photographers were going to do a 365 Project where they would take a photo every day in 2011.  It's a fabulous idea but a little ambitious for me.  I'm doing a 52 week project instead where I'll have a meaningful/inspiring/NYC-centric photo every week for the entire year.  I'm excited for this one!  It gives me a chance to explore more.  It might give this blog a little more structure too (maybe). 

With his project and just for this blog generally, I want to move towards more original content.  I remember why I first started this blog (wedding planning) and how it's evolved (life in NYC, then inspirationn from others).  I want to go back to having it as a chronicle of our lives in NYC.  So watch out for more and hopefully better!