Happy New Year!!!

I love January 1st!  I’m a checklist kind of girl and I’m great at making resolutions.  I’m not always successful at maintaining them but I give it a valiant effort every time.  Remember when I resolved to cut my showers to six minutes every day?  That was hard.  And short-lived.  Thank goodness January 1st means a clean slate, a second…a third…yes, even a thirty-third chance to try again.  So here we go, I’m ready to set some goals for this bright and shiny new year.

Professional Goals:

-Do more by doing less

I balance a full-time job at the University, family life, and my passion (photography) by setting a limited number of session slots per month.  I admit, I tend to book more than my monthly goal.  It’s so hard to pass up an opportunity to do something I love.  But I’m excited to devote more time and energy to planning each shoot thoughtfully and intentionally.  Scouting new locations, searching for new ideas, bringing in those little touches that push it to another level.   If you’re thinking of doing something different for 2012, don’t dally too long.  Let’s go for it!!

-Attend workshops

I’m a lifelong student at heart.  In 2011, I had the pleasure of attending several local workshops, including a lighting workshop by Firebird Photography.  It gave me the kick I needed to start utilizing lighting techniques more in my sessions and expand what I can offer.   I’m constantly looking for new workshops and courses.  This May, I hope to travel to Chicago to attend an amazing workshop held by one of my heroes in the children’s photography business.  I’m so excited!

-Hold workshops

Two years ago, I held a introductory workshop on composition and the basics of exposure.  It was a test run and I had a bunch of ideas waiting in the wings.  The workshop turned out to be such a blast, not just for the participants but for me.  I literally just ran out of time to plan another one but I’m moving this higher on my priority list for 2012. I love sharing what I know with others and it’s such a bonus to meet other photography enthusiasts.  I know so many people who have awesome digital cameras but just are just not using them to their potential.  As a mom with a camera, I want to help other proud moms to take better pictures of their adorable babies.  I would love to do workshops this year!

Personal Goals:

-Use those reusable Foodland bags

I take hot showers until the hot water runs out and I can’t fall asleep without the TV on, but we are trying to change our habits one by one and love on the earth.  We had composting worms which we loved until they mysteriously died off.  We also had an egg-laying chicken until she also mysteriously died right before Christmas.  Hmm, I’m sensing a pattern.  My husband started an aquaponics system and built a garden table with broccoli, tomatoes, lettuce, and all sorts of leafy deliciousness.  But one thing that I see everyday is our closet filled with plastic bags from the grocery store.  I HAVE the green reusable grocery bags.  I love them.  I use them everyday…to take my lunch to work or as a beach bag.  But I forget them without fail every time I make a trip to the grocery store.  And my overwhelming pile of plastic bags keeps growing.  I would really like to make a conscious effort to bring my groceries home in my reusable cloth bags.

-Try a two new recipes a month

I’m not the world’s best cook.  I have five go-to recipes and I tend to cycle through them, more often than not, choosing to have a comforting bowl of saimin for dinner.  I just haven’t had the best of luck when trying new recipes.  I found some appealing recipes on the food network website and I want to aspire to just trying one every other week.  That’s a small goal and doesn’t look too daunting.  Keep your fingers crossed that our tummies survive.

-Take care of the little things

There are those little tasks that make my to-do list but keep getting pushed aside by the bigger priority tasks.  Wouldn’t it be awesome if I could just sweep the little, pesky tasks off my list permanently?   They range from the sensible to the insane sounding.  ex.  cleaning the top of our washing machine and dryer.  They sit outside and they are dirty.  It bothers me everytime I do laundry but I’m usually rushing to get through the three loads of laundry.  Or finding a lampshade for the living room lamp.  I threw the shade away because it looked so old and dingy. Maybe I should have waited until I had a replacement.  Now we have this poor naked lamp in the corner.

Yes, the obvious resolutions should be assumed. Eat better. Exercise more.  SPEND MORE TIME WITH FRIENDS AND FAMILY!!!  But those are resolutions that I should be making anew every week.  Thank you for patiently listening to my earnest goal-setting.  Feel free to tell me yours, I’d love to hear them.  And because pictures make everything better, here’s just a little storyboard of silliness that makes me smile.  This from a Christmas shoot with a fun little girl who certainly doesn’t mind the camera=)  Coming up soon is the beautiful wedding of Michelle Doug on the windward side of Oahu.