I’ve been thinking about the projects and ideas I want to tackle this year. I wouldn’t call them resolutions, or even goals. I’ve been trying to figure out what to call them. Finally, it dawned on me that I’m really trying to set my own curriculum for the year. It feels like the old days when I would browse through the course offerings in my college catalog and decide what classes I wanted to take. I bet it won’t surprise you that I always signed up for more than I should have. I have a tendency to do that. I actually took 18 hours one semester. It almost did me in. I have a hard time narrowing things down because I want to DO everything. I want to LEARN everything. I want to BE everything. I’ve always been like that, and I guess I always will be to some extent. I have a hunger for living and learning and I’m glad about that. My husband is the same way and I guess we probably drive ourselves crazy sometimes, but boy do we get a lot done! And we usually have a great time in the process.
So now that I’ve evaluated myself enough to know that I tend to sign up for too much, I’ve really tried to pare my “curriculum” down to the most essential projects I want to tackle this year. I’ve picked my courses (and instructors) for the year as a base line. Of course who knows what new ideas I will run into, so I reserve the right to add more if so desired. See, I just can’t help myself.
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ONE LITTLE WORD
This will be the 3rd year of the Ali Edwards inspired one little word project for me. Actually, I attempted it 4 years ago but couldn’t settle on only 1 word. I tried to do a word a month and totally missed the spirit of the concept. Sound familiar? Too much. It became so much more meaningful when I settled in on one word. Although I do tend to pick really big words. In 2009 it was “LEARN”, and 2010 was “DO”. My word for 2011 is “HEALTHY” which is also a word that has a lot to it, but it is a word that I need. My main focus is to be healthy in the physical sense, but I also want to embrace being mentally healthy and having healthy habits. I will document some of the process I go through with my word, but don’t expect this to turn into a diet and exercise blog because that isn’t going to happen. rofl!
If you want to select a word to inspire you throughout the year you can find the details on Ali’s blog. She also has a year-long class at Big Picture Scrapbooking if you want some monthly reminders and projects to help you make the most of your word.
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NEW 52
I was toying with the idea of a 52 week project when I ran across this fun twist from Peppermint Granberg (One Little Bird) and Christine Newman (List Girl). It seems like the perfect fit for me! I want to try new things this year. I also want to document something unique each week. This should be fun! I will share many of my experiences here on this blog.
If you want to join in on New 52, you can find all the details here on Peppermint’s blog. You can also join the official flickr group.
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MEMORY MONDAY
This is a project I started back in January of 2009 and I want to keep it going throughout 2011. I think it is very meaningful to write down memories. I’m happy with this focus and plan to continue it. You can see all my past Memory Monday posts here. I plan to post new entries throughout the year on Mondays.
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ROUNDUPS
This is another of my own projects and I’ve been going strong on rounding up each month since January of 2006. I plan to keep going throughout 2011 and beyond. You can find my roundup prompts here. I shared my 2010 roundup album here on The Daily Digi. I post the prompts on the last day of each month. I post my own roundup no later than the 5th of each month.
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FOUR PEOPLE – 12 TIMES
I got the idea for 4 people 12 times from Tara Whitney’s SIX PEOPLE TWELVE TIMES project on her blog. She set a goal to take a picture of her family of 6 all together at least once a month. I love this! If you read my photography highlights review, you know that I really missed out on people photos last year. I’m especially lacking in the family group photo department. This is a very important project for me this year!
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I’m excited for the new year ahead! I’d love to know what projects you are in your curriculum this year. Leave me a comment if you want to share.
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