I Hope I Can! - My 2011 Goals

Ever since I was little, I've enjoyed writing. When I'm in class, it's easy to write everyday without even trying - finishing my work early or just getting bored during lectures. But during breaks and especially on the weekend, it's hard to make time for writing because I'm always finding something else to do or I just forget, even if I have something in my mind that I want to take down before it gets lost.

So this year I've gotten myself a brand new 5 subject notebook (I usually get one once or twice a year because I also use it to doodle, make lists, etc.) to get a fresh start, a clean slate. Now I just need to start actually writing and maybe a new arsenal of pens & pencils.

The 365days Project is a challenge to take one picture everyday for a year. Most people choose self-portraits, but you can also do objects, pets, etc. It's a real challenge to come up with interesting & creative photographs every single day (and to remember to to do it in the first place!) My first attempt a couple years ago didn't take, but stuck with my second attempt all the way to the end (March 18, 2008 - March 17, 2009).

I think this will be a good challenge for me because I haven't been feeling my best lately, so pointing a camera at myself is the last thing I want to do. And I haven't been doing a lot of photography for awhile (I used to take photos incessantly), so this will help me get back into it - especially now that I have my awesome zoom lens my boyfriend got me for Christmas.

Another case of "I used to, but not anymore." About a year or two ago, I was easily pulling in $250-300 from Squidoo each month, plus up to $200 from taking surveys. I don't know what happened, but I lost interest in both when I got a full-to-part-time job and started making a whole lot more. Now that I don't have an outside job since I'm getting ready to go back to school, that extra income is looking mighty nice right now.

Since I quit my job last summer, I've gotten back into Squidoo - creating or updating lenses on most days and looking for ways to make them better money-makers. I'm on-and-off with the survey sites, but I've also started using affiliates to get more income from my lenses & blogs. This year I want to keep up the pace on my lenses, take all the paying surveys I can, and find more ways to earn with affiliates.

$3000 from Squidoo means $250/month
$1200 from other sources means $100/month

I'm a fat skinny girl. In other words, I'm small but I have about zero muscle tone. My arms, legs, and belly jiggle, jiggle, jiggle. I tried to start exercising last year with about thirty minutes to an hour a day of cardio and strength workouts, but it didn't last.

But then for some reason, over the past few months I've noticed my appetite increasing - I'm hungry a lot and I can eat almost twice as much as I used to. It's led to me gaining almost 15 pounds - I've even had to go up a bra size because of it. (And I don't have a bun in the oven).

I've also become more concerned with my smoking. I've tried before to cut back or even quit, but something always happens to get me hooked again. My plan this time is to slowly wean myself off, to get myself away from the pack-a-day routine.

In short, my goals-within-a-goal are:
----Exercise 30 minutes, 3 days a week.
----Eat healthier foods & only when I'm hungry.
----Smoke 5 or fewer cigarettes a day.

I want to get back pieces of myself that I lost somewhere over the past few years and create new pieces to hold onto forever. It feels a little too personal and too much to explain, so I'll just share the things I want to do to re-make myself.

----Get through 30 hours of school (15 in the summer, 15 in the fall).
----Make my apartment a home (the white walls & clutter are stealing my soul).
----Create more collages, paintings, trinkets, etc.