Some things I loved about 2013...
lots of adventures with my sisters. I love love love having them in the same city.
lots of party-throwing and lots of girls' nights. This old insta of Laura's captures both and it is my favorite and I die every time (that's Adrienne's brother).
lots of solo train-riding in Europe. [this is rainy Interlaken—isn't the water the most beautiful color?!]
lots of adventures in Paris with M on a weekend trip. the best.
lots of running and the slow cultivation of a runner's life (with many early mornings with running friends and a handful of races completed).
lots of memories with dear friends... roadtrips, weddings, concerts, and a million heart-to-hearts, grocery store stops, rec center workouts, library visits, evening runs, movie nights, Sunday dinners, and photo club meetings.
lots of great music discoveries.
lots of book-reading. I discovered some new favorites and added some more to my to-read list.
lots of delving into family history work. It's a slow but steady process.
lots of beautiful Provo moments.
lots of Heirloom gatherings and an office routine which I love.
2013 was a good year and a hard year. But it ended on the best of notes, for which I am grateful. I feel happy and hopeful, here's to 2014!
The new year is a good time for goal-setting and looking forward, of which I have been doing plenty.
But I've also been reflecting on the past year: reflecting on some of the places I've been and seen, the people I associated with and the lessons I learned from them, the moments I savored and others I'd rather have skipped at the time but now am grateful for.
home. [New Jersey]
Italy
Paris
New York City
upstate New York (oh those beautiful Catskill mountains!)
Utah
It's been a year full of beautiful, difficult, and wonderful things, a year that I am beyond grateful for.
Currently missing my sister Lauren a lot after remembering one of the funny stories she told me on the phone last night.
(photo of my sisters from New Years' Eve)
Lauren, I miss how judgy-judge you are of the technology parties, I miss obnoxious and fantastic West Side Story sing-a-longs in the car with you and Emily, I miss your impeccable sense of style. And I miss our adventures (you're more willing than Emily,
what?). I'm glad we're related. I love you!
I love New Years' because it is one of those goal-setting times of year (the other prominent ones being birthdays and the start of a new school year). It's not that I am incapable of setting goals on my own, but I love having the promise of a new year as the backdrop for my goal setting.
a few of my goals for 2011:
build my portfolio
ITALY
read more books
design-related job (or internship)
read The Book of Mormon in Italian (now that I've learned my full repertoire of verb tenses this will be much more feasible...since il passato remoto is a key one in this case)
refrain from being whiny when I am tired
(I wrote down a few other goals, but can't remember them offhand; these are the most important ones, though)
My dad always says, "You are in charge of you." This advice is especially applicable when it comes to goals. The goals you set are yours, and for the most part it's up to you to make them happen. But often we discourage ourselves and in doing so, limit what we're able to accomplish.
I'm completely obsessed with
this song right now, and something about the chorus feels very fitting for all of this goal setting and internal motivation:
Let's not get ahead of ourselves
There's no need for rain,
It's our own parade
Let's not be afraid of our reflections
It's not only you you're looking at now.
Happy New Year! 2011 will be great, I can feel it.
