My New Year’s Resolutions | Blog & Personal
Happy New Year everyone! It’s hard to believe that it’s been an entire year since I sat down to write my 2013 New Year’s resolutions. The past year was challenging for me but also incredibly rewarding. I learned a lot about myself and took some major leaps into adulthood (a scary thing). The first half of 2013 was tough. I was in a place where I didn’t really like living in NYC and wasn’t sure what direction I wanted to go with my career. That all changed back in June when I got my new job and Nick received a major promotion at work. Suddenly New York didn’t seem like such an intimidating place and I thought “Wow – we can actually do this.” The past six months have honestly been the happiest of my entire life. My career is going in the exact direction I want and on top of that I’ve made a few new NYC friends! Nick and I are trucking along too – we celebrated 4 years in October. Life is good and I’m really excited for 2014.
Redesign my blog
Guys it’s happening! I started working with a designer back in November and we’re finishing up the final touches. I’d expect to see an all new Katie’s Bliss within the month. Redesigning my blog was one of my 2013 resolutions and I’m SO excited to see the final product.
Keep my blog a hobby; Not take blogging so seriously
Other than the redesign I really don’t have any set blog goals for 2014. I’m honestly at a place of contentment for both my blog and YouTube. Of course I want to continue to grow and build a larger following but I’m honestly fine even if nothing happens between now and 2015. The first half of 2013 I was really hard on myself about my blog. Almost to the point where it wasn’t fun for me. I was comparing myself to other bloggers (many of whom blog full time) and killing myself over getting blog posts up 5 days a week. This included dragging Nick out almost every single day to do photos (he’s a trooper). It was exhausting. Even when I started my new job I would force myself to wake up almost 3 hours early every morning just to work on my blog. A few months back I sort of had an epiphany. For the past two years my blog has been my main focus in life and my priority – it was the thing I was most passionate about. I’m at a point now where that main focus has changed. I’ve realized the importance of a career and how much I really do like working and my job. Now that my career is my main priority blogging has become more fun for me. I don’t take it so seriously anymore. It’s my hobby and I want it to stay that way.

 

Save money; Pay off school loans
Saving money is something I never really had to think about up until now. Now that I’m financially independent I’ve realized the importance of having savings. Thanks goodness I have a boyfriend who’s financially savvy/smart with personal finances. He definitely keeps me in check and has put things into perspective for me when it comes to my spending. I think I’ve gotten a lot better over the past year at budgeting and really only buying things that I need. In 2014 I want to continue to save and pay off my school loans.

 

Move apartments
Nick and I are really hoping to move into a new apartment when our lease is up in September. Now this one is all dependent on our savings, possible salary increases at work, etc. We do love our place, but it’s tiny. We really would like to move into an apartment with more square footage and amenities (a dishwasher would be nice). I really love having friends and family visit but right now it’s just so difficult when our place is so small. So cross your fingers for us!

 

Eat healthier; Figure out a way to incorporate fitness into my life
I feel like this has been a resolution of mine every year since I was a teenager. I really, really suck at eating healthy and exercising, but this year I really do need to make a change. I notice that my body is changing/has changed. I definitely do not have the stick thin college body I had two years ago. Now my goal isn’t to lose weight – I just want to work on adding more nutritious foods into my diet and getting exercise for the point of my personal and longterm health.

 

Stay close with my family
Over the past year so many of my family members have moved. At one point I literally thought I was going to have a breakdown over it. Basically it was like seeing my childhood disappear before my eyes. I’m not good with change and it was really hard seeing my mom move out of my childhood home in Pennsylvania all the way to North Carolina. My grandparents also decided to build a house in Florida which now they now plan to live in for half of the year. I always felt this sense of comfort know that my family was only an hour and half away in Pennsylvania. I don’t have that anymore and at first it really scared me. In 2014 I want to continue to stay close to my family even though many of them are a plane ride away.

 

Continue to be adventurous
I really, really love the picture above. I think it exemplifies this resolution perfectly. I may not have a ton of money or a large savings but that doesn’t mean I can’t have adventures and be spontaneous. I think living in New York City is a perfect start! I have to say Nick and I were very good about getting out and seeing the city in 2013. This year I want to continue to explore my home but also take the time to leave NYC a little more. I have a lot of friends in different cities so I’d love to make time to visit them and possibly do a few weekend trips with Nick. I also want to try and be a little more spontaneous – not everything always has to be planned out. This is sometimes hard because Nick is SO level-headed and realistic. He would never be the type who would just hop on a plane to Europe whereas I just might 😛 I’m working on him and trying to instill more of a sense of adventure into him – we’ll see what happens! I figure you only live once and while I’m here on this Earth I want to have fun.
In the spirit of New Year’s resolutions I’ve partnered up with Coupons.com, and some of my favorite bloggers, to help you get a start on your resolutions with a $500 gift card to Amazon!
I would to hear what your New Year’s resolutions and how you would use this giftcard if you won!

 

Enter below:
Don’t forget to visit the other participating bloggers:

- Katie

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