NYE Archives •

December 31, 2016

Happy 2017 & goals for the year

It’s New Years’ Eve and I’ve just finished making Oatmeal Honey Chocolate Chip cookies for a party later this evening. I’m in rainy San Diego (so strange to say that it’s raining in Southern California…), and I’m happy to be spending the last day of 2016 with a friend very near and dear to my heart and his equally dear partner (the batter thief below) in a place that I’ve wanted to visit for a long time.

While California isn’t “home”, I think that home is a feeling that comes with who you are with (or on your own) and what you do to be comfortable where you are. I’m always with people I care about on NYE and I tend to bake or cook because I love the smells and the act of making something that will be shared. They remind me of my mum doing her thing in the kitchen, and it makes me feel, well, at home.

As always, goals for the year:

PATIENCE – I find it frustrating that I (mostly) have patience for days with others but not with myself. It’s okay if things get messy. It’s about how you clean up.
TRAVEL – Always.
FINANCE – Get myself completely debt free ahead of schedule. Save, save, save.
COMPLETION – Finish my 500 yoga teaching certification, and a couple projects I’ve been working on for a while now. Read: Stop procrastinating.
MEDITATION – 11 minutes. Every day. No excuses.
AUDACITY & KINDNESS – I’ve been fortunate to hear Olympian, and fellow Canadian, Silken Laumann, speak on a few occasions. She talks about being audacious and not being afraid go for it. She is also one of the kindest people I have ever met and I admire her spirit and the way she lives her life.

Wherever you are, whatever you are doing for NYE, I hope you’re warm and with good people. I hope your wishes came true in a year that was a little weird, and that 2017 is a year that is even better. I wish you audacity and kindness. Be safe, have fun, share joy.

Happy New Year! xoxo

You can get excited about the future. The past won’t mind.

~ Hillary DePiano ~

December 31, 2014

Happy 2015! Attraversiamo, patience and goals for the New Year

Attraversiamo: verb – cross, go across, walk across, traverse, go through, pass through, pass; span

Yes, I recently (re)watched and (re)read “Eat, Pray, Love”. But, it’s great word, and very appropriate for going in to a New Year. It’s also fun to say. Attraversiamo. 🙂

Every New Year’s Eve, I go through my goals. What happened this past year? What would I like to achieve in the next 365 days? Did I have fun? (For the most part, yes!)

My main goal for 2015 is patience; a virtue that I have some of, though the levels vary. The person I have the least patience with and am hardest on is myself. And so, every year, patience stays on the list. Some goals for 2015:

I will put away $xxx in my savings every pay period.
I will be more diligent with my Sunday food prep for the week.
I will run a mile without stopping.
I will learn how to tread water.
I will be patient.

In the world of patience, the most patient living being I know is this handsome fella:

Usually one of my NYE dates and my walking companion at this time of year, Drifter is a shining example of patience. He lives with a cat, two kids, and two adults and is regularly with three small dog cousins, multiple other adults and kids, and he has the best disposition. He is the Job of dogs. I love this dog with all my heart and I am missing him today. (If he could tell you about the time I went to what turned out to be the wrong mail box (multiple times, in -15 C) and tried multiple keys to get my Banana Republic Boxing Day order, it would be pretty damn funny. This dog was patient with a capital ‘P’, sitting there, keeping watch, with head cocked to the side, and a definite twinkle of amusement in his eyes as I was cursing and muttering to myself.)

While 2014 did not end how I thought it would and 2015 is starting very differently than I had hoped… attraversiamo – in to a new year I go. Bring it on, 2015. I’m ready. 🙂

Happy New Year, everyone! Be safe. Have fun. Share joy. xo

For last year’s words belong to last year’s language. And next year’s words await another voice.

~ T.S. Eliot

January 1, 2014

Happy 2014! – Snow Olympics, Goals

It’s 2014. How did that happen so fast?? I feel like 2013 went by in a blur but I know I enjoyed most of it – so I was at least present in the blur. It was fun, it was emotional, it was hard. But it was a great year and I am a better person for my experiences.

We are in Alberta again this year to spend time with friends and family. New Year’s Eve is a big deal with this group: lots of food and beverage and lots of fun. We start out the evening all together for dinner and to ring in the New Year; and then the youngest kids go to bed, and the wives, girlfriends, mothers, and sisters settle in with red wine and our cameras to watch our male contingent run around and be silly (as most males of all ages like to do) for the annual Snow Olympics.

(The Snow Olympics are a New Year’s tradition since before I came along. It involves running around in the snow on dares, with each contestant trying to outdo the other. In their swim trunks. (Did I mention this is at 1:00am and it’s -?? degrees outside?) While one or two are off in the snow, the rest keep warm in the hot tub and the cycle continues until they decide they’ve had enough of the cold and have given out the “medals”. (Sean won gold. 😉 )

It’s an activity fueled by beverages of a certain strength – though not for the 11 year old (for obvious reasons), who is fueled by sugar, pure adrenaline and the sheer joy of getting to participate in in the sheer craziness with all the “adult” males in his family that he looks up to (but would never admit it).

His sister and her friend may break ground as the first female participants next year – and will likely kick the boys’ butts.)

Last year, I made New Year’s goals and I am beyond proud to say that I have achieved some and started some. More than I could have hoped.

Of my bold items from last year…

Yoga Teacher Training – I chose to do the Fall 2013 session instead of the Spring session and I am so glad I did. A couple more checks in the graduation requirements list and I am officially a certified yoga teacher. It’s one of the best experiences I’ve ever had, and I am so grateful.
Driver’s License/Road Test – I wrote a bit about this throughout the year, but while I did take my road test in July, I failed. And was completely devastated, particularly because it was because I went in a complete bundle of nerves. But I took my road test again at the beginning of December, and this time, I passed – much to my and Sean’s delight. Yahoo!
Reducing Debt – On my way. Slowly, but surely.
30th Birthday Vacation – My yoga teacher training fell around the time of my birthday, so my special trip has been postponed for now. But my teacher training was certainly a journey, and obviously the one I needed to be on during my milestone year.

Of the rest… I am better at getting up with my alarm (Sean is thrilled); I brought my lunch/dinner to work/school about 75% of the time; and I decided that some things were more important than others – so my teeth can wait and patience with myself will always be something I strive for more of.

For 2014, I’m going to focus on being patient with myself and getting more comfortable with driving now that I’m allowed to do it on my own. I also have a specific and very big goal, and it’s one I’ve been working on since early last year. I really hope I achieve this goal because it means big change and an adventure. No, we aren’t trying to have a baby (yet) but it will be almost as big as that. So here’s hoping.

Image courtesy of the lovely and talented Terra Varey

Happy New Year!