For everything that happened in 2010, I can't believe it flew by as quickly as it did! We bought a house, painted nearly every room, built a dining room table, took a couple trips back east, ran races, went to Hawaii, found out we're going to have a baby (yay!), and then it was already the holidays. Whoosh! If you'll remember, I started the year with a little to-do list. I was well on my way at the 6 month mark, and am happy to report that as 2010 comes to a close I've managed to cross everything off my list. Here's a recap: 1) Make our first house feel like home - This house looks quite different than it did a year ago. The navy blue guest bedroom is now a calming pale green, the mustard colored landing and stairwells are now a neutral cream, our red bedroom and yellow bathroom are now a light gray, and our sun room got a total makeover:
As thrilled as I am with how the sun room turned out, I think the room I'm proudest of is our dining room:
The decision to build our own dining room table was a little crazy, but so worth it. There's not a meal eaten at that table that I don't think of the hard work that went into building it. (Okay, I also notice the little flaws in the stain I wish I could fix, but then I tell myself that no one but me will ever notice... hopefully.)
Up next for the house in 2011... making over the nursery and DIYing a family room in our totally unfinished basement. I'll still feel like taking on home improvement projects when I can no longer see my feet, right? Suuuuuure.
2) Re-engage at work - I checked this off my list not long after we moved into our new permanent offices this summer. There's something about having your own desk, filing cabinet, a monitor and keyboard that does wonders for employee morale. And it doesn't hurt that the economy has picked up a bit and our clients are spending research dollars again, so we've been nice and busy in the 2nd half of the year.
3) Open my own Etsy shop - DONE! In the first 6 weeks of my shop being open I'm thrilled to have sold through just over half of my inventory, including all but 2 of the Roll-up Shopping Slings. I'm hoping to add more Shopping Slings in the first few months of 2011 using Amy Butler's new fabric collection, Soul Blossoms. I also plan to add some baby-related items, like nursing covers and applique onesies. I'll, of course, have some projects for my own kid in the works (so excited to break in the new serger my mom got me for Christmas!), but I'm hoping my back will hold out and I can get at least a handful of new products listed before my big belly takes over.
4) Run a marathon - Well, I ran 2 half marathons. That sort of counts, right? :)
5) Improve my photography skills - This one is still an ongoing to-do, but I'd like to think I've come a long way in the past year. I learned how to use the manual setting on my camera, got much better at Photoshop, and thanks to my very generous husband am now the proud owner of a 50 mm lens and an external flash. He also got us Aperture for Christmas, so I'm quickly trying to get up to speed on that. I even have a big photography project in the works for 2011! (More on that in a couple weeks, so stay tuned.)
I feel really good about everything I accomplished in 2010, which might lead you to believe I'm about to present an all new list for 2011, but you'd be wrong. If I have a single to-do for 2011 it's to decrease the amount of pressure I usually put on myself... to be as flexible as possible with what comes my way. Trust me, I could write post after post about how I want the rest of my pregnancy to go, everything I'd like to get done before the baby comes, what I want for the birth, what kind of mom I want to be, etc, etc, etc. Truth be told, there are few things I find more satisfying than planning (and planning to plan, and planning for alternate plans should the original plans not work out.) Planning is my Prozac. But if there's one thing I've learned from watching my friends become parents over the past couple years it's that the most important thing you can do for yourself is to try to just enjoy every minute of this crazy ride... to not stress about everything being just-so, because it's not going to be, but it will be better than anything you could have imagined or planned for. So that's what I'm going to try to do... 2011 will be the year of Breezy Allie. (Heaven help me.)