Ahhh the start of a new year. “New” things always hold so much promise… New seasons bring fun weather changes (at least they seem fun at first). New babies bring new cute moments, smells (although some smells are not-so-cute), and potential. New weeks give you a fresh slate if you royally messed up the week before. New cars smell awesome and mean (supposedly) less trips to the mechanic. New hobbies are exciting and give you the challenge of something to learn and master. A new year gives you the chance to “start-over” when it comes to goals you meant to accomplish the year before but somehow lost track of by March.

In 2010 I did not meet my weight loss goals, although I did get close. I was 9 pounds away from my pre-triplet pregnancy weight when I found out I was with child again. I like to think that had this unplanned little miracle not happened that I would have met that goal.

2010 also brought on some serious improvements when it came to my photography. At the start of 2010 I had only had my camera for a little over a month and was just figuring out how to use the various buttons and how to shoot in Manual. I’ve come a long way in that department! Plus, I managed to finish out my 365 Photo Challenge for 2010!  I only forgot to take pictures on 22 days in the last 365. Not bad at all!

2010 saw the boys turning 3, becoming drama queens (kings?) and cracking us up with their observations on life. The second half of the year has been filled with questions about when “baby sister” will “come out”, and thankfully I only have another month or so to answer that one!

So what’s on tap for 2011? I have lofty goals, but I’m determined to meet them because they’re all really important to me.

Health: Obviously I won’t be jumping on the weight loss bandwagon this week, but you better believe I will be come mid-March (after I get the all-clear from the doctor). Not only do I have a wedding to be in (mid-May), but I want to have plenty of energy to keep up with the boys this summer!

Spiritual: I want to get into a better habit of doing a daily devotional. There’s really no good reason why I’m not better at this already – my church e-mails me a short devo every morning! This year I’m going to focus on actually reading them every day and growing spiritually.

Photography: I want to keep stretching myself with photography. I want to learn new techniques, new posing methods for portraits and at the same time learn the best way to take better natural, photo-journalistic style pictures. I want to practice more scenic and artsy type pictures. This year, my 365 Challenge will be all about photography. I figure if I’m posting pictures and stories of the kids here most every day, then I can afford to veer a bit with my photo challenge. (I’m currently contemplating just throwing the new 365 challenge onto this blog as a separate page. I’ll keep you posted in the next couple of days.)

Happy New Year!

2010 has been good to us, may 2011 be even better!