Tag Archives: new years

New Years Goals for 2016

7 January 2016

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Bye bye 2015! I swear, where does the time GO? I hope each and every one of you had an amazing year.

Let’s recap what my New Years Life Goals for 2015 were:

Stay in touch more with family members

Make more presents/gifts for people instead of buying new things

Go SCUBA diving every year

I can definitely say that I stayed in touch with my family more. With visits to Texas and Oregon, I have enjoyed my time with both sides of my family. Although my intentions of making presents, more so drawing presents, I didn’t succeed too well on that. I plan to focus on that this year as well though. I went SCUBA diving all over this year! From Catalina Island to Barbados and Grenada in the Caribbean – I loved being under the waves.

This year, I have big plans. Possibly moving to a different state & starting my Masters Degree! More details to come when everything gets confirmed. But, if you’ve followed my life at all over the last 10 years, you’ll understand that I never set any plans in stone. Life changes fast, and I’m always open to new pathways that open themselves up!

1. Do 10 Sit-Ups and Push-Ups Every Day

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If you don’t know I’m a fitness buff, now you know. I literally just did 10 push-ups and sit-ups and it took less than 2 minutes. That’s 3,650 push-ups and 3,650 sit-ups minimum for the entire year! We often make so many excuses for why we can’t get to the gym, or why being a couch potato is the best option after a crappy day. You have 2 minutes to spare everyday – if you don’t – then you need to change your daily routine

2. Have One “Me Date” Per Month 

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We all know who the most important person in our life is – that is ourselves. If we don’t take care of our body, spirit, mind, and soul, we can’t depend on anyone else to fill those big shoes. We often spend a lot of time by ourselves on our couches watching Netflix and drinking wine (at least I do…), but instead I want to say NO. I am treating MYSELF to a fun day of adventuring, or a delicious dinner, or out to a movie at least once every month. Have you ever been to a movie or dinner by yourself? It’s quite liberating actually. Me time is necessary in this fast-paced crazy world we live amongst. Treat ‘yo’ self as they say on Parks and Recs.

3. Say What I’m Grateful Every Night Before I Go To Sleep

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I’ve actually been doing this goal for the last month or so. It’s nice to close my eyes and reflect on something I am grateful for in this beautiful life of mine. We all have bad days, or horrible weeks, or a terrible month. But, there’s always a light at the end of the tunnel. You’re alive. You have a roof over your head. You have friends and family who care about you. You’re reading this on your mobile device or your computer. Life could always be worse, so I’m taking a moment every evening to reflect on something I am grateful for.

New Years Goals for 2014

3 January 2014

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Two years ago, I started a tradition where I create 3 new goals/standards to live by instead of resolutions. I would rather create standards to uphold throughout the rest of my life than create a ‘resolution’ that would most likely not last the entire year. My 2013 goals were:

Visit the ocean at least once a month

Keep open and honest communication in relationships from the get-go

Volunteer for a new organization

This past year was one for the record books. I’ll describe that in the next post about my highlights/lessons from 2013. The ‘visiting the ocean at least once a month’ was a great goal – I did find myself in situations where it was the last day of the month and I still hadn’t visited the ocean yet. So I would make it a point to go out to the sea and do a morning run/workout along the strand. My new friendships and relationships this past year started off with honesty and open communication – which was very helpful when weeding out the people in my life who were not worth while. NOW – it’s time to create 3 more.

1) Travel to a new country each year – This past year I was lucky enough to travel to China and Malaysia – both of which I had never been to before. I think it’s a beneficial goal to travel the globe. I yearn for adventure and experiencing new cultures.

Monkey

Credit: Chanel Hason | Location: Mabul, Malaysia

2) Write a random post card or letter once a month to a friend/loved one – I’m very old-fashioned in that I LOVE getting actual snail mail. Move aside email, social media, and texting – let’s release that ballpoint pen on paper, stamp it, and stick it in the mailbox. If you’re lucky..you might get one from me REAL soon!

Credit: WWF

Credit: WWF

3)  Read at least one new book every 6 months – I am not much of a (consistent) book person. If I have time in a day (which is rare), it is usually right before I go to bed in which I don’t want to strain my eyes by reading. What tends to happen is that I start a book – get busy – and never finish it. So this goal will help me put aside time and dedicate it to escaping reality and indulging in good book 🙂 Any suggestions??

Credit: TalkAndroid.com

Credit: TalkAndroid.com

Cheers to a new year filled with adventure!

What are your resolutions/goals for 2014?

Pasadena Rose Parade- (in my own backyard!)

10 January 2012

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So this is the first year I have been in Pasadena for the Tournament of Roses (AKA The Rose Parade). But New Years day fell on a Sunday this year- and there is a Tournament rule making it so the parade can’t be held on a Sunday- and instead it is postponed until the next day (Jan 2, Monday). I thought this decision was for religious purposes-but this is what I found as the real explanation (Wikipedia):

“Local tradition has it that ‘the Tournament has a deal with God; we’ll never hold the parade on a Sunday, and He’ll never let it rain on the Rose Parade.’ However, according to the Tournament of Roses Association Web site, this ‘Never on Sunday’ policy was instituted in order “to avoid frightening horses tethered outside local churches and thus interfering with worship services.”

The Tournament of Roses has been a New Years tradition since 1890. Around 700,000 patrons lined the streets of Pasadena for the parade on Jan 2, 2012. Millions of people also tuned in on TV to see the amazing floats covered in flowers, marching bands from across the WORLD, and equestrian groups.

I actually used to work on the city of South Pasadena’s float for volunteer hours in Middle School and High School- it was a lot of fun to be a part of something so amazing! This year the South Pasadena float won an award!!! The “Fantasy Award”- GO SOUTH PAS! CONGRATS!

I didn’t get to see all of the floats unfortunately because I slept in a bit 🙂 hehe… But I did take some photos that I wanted to share with you of the parade. There were so many people- it was INSANE. I had fun being a lone soldier wandering up and down the sidewalks (a very tight squeeze the whole time) while taking some snap shots.

Parade goers had started to stake out their spots at 10:30am the day BEFORE the parade- some families are really hardcore when it comes to the parade route and their “special spot.” RV’s flooded the surrounding streets- and the party was an all nighter the night before the parade. Believe me, I heard all the hooting and hollering from my bedroom a half a block away haha.

Until next year Rose Parade 🙂

That’s my bank.
Elephant fun.
TRADER JOE’S!
First Trader Joe’s- PASADENA BABY!
A Float.
SWEDISH
The Swedes, Came Marching In
Mr. President
The Royal Court
Hello Gentlemen 😉
Horses and handsome men.
Jousting!
People everywhere on everything.
OH MY
Quack Quack
‘Merica
W
Colorado Blvd taken over by RV’s
Yo Quiero..?
80 degrees in California 🙂
Smart family.
Where’s Shia?
I took this for my best friend Courtney- she is a Star Trek fan 🙂
GO GO POWER RANGERS
I always pretended I was the Pink Power Ranger in my younger days 🙂
Dragon
Close up
The longest, heaviest float EVER in this parade.
Surfing dogs.
This dog surfs for a living.
Found Nemo 🙂
Indonesia Float
When pigs fly..
Colorful.
Tick-Tock
Picture Perfect.
Welcome to..JURASSIC PARK
Giant insect.
Red white and blue.
TheEND
Really? It’s not hard to pick up after yourself people..

It’s a NEW YEAR.

3 January 2012

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Wow. 2011. What a year you were! It definitely was the year of change in my life.

I won’t bore you with the details of last year- but everything that happened helped me grow, appreciate certain people more, disregard certain people (haha), and become a stronger individual.

I don’t really make New Years resolutions- but I have just created some standards that I want to hold up throughout the rest of my life.

Such as..

1) Surround myself with  more positive people- and less with negative ones. I know it may sound simple- but really take a step back and address friends in your life and how they treat you and others. I’ve realized that I have a couple friends who are always negative nancy’s and debbie downers. And it is usually not fun to be around them when we hang out…so what’s the point? I still care about these people, but I will just spend less time with them throughout the year. Life is too short to be unhappy.

2) COOK more. I got lots of fun cooking supplies for Christmas. I feel like I should turn into Betty Crocker or Julia Child by the time this year is over. I moved into my own place in September- and I really haven’t used my kitchen at all- I usually eat out or get food made by the chefs of the restaurant connected to my office that my boss always owns. So my goal is to buy more fresh veggies and eat less frozen foods.

3) DRAW more. After taking painting/drawing in high school- I kind of became fascinated with pointillism and pencil/shading drawings. I’ve got a nice little portfolio of my drawings that I want to increase over the next year and beyond. I already started a little drawing last night for my friend’s new baby girl that came into this world a week ago. It’s an escape to relaxation and creativity that I truly enjoy. I’ll be posting my new drawings throughout the year for your eyes to feast upon 🙂 Be on the look out.

I think those are some good goals to start off with for now. All these goals will hopefully make this year better than the last. I hope you all had a fantastic New Years- filled with friends and loved ones and possibly new friends. It’s 80 degrees and beautiful here in Pasadena CA – so I couldn’t ask for a more perfect way for 2012 to start. Being a sun child..life is good right now.

Cheers to a new possibilities!

Welcoming the New Year with open arms!