2016 Goals

January is the month to make resolutions, changes and goals. With the new year, I also like to take a look at thing that I may like to change about myself. Looking back at a very busy 2015, I realized that I need to make active strides toward my goals. With an incredibly busy travel schedule last year, most of my goals fell by the wayside and I only achieved half of my goals.

2016 is going to be another busy year, professionally, but I still want to progress in my personal life. Here are my goals to help me grow and improve this year!

1. Visit 3 new places in the world - This should be an easy goal to reach this year. I have a packed travel calendar for work in 2016. I just hope to have a few hours on those trips to enjoy the locations.

2. Complete my 2015 WITK Junk @ Home Challenge - Poor planning lead to the downfall of this challenges schedule. There are still 14 unfinished recipes in this challenge. I think I can manage to complete one challenge per month!

3. Start on my Chocolates & Confections Challenge at WITK - I've been slowly making my way through this cookbook. I would love to try every recipe in this book. I don't expect to complete the entire thing this year. This goal is to make 12 more recipes and continue improving my candy-making skills.

4. Take 3 courses - I would love to learn how to decorate a cake, speak Mandarin and make my own jewelry. With New York City only a short train ride away, I have access to so many schools, kitchens and artisans. The trick with this goal will be to purchase the class and put it in my calendar. Once the class is paid for, I'm more likely to go!

5. Spend less on nonsense - I don't want to make a budget, but I would like to curb my frivolous spending. This means fewer trips to the mall, uninstalling the shopping apps from my phone and avoiding Amazon while at work. I bet I could save a few thousand dollars in 2016, if I can just stop buying more clothes, make-up and stationary. I already have enough of it all!

6. Blog consistently - I've been working behind the scenes for the past few months on this website. Working on blot post ideas, building up social media and generally working on my voice. I'd love to see this site grow in 2016 to something I can be extremely proud of. You will see more going on here at WITW as I block time each day to work on blogging.

7. Get back into BodyStep - When I was a graduate student and postdoc I taught BodyStep and I loved it. I recently visited my friends in Colorado and got to take some BodyStep classes. Being on the step again reminded me of how much fun it was and how great it made me feel. I don't plan on teaching the class, since my work schedule is crazy, but I would be so happy to do it at home once a week.

8. Eat more vegetables and blog more veggie recipes - The boyfriend is a veggie-ophobe. He makes it a little difficult to incorporate more vegetables into our evening meals. Rather than continue to cater to a single palette, I think we will both be enjoying more vegetables this year! I have a feeling that I will be seeing lots of vegetable left in someones bowl...

9. Finish decorating our home - With most of the renovations and furniture buying completed, 2016 will be the year of decor. Our walls are still mostly bare and the tables could use some artsy bits and bobs. I would love to decorate with more personal items, rather than just putting up a canvas from TJ Maxx that says "Keep calm and..." Flea markets, Etsy sellers and NYC craft fairs are my destination of choice for our wall and table decor.