yearly wrap-up

The wonderful thing about writing a blog is that all of your old thoughts are stored in one place. I love reading old journals and entries and remembering how you felt at that exact moment. Like, in fourth grade, how I wrote a list of "Boys That I Might Like," which included no less than 10 fine fellows in my grade. Ha! Thank goodness I've become more discerning with age. Anyway, I was clicking through past posts and came across my goals for 2011. Since we're nearing the year's end, I thought it would be fun to do a check in. Here goes...

1. Goal: Go with my gut.
Status: Check! This year, I took a leap of faith and quit my job, one of my best decisions to date. And even though some incredibly tempting and wonderful leads have crossed my path, I'm sticking with my intuition and taking the road less secure for the time being.

2. Goal: Put more research in investing.
Status: Check pending. I put some more in the stock market, and I'm planning on starting my IRA next week. Helping my mom has reminded me of the importance of planning. Although you have to live for the now, you also can't forget the future.

3. Goal: Do things that scare the bejeezus out of me.
Status: Check! Besides going freelance, meeting new people, and sliding down a volcano, I also faced my greatest fear in life this year: My dad passing away, and my mom being all alone. It hasn't been easy, but we're making it work—the best we can. And I've come to realize, that even the hardest of hard times, things aren't so bad when you have friends to pick you up and faith in yourself.

4. Goal: Take more time for myself.
Status: Check! Although I still have some work to do on this goal, I'm happy to say that I've taken more vacation and personal days this year than ever before. In 2011, I've travelled to San Francisco, Canada, Los Angeles, Nicaragua, Miami, Paris, and Rome, plus enjoyed some fun surf and skip trips. More importantly, I visited Raleigh many times—and got to spend a lot of my dad, something I'll never, ever regret.