hello 2013

Was that the longest break yet?  It's always on the back of my mind to blog but when I have a moment free I can't seem to get myself to do it (kind of like a lot of other things I need to do, unfortunately).

Love this card by my cousin Deb Aoki.

I keep reading other people's blogs though and get inspirations but don't follow through.  One thing I did manage to start this year is a Five-Year Journal.  Each page is dated and you write something on that date for five years.  Because it's just a few lines per day, it's less daunting than keeping a regular journal, which I usually give up on a little after January 1.  I've kept up for two months so far, with daily entries (though sometimes I need to catch up several days at once).  There are different things people do with these, like assign a question to each day and answer the same question on the same day for five years.  I've just used it to capture what happened that day, what I did or what I thought.  It's like a Facebook post, but on a more personal level.

Here are some other things I want to do:

1. Gratitude Journal, a la Oprah.  I read about this before and even started it once when Ryan was small (I have the journal somewhere when we wrote about things that made us happy that day).  But I read about it again recently on a blog.  She talks about being so busy that she "got so focused on the difficulty of the climb that (she) lost sight of being grateful for simply having a mountain to climb."  I totally get that.  Sometimes you need to think about what you HAVE rather than what you DON'T HAVE.  It's why I pulled back on Facebook posting, when I typed things quickly just to rant.  I even deleted things I wrote because it sounded so negative and down.  I hate to be THAT person on Facebook who only complains all the time.
2. Project Life by Becky Higgins.  I got the kit for 2011, when it first came out, because that was going to be a year of changes for us.  Ryan graduating from high school and moving out, my turning 50.  I did great for a couple of months, but didn't keep up.  I am still determined to finish, though, and printed all my pictures for the year.  Unfortunately, that was also the time my blogging dropped off but hopefully the photos and FB posts and my daily planner will jog the memories.
3. Ali Edwards is such an inspiration.  She always does One Little Word where she selects one word every year, "a word that I can focus on, meditate on, and reflect upon as I go about my daily life."  She also did 52 Lists which I thought might be fun to do.
4. I also found the Travelers Notebook and Moleskine Notebook and wanted to do something like that.  Really wish I could draw though...

With all the left brain I am always using for my work, I have been craving right brain activities.  And I have always wanted to document things...I have my calendars going back to intermediate school and diaries/journals from way back then too.

2013 is going to be a year of changes.  Panda Express fortune cookies are so true sometimes.

For this Year of the Snake, this is the fortune for Ox people:

They will have good fortune in career and wealth in 2013. Steady development or progress will be achieved under the instruction of their bosses. Students will perform well. Generally, the ox people can get help easily from others this year. Good opportunities will most probably happen to them.

Career: It can be a good year to get a promotion. They have to work harder and get along well with the competitors in jobs. Once their performance is approved by their bosses, it will be easy to be promoted. Businesspeople can try to make an investment or run a company this year, which may bring some profits.

Wealth: Earning money will be relatively easier this year than last. Therefore, as long as they work hard, they will never be trapped by financial problems. In spite of that, they need spend their money wisely.

Relationships: Singles will have the good fortune to shake off the single life. For couples, they may need more efforts to lead a happy life, especially in the first half of this year. More communication and mutual understanding are necessary between husband and wife. The ox people also need to remember that they should not trust people they don’t know well.

Health: They will be healthy both in body and mind this year. Too much or heavy labor work should be avoided. They may easily catch cold. At banquets and dinner parties, they should control themselves and not drink too much.

I have a new job.  So big changes are coming.