Veronica Who? Oh, you mean me?

Now that I am home and settling in after a wonderful trip with friends and family in Europe, it is now time to get back to work in a fresh new year.

I have so many plans for 2012 that I really feel like my head is going to explode! If you look at the picture below, it looks like my head is really big doesn’t it?!… its okay, you can agree! I have to give this photo credit to my mom! She loves my big head!

To start setting the goals for 2012, I need to figure out where I went right and wrong in 2011. Last year was equally one of the most thrilling and difficult years of my life. A few big things were knocked off my bucket list, but then a few thing made me feel like I was knocked into the bucket. Kerplunk! As they say, what doesn’t kill you will only make you stronger… even though somedays you kinda wish it would just kill you!  So you take the good and the bad… learn from it and get stronger. Stronger. Stronger. (yes… okay… I chant to myself… whatever works right!?)

2012… Let’s do this!

First things first… learning to prioritise. Not an easy thing to do when there are so many demands but also many wishes and dreams on the new bucket list!  My life constantly feels like being forced to choose boring broccoli when all I want is delicious chocolate and am secretly eating the chocolate every sneaky chance I get! Somewhere there must be middle ground and it must be more successful than chocolate covered broccoli! Oiy!

This year, my first priority is to slow down and to make more time to be with family. Last year was my most ridiculous juggling act of my life. I was trying to fit in time with family, travel, a full time job, my passion for photography, our building project, and somewhere in there try to have a social life!  It might surprise some of you, but I don’t get out much! I lost two very close family members in 2011 and have had this nagging feeling inside that I didn’t spend enough time with them to let them know how much I loved them and how important they were to me. I would rather eat the chocolate covered broccoli every single day for the rest of my life than lose another loved one and have this nagging feeling inside that I didn’t try hard enough. Family is the most important thing we have in life. Treat them well!
Now that my full time career is my own photography business, I am able to make more time for loved ones and for myself as needed! The re-prioritisation is already working!

Second priority is health and try to get my family healthy. I have slowly gotten over my fear of the gym and have actually started to use my membership on a regular basis, which is kind of a big deal! Somehow I felt kind of healthy just knowing that I had a membership in case I ever decided to use it… which I never did!  Health apparently doesn’t work like that! Once upon a time I was tipping the scales at an unhealthy 200lbs. I worked very hard on my own to drop off 60+ of it but still have some work to do. That damn ‘plateau’ gets the best of us! I would like to be able to jog for miles and miles and actually feel alive at the end! I would like for Ryenne to understand that what you put in your mouth is SO important and that being active throughout your life is such a crucial part of life’s happiness. For the rest of my family, they are all working very hard to quit smoking while trying to not eat everything insight. I can’t express how happy this makes me! One hour at a time… Just don’t give up even if you slip up a little… you can always just jump back on track! I might even broaden the scope of this and drag a few friends into my new health kick!

The next few priorities include building a stronger brand and more successful photography business. More time behind the lens and less time behind a computer screen. I feel like it’s time to open the calendar to more wedding photography; it must be all the love in the air with Valentine’s day around the corner. I would like to officially open the studio for in house photography all year long which means no more cancellations because of cold or bad weather!
I would like to start knocking off a few new bucket list items including new international travel destinations with photo shoots along the way, a wedding for me and Max, and possibly start building on an already fantastic family!  I might get a book or two in this year.

Every once in a while, a blog posting is just about me. Now… let my blog postings be about you and your family or your business! This is my chocolate!