personal & family goals for 2017

There's nothing like just getting over a nasty stomach flu to make you feel refreshed and ready to take on the new year, so I wanted to write down these thoughts and goals while they're still fresh in my head. When I wrote down my goals and intentions last year, I ended up doing nearly everything on my list (yay!), so I hope I can keep it going this year as well.

1// Live more minimally. That can mean a lot of different things, but for me, it means to buy less, use less, and the things I DO buy, buy with more intention. I've already kind of started the process in the past few months. Now that California has banned plastic bags from stores, I've started bringing my own re-usable shopping bags, and it feels good not to come home with 34343 plastic bags. Honestly, I should've started doing this ages ago. I'm also trying to be conscious of how much/what kind of toys I buy for my twins. They really don't need hordes of blinking, battery-powered toys to be happy, and there's lots of items already around the house that they can easily entertain themselves with. I also want to regularly go through their clothes and toys and purge the things they've outgrown.

2// Take better care of my skin. In general, I've been pretty lucky in the genes department when it comes to my skin (thanks Mom and Dad!). But as I'm getting older, I want to be more conscious of what products I'm putting on my skin, and take more proactive steps on keeping it healthier. A few months ago when my mother-in-law was visiting, she treated me to a belated birthday outing, and we went to a local spa where I got a facial and chemical peel for the first time. It was WONDERFUL, and I truly noticed a difference in the smoothness and glowy-ness of my face over the next month. My esthetician from that day also gave a few free samples of some products from Le Mieux, which I started using regularly. But I also know what I eat and drink has a huge impact on the health of my skin, so I want to work on that this year. More water, less caffeine (ughh, that's gonna be a hard one). More fruits and veggies when I crave snacks, less processed stuff.

3//  Mix up my workouts a bit. I've been going to barre classes for close to a year now, and while I love it, and have no plans on stopping, I really want to try some other classes in between, preferably dance-related. I've recently learned about Culture Shock Dance Center here in San Diego, and they have so many great classes that I'd love to try, from burlesque to hip hop.

4// Spend better quality time and communicate better with my husband. Sure, we manage to get out for a date night every now and then, but when we're both at home, especially on the weekends, we tend to snap at each other out of tiredness and stress. Which bums us both out, and makes us feel like shitty partners. We're usually quick to apologize to each other, but when it happens several times a week, something's gotta change. I know I personally need to work on holding my tongue when he's trying to explain something (I tend to interrupt him a lot), and just be more patient with him and cut him more slack.

5// Keep shooting. Film, digital, my twins, my friends, new places, familiar places. I realized the other day that I hardly used my film cameras at all last year, and I need to remedy that. I barely touched my Instax camera last year too, which is ridiculous, since it's so small and lightweight. And as always, I'd love to keep making more personal art for myself.

*Both photos are from a recent outing to Native Poppy

personal & family goals for 2016

Most people make a bunch of new year resolutions during the first month of the year, but I'm gonna be the weird one and wait until nearly the end of February to think about what I want to achieve this year. Last year was nuts in the best way possible. It was the year of starting a round of IVF for the first time, and successfully getting pregnant with not one, but  TWO babies. It was the year of being pregnant for most of the year, which, I'm not gonna lie, was pretty miserable physically. It was the year that my boy/girl twin babes were born two weeks early, and my life changed forever.

Now that my babies are nearly five months old, I feel that my husband and I are finally getting in the swing of this new family life. We have routines that work for us, and we're staying relatively sane. We still go out with friends occasionally, and we allow each other to have our respective and much-needed "me time." It's great, but I don't want it to end there. There's still so much I want to do and try as a family of four. And personal goals too.

1// Go on at least one roadtrip/weekend getaway with the twins. Even if it's just to Palm Springs for two nights, I really want to try. Before the babies, Vince and I took so many great little getaways, not just here in California, but in Europe too, where we lived before. We both love traveling so much, and I don't want that to end just because we have two little ones. Sure, they're not going to remember if we take them to Cabazon or Yosemite, but it will still be FUN. And years later, they can look at the photos and know that we didn't keep them cooped up inside ALL the time :)

2// Meet and socialize with more moms of twins. This is gonna be hard for me. I'm an introvert by nature, so it's not always easy for me to meet/make new friends. And even though I have some amazing friends here, I don't have very many mom friends, let alone mom-of-twins friends. So I want to work on that. I've joined a Mom of Multiples meetup group on Meetup.com, but I've yet to attend a playdate/meeting. It was easy to put off in the beginning, when the twins were just born and I was in the trenches of just trying to survive, but now I feel like it's time to muster my courage and just go to a meetup. I also know there's a San Diego Twins Club that I can join and use as a support system/socialization tool, so I need to take advantage of that too.

3// Start reading again. Books, I miss you. That was one of the few great things about being pregnant...I had time to read A LOT of books. Now, not so much. Must. Remedy. Even if it's just ten minutes a day while the babes are napping.

4// Start some easy photography projects. So at the beginning of the year, I was all, "Hey! I'm gonna do a film photography project where I take one photo a day for the entire year on my dad's old camera!" Yeah, that lasted about two weeks. Obviously, I need a photo project that's a bit more do-able and less pressure. Or even just continuing my blended portraits series. That would make me happy.

5// Learn a new craft, like tapestry weaving. I actually wanted to start trying this last year while I was pregnant, but I just never got started. Lately, I've been really drawn to woven wall hangings like this one and this one, and I'd love to try making my own, either through a macrame workshop here in San Diego, or just buying a simple starter kit.