Honestly, I am really not sad to see 2013.

While it was a great year in some aspects - like getting engaged, working on paying off debt and some new blogging opportunities - it really sucked in others - like losing my job, losing friends and losing interest in things I love.

I've felt very stifled and stuck in a rut lately, and I'm hoping a new year can bring a refreshed outlook on life. As one is wont to do at this time of year, I'm taking some time to regroup and take a look at what I want to focus on in 2014.

Write more, write better

I want to do more and better blogging, and expand my vintage/history writing to other websites, magazines and companies.

I only posted 54 blogs in 2013, compared to 88 in the first year of Retro Reporter. While I always argue quality over quantity, I don't think my heart has been into blogging lately, and it makes me sad because I love blogging, vintage and history more than anything! I want to do it MORE but feel like I never have time, but I know I need to make time.

Credit

I'm also struggling with compensation for blogging. While I blog here for myself and my readers, it does take time to write, take photos etc and when I do that for outside companies (either in my space or theirs) I would like to see something in return, but at the same time I don't want to feel like I'm a money grubber.  I also want to expand Retro Reporter and bring in guest bloggers of my own, but I want to compensate them - even though I make only a few cents a month via Google Ads.

I also want to explore other writing/photography freelance opportunities, but again I have no idea where to start. I really struggle with putting myself out there and selling my talents and I know that needs to change. I already have a few ideas of what I'd like to do, which includes combining my talents with my hubby-to-be's. So stay tuned!

Self-care

Save wisely, spend wisely

Money has become quite the theme on this blog, so I have a number of goals under this one.

Credit

Frugality : Being a vintage girl I am proud to say that the majority of my clothes are second hand. If I do buy new clothing, it's rarely full price (the last thing I remember paying full price for is my wedding shoes in August in Vegas) - it would either be on sale and something I've wanted for a while or as compensation for blogging.
Now I want to expand that mindset to other things. Want a new food processor, or $200 winter boots or a vacation? We need to put that money away AHEAD of time instead of paying it (and interest!) off after. I've learned that the hard way (and my debt isn't that bad compared to some people's) and I'm not interested in continuing on that road.

Less Waste: I want Ian and I to reduce our waste drastically in 2014. We already recycle heavily (he is a B.C. boy after all) and use reusable containers, so my goal is geared towards food waste. Primarily I want us to stop buying food that we don't eat (or make sure we eat all our food) and stop throwing out food scraps, and instead compost (we have a big compost bin in the backyard that we don't even use). I'm unsure about how the compost one will go, since we'd need another bin (we have so many bins in our kitchen) and I think it will attract our garbage loving cats and dog. Any suggestions?

Start saving for a downpayment: As I mentioned previously I am well on my way to having my portion of the wedding saved up for, but instead of stoping my savings plan, I'm going to continue to save for our downpayment on top of my TFSA.
I've created a payment plan so I would be credit card debt free by next December, but I'm already four months ahead of that plan, which means I can save even more money! Ideally Ian and I would like to have $25K for a downpayment and we already have $10K, so it would take me 37 months ($7,500 / $200 a month) to save up my half. BUT that $200 is based on still having credit card debt to pay off; once it's done I can split my monthly payment between the downpayment and my student loan or car loan.

Give What I Can

Money: I've always budgeted in my Mint for charitable contributions, but I've rarely actually doled that cash out unless I'm explicitly asked by someone on behalf of a charity. No more! I created a spreadsheet of 12 charities that are close to my heart and attached a month to them so on each first of the month I can just go into the spreadsheet and go donate (like a bill, but with tax deductible warm fuzzies after)

Time: I also want to start giving my time, especially when I can incorporate my skills, like knitting or teaching others to knit, writing, photography, etc. The possibilities are endless! If anyone reading this works for a non-profit and thinks they can use my skills, please get in touch!

Blood: I am a big believer in donating blood. Not only do I know a few people who have had blood transfusions, I am also a rare blood type - O+ (for those who don't know, that means I can only receive O+ or O- blood, but anyone who is Rh+  can receive my blood).

This has nothing to do with blood, but it's just so damn weird that I had to share. Credit

Giving blood is relatively quick and painless if you are a healthy donor, and can be done every 56 days, meaning you can give 6 times a year! There are also very, very few health risks for donors - I happen to get a little woozy when I donate, but I think it's the fact that I get so nervous (I'm not particularly fond of needles) that I am going to faint that I almost faint. Winner, right here.


SO there is my long-winded photo-less first post of 2014. Have you made resolutions?

While I said in my last post that I don't intend on setting resolutions for myself this year, I do intend to set a few goals for the year ahead, just to keep me on track to happiness.



One thing that I signed up to do today after reading about it was Apartment Therapy's January Cure. While I no longer technically live in an apartment, our rental (the main floor of a character home) is pretty small when you consider that it's two adults, a German Shepard, a grumpy cat and two huge couches living in it. The Cure is a project designed to help you cut clutter and have a happy home.
I've already completed Day 1 (project list) by using a spreadsheet on Google Docs and will do Day 2 (creating an outbox and putting one thing in it) once I get home from work. I'll be blogging about my process too.

Another thing I am doing is reading The Happiness Project. I'm a big fan of the Apartment Therapy blog, and lately they've been referencing Gretchen Rubin's novel an awful lot, so I decided to dive into it myself (I haven't actually done this yet, but will as soon as I finish my book club book, Doppler).



Another goal I want to make is.... making more goals! I want to have a new goal every month, every six months, every year and in five years to work towards making my life the best it can be! I'm not sure what my big future goals will be, but my January goal is already sorted out:

I wasn't sure how to write that in a sentence that wasn't awkward, so here's a bit of an explainer.
Yesterday I finally buckled down and bought a January pass ($61.50) to go swimming. It's $8.50 per drop-in swim, so I have to swim 7 more times to make it worth my while. Hopefully I'll do more, but 7 is my goal!  On a side note, I felt like a loser getting a gym pass on Jan. 2, but that's even more motivation to keep up with it.
I love swimming (I used to be a lifeguard and swimming teacher) but since moving to Alberta it's fallen by the wayside. I hope to use swimming to improve my posture, get more energy and to improve my cardio! If I happened to get a little toned by doing it, then that's a bonus for me :)

What are some of your goals in 2013? I'd love to hear them!

xo Laurie

Well, 2012 has been quite a year, hasn't it! At this time last year I was living in Camrose with G and working at the Canadian. Fast-forward 365 days and I live in Edmonton with my fella Ian and his animals, working at Metro Edmonton. How quickly things change!

The first big change came last March and April when I joined Metro and moved from Camrose back to Edmonton. We found a wonderful apartment downtown and were happy to be back in the big city.


Also last spring, Miss Bee and I met Krista Dee and Rueby Retro for the very first time in Olds for some good ole antiquing. I don't think the town quite knew what hit them!


The spring and summer were filled with great outings, shopping and basking in the sunlight, but I also lost both of my maternal grandparents, who I miss very much, in July and September.

I bet you thought I meant Ian? Well, he's my second new love of my life :) It feels like we've known each other for much longer than four months.

Last year I also did up some resolutions. I don't think I've done very well on them though. I haven't been exercising as much, I think I took less outfit photos and feel like I didn't clean my house as much as I'd have liked to. That said, I was more social, spent more time with family (sadly, much of that was at funerals) and I think my posts have had more variety. You win some, you lose some. I don't have any resolutions for 2013 other than to be happy!

I want to thank all my wonderful readers for sticking with me over the last year. Blogging is something that's very important to me, but it's nothing without you guys!

I hope you all have a wonderful, happy New Years Eve and a fabulous 2013.

XO Laurie

Well, it's that time of year again. Every year I tell myself that resolutions are silly, but I still end up doing them. It's fun to make goals for the year ahead, even if I don't stick to them. Maybe if I'm feeling really ambitious I'll design them nicely and stick them up to motivate me!

Blogging resolutions

Take better outfit photos



I am so lazy when it comes to my outfit photos. I have a tripod (and a remote somewhere, I think) but it just seems like so much effort to do the whole tripod-self-timer thing, but really I think the results will be better.

My favourite outfit photos, like the one above, are when G has taken them for me. Taking them in the mirror takes away from the over-all look I'm going for. So coming in 2012 I will be taking the extra effort to do better outfit photos and better outfit posts in general!

More variety in posts

 In 2012 I want to go to more vintage-geared events (especially now that I know of some people who might want to go with) and hope to draw on my journalism to do previews or reviews on events like the Wetaskiwin Air Show or a local music show or feature pieces on vintage/retro geared organizations like Sugar Swing or the Reynolds Museum. I would concentrate on places like Edmonton, Camrose, Wetaskiwin, Red Deer and surrounding area, since those are reasonable places to travel for a blog. Maybe Calgary if it's really good.

I also want to do more reviews (I have a few ideas lined up) and also some knitting posts, since I have a few projects on the go now.

Personal resolutions

Be more social


This may sound like a silly resolution, but I mean it! Sometimes I can be very much a homebody and a loner, but I want to get out more, meet new people and create stronger friendships with the friends I already have. One lesson I've learned, both as a person and a journalist, is to step out of your comfort zone. I really wanted to go to the Alex Pangman show,  even though G didn't come with me. I'm glad that I did, because I got to see Nicole, who I hardly ever spend time with now that I live in a different city AND I met Miss Bee, a great blogger friend and partner in crime. I also stepped out of my comfort zone and asked Alex to sign a CD for my giveaway and we ended up having a great chat!

I'm a very shy person, so it's hard for me to chit-chat with strangers, so it's definitely something to work on this year. There have been a few times when I've been out and about and people have said that they like my style. One cashier at the grocery store mentioned she liked my victory rolls (she actually knew what they were!) and I am kicking myself now for not mentioning my blog. G said he will help me make up Retro Reporter business cards fro the cigarette case he got me, so I think having that little piece of paper will give me a lot more confidence and a bit of a ice breaker.

Spend more time with my family

This is a tough one, simply because I live so far away and it's not always easy to just hop in the car and see my parents and grandparents. But I do have vacation time that I need to take off, and my goal is to go home and visit. I am so so so lucky to have both sets of grandparents still alive and healthy, so I need to take the time to get as much family history down on tape before it's too late!
I've already have done it once with my maternal grandparents, but I still need to get more info on the Callsen side. My Grandpa Callsen has also done a LOT of work on our family tree and has so much knowledge about not only our family, but our hometown.
(On a side note - aren't my grandparents stunning! Now you know why I am so good looking ;p)

Clean ALL the things
A major goal I have for 2012 is to follow this list to keep your house clean in 20 minutes over 30 days. The only problem is that I had the same goal last year... oops. But really, I don't want to waste my days off doing a massive cleaning of the house when I can spread it out over the week. And 20 minutes is nothing!

Be healthy and happy


I always seem like an anomaly because weight loss has never been a goal for me. I feel that I am at a good weight and love the way I look (this is not a dig at anyone who DOES want to lose weight - there is nothing wrong with that. Good on you! I just feel like I don't need to). However, one of my goals is to be more active and eat healthier. I think I actually ate healthier in college because I walked everywhere and rarely went out for food because it was so expensive (that's not to say that I actually ate healthy - I had a lot of tomato soup in J-school).

I do hope to get to the pool more often (that is ALWAYS one of my goals) but it is a hassle because lane swim is only at certain times that don't always work for me. So my new goal is to swim once a week (once I buy a new suit) AND do bike training once a week AND try to get into yoga. Ambitious but I think I hope I make it happen. For January my goal is to do one of those things once a week. Beginner yoga is Tuesday evenings and the best think about bike training is that the gym is open early and late! I used to swim all the time but since I've fallen out of shape, it's harder to get back into. I chose yoga and bike training to help me regain my breathing exercises and leg strength. I love swimming and I feel so good after - it really is stupid that I don't do it more.

I also want to use sustainable and active transportation more often. I've joined a noon knitting group at the library (more on that later) and since it's right around the corner from my office, I can walk. Rotaract is at Augustana, just a few blocks from my place, so I also walk. But I want MORE walking. It's so easy and in Camrose, we have so many urban parks and trails that it's pretty as well as smart.

All of these things make me feel so good during and after. I am literally glowing - so why don't I do it more often? It's because it's easier to sit on the couch and watch documentaries about Kim Jong-il, that's why.

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OK, I think that's all folks, but I may have more to add in the coming months - which is perfect! I should always be making new goals, not just at the beginning of the year, month or week.

What are your resolutions? I'd love to hear them!

xo Laurie