Looking backwards and forwards

It's the end of the year, the traditional time to reflect on the year past and look forward to the year ahead.  When I read over last year's end of year post I realise how much I've achieved this year.  Apologies for blowing my own trumpet for a second but vet school was a real slog to the bitter end and I'm so grateful it's over, I'm so much happier now than I was this time last year!

The only resolution I made last year was to craft more for me.  I love crafting for friends and family so don't get me wrong, I don't resent it at all.  Just sometimes I take on too much and end up having to put my own projects on hold for months at a time.

Let's see how I managed shall we?

Projects for friends and family - 35

 

Projects for me - 4 (well 3, one is for the dog.  Well, 2.5 as one was just changing the buttons on a cardigan...)



I think we could say that this resolution was an abject fail!  I've loved the projects I've done this year, with personal favourites being mini Maciver's lamb cardigan, Karen's mushroom cushions and Frances' bow cushion.  On the other hand though, I had lots of projects for myself that never materialised (remember 5 tops in 10 days?  My plans for Sorbetto tops?  I even created a tag 'Inspiration' to try and get the creative juices flowing!).  Somehow it's always easier to justify spending the time if I'm crafting for other people and it's money saving if I'm using stash materials for presents - money has been tight this year after 8 years of university.

New year, new start and all that.  Last year I only made one resolution, since with final year I didn't want to commit to more than one and fail (although I epically failed at just one so ho, hum!).  This year I've got a few things I want to improve upon so I plan to make 2013 the best year yet!

1. Craft more for me!  - this time I intend to make it happen!  I'm going to enter
Karen's 'Put your money where your mouth is' post to make sure I stick to this one.

2.  Start giving regularly to charity - I've got a wage now so no excuse of being a poverty stricken student anymore.  I donate regularly to charity in the form of giving to and buying from charity shops but I want to start donating a portion of my income.  I've yet to decide which charity but I'm thinking at the moment something linked to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, something involving health, education for women and vaccinations/contraceptives.

3. Start doing exercise.  I come from a rather large (in kilos), rather unhealthy (in disease terms) family and would like to avoid this trend if possible.  To this end I'm signing up for the Edinburgh half marathon.  I'm doing it with my friend Karen as a means to motivate myself to exercise.  We'll see how I go when it's 5 degrees and sleeting in February...