resolutions & resolutions in review

from 2011....

1) Monthly Drawing Sessions
did it! (and then some!) since June or so, i've also been going to near weekly painting sessions.

2) Monthly Movie Nites
done! the themes were:
january: literature based movies
february: love movies (take II) & academy award nominees
march: spanish movies
april: elizabeth taylor movies
may: james stewart movies
june: school themed movies
july: mafia movies
august: spoofs
september: brat pack
october: middle eastern movies
november: autumn movies
december: woody allen

3) An Autumn Vacation in the South
did it! we went to L.A. over Thanksgiving weekend, and we had a blast!

4) Read another Classic
almost.... i started reading The Scarlet Letter, and am pages away from finishing it. (i suppose i've got nearly a week to complete it... i'll give it a try).

5) Finally Finish that Friggin' Harry Potter Series
done! i even finished reading them before the final movie came out! then we had a great time going out to watch the final movie w/ Pat & Lori.

6) Clean my Car More Often
i can't say i've been more diligent about vacuuming my car or even taking it through a car wash - BUT i've done a much better job about not leaving things in my car in the first place, which has lead to a cleaner car. i'd say this one is a relative success.

7) Complete my Post-Bacc Certificate & Obtain the CAPM Certification
done & done! i finished my graduate certificate right on time, and passed my CAPM certification exam the 2nd time around.

8) Send Birthday Cards
crazy or not, this one was a success. i got the cards ahead of time, in january, and got them all out. a few went out a bit late, but they all went out! :)

9) Work Out, Etc.
i'd say this one was a half success. last winter went well as far as getting out and working out - i did zumba classes, yoga classes, and even a few jazzercise classes - but as far as actually seeing any results - forget it. maybe i'm doing it wrong? who knows. i did yoga over the summer with Marilee, but as soon as i got back to work and found myself more busy this school year, i lack the energy to get back into the car and drive all the way to the yoga studio. I have a feeling this one would be easier if there was a yoga studio closer to me. i'm not thrilled at the idea of going to a gym to do yoga - i really like the calming, peaceful atmosphere of most yoga studios... the gym doesn't exactly scream "calming and peaceful" to me... so since about September or so, i've been out of the loop.

10) SAM, Art, and Art Adventures
i'd rate this one a success. i've tried to keep up to date on what's happening at the museums in the area. we went to see art on our L.A. adventure too, and saw some really great stuff there. one of the problems i've run into is a lack of recent shows at any of the local museums that i've been really enthusiastic about. i did see a great show in Portland a while back, though. I took a special road trip down just to see it - and it was great!


and for 2012...

1) my artwork
those drawing and painting sessions - they're not going anywhere! i'm not bothering to put a number on them this time either, since i know they'll continue without much effort. i will give myself a couple of specific project goals, though. there are a couple of feminist paintings that i have been wanting to do, for one i've even already completed a good deal of the prep work. i'd like to work on completing those this year. I'd also like to make some time to do some longer drawings. lately the long pose model sessions have been monopolized with painting - at the expense of completing any longer, more refined drawings. i'd like to make sure i do at least a couple of the longer drawings this year, in addition to the paintings. i want to continue to be more experimental with my figure painting too. toward the end of 2011 i did experiment with it a bit, but i want to push it farther this year.

2) movies
monthly movie nights - also not going anywhere! they're a lot of fun, and there are still tons of movies out there to watch. i also plan to go out to see as many of the oscar nominees as possible again this year. it was so much fun last year, and i got to see so many great films! i'm already anxious to find out who the nominees will be for this year. (suggestions for the monthly movie nights are welcome - i want to re-focus on classics and foreign films this year. they tend to be my favorite).

3) travel
definitely another autumn vacation to a warm US destination! i'm also adding to this year's resolution to put some money aside at least once a month this year for our planned 2013 trip to Brazil & Argentina. the tickets for that trip alone will be pricey - so i want to start saving now.

4) books
for the 3rd year in a row, i want to make sure i read a classic novel. i love them, and this seems to be the most effective way i've found to make sure i make time to read them. i'm also going to add to this one that i want to read one of my books about artists' lives. i have a number of them - it's about time i read one.

5) my car
i'm going to renew the resolution to clean my car more often, and add to it that i should vacuum it out a little more often, and take her through the car wash a little more often.

6) birthday cards
this one was fun last year - so i'm going to do it again this year. in early january i want to go out and get cards for the year, and setup a schedule again to send them out for the 2nd year in a row.

7) job
i want to put that graduate certificate in project management, and my CAPM certification to good use by moving into a project management job this year. i'm going to enlist Mike's help with a job hunt, and do my best to move out of teaching, and into a project management position. motivation for this one include: getting to work in Seattle again, higher pay, and getting to take vacation whenever i want it (not whenever it's convenient for my employer to give it)... summers off are nice, but there are a lot of travel destinations that aren't so nice that time of year.... so it doesn't work for me for the rest of my working years. i need more flexibility.

8) working out?
...i think this year i need to do some investigation and find something that works for me, even when i'm busy - so rather than force something that i'm not sure will work for me... i'm going to set the goal to discover what will work for me.

9) museums & galleries
for this one, i want to stay on top of what's going on at the local art museums, and try to get out to see art at least once a month. if the museum shows are blah.... i'll try to get out to a gallery.

10) business
which brings me to my business goal. i've recently taken out a business license, and setup my website. i'm still working on getting all of my artwork cataloged there, but i'm getting closer every time i have a sunny enough day to photograph it. i've decided against going through a site like Etsy to sell my work online, however i am interested in selling my work. i just don't want to market it through a 3rd party site. i am interested in getting more involved in the local art community and networking with some local galleries though. a shared or solo show of my artwork this year would be awesome!

11) spanish
i started Spanish I in the fall, and plan to continue it through the spring. over summer and beyond i want to continue learning Spanish through a variety of activities, including watching Spanish movies with Mike. we also live in an area with a high Hispanic population, it would be great to get out in the community and meet some Spanish speakers who I can practice with, too.