Yet another year, with bigger and better goals

Two years ago, at the beginning of 2008, I was newly-engaged (a whole two years and ten days ago I got engaged! Wow), and because of that, my New Year's goal for 2008 was pretty much "get married awesomely". Most of 2008 was sucked away in accomplishing this, but I'm okay with that, because I DID accomplish it, and it was awesome. I also managed to break free of the horrible chain bookstore job I'd had for three years, which I hated 98% of the time*, and found myself in another retail job that I thought I'd like more, but which I ended up despising for different reasons (except for the customers. I hated them in both shops).

One year ago, at the start of 2009, I posted a list of New Year Goals. You can see the full list and explanations here, but I'm going to go through them now, and see how I did. This is a bit scary, because I haven't actually gone back and looked at these since I wrote them, or at least not since early last year, so I'm not really sure how I did. Even now I haven't looked at them. I'm going to go through them one at a time.

1. Get a new job. DONE
I started my own photography business, although I probably still need a part time job to bring in more money so I can afford stuff.


2. Take at least a month off before starting alleged new job. DONE
I took my photography course during this time. I REALLY needed this break. I felt like I was going to have a nervous breakdown, the way I started crying every time someone asked me how work was, or how I was.


3. Buy a house. NOT DONE

Yeah...we just didn't have enough money to consider this one. But we still need one, so badly. Renting is horrible.


4. Take singing lessons. NOT DONE
I don't mind so much that I didn't get to do this one. When it came down to it, I had to decide whether to put the money I had towards singing lessons or photography classes. At the time I wasn't 100% sure I wanted to make photography my career, but I knew I most certainly wasn't going to make one from singing, so I chose photos. And I'm glad. I can always do it one day.


5.Do a Photography course. DONE
Self-explanatory. Best thing I ever did.


6. Be happy within myself. MOSTLY DONE

This is a hard one, because there's no tangible evidence that I accomplished it. I AM happier, though. I finally have a new job I love, and that makes a huge difference. No one is trying to steal a piece of my soul anymore, I'm not treated like a moron, and I can go to the damn toilet without having to ask customers to leave, lock up, and get a security guard to watch the outside books. Oh, and I get a lunch break. Of my very own! :-)


You see, I'm a person who likes solitude. I go crazy in busy places, and I get all weirded out. My brain starts going fuzzy and I forget words and talk nonsense. It's not as bad as it sounds, but I do go slightly weird. I really should never have worked in retail. I'm surprised I never had an anxiety attack or something around Christmas time. Working as a photographer is perfection for me. You get to spend time with people on their happiest day, and then go home and work on their images in peace and quiet. And eat lunch without interruptions.


So, now for THIS year:

1) Shoot at least twelve weddings as the primary photographer.
2) Grow Kat Forsyth Photography into en established business, with a recognisable name (or at least, the beginnings of that)
3) Buy a house (well, there has to be one carry-over, right?)
4) Get some kind of part-time income in order to afford to buy and decorate said house.
5) Tidy and clean the house more often (I'm a lazy slob sometimes)
6) Go to gym at least once a week (technically it should be twice, but I might have mentioned I'm lazy)
7) Watch at least fifteen of the forty movies I haven't seen on the AFI's 2007 Top 100 Movies of all time list.
8) Have a proper Date Night with my husband once a month.
9) Post on here once a week, at least. Preferably twice.

I think that's enough for one year!

I hope you all have a great one. I intend to.




*I still miss the 2% I didn't hate.

New Year, New Wife, New Goals

First of all, HAPPY NEW YEAR, everyone!

So in 2008 my goals were pretty much narrowed down to:
1. Get Married
2. Have an Awesome Wedding.

Yes, well, not the loftiest of ambitions, but on the plus side, I did succeed at both of them. :-) But this year I need to accomplish a bit more. A wedding has the unfortunate effect of taking over one's life, and mine was no exception. I'm not even sure what I did last year between January and October! I know I read fewer books and watched fewer movies. I also know I stalked photographer blogs like there was no tomorrow. Um, yeah, that'll suck up your time, no doubt about it.

So my New Year goals (I don't like the word 'resolutions' are:

1. Get a new job.
I hate, hate, hate my job. I don't care if a bookshop sounds like a nice place to work; it's RETAIL, and I refuse to work in retail any longer. I'm sick of people treating me like an incompetent moron, and I'm sick of customers who are incompetent morons. I'm actually even sick of the ones who are nice, because I just can't stand serving people anymore. I constantly have to be perky, helpful and knowledgeable, and I just can't do it. It's like I'm giving them a piece of myself everytime they walk in the door.

2. Take at least a month off before starting alleged new job.
I really need some time to myself in which to do nothing except recover my sanity. I know I just HAD a holiday (Thailand, you might remember...), but I was so stressed from the wedding that it was impossible to regain my senses on a sightseeing holiday filled with so many new places, cultures, sights, sounds and so much darn beauty. I've taken to dissolving into tears at the least thing (and sometimes nothing) and I just feel so exhausted by everything. I need a break.

3. Buy a house.
Gleep. This is something Mr Ruby Slippers and I really want to do, but it's a huge, expensive deal, and I'm thoroughly afraid of it. But we're sick of renting and having to share our landlords' washing machine and being parked in by their endless stream of friends and family...and much, much more.

4.Take singing lessons.
Something I've been meaning to do for absolute years, but never felt like spending the money on. So screw it, this year I'm going to do it and sod the expense. I need to do something I love for myself. Plus it could possibly mean I could get some small-time singing gigs in hotel bars and so on, as a few people I know do.

5. Do a photography course.
Again, something entirely new for me, but I've developed such a keen interest in photography this year. What makes one photo good and another bad? What are they doing to make the photos look different and interesting? I really need to know this stuff!

6. Be happy within myself.
I'm not an unhappy person, really, but so many aspects of my life just make me so miserable, and I need to sort that out. I love Mr RS and we're forging ahead into married life so swimmingly, my parents are great, his parents are great, and they all support me. But I constantly feel that I'm too afraid to try anything new for fear of failing, and both this fear of failure and the fact that I never do try anything is making me very unhappy. Hence the singing and the photography. Something new that I'm interested in, and, in the case of the singing, that I already know I'm not too shabby at, will really help me to get GOING at them, and, hopefully, feel better about myself in the long run.

Phew. I think that's enough for one year, what do you think?