Can we just rewind 7 days and pretend that I started my New Year’s goals on time?
I’m kinda living in a 2011 time warp right now.
There has been no talk of taking down the Christmas tree or decorations yet. I think Eric and I are in a holiday decoration stand off, waiting to see who will cave first. Plus, it’s so cozy with the tree all lit up at night and the creepy Nutcrackers peering at me from the mantel! Aw, creepy Nutcrackers.
With our long winters, I’m in no rush to pack up the holiday joy just yet. It can wait, much like I am for spring.
Can we also pretend that I accomplished all of 2011’s goals while we’re at it? Or even more than half of them?
Here’s a little recap of my 2011 goals and how I did.
1. Take care of my health and continue my journey with a vegan diet
I felt like I really hit my stride when it came to veganism this year. I made all kinds of new vegan recipes and tried many new foods and vegan restaurants. I got in the v-zone! On the flip side, I also learned to be more patient when I was somewhere that wasn’t veg-friendly and thankful when I was somewhere that was. I tried to take it all in stride. In terms of my health, I’d say I did well, especially with exercise and nutrition. However, I still need to work on getting my mental health more balanced when it comes to my anxiety. I still struggle with it more than I’d like to admit.
2. Blogging: focus on quality over quantity
I definitely worked hard on my recipe creation, photography, and writing in 2011. There are still a lot of things I want to improve and work on, but that’s the beauty of the beast!
3. Write a vegan cookbook proposal + sign with publisher + start cookbook testing and writing process
I honestly did not think that I was going to come close to making this goal, but things took a sudden turn for the better in the fall. I signed with a wonderful literary agency and planned on finishing my proposal in February 2012 (the proposals are often over 50 pages, so I gave myself a few months). However, I was contacted by a publishing house in November asking me to send them my cookbook proposal. Needless to say, this lit a fire under my butt and I was working on it like crazy until 2 or 3 in the morning every night. Two weeks later, my agent sent it to our list of favourite publishers and since December, I’ve been having conference calls with them discussing our ideas for the book (scary!). Because this process can take a while (especially over the holidays), I’ve already started working on my cookbook to get a jump start, creating new recipes, writing, and trying to get a handle on this crazy process. Hopefully, I will have good news to report to you soon! If not, I’m still going to keep working on the book and chasing my dream.
4. Save 10% of monthly gross income into high interest savings account.
I saved a bit, but definitely not 10%. One of my goals in 2012 will relate to how I’m going to improve this area. I need a budget overhaul and I think mint.com is going to be involved.
5. Run a 5k race
As it turned out, I didn’t race at all in 2011, which was a big contrast to 2010. I never would’ve guessed that I wouldn’t make this goal, but I ended up focusing on strength training, spinning, yoga, and running for pleasure. It was a nice change! I guess I just wasn’t in the race mode in 2011. I did run a few speedy 5ks on my own for free though. :)
6. Raise money for charity
This was a big success in 2011, thanks to YOU! We raised a whopping $7,200 for the Japan Disaster Relief Fundraiser, in addition to various other bake sale charities over the year. Thank you for your generosity!
7. Do Body Pump class a minimum of one time per week
I don’t think it averaged out to once a week all year long, but I was happy with getting back into my strength training this year. I’m not renewing my gym membership in 2012 (as an effort to save moula), but I will tell you what I’m going to do for home workouts instead.
8. Take a photography course
Sadly, this didn’t happen, but it’s still on my list of things I want to do (Eric too!).
9. Ireland or bust
Well, I guess it was a bust! We didn’t end up going to Ireland, but we were blessed with a visit from our Irish relatives instead! We’ll make it there some day.
10. Meditate 3 minutes per day
I’m seriously dying laughing right now thinking about how big of a fail this goal was. I tried…I really did. I remember sitting on my office floor on January 1st, turning off the light, and setting the timer for 3 minutes. What felt like 5 hours later, I got up, feeling a bit more stressed than before I started. I even tried a meditation CD at one point, but I couldn’t stop laughing at the guy’s creepy voice long enough to meditate.
I’ve come to learn that I relax by doing things. My best meditation probably happens when I’m at a yoga class (even if I do force myself to wait until a few people leave the room before I leave Shavasana…)
On that note, I haven’t been to yoga in a downward dog’s age, so I best fix that.
11. Wild Card
The wild card was started in 2011, but ultimately was not finished yet. I’m hopeful I’ll be able to tell you about it in 2012!
~~~~~
Another year gone. Many experiences. Lessons Learned. Laughter. Mistakes made. Great memories. Tears. Chances taken. Disappointments. Blessings. Love. Goals completed. Goals not completed.
…and that’s why we look forward to a fresh start each year to do it all over again.
Here’s to 2012 and all it will bring. Decorations and all.
Good job one your goals overall though :)
And I’m going to say something, and it may sound mean, but it’s just a thought in my head: why is it that every food blogger nowadays wants to/tries to write a cookbook? To me I see food blogging now as a desperate attempt for people to “make it big” with a cookbook and it’s slightly irksome…
People who have original ideas and create their own recipes have EVERY right to try to publish a cookbook! I think it’s great because it makes the fantastic inner workings of the minds of the brilliant available to the rest of the world!
I, for one, am over the moon that I found this blog. Angela is pure genius!
And for those who don’t really search the internet for recipes or food blogs, a cookbook would be a great way for them to find her recipes and ideas!
Hi Sara, For me, it’s about being passionate about what I do and wanting to share this with others. If I didn’t love what I do, there’s no way I would pour all of my energy and time into a book. Thankfully, no one forces us to read books or blogs that we don’t want to, so I wouldn’t be bothered by it too much.
For me, if you have a solid following like Angela, you’ve already “made it big.” The cookbook is just icing on the cake (vegan cake, of course). :)
I think the publishers are the ones behind it. They want an author that already has a following so it’s easier to promote the book.
Agreed with bitt of raw! I work for a publishing house and know that especially in nonfiction it is extremely important that a potential author have an existing platform. By tapping into the blog-land, you are getting an author that is usually a prolific writer (and so you know they’ll deliver the goods!), has a loyal fan base that love what they do (i.e. a certain amount of guaranteed sales haha), and are usually extremely diligent and self-motivated. These are just a few of the ingredients to a successful book :)
In my humble opinion, Angela’s blog is a fantastic resource that is both creative and entertaining! So cool that your recipes and heartfelt body image conversations will be able to gain more exposure on the shelves of bookstores :) Best of luck and can’t wait to see it!! Do you have any idea of pub month?
Best!
Kat
Thank you Kat! No idea yet of the pub date (or what publishing house yet), but I hope to know more soon.
That is sooo exciting about your book! And even if it doesn’t work out right away, at least you have something to show for it, and you’re even more prepared for the next opportunity! Good luck :)
Sounds like a good plan. Wow! Publishing your own cookbook that’s so inspirational :D Best of luck with all of your plans
Oh man, “crazy process” doesn’t even begin to describe cookbook-writing! There was so much more to it than I ever realized before I wrote mine. Best of luck with it! Sounds like you’re off to a great start. :)
What a great recap and major, major congrats on the book front. I knew you had tricks up your sleeve. I knew you were hard at work behind the scenes, cooking, writing, taking pictures, repeating. It’s not easy to pull off in ‘all your spare time’ and congrats on it all! How exciting!
You may not have gone to Ireland but you went to CA and NY and other places.
And photography classes…well, after attending many, some are awesome, some aren’t quite as awesome. Sometimes self-study and practicing on your own can be just as good.
Yoga and not running as much? Sounds like a plan to me :)
I’m definitely going to check out mint.com (that you mentioned) ~ glad you mentioned it!
I hope you like it, I’m going to set it up today…
I’ve been using it for a year or so now and I LOVE it. You have to get your husband on board, though–make sure everything is in both names so you can register ALL of your accounts and ALL of your credit cards to actually keep track.
I too have dealt with extreme anxiety! I have overcome it though (I still have it occasionally, but I have learned to embrace it as part of me and it makes it SO much easier to deal with… also, it happens SO rarely now compared to how it used to.) I don’t know you well because I started reading your blog only about a month ago, but I am anti-medicine so I went the cognitive therapy, self healing route. It was so awesome. If you don’t already have it, pick up “The Anxiety and Phobia workbook” There are tons of awesome exercises in there that help so much. Good luck, its a tough road, but it can be overcome! <3
I’m glad to hear that Heather, thanks for the tip. I’ve been meaning to pick up that book actually!
I’m in a Counselling Psyc program and we use that workbook- very helpful for both therapists and clients alike! Best of luck with everything.
Sounds like you had a great year, and that`s what counts!
Not related to your post, but I made your butternut squash mac and cheeze the other night and my meat-loving husband loved it.
Thanks Lee!
Wow girl you definitely got a lot accomplished in 2011. And 2012 is going to be just as amazing! Can’t wait until your book comes out!
I will totally buy your book!! Keep going, girl!
I give you a definite free pass on the 7 days late thing – especially considering how well you did with your 2011 goals!! Congrats on a wonderful year and here’s to a happy, healthy and successful year ahead!
Meditation is always hard at first but after a while it pays back :) and it can help for your anxiety problem!
Good point!
Like I thought last year, I still believe that the wild card is a baby. We’ll see this year!
You certainly did a lot, even if you didn’t do it all – and maybe all was just too much for one year :) Enjoy moving into 2012 as you leave behind what sounds like a productive 2011.
If your wild card is what I think it is I hope it happens for you in 2012! 2011 was a great year for you guys, regardless of what goals were met or not. I think sometimes throughout the year we make new goals for ourselves and leave others behind and that’s totally okay in my books!
I agree…it’s hard to predict what we are going to want to do throughout the year!
Congratulations on your success with starting to get a cookbook deal rolling! You did awesome on your goals even if not all of them were accomplished. I remember reading them here last year and wondering how you were doing on the meditation one, hahah. Best of luck in 2012!
Hi there and thank you for such a wonderful blog!
I read what you wrote about your anxity problems and as a psychologist working with a form of CBT called ACT, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, I would just like to recommend that for you as it has helped me and a lot of people with problems regarding anxiety. It has a total different taking than traditional CBT and for me it was mindblowing.
A good first book about ACT is called “Get out of your mind and in to your life”, and it has a lot of excercises that you do on your own.
Have a nice day!
Hey Sandra, I haven’t heard of that therapy but I will definitely check it out..thanks for the tip!
If one would let me I could stay forever in Shavasana! I really love to meditate but I just can’t motivate myself to do it at home all by myself. But I want to change that in 2012!
Congratulations on great work on accomplishing your 2011. I think you did impressive work on reaching them and think it is completely normal and even healthy to allow some to develop and flourish while noticing that some other areas are not as important to you (like racing).
I have discovered your blog only recently and am continually refreshed and inspired by it.
Thank you for creating such a high quality blog with such great content and beautiful visuals.
You really remind me just how colorful, beautiful, varied and interesting healthy food can be!
Good luck with all your goals in 2012 and thank you!
Thank you Tracy :) All the best to you in 2012!